Fat Tuesday in the Big Easy
A man dressed as a woman is dancing a Cajun waltz with a live chicken, and the chicken should
consider itself lucky. This fellow and hundreds of others have spent the day riding through
the countryside near Church Point, La., on horseback, begging for food to make a gumbo. Now
they've gathered inside a barn for a fais-do-do, or dance. Most of the chickens gathered
during the masked ride, called the Courir du Mardi Gras, are already being served up to
hungry partiers. A Cajun band is going full blast, folks of all ages are eating gumbo
and drinking iced beer from cans. Fat Tuesday is two days away, but Mardi Gras is in full swing.
There is no other party like Mardi Gras. The day before Lent begins is celebrated with fervor
around the world, but in the United States it has become synonymous with New Orleans and Louisiana.
Mardi Gras lasts for weeks in New Orleans, starting in January, with parades, balls and parties.
And while Bourbon Street is jammed with drinkers who have had more than one too many, guzzling
fruit-flavored drinks, tossing down Jello shots and buying "huge beers" based on size rather
than original gravity, it is possible to enjoy flavorful beer at Mardi Gras.
Your good-beer pickings out in Cajun country, the 22 parishes settled by exiled French Canadians
in the early 1700s, are admittedly slim. Your best bet is to look for Rikenjaks beers or stop in
the Chimes Restaurant and Oyster House (3357 Highland Road, 504-383-1754) in Baton Rouge. It's 20
taps offer a nice cross-section of imports and microbrewery beers, including regional products.
New Orleans is where most tourists congregate during Mardi Gras. The entire metropolitan area
hosts parades galore. You can stand outside Lager's (3501 Veterans Blvd., Metairie, 504-887-9923)
a bar with 70 beers on tap, and watch any of several parades stream down Veterans Boulevard.
Farther down Veteran's, be sure to check out the excellent beer selection at Dorignac's supermarket.
Of course, you'll want to experience Mardi Gras events in the French Quarter, where women really
do lift their shirts -- and men drop their pants -- for strings of cheap beads. The best beer
offerings can be had at Crescent City Brewhouse (527 Decatur St., 504-522-0571) and O'Flaherty's
Irish Channel Pub (514 Toulouse St., 504-529-1317). O'Flaherty's is quite Irish, with a separate
music room, poetry readings and well-poured Guinness Stout, but you'll also find beers such as
Anchor Steam on tap. Many package stores and bars in the Quarter offer products from Acadian
Brewing Co., Dixie Brewing Co., including Blackened Voodoo, and Abita Brewing Co., as well
as a limited number of micros and imports.
Thanks to the city's laissez-faire drinking laws, it's possible to buy good beer from a package
store, along with a "to go" cup, and find a spot on any number of streets to vie for beads and
trinkets tossed by parade celebrities such as Harry Connick Jr. and John Goodman. One
restaurant/store on St. Charles Street, close to Canal, offers selections including Rikenjaks
Old Hardhead and Lindeman's Framboise.
(About those "to go" cups: You can't carry around alcoholic products in glass in New Orleans,
but you can drink just about anywhere -- in other words, while walking around or even driving.
Which is not to say it's not startling to get in a taxi and have the cabbie ask you if it's
OK if he enjoys a beer while he totes you about.)
Away from the French Quarter, some of the best places to drink include:
Acadian Brewing Co. (201 N. Carrollton, 504-483-9003). The brewery opened a little before
Mardi Gras last year and operates a taproom in which its beers and those from most of the
other Louisiana breweries are available. Several Mardi Gras parades go right past here.
The Bulldog (3236 Magazine St., 504-891-1516). The 50 tap selections mix imports and craft
beers, with plenty of Louisiana-brewed beer.
Cooter Brown's (509 S. Carrollton, 504-866-9104). An oyster bar with more than 40 different
beers on tap and hundreds of bottle choices. Home of "Beer Heaven," a collection of sculpted
caricatures who have oversized heads and undersized bodies. Each is a famous celebrity
holding a bottle of beer -- such as John Wayne with a Lone Star beer and Alfred Hitchcock with Rogue's Dead Guy Ale.
Carrollton Station (8140 Willow, 504-865-9190). An intimate place with the feel of an
English pub, but also a rocking music venue with 16 beers on tap.
Rivershack Tavern (3449 River Road, Jefferson, 504-835-6933). Just beyond the city
proper, the Rivershack is located in an old country store. Original vintage advertising
on the outside, "Home of the Tacky Ashtray" and 20 draft beers inside.
Laissez les bons temps roulez.
Editor's note: This story was written following Mardi Gras of 1996. Since then there have been many changes in
Louisiana, and the names of breweries that closed were removed from this story. One bit of good news:
Rick Nyberg, the original brewer at Rikenjaks, has returned to the brewery.
