My friend told me about Fat Harry's years ago and I've been back many times. Love this place. Made some great memories here. Whenever I am in New Orleans I have to swing by, it's a tradition for me now. Get out of the quarter, its too busy and there is way more to New Orleans. Catch a night parade going down St. Charles and you won't regret it.
Review Source:Fat Harry's isn't a bad little place.
We stopped in here on Lundi Gras after parades. They recently had a fire and redid the entire place, although it really doesn't look all that different to me. By the time we got here, it was pretty empty. I guess the usual crowd had better things to do after the parade. I did have a good time dancing around to the music that was playing.
This probably isn't a place I would seek out. From what I remember from years ago it's mostly a college hang out and these days I am just too old to hang out with people under 23 (hair flip). I do hear that their grill is reopening soon, so maybe I will stop in just to see what they offer.
I spent many a night in Fat Harry's during my formative years. One of my distant cousins used to work the door and always made sure we had the hookup. I miss those days.
Fast forward to adulthood and I am amazed that I hadn't been back in forever. I must've forgotten about it until reading about the fire that gutted the inside. Thankfully the owners renovated the inside and got it back open for Carnival. While it isn't exactly as I remembered, it was still fun. There was no food or tables, but the atmosphere and crowd were just as I had remembered.
Fat Harry's will always hold a place near to my heart. I look forward to many more trips, and I can't wait till they reopen the kitchen.
Even in college, I never hung out at FH. Sure I'd stop in when other folks wanted to but it wasn't my regular spot. Â But I have to give it to the owners. They are survivors.
The joint burns? They rebuild. The construction next door causes them damage? They fix it. Â They're like the energizer bunny of bars. They just keep going.
To me the best time to stop by is for happy hour on a pretty day and sit outside with a beverage and some cheese fries. Â
+1 star for coming back from their latest setback and opening (bar only) in time for the carnival season.
Okay, Fat Harry's, I'm bumping you up a star now that you have risen from the ashes like a Phoenix and open your doors again just in time for another Mardi Gras.
I spent the Sunday of the first weekend of Mardi Gras parades on foot and mobile, weaving my way along down the parade route. Fat Harry's was the first stop of the day to refuel. Have you been in this place since it was redone? It's like a whole new world in there. The booths are gone, the bar is straightened out. Everything is all opened up. And HUGE. I had no idea there was that much space in there. AND, I had great service. Plus, I used the bathroom in record time.
Fat Harry's, I may just be giving you another chance. I'll see you again after Carnival.
I have been frequenting this joint for years. It is the quintessential bar for New Orleans college students, but has a great New Orleans vibe that keeps locals coming back for years and years. Great beer selection both on tap and in bottles. Standard bar grub such as burgers, club sandwiches, wraps, cheese fries, etc. The staff are friendly and memorable; they'll become your new best friends in no time, and they really care about their customers. Fats is one of the more popular college late-night bars; but if that's not your scene, then it can also be the perfect place for Sunday Funday with friends, after work drinks or prime game-time viewing for the Saints, LSU and Tulane. Fat Harry's is a great bar full of great people who become great friends.
Review Source:Here we definitely have a college bar. So you know what's coming next: it's definitely not going to ever be a part of the Joi B bar crawl.
BUT! It is a notch above the TJ Quills of the college bar mundo. Let's rewind, oh, five years (or maybe more, sigh) back to when I was a Midori sour-drinking college girl, I'd totally bring my parents here to drink with me. I realize the fact that I was once the type who ordered Midori sours may give you pause, 'specially if you read about all my fancy cocktail drinking ways, but it's true. We can't all be *born* with good taste. I was once an NYU girl (which is probably similar to a Tulane girl, only with a snottier attitude and a penchant for staying out all night in underground nightclubs) and wet behind the ears. You couldn't order wine coolers in bars back in those days, so... Midori. And Fuzzy Navels. God help me.
OK that's quite enough stumbling down memory lane.
Getting back to the compliment I'm trying to give Fat Harry's, grown-ups can and do seem to rub elbows with the young 'uns here. And it's not weird. I saw folks of all ages and those who seemed to be parental types, hanging out and having a good time.
The ambiance: TVs everywhere, wood paneling, basic basic. Nice front patio, though. Nothing memorable. But it's clean. And not full of classless dolts taking a piss with the door open, so at least there's that!
I have mixed feelings about Fat Harry's.
The first time I ever came here, me and one of my friends ordered a coke and some chips and salsa. They charged us for the cokes, but it was flat. When we told the bartender, he kinda gave us an attitude. In my opinion, if I am paying for a drink (especially a soft drink), and there is something wrong with it, I'm going to say something. It's not like I was rude about it or anything. He ended up filling our cups up again with Sprite or something else since the coke was flat, but I don't need an attitude when I was being nice about it.
On another occasion, one of my friends ordered a Sex on the Beach. It ended up being some brown, murky color. She ended up going back to the bar to tell the bartender that's not what she ordered and the bartender gave her attitude and said that it was supposed to look like that. He ended up making her something else, but again, he gave her an attitude.
However, not everyone who works there has an attitude. We came here to watch a football game once, and my cousin ordered a beer. The bartender (different one from the previous 2) accidentally gave her a whole pitcher. He ended up charging her for just a pint of beer and let her keep the pitcher of beer, which I thought was nice. This is probably the redeeming factor as to why I still come here.
They also have delicious wings! I believe there is a special for them on Mondays. I also heard their other food is great too!
I do like the atmosphere of this place. There's no smoking inside, which I like. It's great for groups. I like coming here to play pool as there usually isn't a line waiting to play. I also like coming here to watch game on T.V. However, I probably won't come here to drink as I think their drink prices are kinda high and I don't find their drinks taste all that great.
Fat Harry's is one of the first bars I ever went to in my younger days (back when the drinking age was still 18 in Louisiana ya know). Â This has always been a great college bar that a lot of local folks also frequent. Â They have always had pretty good bar grub with nice po boys, burgers, sandwiches, cheese fries, etc. and this is actually a great spot for a quick lunch. Â The beer prices got a bit more pricey after Katrina and are still a bit more than you will find on most of Magazine Street. Â This used to be my favorite bar in NOLA, that I frequented more than any other, but as I've gotten a bit older I've shifted to being at the Bulldog more as I think their draft beer tastes better (and it's closer to my house).
I've always been a preppy Southern fellow so I've always felt right at home in here and it probably is one of the preppier bars in NOLA so if you don't like Southern preppy folk this might not be your place. Â The crowd certainly shifts to a much younger one during the weekends and sometimes that does bring in some stupid behavior but the staff is very good at handling those situations. Â The bartenders are always on top of their game here and do a great job of taking care of large crowds. Â They have some nice outdoor seating on the sidewalk for those nicer days (and now that it is non-smoking for you smokers to poison yourselves). Â This place gets to its maximum crazy times during Carnival season and especially the weekend before Mardi Gras.
I love Fat Harry's- very accessible bar on St. Charles. It's slightly dive-y, and definitely has a college bar feel. I've only had drinks there (and by "drinks" I mean "the cheapest pitcher they have"), but the environment is great if you just want to hang out with friends. I love that they're a non-smoking establishment, and they have a back room with a big screen TV and Tiger Vision for all you die-hard LSU fans out there stuck without a ticket to the game.
It's not a 5 star rating because the bathrooms are cramped at best. It's nice that there's more than one stall, but I'm surprised there haven't been more concussions in there from the door swinging open too quickly.
New Orleans is full of great bars. Â Some are beer bars like The Bulldog, Cooter Browns and what I consider the best in New Orleans, Avenue Pub. Â Some bars though focus on a different crowd. Â
When I was in college I had a couple places I enjoyed: The Boot and Fat Harry's. Â Both of these bars are quintessential college bars. Â The Boot which is practically on Tulane's campus(Go Greenwave!)and Fat Harry's which is a short streetcar trip down St. Charles Avenue. Â I hadn't been to Fat Harry's in 10+ years. Â For me it was just another college bar that served nothing my cheap lagers and offered no real value to me. Â For some reason my wife and some of her friends went there recently and said they actually had a fantastic time and my wife claimed the nachos were "the best she had ever had". Â Now for my wife to claim any food as the best she had ever had is a huge compliment. Â My wife just isn't really all that into food. Â A bowl of cereal counts as dinner for her sometimes.
Yesterday I found some time to take the wife to lunch and she mentioned trying Fat Harry's again. Â Before entering there is a huge sign stating that this establishment is a non-smoking bar. Â Ballsy. Â I love it though. Â New Orleans bars have been fighting the local government who is trying to make all bars non smoking. Â I'm not going to get into the politics of all this because it can get messy and I try to keep politics out of these posts but I truly admire the fact that this bar took the initiative to be proactive and made their bar smoke free. Â I spoke to owner, Kyle Huling and he told me his mother made the decision about 6 months ago and that they have seen NO decrease in sales but rather experienced an increase. Â THIS I love!
The beer selection is about 10 beers on tap that I could see and about 10-15 bottles. Â The tap selection was pretty nice from a local standpoint. Â They had Bayou Teche, Tin Roof, Covington Brewhouse and Abita. Â I was a bit shocked not to see NOLA Brewing given their huge success. Â The bottle selection was okay. Â Pretty much what you would expect from a college bar.
The food selection was massive. Â Tons of options from burgers, wraps, salads and appetizers. Â I ordered the burger which I found to be a solid burger. Â My wife ordered the grilled cheese and polished it off. I think I should have tried the nachos too. Â Maybe next time!
Overall I think Fat Harry's was a solid bar for the New Orleans area. Â Positioned right on the Mardi Gras parade route makes this bar a hell of a place to hang during the festivities. Â Those of you who smoke may not like it too much but they have tables outside. Â I have to admit I actually enjoyed walking out not smelling like smoke. Â On a side note on June 25th they will be celebrating their 40th anniversary.
I was definitely the minority there that night and had a tough time getting in. But no worries, I still had fun hangin' out with the classmates. The place is pretty spacious. There were pool tables in the back. The bathroom was sooooo tiny. Prices were ok. Don't ask for a double shot of something though because they charge the hell out of you. Bartenders were busy but they went around in an orderly manner.
Review Source:I'm pretty fond of this place. I haven't been here recently, but I used to come here all the time. Mostly for the pool tables. I am good friends with one of the bartenders and have made friends with the rest of them.
Cool place to chill and catch a few basketball and football games. I'm pretty sure they have a happy hour.
Just beware during Mardi Gras season. I couldn't even get in the door during MG this year. The streets were obviously really dirty since the parades pass by right in front, so there were shards of broken beer bottle glass everywhere. There was a cover, which is understandable.
I'm a fan. I'd come here anytime.
Great place to catch those away Saints games or some Monday night football! I think Monday night they have wings and pitchers for $5. Pretty sweet deal!
They have some really awesome burgers and fries! Much better than other nautical themed hamburger joints! Order the Jazz burger, its a combo of beef and spicy sausage with some BBQ sauce! Its amazing. They also have a really good Philly Cheese Steak. Grab a beer, burger and watch some football!
Also, a great place to start a Sunday morning with a delicious Bloody Marry! They are very good here! Almost as good as the ones that I make!
Fat Harry's is ingrained in every college student's memory. Â A decent bar with decent prices. Â However, as I have gotten older, I find the food is pretty decent for bar food and the atmosphere is ok. Â Well, save Mardi Gras and Saints and LSU games, the crowd is pretty down to Earth, quiet and hospitable. Â The food is bar food, but it is pretty good bar food. Â Beyond just hot wings and french fries, they can put together a baked potato, chicken wraps and even a few salads. Â They order out and is a great place to sit outside and watch the streetcars go by.
Review Source:The summer after my junior year of high school my friends and I got into a rut. Â It would usually start out at The Boot, meander over to The Metro, and invariably end up at Fat Harry's. Â Towards the end of the summer we would still end up here, but I remember that we would just sit around drinking and musing on how bad it sucked. Â How fucking tired we were of "Brown Eyed Girl" and Steve Miller. Â Yeah, there are a lot of fights, but don't mistake this place for a tough bar. Â We're talking about a bunch of overstimulated local preps tearing each others Izods and getting all pink-faced from slapping each other while their girlfriends cry melodramatically for them to stop. Â About half the time Biff is choking back tears of his own. Â Yep, plenty of guys suffering severe testosterone poisoning looking for just the right corn-state princess having her first drink in the Big City and completely primed to do something she'll regret. Â I know, I didn't seem to mind when I was he, but now it's just too pathetic to watch.
Mitigating Factors that somehow pulled three stars out of me:
Drinks are pretty good. Â The Bloody Mary in particular has a lot to be proud of. Â The food isn't too bad either. Â They have a great Cajun burger that isn't just a regular patty with a bunch of Chachere's, but actually has quality aduille ground into the meat. Â Slide an extra couple of bucks to the dude at the grill and he'll cook it rare - despite the pork content. Â The cheese fries are great - get mixed cheese and ranch to dip. Â The buffalo wings are pretty good too. Â They have tables out front that spare you the lameness that lurks within. Â It's right on St. Charles and is really a very nice place for a pre-game bloody with friends.
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