Pat O'Brien's Bar is a bar located in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, Louisiana that began operation as a legal

liquor Liquor ( , sometimes hard liquor), spirits, distilled spirits, or spiritous liquor are alcoholic drinks produced by the distillation of grains, fruits, vegetables, or sugar that have already gone through ethanol fermentation, alcoholic ferm ...

establishment on December 3, 1933, at the intersection of Royal and St. Peter streets in the

French Quarter The French Quarter, also known as the (; ; ), is the oldest neighborhood in the city of New Orleans. After New Orleans () was founded in 1718 by Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville, the city developed around the ("Old Square" in English), a ...

. Before that, during

Prohibition Prohibition is the act or practice of forbidding something by law; more particularly the term refers to the banning of the manufacture, storage (whether in barrels or in bottles), transportation, sale, possession, and consumption of alcoholic b ...

the bar was known as Mr. O'Brien's Club Tipperary; the password "storm's brewin'" was required to gain entrance to the establishment. In December 1942 it moved to its present location at 718 St. Peter Street, into a historic building dating from 1791. Pat O'Brien's is home to the original flaming

fountain A fountain, from the Latin "fons" ( genitive "fontis"), meaning source or spring, is a decorative reservoir used for discharging water. It is also a structure that jets water into the air for a decorative or dramatic effect. Fountains were o ...

(located in the courtyard) and the hurricane cocktail. There is also a

piano bar A piano bar (also known as a piano lounge) consists of a piano or electronic keyboard played by a professional musician as a central part of an establishment that also serves alcoholic drinks. Piano bars can be located in a cocktail lounge, bar ...

, featuring twin "dueling" pianos where local entertainers take song requests. The dueling piano bar is thought to be the first of its kind. O'Brien is reported to have invented the hurricane cocktail in the 1940s. The story of the drink's origin holds that, due to difficulties importing

scotch Scotch most commonly refers to: * Scotch (adjective), a largely obsolescent adjective meaning "of or from Scotland" **Scotch, old-fashioned name for the indigenous languages of the Scottish people: *** Scots language ("Broad Scotch") *** Scottish ...

during World War II, liquor salesmen forced bar owners to buy up to 50 cases of their much-more-plentiful rum in order to secure a single case of good whiskey or scotch. The barmen at Pat O'Brien's came up with an appealing recipe to reduce their bulging surplus of rum. When they decided to serve it in a hurricane glass, shaped like a

hurricane lamp A kerosene lamp (also known as a paraffin lamp in some countries) is a type of lighting device that uses kerosene as a fuel. Kerosene lamps have a wick or mantle as light source, protected by a glass chimney or globe; lamps may be used on a t ...

, the hurricane was born. Other locations of Pat O'Brien's Bar: *

Orlando, Florida Orlando ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Orange County, Florida, United States. The city proper had a population of 307,573 at the 2020 census, making it the fourth-most populous city in Florida behind Jacksonville, Florida, Jacksonville ...

Universal Orlando Universal Orlando Resort, often shortened to Universal Orlando, is a theme park and entertainment resort complex located in Orlando, Florida. It is the flagship of the Universal Destinations & Experiences theme park chain. Following the succe ...

's CityWalk *

San Antonio, Texas San Antonio ( ; Spanish for "Anthony of Padua, Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the List of Texas metropolitan areas, third-largest metropolitan area in Texa ...

TV and film appearances

*'' Trailer Park Boys Out of the Park USA'' S1E4 "New Orleans" they only stand outside the bar though, not actually going inside. *The bar was featured in a New Orleans edition of the

TruTV TruTV (stylized as truTV) is an American basic cable Television channel, channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. The channel primarily broadcasts reruns of Television comedy, comedy, Reality television, docusoaps and reality shows, with a rec ...

series ''

Impractical Jokers ''Impractical Jokers'' is an American hidden camera comedy and reality show with improvisational elements. Produced by NorthSouth Productions, ''Impractical Jokers'' premiered on truTV on December 15, 2011, starring the members of The Tenderlo ...

''. *The bar's front sign was briefly visible in a New Orleans reference in season 5, episode 13 of ''Family Guy,'' "Bill and Peter's Bogus Journey." *'' NCIS: New Orleans'', season 3, episode 5--Pride and Gregorio interview the daughter of a victim who waits tables at the bar.

References

External links

Pat O'Brien's Bar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pat O'brien'S Bar French Quarter Restaurants in New Orleans Drinking establishments in New Orleans Tourist attractions in New Orleans