Stogie Commentary: What it Means to Smoke in New Orleans
28 Jun 2007
If you’re looking for proof that smoking restrictions and cigars can coexist, check out New Orleans. Yes, regulations imposed this year killed the opportunity to light up after a fine meal at a nice restaurant, but you’ll still find lots of places to purchase cigars and smoke them.
On a recent visit, I was struck repeatedly by the cigar-friendly nature of the city. The restrictions appear to be much like those in Florida where indoor smoking is generally allowed only in bars and cigar shops. And there are many of both. Smoking is greatly curbed (the photo below is a fading reminder of New Orleans’ storied cigar past), but not outlawed.
Take Dos Jefes Uptown Cigar Bar, which combines the two, for example. It has a nice selection of cigars, soft chairs in which to enjoy them inside, patio seating for those who prefer the open air, a wide variety of alcohol, and some great music. Catch Sunpie and the Louisiana Sunspots for a rocking mix of blues, boogie-woogie, zydeco, and rock.
In the highly traveled tourist areas like the French Quarter and the Garden District, cigar shops abound. Check out the Crescent City Crawfish Cigar Crawl for descriptions of several shops as well as a great article on New Orleans’ cigar history.
I spent a little time at the Mayan Import Co. on a funky stretch of Magazine Street. The large walk-in humidor has a considerable selection, the lounge is cool, and the workers are friendly. (There’s also quite a bit of pipe tobacco.)
And if you’re interested in adding to your stock of high-end cigars, New Orleans could be just the place to visit. At Emeril’s Restaurant, nearly hidden back by the restrooms, there’s a standalone humidor – no longer much needed since smoking isn’t allowed there.
But what a humidor. Boxes of Fuente Fuente OpusX, Don Carlos, Hemingway, and other super-premiums abound. These days, said our waiter (a cigar smoker himself), the restaurant has them on display just to get rid of its inventory.
Patrick Ashby
Co-Founder & Editor in Chief
Patrick Semmens
Co-Founder & Publisher
George Edmonson
Tampa Bureau Chief
So I'm wondering, George, if you got a sense of whether or not the cigar community has rebounded in New Orleans.
Great pic, by the way…
Clerks I spoke to at several of the shops said sales were doing all right, though I think they were talking more about the impact of the restrictions than Katrina. And at Dos Jefes, for example, I saw lots of cigar smokers. I think, though, that someone who lives in New Orleans would be better qualified to answer your question. Any readers down there want to give us some input?
I've lived in New Orleans my whole life, and I tend to think that the cigar community has not fully rebounded from Katrina. A lot of that has to do with the fact that there are a lot fewer people in the city nowadays.
But, as George's article points out, there are still some great spots to enjoy a smoke. Dos Jefes is one of my favorites.