I’ve been debating whether I should blog about Snake and Jake’s Christmas Club Lounge since my first visit in March 2017, not because it
wasn’t blogworthy. On the contrary,
Snake and Jake’s may be the best dive bar I’ve ever been to by the purest
definition of the term. Rather, Punky
and I would hate for the place to get too crowded with tourists or lose any of
its amazing dive bar charm.
Yes, it’s that special.
Let me give you a peek into why.
I don’t normally skip ahead to the end of our visit on
these blog posts, but this dance outside of Snake and Jake’s shows you the
euphoria Punky had after two hours at the place. And no, we hadn’t been drinking on the
lengthy streetcar ride down St. Charles Avenue and the four-block walk from
Carrolton Avenue to get there.
But Snake and Jake’s is simply that kind of place, where
you can escape from reality and just enjoy yourself and the company of other
barflies in attendance. Maybe that’s why
people from all walks of life go there, from Tulane students to Tulane
professors, from blue collar workers to the rich and famous (It has counted
Bourdain and Clooney among its list of celebrity patrons). Frankly, we couldn’t have found the place any
more welcoming or laid back than it was.
The first time we ventured in search of Snake and Jake’s,
we arrived not long after the bar opened at 7 p.m. The hours are officially 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.,
but we got the impression it varies depending on when the bartender arrives and
when the last drunk stumbles out in the morning. Nonetheless, we were greeted with a hearty
welcome by Juan and his girlfriend and were almost instantly offered a piece of
their Guinness cake they baked earlier in the day.
We knew this was our kind of dive bar. And once the sun set, as if on cue, a steady
stream of devotees began to fill up the seats at the bar.
Among them was Juan’s pet, Peeve, the resident bar dog. How could you not want to share a drink with
this lovable face?
If Snake and Jake’s Christmas Club Lounge looks like it’s
taken refuge in an old shed or garage, well, that’s a pretty accurate
assessment. The lighting is minimal,
relying primarily on old strings of Christmas lights, which double as the bar’s
main source of decoration. Perhaps you
also noticed the lighted wreath hanging high above the bar’s entrance
outside. And honestly, as the flash on
this photo shows, why would you want it lit any other way?
From the dilapidated ceiling on the inside, the warped
tin roof on the outside, the worn-thin floor, the worn out furniture and
hodgepodge of dusty photos and mementos along the walls, the place is a
wonderful mess. And frankly, if any of this
worries you, you probably don’t belong here.
Just relish in the dive-ish charm of it all, and listen
to the stories from Juan and his patrons as they recall some of Snake and
Jake’s more infamous moments, such as the night a possum fell through the
ceiling (they immortalized it by inventing the Possum Drop drink – a shot of
Jagermeister dropped into a glass of Schlitz).
As you’ve probably guessed, Snake and Jake’s is a
shot-and-a-beer type of place. If your
cocktail requires more than two ingredients, they may be able to make it … but
they probably won’t. And Schlitz is
apparently the beer of choice among the patrons. Schlitz.
In New Orleans. Who knew??
I was perfectly content with Jack and Cokes, Miller High
Lifes and shots of Jameson. And so was
Punky. We may have also snuck in a shot
or two of tequila somewhere over the course of a couple of visits. We may have also purchased a couple of
souvenir shirts.
And there is no “beer garden” at Snake and Jake's. But there is the back patio, which is much
better and much more appropriate. It’s
not much to look at, but there are just enough tables, chairs and swings to
gather around to engage your new friends in conversation. As fate would have it, our second trip to
Snake and Jake’s coincided with Easter Sunday, and the bar had an Easter egg
hunt; every egg found was worth a free drink.
This was occurring while a university professor smoking a pipe led a few of
his students in a rousing game of “Cards Against Humanity.”
I’ve covered some notable and notorious dive bars on this
blog, but as far as I’m concerned Snake and Jake’s Christmas Club Lounge tops
them all. They even have a decent social media presence, which can be rare among dive bars. It’s definitely worth getting off the beaten
path – or tourist tracks – in New Orleans to seek this place out and just chill
for a while. Plus, you never know who
you’ll see or what will happen while you’re there. But it’s bound to be worth the trip.
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