Fritzel’s European Jazz Pub

We came in here because we were just looking for a quick hangout spot out of the hot NO weather and it was empty. We ordered a couple drinks and discovered a very cute little outdoor seating area out back that was also empty so we sat outside for a bit. A band showed up and started playing so we moved inside to listen to it on their funky wooden benches and a few more people showed up to watch. An hour or so goes by and suddenly the place is packed, the jazz quartet is amazing. We absolutely loved our experience here. We got our funky jazz club experience, Absinthe drinks, hubby even got soaked out back for a smoke when it started raining. The band played our request. we thoroughly enjoyed it.

Great, great place for jazz. Will visit again.

Really enjoyed my time there. The bartender who was working was exactly the friendliest person, but it was a busy night and with tourists constantly being around… eh, I get it. Other than that, the band was amazing, the lighting makes it a cool place to sit and chill and the drinks were good. Would highly recommend to another person.

A treat on Bourbon Street of all places! I have an instinctual aversion to Bourbon — if I accidentally find myself on it I try to run away as soon as possible. So it took a lot of convincing on my hubby’s part to not only get me to walk down, but actually enter a bar (gasp!). Well, I was rewarded with a perfect evening of Jazz in an intimate, laid back atmosphere, with a draft Abita (or two) in hand. I don’t know how this little gem manages to prevent the drunken hordes from taking over, but I hope they can keep it up. We were treated to two sets of Fritzel’s awesome house band, and the crowd was great. There are lots of seats crowded all around the stage, which makes for a very intimate experience. The hostess will quickly point you to emory seats, and the efficient staff keep the drink orders comin’. A perfect French Quarter Saturday night experience.

I love live music and live jazz! This place is small and cozy. I had a Bloody Mary and it was nice and spicy just like I like it !!! The Jazz set was quite entertaining also!

Nice place but a lit bit crowded. Try their Bloody Mary! You’d love it! The service is nice. Love their band

Great jazz hangout in the middle of the madness on Bourbon street. Very local feel, cheap drinks and fast service with efficient seating times during crazy hours. Has upstairs balcony right on top of Bourbon st.

Great spot for New Orleans style jazz. House band is phenomenal. No cover. There is a one drink minimum. Nothing special about the drinks but for the music it’s worth it.
I come here every time I’m in NOLA and you should too. The music won’t disappoint!

Best hurricanes on Bourbon St!
Good music too occasionally.
No food is served but drinks are tasty and strong.

Google search «Best Jazz Clubs/​Bars» and you’ll certainly come across Fritzel’s European Jazz Pub. As a matter of fact, it was on 8 out of 10 recommendation lists… this SHOCKS me as my visit was nothing more than a HORRIBLE EXPERIENCE !
HOW DID WE END UP HERE ?
First day in town and I stumbling onto an amazing street band playing brass instruments and a full-​set of drums made up of plastic and metal buckets. Being a longtime fan of Jazz and Blues, I was hooked on the local sound and immediately did an «on-​the-​fly» Unilocal search for Best Jazz… top of that list was Fritzel’s.
ALL SEEMS RIGHTEOUS !
Even though it’s located on Bourbon Street (the one area I avoid like the plague), we went off course one night to check out Fritzel’s. We already had visited other jazz bars, so when I entered this place I was a little surprised how small it was. The liquor bar was along the right side and looked very well stocked and I noticed a variety of absinthe too. To the left was some seating with a limited view of stage in the back area. The stage itself was small in one corner with some bench seating directly in front of the stage (a couple rows had a counter top to hold your drinks)… while the right side of the room had home-​made stadium seating (better than the benches for viewing and comfort but it was full when we arrived).
The brick-​faced walls were cluttered with all sorts of local flair and memorabilia and the place had a cool vibe.
We grabbed a couple stools at the bar and asked if any bands were scheduled to perform (as the stage was unoccupied at the moment). The bartender (not the warmest woman) said the next band was coming up shortly so we looked over the drink specials and ordered a SINFUL DELIGHT (a house special made with Grand Absente, Peach Schnapps and Sweet & Sour Mix) and a HURRICANE (a local specialty with Dark & Light Rums mixed with Fruit Juices).
The bartender asked me when I ordered my Sinful Delight that you need to like the taste of licorice and I responded I do
AND THINGS TURN SOUR !
We told the bartender we were moving over to the bench seating to get ready for the show and she asked for a credit card to keep a tab going. I took one sip as I handed over my AMEX and she asked how I liked it… whoa that’s sour ! She literally nodded her shoulders…
We sat at the bench seats as the band arrived and was getting ready to begin. A couple of the waitresses were packing people onto those benches like sardines in a little can and it was getting a bit tight…
A waitress then says to us «you must order a drink to sit here»… HUH?
Not only do we literally have two FULL drinks in front of us, but I also say we need to return these drinks for something else because mine has WAY TOO MUCH sour mix (not a hint of anything else) and shockingly my girl’s Hurricane is too sour… WHY IS IT SOUR? IT TASTES NOTHING LIKE A HURRICANE SHOULD TASTE LIKE !
Her response just infuriated me, told me I should’ve told the bartender when we got them and they will not remake the drinks… keep in mind, I did tell her !
JAZZ IS SOLID !
The band begins to play and honestly, they are just great… Definitely Jazz but mixed with a touch of Swing…
But as much as I liked it, the crappy drinks and piss-​pour attitudes of every worker I had to deal with just had me wanting to get out of there…
THAT F’ing BARTENDER AGAIN !
We get up to leave and I go to the bar with the two drinks… I tell the lady that made the drinks that we can’t drink them since BOTH TASTE LIKE PURE SWEET AND SOUR MIX and I ask for my credit card back.
Instead of handing me my credit card she gives me a bill for the drinks (WITHOUT MY CARD)… I questioned why am I getting charged if they are made wrong. She goes into a whole tirade of how everyone loves their drinks and I don’t know the taste of good drinks and of course she reminded me that she told me it tastes like licorice… BUT I reply with IT DOESN’T TASTE LIKE LICORICE !
She again goes on and on with her tirade… but more importantly SHE REFUSED TO GIVE ME MY CREDIT CARD UNTIL I SIGN THE CREDIT CARD SLIP
At this point, the guy next to me at the bar says to her that his drinks sucks and he wants another and tells me this place is a joke.
I then tell the bartender, if she refuses I’ll just report it stolen and they will replace it in 24 hours (AMEX does have it’s privileges). Instead of calling, I put a big «X» through the bill and she thought I signed it and gave me my card.
THE NEXT DAY !
The next morning at a coffee shop we met the lead singer of the band and he asked if we liked the show… of course we liked the band but that was it… he felt bad and apologized on their behalf and he gave us his CD… told us where we «should» go and places everyone loves (his recommendations were on point too).
BOTTOM LINE !
* * * WORST CUSTOMER SERVICE !
* * * WORST DRINKS EVER !
* * * WILL NEVER RECOMMEND !
* * * WILL NEVER RETURN !

Always a favorite in New Orleans. Great classic jazz in an old school atmosphere. Creative and delicious drinks served with a smile!

If we ever have to take people to Bourbon street when they visit, this is one of the few places we like enough to take them.
They have a good beer selection; the staff are always friendly and the prices are about average for Bourbon street. We like sitting by the door and people watching. It’s relaxing on an otherwise annoyingly loud stretch of Bourbon street. The last time we stopped in, they had a band and it was just about as good as you can get on Bourbon except for Galatoires.

First, please notice that there are no four or five star reviews from people who actually live in New Orleans. So if you like to get your info on the Big Easy from someone in from Wichita for the weekend, maybe you will love this place. If not, read on.
Like another reviewer, we were tricked into overpaying. We do our laundry down the street and were killing time and despite not having any music this afternoon, we wandered in for a drink solely based on the chalkboard sign advertising Hurricanes and Abita for $ 4 and saying you could take it to go (like every other bar in NOLA). We ordered one of each and had a seat while the bartender made them, and when she brought them over demanded $ 15.
My husband started to say «But the sign says» and she had clearly had this chat many times as she interrupted him and snapped «NO! That’s just to go which means you have to order from the window (again, any drink in NOLA is to go! And the sign said said nothing about only ordering from the window) and you just get pre-​made Hurricane, not ‘this’ (gesturing grandly to a glass of juice with some rum on top) You’re lucky, it’s happy hour so these are even on sale, you come later and I charge you $ 2 more for each!»
She was extremely loud and rude and everyone in the small bar turned to look at us. We paid for our overpriced and falsely advertised drinks, poured them in to go cups and promptly left.
This is a place that obviously gears toward taking advantage of tourists. We are locals, but they still got us. If you want a Hurricane, go down the street to Lafitte’s and get one twice the size in a cup you can keep that tastes 10x better than this place. If you want music, go to Frenchmen. This place is shady and the older blonde female bartender is a creep.

The in house band is absolutely outstanding! High energy great musicians. Talented and then some. The hostess was super sweet and sat us in one of the best seats in the house. The waitress that we had really was horribly rude and unfriendly. She obviously hates being a waitress and was not a nice person. We were only served one drink each and this was our first stop. I could understand it if we were being rowdy or rude but we weren’t we were there to just hear some fabulous music. I’ll be back but hopefully she won’t be my waitress when I do go back.

This places was really cool, the music was amazing and the drinks were really good,
The prices are a little bit expensive but tonight sid not matter the band that was playing really rocked the stage

Located on Bourbon Street, it’s a small intimate pub with an old school feel. A hostess greeted us at the door and led us to open seats (and to make sure you order a drink or two since they have a ONE DRINK minimum policy!). It was a Thursday night, but the place was packed to the doorway. Can’t remember the band’s name, and I have a feeling it’s a «house band» but they sounded pretty good — there are many different types of jazz music, and the type they played wasn’t my absolute favorite even though it was definitely good.
Drinks here are pricey (compared to other drink spots in NOLA). 2 drinks came out to about $ 20. While in LA this would’ve been a very average price, I was paying an average of $ 7 a drink in NOLA.
I had a better time listening to jazz music in Frenchmen Street area (ahem Spotted Cat)
Nice little pub but there are better if you’re looking for some of that good ol jazz!

A nice change of pace from everything else on Bourbon street. Me and my boyfriend came on a thursday night. They were pretty crowded they have a woman out front placing you in seats. They had no cover and as we were walking in two bar seats opened. They have a 1 drink/​set policy.
Jazz pub/​dive is the best description of this place. While the music was killer (some of the best we heard in NOLA) it was not fancy in any means. Basic beers, drinks/​cocktails in plastic cups, servers not really being attentive.
The live music is worth the bad service and mediocre beverages. Especially if you see the same group we did, the piano player richard scott was incredible!

Excellent music, great cocktails.
Seating was a little tight, but at least you can take a seat with great proximity to awesome performances.

If you are wondering which jazz bar to round out your NOLA experience, this one is a must!
Fritzel’s has a board outside that lets you know who is playing at what time. We saw that a jazz band was playing at 7 pm so we went in at 6:40, grabbed the best seats in the house and waited for the show to start. Our plan was perfect because the bar was packed by 7:30!
The jazz here — at least when we visited — was on the livelier side with plenty of audience participation. Our band played a couple of Frank Sinatra songs and encouraged everyone to sing along. We had so much fun that we stayed for 2 hours!
Note that the drinks are pricy relative to the other jazz bars we visited ($ 8+ for beers and wines) but the show plenty makes up for it!

So after the 4^th night of hanging out on Bourbon street… we kinda wanted a change of scenery. So the hubby looked up jazz bars that were close to us and found this hidden gem!
It’s a one drink minimum policy, but who only just have ONE drink while at the French Quarter? It’s small and heavily crowded and it was St. Patrick’s day. We sat out in the courtyard and just enjoyed listening to the music. Within 2 songs, they took a break and people started to leave the seating area. I took advantage of this and snag us a seat in the second row facing the stage. They band was taking a quick break. We ordered our drinks and then the place started to get packed again. The band played several songs, and even had a guest drummer. They were collecting tip at the end, before they took another break, so bring a few dollars to support the local musicians!
We thoroughly enjoyed our time, it is tight quarters, so be warned for those of you who are claustrophobic. Overall, it’s a change of scenery from the typical Bourbon Street bar, but no worries, once you step outside, it’s back to the shenanigans. :)

Angenehme Atmosphär, freundliche Bedienumg, leckere Cocktails und Schöné Musik. Uns wurde die Bar empfohlen von 2 älteren Damen, falls wir richtigen Jazz mal hören wollen und wir wurden nicht enttäuscht. Die Hausband wurde an dem abend von Mr Frietzel am Saxophon verstärkt und die Stimmung zum kochen gebracht. Ist ein muß bei jedem New Orleans besuch.

Im Teil mit dem größten Trubel hat sich dieses Pub etabliert, das sich dem Jazz europäischen Ursprungs verschrieben hat. Allabendlich spielen hier Musiker sehr zur Freude des Publikums.

Super Jazz Kneipe mit deutschen Wurzeln. Die hauseigene Band spielt super, allerdings eher Dixie. Der Klavierspieler ist herrlich
New Orleans ohne Fritzel’s ist nicht New Orleans!
Comming back!