Arnaud's French 75 Bar

Review

In 1918, a colourful French wine salesman named Arnaud Cazenave opened the grand restaurant that bears his name. Once the Old Grill Bar, the renamed and refurbished Arnaud's French 75 bar has its own entrance on Bienville Street.

While a relatively recent addition, Arnaud's French 75 bar looks and feels like it has been part of the attached restaurant forever, thanks to a classic altar-like bar, a mosaic floor and a veritable rainforest of polished dark wood. The service offered by Chris Hannah and the other bartenders in their white jackets is distinctly old-school - classic drinks, including the eponymous champagne cocktail, are lovingly made and the food is very classy. While only a hundred yards or so away, this is another world from Bourbon Street.

Look out for the bronze bust of Churchill by Daniel Price, which surveys the scene from atop the cigar humidor.