Entry No. 96 — the New Orleans file — filed under: dive-bar
Siberia
The front room is Soviet kitsch played completely straight — red stars, grim portraiture, a bar that opens in the afternoon and does not apologise for it. The back room books whatever the city coughs up that week: black metal on a Saturday, bounce, gutter-country, comedy-burlesque, bills stacked three and four bands deep starting around 9pm. The pierogi-and-kielbasa window that made the place famous has changed hands — the kitchen is now Que Pasta NOLA doing Latin street food, 6 to 11 nightly, and nobody at 10pm on a Saturday seems to be grieving. Every show is 21+ unless the flyer says otherwise, and the door means it about valid ID.
→ Three more underground music & performance in New Orleans — never the same twice
The story
Siberia occupies 2227 St. Claude Avenue, a building WWOZ still files under its former life as Te Te's Bar & Restaurant, directly across the avenue from the AllWays Lounge. The name set the terms: a Slavic conceit played straight, a front bar that opens in the afternoon, and a back room that became the city's default address for punk, metal and indie. The in-house kitchen was Kukhnya, plating pan-Slavic food — pierogi, kielbasa, stroganoff — alongside Eastern European beer, and it is the thing people who left New Orleans a decade ago still ask about first.
The bar closed in 2019 and new owners renamed it Carnaval Lounge, swapping the pierogi for Brazilian food and beer and South American wine. "We want it to be a festive, welcoming place for everybody," co-owner Jennifer Johnson told OffBeat that August. "We think Carnaval Lounge conveys that a bit more than Siberia." Then the pandemic arrived, and in September 2022 Siberia reacquired the space and reopened under partly new ownership — cosmetic changes, a community reunion, and an opening night with Jason Meyers on guitar and vocals and Josh Gates on bass. The kitchen changed hands again: it is now Que Pasta NOLA doing Latin street food, 6pm to 11pm daily, and nobody at 10pm on a Saturday appears to be grieving.
What the back room books is best read off a calendar. Bills stack three and four acts deep at 9pm — Kult Desastre with Flender, Walmart2 and Traum; Shearling with Guts Club and Days of Grief; Powerplant with W-9 and Steef — and the off-nights are their own argument, like Goth Line Dancing with Giddy Up Two Step at 6:30 on a Sunday. The one thing the operation cannot settle is when it opens: the site's own header runs "BAR OPEN FRI-TUES 4PM WED-THURS 7PM" and "OPEN M-Th 4PM, F-Su 6PM" simultaneously, a few pixels apart.
What it's like
You come in through the front bar, which is dark, cheap and open well before anything is happening. Order at the kitchen window and eat there — the back room is a music room, small and loud once a band starts, and the sound of four acts in one night carries through the whole building. Cover is small and paid at the door; bring cash. Doors are 21+ and the ID check is not decorative. Shows are listed at 9pm and stack, so a four-band Saturday is a late night by construction rather than by accident, and there's no house genre to prepare for: the same room takes black metal, bounce, gutter-country and line dancing in the same week.
The move: Get there at 6 when the kitchen opens, order at the back window and eat in the front room under the propaganda posters, then buy into whatever the 9pm bill is without looking it up first. Three or four bands, one small cover, and you either leave by midnight or you don't leave at all.
📍 Before you go A straight shot downriver from the Quarter; the Rampart–St. Claude streetcar drops you a block away. Their own site is inconsistent on opening time (one line says M-Th 4pm / F-Su 6pm, another says Fri-Tues 4pm / Wed-Thurs 7pm) — call (504) 265-8855 if you're timing dinner. Kitchen 6-11pm daily. 21+ with valid ID, no exceptions posted. Bring cash for the door; the back room is small and gets loud fast.
- 📍 New Orleans
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 2227 St. Claude Ave, New Orleans, LA 70117
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- The AllWays Lounge & Cabaret — Straight across St. Claude Avenue: catch the 7pm cabaret in the Twilight Room, then cross the street for the 9pm bill without moving your car.
- Café Istanbul — A block and a half up at the Healing Center, and the tonal opposite — a balconied theatre doing early music, poetry nights and the Nicolas Payton Trio, booked event by event with nothing on unbooked nights.
- Bar Redux — The downriver version of the same idea, at the far end of Poland Avenue: small door cover, punk and burlesque on a patio stage, and a kitchen that keeps sending food out until about 1am.
More weird in New Orleans
Good to know
How do I get there and back?
2227 St. Claude Avenue is a straight shot downriver from the French Quarter, about ten minutes by car, and the Rampart–St. Claude streetcar drops you a block away. Late, most people rideshare back; St. Claude street parking exists but thins out on show nights.
What time does it actually open?
Their own website posts two different answers in the same header — Fri–Tues 4pm / Wed–Thurs 7pm on one line, Mon–Thurs 4pm / Fri–Sun 6pm on another. If you're timing dinner around it, call (504) 265-8855. The kitchen is the reliable clock: Que Pasta NOLA runs 6pm to 11pm daily.
Do I need tickets, and what does it cost?
Most nights it's a small cover paid at the door in cash rather than an advance ticket. Check the calendar on siberianola.com or WWOZ's Livewire listings for what's on; touring bills are the ones worth confirming ahead. Booking enquiries go to [email protected].
Is it 21+?
Yes, every show unless a flyer specifically says otherwise, and the door means it about valid ID. Plan accordingly if anyone in your group is under 21 — there is no alternative room.
Is the Slavic food still there?
No. Kukhnya's pierogi and kielbasa are the thing everyone remembers, but the kitchen is now Que Pasta NOLA, serving Latin street food nightly from 6 to 11. The bar's Siberian branding stayed; the menu did not.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · welcometonola.com · wwoz.org
last checked: 2026-08-26