Beachbum Berry's Latitude 29 — Restaurant in New Orleans

Let me just start off by saying, WOW. Coming to Latitude has been on my bucket list for years since getting into tiki. Jeff “Beachbum” Berry is the reason tiki exists to the extent it does in modern day. So coming to HIS bar was a bit like finally making it to the tiki promiseland!

Top to bottom I’d say my experience was exceptional. It either met or exceeded my expectations! From the food and drinks, to the ambiance and the amazing staff, it’s no wonder I went back multiple nights during my trip to NOLA.

Let’s start off with Food, I had the chicken and waffles with a side of their famous Mac salad. The chicken came out hot and was delicious. The batter was light and brought all the flavors together! It also had a sauce on top that was 🤌🏼. The pasta salad on the side was also amazing. It didn’t take long to polish off the whole plate.

Drinks. Drinks are where Latitude 29 truly shines. All of the ingredients are made fresh regularly, from juices to syrups, everything that touches your drink is premium in quality. Between my two nightly visits I had the Latitude 29, Pearldiver, Navy Grog, Puka Punch, Rum Barrel and the Nui Nui (in that order). Every single drink I would get again in a heartbeat. I won’t go into complexities of flavors, you need to go see for yourself and taste the goodness. I’ll simply give the guide most people are probably looking for, how strong was each drink? I’ll say the Latitude 29, Pearldiver, Puka Punch, and the Nui Nui we’re on the more balanced, maybe even a tad sweeter side (not sweet in a bad way). The Navy Grog and the Rum Barrel are bold with strong flavors (and usually a good amount of spirits too). If you’re looking for an overall recommendation on my favorite drink, I’d say it was the Latitude 29. I mean what’s better than THE drink named after the bar, and I think it’s presentation was my favorite too!

Now, I’ll talk about the atmosphere of Latitude 29. As soon as you step through the door you’re transported into a tiki oasis. The week I went was drizzling, blistering and cold so stepping through the door felt like truly being transported! The decor is obviously thought through very thoroughly. Just enough but not over doing it! Overall, it’s just such an amazingly beautiful and cool bar!

Finally the staff, every single person I met was cool and friendly, but I want to shout out some specifically awesome folks! Cheyenne was my bartender from the first night and she was super cool and sweet. Not only did she make killer recommendations she told us about her favorite spots in NOLA and made the rest of our trip fantastic!

The second night I went back and got the new head bartender Nastia, she was incredibly knowledgeable and being a bartender to some capacity myself, was a total blast to talk to. Really kind and having gone by myself the 2nd night I was thankful for a friend to talk with while I sipped the last few must try drinks on the menu.

If you’re in New Orleans and you’re debating what to do, just stop right now, you need to come by here for AT LEAST a few hours one of the nights you’re in town! Start with the Latitude 29 and...

This place was the most disappointing experience of our entire New Orleans trip as cocktail and tiki enthusiasts. We were just here in town a few weekends ago with friends and this was on our list of places we absolutely had to see on our trip.

If not for the poor service and attitudes of staff, our experience would have been great. Drinks were good, but it took two attempts to even get in. We walked in the first time Friday evening. Place was busy-ish but not full. We had a group of 6 and while I could see several empty tables around they were not friendly or looking to help accommodate our group. We offered to split up into smaller tables and were told we’d have an over 1.5 hour wait when it was clear the place wasn’t popping. Anyways, we left, no worries, maybe they have lots of reservations that haven’t arrived yet. But the attitude of staff rubbed us the wrong way.

Came back Sunday evening (after making a reservation for 4 and a reservation for 2 to cover the 6 of us) and when we got there the place was dead. Maybe 2 other tables in the whole place when we got there that left soon after we arrived, plenty of space. The reso for 2 was 15 min before the one for 4 so our friends were already there. We asked if we could be sat together since it was clear there was room. Again, staff was rude and straight up refused to even try and accommodate. We literally sat us 4 at a booth, with our two friends at a table across the walkway, and had to talk/yell across the space all evening in an otherwise empty bar because they wouldn’t just push a table together for us.

Finally we got to last call and server walked by and mentioned they’d be closing soon to take final orders. I ordered another cocktail and staff didn’t even stick around to catch our friend trying to order a drink too. He walked back by a min or two later and we grabbed him and asked for what our friend wanted and he straight up looked at us and said “why do you think I just walked by for last call?” And refused to take the drink order.

We are big tiki enthusiasts, have several amazing tiki bars back in our hometown, and original tiki bars in our basements at home. Tiki bars should be fun, energetic, and inviting. Unfortunately the staff really didn’t live up to the hype of this well-known local bar. Drinks were good, staff honestly ruined the experience. Not welcoming, not professional and definitely not...

This is a true Tiki-Bar in the style of the old Trader Vics. They have a full bar with a wide selection of rums from around the world. They also have a full kitchen, but we only went for drinks.

Their menu has the classic Tiki cocktails and a few non-traditional ones made with liquors other than rum. They even have one or two made with Gin. I only ordered one Tiki drink. For the life of me, I don't remember what it was. It may have been a Zombie. All I remember was it was good.

We also sat at the bar here. The bartender knew his stuff quite well. He designed some of the drinks himself. In the past, I have been a big rum drinker and switched to whiskeys and bourbons in the past couple of years. Since they had such a wide selection of rums, I asked for a recommendation of a sipping rum. I can't tell you what he gave me, but I do remember it was dark and aged 12 years. It was very smooth. One of the choices we discussed was a French rum. He schooled me on the differences between French and other rums. Apparently, the French have very strict regulations about what goes into their rums. For example, the sugar cane has to be pure. He gave me a sample of one and it had a very different taste than the Island rums I'm used to. It is not quite as sweet and is much smoother. I am not sure if I liked it as much as the Island rums, but it was good.

Another good choice of location. But, since it is a themed bar, and kind of kitschy, it is one you need to really want to try before you go there. The experience is different than a more...