Sharky Wine Bar: Bacchanal Wine Bar, New Orleans

A wine bar of epic proportions

Bacchanal (defn.): 1. A Follower of Bacchus (the god of wine, Dionysus) 2. A drunken reveler 3. An occasion of drunken revelry or feast

Many years ago, back in the ancient time of 2002, the god of wine, Bacchus, decided that it was time he threw a really good party.

It wouldn’t be simple. Bacchus needed just the right place (Versailles had been a favorite while Marie Antoinette got the guillotine)—somewhere lively, with heat, good music, near water. Somewhere the people wouldn’t get tired of partying after a couple hundred bottles of wine had been topped off.

And then, it hit him. There was at least one city he knew could handle the free-flowing wine and semi-hedonistic lifestyle: New Orleans.

So Bacchus built himself a spot in the 9th Ward of NOLA and hoped that people would come.

And boy, did they come.

Soon, this drunken revelry had turned into more than just a special occasion—it became a local favorite, a place where the people of New Orleans could come and listen to music, sit out in the twilight, nibble on daily-designed specials, and, of course, keep their wine glasses full.

Eventually, Bacchus had to hightail it back to Mount Olympus (Juno had decided to redecorate, and Jupiter was demanding all the help he could get to stop her), but he decided that the party should go on.

So, he left the place in the hands of the locals, confident that they’d keep reveling in his absence.

And, hey, he’d need a place to visit on his next trip back to Earth.

Eat here if: You’ve been known to say, “Gosh, did I drink that whole bottle myself?”

Don’t eat here if: You always identified most with the Roman god Minerva (Athena) for her strong, stoic nature.