Mag's 940, New Orleans

About Mag's 940

Mag's 940 holds the corner of Elysian Fields and North Rampart in Faubourg Marigny, a scruffy, locals-first gay dive that doubles as a performance room. There's a small stage for the burlesque and drag shows—resident performer Princess Stephanie is a fixture—and on weekend nights go-go dancers work the bar top. It's also one of the few rooms in the neighborhood that books live bluegrass, which tells you something about how little it cares about fitting a single mold. Unusually, the bar runs a small guest house with rooms upstairs, so you can stay above the action. The whole feel is a deliberate, grittier counterpoint to the tourist-heavy bars of the nearby French Quarter—cheaper, weirder, and more neighborhood than spectacle. Go for the drag and the daiquiris, stay for the kind of room where the bartenders know the regulars by name.