BJ’s Lounge

BJ’s hosts Blood Jet, a weekly poetry series on Wednesdays at 8:30. They bring in local as well as regional writers/​poets. The set up is homey and comfortable, a literary living room!
The bar itself is gently divey. Cash only! Bathrooms decorated with cut-​outs of heartthrobs.

I have been here a couple of times and have had a really good time here.
This is a neighborhood place and while it’s not in the best area, if you are familiar with your surroundings or if you visit here with friends, you should be fine. I was here this past weekend for a dance party. The crowd was small, but it was still a lot of fun.
The bar is cash only and pretty basic when it comes to beer. A really chill place to hang out and unwind after a long day.

Great Bar with an amazing staff and friendly patrons who are always down to chat and listen to good tunes on the juke box.

Pretty authentic dive bar. Here are the plusses and minuses of this one:
— It’s New Orleans. which means smoking inside is fine. If it’s going to be a problem that 10 mins in here will make you smell like a stale pair of chimney sweep’s underpants then you’d better stay away.
— No drafts beers. There were a few decent bottles and cans, but this really is a bud and a shot kind of place.
— Great jukebox. Bartender spun some cool tunes while I was there.
— Chill, laid back, local but not unfriendly vibe.
— There’s a pool table.
If this was my local, I’d probably be popping in fairly often but wishing they served up some draft beer.

Paretty decent bar. I had just had a lot of blood tooken so I was all over the place and I accidentally stumbled onto this place. Very quiet and laid back, I asked for Rum punch and the guy knew exactly how to make it. Its very strong but really good and I feel like I got the most for my buck. After the night I had I needed this. Just goodness in one drink for 4.75

Another great neighborhood bar featuring cheap beer, good music and great times with friends. Its kind of hidden down in the lower part of the Bywater but it is definitely worth a trip.

Reminds me of a smoky bar back home but with all walks of life. Oh and on Mondays there is free beans and rice, I wish they did this back home. Bottled beers are limited but most ppl here have mixed drinks. Loved the mix of ppl and the dancing when the band plays. I just wish it wasn’t so smoky my eyes are red.

Smoky neighbourhood dive bar. Actually had some locals in it. Cheap drinks and good jazz on the Monday night we went at 11pm. Good vibe. PS: you pronounce «Burgundy Street» as «Burr — gun — dee» (not like the colour).

Ok place to have a drink if you are in the Bywater district. It is an eclectic bar, not the cleanest or most modern, but it gets the job done.
Like most other places in New Orleans, you will see pretty much every kind of person walk in here. Everyone gets along and has a good time.
Outside, you’ll find two life-​sized sculptures of the Blues Brothers. Great photo opportunity.
This seems to be the only place in the Bywater area with the NFL package so I’d recommend it for watching the NFL Football games. No food to speak of, just chips and a wide variety of beers and other assorted alcoholic elixirs to choose from.

It’s a dive bar and being New Orleans, smoking is allowed in this bar (so you non-​smokers take note and don’t b*tch about it afterwards).
Came here on a Monday for King James and the Special Men; excellent, awesome show! It was exactly the authentic New Orleans nightlife I wanted to experience. It was refreshing to see couples, young and old, making their way to the front and dancing together. I would never see that at home. Service was friendly but not overly so. It’s a block away from Vaughn’s and close enough to Bacchanal to make a night out of the 3.
Free red beans & rice on Mondays (as is in the New Orleans tradition)!

Uh, let’s start with a healthy dose of honesty: this is not a good «dive bar.» It’s just a 20-​foot by 100-​foot ramshackle, smoke-​filled shack of a house in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans. There are, maybe, 20 seats in the house, most of which appear to have been picked up from the sidewalks of New Orleans. The band takes up HALF of the bar, and the crowd is packed, asses-​to-​elbows, into the other half. We came for the music, and this place would have gotten more than one star (despite all of its many faults) had the (very good) house band (King James and the Specialmen) started something reasonably close to their advertised time of 10 p.m. They were extremely lackadaisical, finally gracing the crowd with their first note after 11 p.m. They played a 35– to 40-​minute first set, then took a nearly 45-​minute break. There’s nothing «authentic» or charming about this: it’s simply unprofessional.
The crowd? Dominated by 20-​something, preppy, pretentious chain-​smokers. Expect a dry cleaning bill to rid your clothes of the smoke.
As is well known, the Bywater is NOT a good neighborhood. With sensible precautions (taking taxis in and out), that’s not a big deal. Getting a cab there is not a problem. Getting a cab OUT at 1 a.m. or later: not so easy. Add up the cab fare from the French Quarter, and it makes a great deal more sense going to one of the many (far superior) clubs on Frenchman Street.
Don’t waste one of your precious nights in New Orleans on this place.

BJ’s Lounge… it’s simply The Awesome.
Oh did you want to know the recipe for The Awesome?
Just throw in equal parts:
— dark/​divey basement-​like atmosphere (while not being icky/​dirty)
–fantastic music (hello, punk night with DJ Christion playing stuff I haven’t heard in ages)
–comfy bar stools
–nice/​fast barkeep
Season with all the cheap a$$ drinks you want!
Distinctly Bywater ‘phere… like another favorite, J & J’s (uh, is there a relation, Mr. or Ms. J?)

Shame on me. They say you can’t judge a book by it’s cover but I WAS guilty of that when I first saw the outside of BJ’s Lounge. But then I went in side and found out how wrong I was. Great place, interesting décor, friendly people, my kind of place. They have not seen the last of me and I recommend it to anyone who wants to get away from the touristy bars. BJ’s is old school N’Awlins, a gem.

Let me describe it this way, if you took Cheers, Bud Light the road crew of Lynard Skynard you would have BJ’s. I went for an hour and met 5 Bob’s, got into an argument about Duane Allman, and watched a 50 year old hag slowly kill herself with Marlboro Lights. I understand if you live here this place would be home. If you are visiting the great city of New Orleans do not make this a destination.

What can I say. I’ve been coming here off and on for more than 20+ years, and it hasn’t changed (much). For better or worse, it’s the most comfortable Bywater living room/​dive bar/​pool table/​local bar there is. Great jukebox, great staff. Blended frozen fru fru drinks on Saturday mornings… if Julie is working. Hipster-​free if Bobby Lewis is working ;). Ok, not completely. If you pull an 18 hour shift in the barber’s chair at the end of the bar, you’ll see the widest variety of NOLA characters this side of the Quarter. And believe me, you want to be on this side of the Quarter.

I LOVE BJ’s. BJ’s all around. The Bywater Living room. My friend, Alicia S.‘s parents met here circa 1983. It’s a great locals’ hangout.
Additionally, BJ’s has a killer old school jukebox.
I always have good conversations with the bartenders and patrons.
Monday nights: King James and The Special Men. Put yer dancing shoes on ya’ll!!!

New Orleans has way more to offer than this place. On Monday nights they have a great band and decent prices on bottled beers. Unfortunately, the clientele is the problem. This joint is filled with drunken hipsters that consider themselves Bohemian but they really aren’t. I’m not going to overly judge the element but if you want a better feel for the Bywater got to J&J’s, where you can get great beer deals and not pushed around by a host of want-​to-​be seen hipsters!

I came here to meet a friend for a beer and conversation. I would say that BJ’s is more like a residential bar than a stereotypical «dive bar.» But it is a stereotypical dive bar with a great jukebox, a pool table, and a stuffed coyote. I think the coyote was a patron’s but it blended in well with the bar. My memory is a little fuzzy because the cheap beer was cheap.
Overall I like this bar and it will be a good pre-​gaming location before a night of Bywater debauchery or a good alternative for when Bacchanal gets over-​crowded /​over-​run with trendy people.

It was 85 degrees outside and my friends and I were peddling our bikes around the Bywater. Do the math hot weather plus bikes plus cold beer equals a great Sunday afternnoon. Do yourself a favor slow down and take a break here!!!

Good Bywater bar. It’s a mixed crowd of hipsters and gutter punks. If you can find a nice place to get fresh air, the place is tolerable. They have cheap drinks and the closing time varies. Me loving the Bywater, this place is totally how you make it. If you want to be depressed and rant about George Bush, there is someone there that can do that. If you want to be happy and talk about your dog, there are people for that. Good little bar.