Entry No. 98 — the New Orleans file — filed under: ferry-ride
The Old Point Bar
The bar sits two blocks up from the Algiers Point ferry landing in a century-old former dry goods store, and the crossing is half the reason to go: five to ten minutes over the Mississippi with the Quarter's skyline sliding away behind you, for two dollars. Inside it's an unreconstructed corner barroom — sixteen taps, a pool table, somebody's dog under a stool, and a stage roughly the footprint of a parking space. Music lands most nights and leans country, blues and R&B, with an open mic on Wednesdays that draws the whole neighbourhood. There's no kitchen, so the sequencing of your evening is decided for you.
→ Three more underground music & performance in New Orleans — never the same twice
The story
Algiers was established across the river in 1719 as a company plantation — warehouse, workshop, lumber mill, and the ground where enslaved Africans were held before sale — and was annexed as the city's 15th Ward in 1870. A fire in 1895 took out much of the town around the courthouse, and what stands at the Point today is largely the rebuild, which is why several streets read as one continuous late-Victorian block. Jazz musicians in the 1920s called Algiers the Brooklyn of the South; Kid Thomas Valentine and Red Allen came out of it. Ferries have crossed between here and the foot of Canal Street since 1827.
The Old Point Bar sits two blocks up from the landing at 545 Patterson, in a building that has stood over a century and started out as a dry goods store. It has been pouring since the 1990s and the interior has not been argued with: a long bar, a pool table, somebody's dog under a stool, a stage roughly the footprint of a parking space. The bar's own website is one page long and says, in full, 'Cold beer, live music and hot times!' There is no kitchen.
Music lands three or four nights a week and Sunday afternoons, and the booking is wider than the corner-bar setting suggests — blues, jazz and R&B as the base, with Gal Holiday's honky-tonk revue, organ player Joe Krown, funk, indie rock and the occasional electronic set filling out the calendar. Weekend bands typically go on between 7 and 9pm; Sunday sets start around 3pm. Wednesday is a long-running open mic that pulls in the neighbourhood rather than the tourist trade, which on this side of the river is most of the point.
What it's like
The evening is structured by the boat, not the band. You board at the Canal Street terminal, cross in a few minutes with the Quarter's skyline receding behind you, land at Algiers Point and walk two blocks up. Inside it is a working neighbourhood bar: order at the counter, find a stool, expect a dog. There is no cover and no ticket — the band plays for tips, so carry small bills. The room is small enough that conversation stops when the music starts, and nobody minds if you shoot pool through it. The one hard constraint is the return: the last ferry off Algiers is 8:30pm Sunday to Thursday and 10:30pm Friday and Saturday, so a weeknight gig means leaving mid-set or ordering a car over the bridge.
The move: Take the 6:15 or 6:45 boat from the foot of Canal Street, walk the levee at Algiers Point while the light goes, then take a table at the Old Point for the 8 or 9pm band. Do it on a Friday or Saturday: the last boat back leaves Algiers at 10:30pm those nights and at 8:30pm the rest of the week, which is otherwise a very short date.
📍 Before you go The ferry from the foot of Canal Street runs from 6am, $2 each way or $3 for an all-day pass through the RTA Le Pass app; last departure from Algiers is 8:30pm Sun-Thu and 10:30pm Fri-Sat, after which your only way back is a rideshare over the Crescent City Connection. Bar hours run 11am-2am, to 3am Fri-Sat. No kitchen — eat before you cross. Ignore oldpointbar.com, which lapsed and now hosts generated filler; the real site is oldpointbarnola.com, phone (504) 364-0950.
- 📍 New Orleans
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 545 Patterson Dr, New Orleans, LA 70114
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
Pair it with
- Beachbum Berry's Latitude 29 — A short walk from the Canal Street ferry terminal on N. Peters, and the fix for a bar with no kitchen — eat and drink something engineered before you cross to a place that serves cold beer and nothing else.
- The Sazerac House — At Canal and Magazine, essentially on top of the ferry terminal, free, and finished by late afternoon — the daylight half of the same evening.
- Old Man River Statue — Seventeen tons of Carrara marble standing on the riverfront a short walk from the terminal; pass it on the way to the boat and you have seen the river from both banks in one night.
More weird in New Orleans
Good to know
How much is the ferry and when does it run?
Two dollars each way; a one-day RTA Jazzy Pass is $3 and covers the return, and priority riders and youth pay $1. Pay through the Le Pass app rather than hunting for change. Boats leave Canal Street at :15 and :45 past the hour and leave Algiers on the hour and half-hour from 6am.
What happens if I miss the last boat?
Last departure from Algiers is 8:30pm Sunday through Thursday and 10:30pm Friday and Saturday. After that your only route back is a rideshare over the Crescent City Connection, which is a real trip, not a five-minute one. Friday and Saturday are the nights that let you see a full set and still catch a boat.
Is there food?
No kitchen at all. Eat on the Quarter side before you cross, or plan on Algiers Point's own handful of restaurants near the landing — but check their hours, because the Point closes earlier than downtown does.
Is there a cover charge?
No. Music is free and the band works the tip jar, so bring cash even though the bar itself takes cards. Bar hours run 11am to 2am, and to 3am Friday and Saturday.
Which website is the real one?
oldpointbarnola.com. The similarly named oldpointbar.com lapsed and now serves generated filler — do not plan a night off it. To confirm who is playing, use WWOZ's Livewire calendar or call (504) 364-0950.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · welcometonola.com · localgroove.live · wwoz.org
last checked: 2026-08-26