The Sazerac, the Hurricane and the French 75 were all poured here first. A New Orleans food and drink tour walks you between the bars and dining rooms where that happened, with cocktails, whiskey or beer in hand and food that keeps pace. Four to compare, from $49, all with free cancellation.
New Orleans has a serious claim to the invention of the American cocktail, and the tours on this page take that seriously — the Sazerac House, the Bourbon Street dining rooms, the wine and whiskey bars around the Quarter, and the craft breweries that opened along Tchoupitoulas Street.
They are not bar crawls. Each of these is a guided tour with tastings and a route, and three of the four include food alongside the drinks. If you want the food to be the point and the cocktails to be the accompaniment, start with the combined cocktail and food history tour at the top of this page.
Three of the four are 21 and over, and each of those asks you to bring ID or a passport. Drinks are included on some and bought as you go on others — the cocktail walking tour is the outlier, where the drinks are optional and non-drinkers are welcome. The cards below carry whatever each operator has published.
Four drink-led tours, from a $49 walk where the cocktails are optional to an evening of whiskey, wine and Creole tastings that takes in the Sazerac House. Compare how much food each includes, how far you walk, and which suits the evening you had in mind.
Top ratedOperated by Doctor Gumbo Tours
Operated by Destination Kitchen Tours
Operated by Bon Moment LLC
Operated by New Orleans Secrets tours
Our Top Pick for Food and Cocktails
Eat as the locals do on a foodie walking tour around the iconic eateries of New Orleans. Immerse yourself in authentic flavors and scents while enjoying six sample tastings and four craft cocktails. Visit spots like Ralph Brennan’s award-winning Red Fish Grill in the French Quarter and the timeless Napoleon House.
Begin your walking tour at Red Fish Grill in the French Quarter neighborhood of New Orleans. Start with alligator sausage and seafood gumbo (vegetarian option: red beans & rice), plus a craft Hurricane cocktail, as you learn a bit about the colonial period of Louisiana’s history.
Afterward, visit Leah’s Pralines, a 3rd generation family-owned candy store. Sample traditional pralines and their unique pecan brittle. Visit the iconic Napoleon House restaurant for some of their specialties — muffuletta sandwiches (vegetarian option: meatless muffuletta), a Pimm’s Cup cocktail, and a side of Creole jambalaya (vegetarian option: potato salad).
Move four blocks down and enter NOLA Sauce Bar to discuss the Cajun influence and sample an unlimited variety of locally supplied hot sauces, BBQ sauces, buffalo wing sauces, dry rubs, and more. Receive a free bottle of Louisiana-style seasonings included in the tour.
Arrive at Dickie Brennan’s Tableau to sip on your next cocktail: the French 75, a combo of fresh lemon, brandy or gin, and bubbles. From there, pass through the famous Jackson Square towards the French Market area and land at the James Beard Award-nominated Cane and Table. Round off your tour by sampling their fried sweet plantains, and a classic daiquiri.
The route below is the operator’s own published itinerary for New Orleans: Combo Cocktail and Food History Tour. The operator also lists 5 short walking legs between these points, shown beneath each stop.
Start
Then on foot — 5 minutes, 5 minutes, 5 minutes
Cocktail, Street food, Guided tour, Food tasting, Regional food (55 minutes)
Then on foot — 5 minutes, 10 minutes
Finish
Four craft cocktails and six food samples, including the best part of an hour at Napoleon House — with the origins of the Hurricane and the French 75 explained where they were poured.
The route covers the origins of the Hurricane and the French 75, told in the rooms they are associated with rather than recited on a pavement.
The food half is not a token — classic New Orleans fare across multiple award-winning restaurants and bars, covering the breadth of Louisiana cooking.
The operator publishes the full route rather than a vague outline: it starts at Red Fish Grill on Bourbon Street, takes in Napoleon House for cocktails, street food and regional tasting, and finishes on Decatur Street, with short walking legs in between. You can read the whole thing further down this page.
Red beans and rice and a meatless muffuletta are available on request at checkout. The operator states there is no gluten-free, dairy-free or vegan option.
Our New Orleans Food Tour team recommends reviewing these practical details before booking. The information below is based on the tour operator’s published guidance, so you know what to expect and can arrive prepared for your experience.
See what travelers say about eating and drinking their way through New Orleans — from cocktail history in the French Quarter to brewery flights along the river, and how much food each evening actually involves.
“Booked this expecting drinks with snacks. Six food samples in, in Napoleon House with a cocktail I had never heard of, I realised the food was doing equal work. My wife had requested the vegetarian version at checkout and it was waiting for her.”
“The brewery walk was the one I nearly skipped and the one I would do again. Three flights, a food stop, and Michelle talking about the river the whole way between them. It does not finish where it starts, which caught two people out — read that bit before you go. Bring ID as well.”
“I do not really drink, which made me hesitate over a cocktail tour. It was fine — the guide said up front that the drinks are optional and nobody made anything of it. What you actually get is history, walked through the Quarter, ending somewhere I would never have found. Eat first, though. There is no food on this one and they tell you so before you book.”
The combined cocktail and food history tour covers the origins of the Hurricane and the French 75 alongside classic New Orleans fare — gumbo, muffuletta and pralines — across award-winning restaurants and bars. The operator lists four craft cocktails and six food samples, with water at most stops and bar staff tips included.
Three of the four tours on this page are 21 and over — the combined cocktail and food history tour, the craft brewery walk and the cocktail walking tour — and each asks you to bring ID or a passport. The cocktails, whiskey and food tour does not publish an age limit.
The tours on this page start from $49 for the cocktail walking tour, $75 for the craft brewery and beer flight walk, $160 for the combined cocktail and food history tour and $176 for the cocktails, whiskey and food tour.
It depends on the tour. The cocktail walking tour states that drinks are not included and are optional, and that non-drinkers can join. The craft brewery tour includes flights at three breweries and requires valid ID or a passport if you intend to drink.
One tour publishes one. The cocktails, whiskey and food tour asks for collared shirts for men and no cut-offs, because of the venues on its route. No other tour on this page publishes a dress code.
Also worth comparing: French Quarter Cooking Classes. Or read our guide to the best food in the French Quarter before you book anything at all.
Four New Orleans food and drink tours compared, from $49, each cancellable free up to 24 hours ahead.