The
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EMERIL'S
Address: 800 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70130 Phone: 504-528-9393 Years Operating: 9 years Certainly the primary feature of this place is the food; world class in every way. The bar area is smoke friendly any time, but the cigar lovers tend to congregate for the late night dining shifts and, when the staff waves the flag, light up at your table if you wish. It's an interesting mix of locals, celebrities, tourists, and conventioneers who are fans of Emeril's TV show. The staff is as trained in the art of selecting and cutting a cigar as they are choosing a wine or dessert dish. The maitre'd keeps a cigar bible at the door with a painstakingly informative and detailed list of the more than 100 available selections. As with everything else with Emeril, it ain't just an experience - it's school. Emeril's has the largest formal cigar club in town, celebrating with a cigar dinner fit for the King of Mardi Gras each March. |
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POLO LOUNGE
Address: 300 Gravier St., New Orleans, LA 70130 Phone: 504-523-6000 Years Operating: 14 years Located on the second floor of the five-star Windsor Court Hotel, adjacent to the Grill Room restaurant, the Polo Lounge is the epitome of English gentry setting. If the smell of smoke on your clothes bothers you, this is a place to go; the air quality is the best in the city. The selection can be limited, however. The lounge keeps a rotating stock in its small table humidor, generally in the $5 to $20 range, with brands including Partagas, Macanudo, Zino, Montecruz, Upmann, and Royal Jamaican. There is an exquisite selection of cognacs and armagnacs, ports and madeiras to accompany your smoke. No jeans.
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CIGAR CENTRAL
Address: 747 Veterans Blvd., Metairie, LA 70005 Phone: 504-831-7471 Fax: 504-831-1758 Years Operating: 2 years Certainly the most special feature here is the humidor. You could play racquetball in here. Imagine a humidor where you have to say to your friend: Where are you? Okay, we exaggerate, but not much. Cigar Central's humidor has an inventory of a half million cigars. Seidman recommends his signature line of cobras, with either Maduro or Colorado Claro wrappers. But you can choose anything you want, practically, from what is obviously the largest selection of cigars for hundreds of miles. Tons of accessories, the best and most of everything, including a stunning line of Honduran table-top humidors. There's a TV in the back, a little smoking area, and a fully-stocked bar. Cigar Central is sort of on the way to the airport, a nice place to stock up. |
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THE HUMIDOR ROOM
Address: 137 Robert E. Lee Blvd., New Orleans, LA 70124 Phone: 504-282-4277 Fax: 504-282-4205 Years Operating: 3 years The Humidor Room is a convenient stop for visitors heading to the city's lakefront parks, West End restaurants, or the funky seafood alley called Bucktown, all perched along the expanse of Lake Pontchartrain at the north end of the city. Charles Drury is passionate about cigars and all things Central American. A Spanish-speaker, he has traveled the Panama Canal more than a dozen times. A comfortable burgundy-therned upstairs lounge (available for small private parties) reflects both Drury's eclectic magazine reading habits and even more eclectic music tastes. |
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DOS JEFES UPTOWN CIGAR SHOP
Address: 5700 Magazine St., New Orleans, LA 70115 Phone: 504-899-3030 Fax: 504-899-3046 Years Operating: 5 years Shaner and Stallard are the "dos jefes" - two chiefs - who opened this shop just as the cigar craze was sweeping New Orleans in the mid-'90s. It started as a hobby so they'd have a place to find the brands they like: Arturo Fuente, Diamond Crown, Don Carlos, Ashton, Nat Sherman, Davidoff, to name a few, but the hobby turned into a livelihood as business took off. It's now a full service tobacco shop with more than 100 brands of cigars and a huge selection of lighters, pipes, cutters, and other accessories. Dos Jefes encourages customers to bring a bottle of their favorite spirits into the small smoking parlor and talk the talk.
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DOS JEFES UPTOWN CIGAR BAR
Address: 5535 Tchoupitoulas St., New Orleans, LA 70115 Phone: 504-891-8500 Years Operating: 3 years The two chiefs did so well at their tobacco shop around the corner that they decided to open a bar with a decidedly cigar theme. It's a hit. It's casual, cozy, and features live music every night, anything from solo piano to swinging jazz. Stallard holds court here most nights, overseeing the roughly 50 brands of smokes in the glass humidor along the wall. There's a limited food menu, a pool table, and a colorful tropical-themed beer garden in the back. This is a great place to stop to mix with local cigar buffs after dining at one of the gems from the Uptown dining scene -Clancy's, Martinique, Brigtsen's, or Gautreau's. |
