Poor Boys Bar — Restaurant in New Orleans

I hardly leave reviews but this place deserves another excellent rating. I traveled out of Cali & I went out on a Wednesday night. I didn’t feel like going all the way to Bourbon St. & preferred the local vibe (i.e. a 20 min vs 40 min). I was the first one to arrive (~9pm) when they opened so it was pretty empty but it picks up after 12 am. I was able to meet great locals who were friendly & communicative; & shared the cultural intricacies from the area. The drinks were affordable & didn’t break the bank. I didn’t see any kitchen/vendor options the night i went but some snacks kept me by. Kat, the bartender, does her absolute best to make EVERYONE feel at home, which can sometimes be perceived differently. We connected on Star Wars, Legos, Harry Potter, & architecture. She has a bearded lizard named “High Life” who is super cute - he LOVES kale & tomatoes. The amount of work put into their bar atmosphere can be felt & seen when I arrived between Halloween & Christmas. The decorations were done very well so anyone visiting can see the love they have for their safe space & community. It was definitely an LGBTQ+ environment. I had visited the Corner Pocket earlier in the week but I felt out of place due to the age gap. In comparison, the Poor Boys is a unique & memorable experience - I developed new friendships I hope to take continue. I would definitely recommend stopping by...

Poor Boys is easily one of my favorite places to hang out in New Orleans. It's a late-night type of place, at least that's when I visit, but the party gets started early, and it goes on, most nights, until the sun comes up. Great mixture of locals, all races, and backgrounds, with a healthy dose of cool transplants. They really have a wide range in their offerings of entertainment and food. At least once a month, they have "Rich Girls x Poor Boys," which is an amateur stripper night in the middle of a neighborhood dive/event hall. And yes, it is as fun as you are imagining. The strippers dance on the same stage where you sing karaoke on Sundays. I even saw backyard wrestling in their immense courtyard once. This is where you'll also find the numerous food pop-ups, such as the best tacos in the city made by Liberacion NOLA or the incredible street corn of Crunchy Munchy...

Karaoke hostess Alessandra treated me with great disrespect and accused me of wrongdoings perpetrated by some other patron, made racist comments about Asian men to my friend, doesn’t stick to karaoke and plays regular tracks for too big a portion of karaoke night, takes too long transitioning between karaoke numbers, let’s her clique do multiple songs in a row, sucks with her technology, and uses a silly notebook for song sign-ups and not some computerized system like most karaoke bars in the city. She is disorganized and hates it when I ask her how many songs are before me. Furthermore, the space doesn’t have enough seating. She needs to get replaced. Horrible, horrible experiences from one week to the next for me...