Taking a step into Lafitte’s Blacksmith Shop Bar in New Orleans is like taking a step back in time, to the days when pirates in the Gulf of Mexico plundered British and Spanish ships bringing goods to the New World. Built between 1722 and 1732, it’s believed to be the oldest building being used as a bar in the United States.
Legend has it that between 1772 and 1791, when the brothers Jean and Pierre Lafitte were at the peak of their privateering, Jean would meet potential clients at the building to orchestrate the transfer of smuggled goods to the area’s business owners. It was thought to be a safe place on neutral ground, away from Jean Lafitte’s home on Royal Street. At the time, the property was owned by the family of an entrepreneur known as Castillon (Simon Duroche) and Captain Rene Beluche, the captain of a ship in the Lafitte brothers’ Baratarian fleet.
Stepping inside the bar reminded me of parts of Disneyland’s Pirates of the Caribbean, with old gas lamps flickering in a darkened back room. Playing into the legend, the walls are adorned with pictures of Lafitte. The front of the bar is bright and open, with wood beam ceilings and tables that have been carved with the names of visitors past and present.
We visited on a Sunday in mid- to late-April and the bar was quite crowded. We were lucky enough to grab a table in a back corner, and our waitress was prompt getting our drink to us. Prices were average, about $5 for a bottle of beer.
The interior is ragged and definitely a little worse for wear, but the bar’s history makes it an interesting place to stop for a few minutes and whet your whistle while strolling along Bourbon Street.
