I use to come to the Kingpin a long time ago (5-8 years ago, I'm getting old and I'm getting bad at remembering times) and remember loving this place.  The Kingpin introduced me to shuffleboard which is still my favorite bar game.  At one time it was one of the only places that had it so maybe my love for the Kingpin was a  lack of options. Â
Jeannie and I rolled in here this past Friday night only because Taceaux Loceaux was out front and we had never been. Â I'm guessing that this was the reason for the bar being completely full. Â The bar is small to begin with so when there are 50 people in there it seems like Bourbon on Mardi Gras day. They only had 1 bartender working while I was trying to get a few beers. Â She was friendly and busting her ass then a guy walked in and pretended to help her but he was kind of an ass. Â It's a busy bar, make a fuckin' drink or get out of her way. Â She seemed to get 8 drinks to his 1.
The crowd was also a lot different then I remember. Â Lot's of young Republicans with their pink Polo's tucked into their white shorts while wearing loafers mixed with equally rich bearded trust fund bearded hipsters drinking PBR in a can to give the illusion that they don't care. Â Both groups are Tulane/Loyola kids who are equally rich and will soon be bitter enemies in their political beliefs but for now there was no Sharks and Jets dance fighting. Â
Anyway the bar was impossible to enjoy so we drank our non PBR beers outside on the curb while enjoying our taco's. Â I'll have to come back on a non taco truck night to see if this place was how I once remembered or does this too fall into the category of things "My memories are better than the real thing" category like Spaghetti-O's and Voltron.
It's the very definition of a dive, but certainly not the most interesting one you'll visit. Drink prices are kind of average at best, and you'll leave having developed a nicotine dependency. I've never seen so much smoke in such a compact area.
The night crowd has weirdly varied each time I've been: once packed with jaded college-aged hipsters, the next visit flooded with middle-aged couples kicking back after work, etc. My visits were spaced out several months apart, and I haven't really experienced the Elvis overload that other people seem to.
Either way, there's nothing that really stands out about this place enough to make a drive to, even from within Uptown. I suppose if you live around Prytania/Upperline, you've got yourself a neighborhood hangout, but otherwise...eh.
I second Sami A's review from 9-9-12. Unbearably smoky inside. With the higher than normal prices they charge, would it kill the owners to break down and get a smoke eater? Even Finn McCool's invested in a couple. Better yet, go smoke free. I couldn't stay more than 45 minutes, the smoke was that bad. Stood outside and drank my beer amidst a gaggle of toddlers and baby strollers, courtesy of the yuppie parents who come for the taco truck. No thanks.
Review Source:Its all Elvis all the time so like it or leave. Â This is generally a pretty cool place and has a blue collar vibe to the place. Â The prices are a bit more than I would expect in a place like this. Â I got really turned off about this joint when they put Obama stickers on all the beer taps. Â I'm all for you supporting your candidate and all the joys of democracy but I don't think a beer tap is the place to put political crap like that.
Review Source:A dive bar and a shrine to Elvis? Yes please.
King Pin is a great example of a New Orleans Dive, but with a great selection of beer. In particular, they offer Magic Hat #9 which I thoroughly enjoy.
The bar is extensively decorated with Elvis memorabilia. I found it very hard to not think about the King, or plan a new trip to Graceland while sitting around drinking. For anyone who has not plotted a road trip while sitting in a bar, you're missing out.
The bar was really dark. In fact, it may have been too dark especially when you consider that I had to use the flashlight on my phone to read something on the bar. Despite the lack of light, I did really like the bar.
I hope to come back soon and drink some more Magic Hat in absolute darkness.
I decided to give Kingpin another try last night (or maybe the aroma of Taceaux Loceaux drew me there, who knows). Anyway, not to sound like a broken record, but $3 for a bottle of Pabst is insane. Unless there's a no-cover-charge band playing, that's just, well, insane.
But, then, the place was full of people happily buying drinks, so maybe I'm missing something.
The Kingpin is a cool place to catch the Saints game, or catch a band when they have one. Â They have an extensive beer selection and the crowd is always nice and friendly. Â The place does tend to get crowded on weekends. Â One huge complaint: the smoke in this place is insane, even if there aren't a lot of people in here.
Review Source:For Uptown, this is a great dive. Since I moved here 5 months ago, I have been a pretty frequent visitor. Loved the staff, until you start to notice that they let a lot of offensive people do whatever they want. Last night was the last straw. I had a friends wife visiting from Atlanta and after a great meal at Jacques Imos, I thought a nice drink or two at the local water hole would be great. Johnny was our bartender and Garret was bar-back for the night. One of Garrets roommates came in with two women and four other men. They were celebrating a birthday for one of the men (local doctor) and one woman got sick and left - the other started getting sexually assaulted and harassed by the birthday boy. After making fun of breast  and grabbing her, he then proceeded to grope her. No one did anything about it. The birthday boy then started calling her a whore, prostitute, etc. and that she only Fu@k's for money. It was at that point the weeping started and this idiot kept going on and on. My friend and I both were besides ourselves and I told him to knock it off. He then starts screaming that he hasn't done anything wrong. Some name calling in-sued and then he called me out to meet him in the street. Johnny finally came over to what I thought was to end this, but NO -  he pinned a dollar bill on his chest as the drunkard proclaimed "this whore fu@ck's for money!" The woman is still crying her eyes out, but is intimidated to leave. At this point, I could see that nothing was going to be done by the staff and they were now part of the problem. The guy then starts telling me he is going to kick my ass and what not and to take it outside. I obliged, he never showed and a bartender from another local bar kept me outside to diffuse the situation until they left. Came back in and my check was waiting on me. Johnny let me and my friend stay to finish our drinks, but later accused me of instigating a fight. WTF?
The normal King Pin mentality is to just throw both parties out regardless of right or wrong, because they are too afraid to grow a backbone and protect the innocent.
I won't go back!
I probably had my best football experience in New Orleans at the Kingpin (excluding the Superdome). I went for the opening game against the filthy Packers, and though the Saints lost, I still had a great time. The owners also run a new pizza shop in the city, and to cross promote they had free pizza for everybody who showed up. It was full without being packed, the crowd was fun and friendly, the bar staff delightful. Good beer, good staff, good times. I definitely plan on returning.
Review Source:Much like Dennis G., who I came here with, I am not usually one to spend my evening at a bar. We came for Taceaux Loceaux, which parks outside on Friday nights and happened to have goat tacos that night. As we had to wait for them to get set up, we went inside and got drinks. They have Blue Moon on tap (and put a slice of orange in it!), which makes me incredibly happy.
The inside looks like an Elvis memorabilia warehouse exploded. Almost every available surface has something Elvis-y on it. The Kingpin also seems to be a favorite place of, obviously, the Krewe of Rolling Elvi--probably my favorite of the small Mardi Gras krewes.
After we got our taceaux, we met the other two guys who happened to be sitting at our table--a crazy Irishman and an Alabama redneck who insisted on buying us a round of drinks after they discovered we liked Father Ted. Several hours (and rounds) later, we were still talking. I love it when I have an unexpectedly awesome night out.
Let me start my review by saying that I'm not one to normally spend the evening at a bar. I went to the King Pin because Taceaux Loceaux was outside that night and they had a new dish, the Supercabre goat taceaux. We got there right when the truck was setting up and they said they would be fifteen minutes or so and we decided top step into the bar and get a drink while we waited.
Stepping inside was like walking into another world. Outside was the hot Louisiana summer and in here was a cool Elvis wonderland. The owner loves Elvis and the place is decorated appropriately. While waiting to get dinner I was delighted to see not only Blue Moon on tap but also Andy Gaitor.
At this point the bar was just like all the others I've been to and I was quietly waiting to get my dinner. Then one of the patrons saw my shirt and asked me if the band on it was still together. This seemingly simple interaction with someone in a small bar was the gateway to a pretty fun evening.
See, this is the kind of patrons I found there. In the next five minutes I made two new friends and by the time my food was ready one of them offered to buy another round for a guy he just met. For the next four hours my girl and I chatted with our new friends, drank a couple of rounds, and had a bunch of the best food truck tacos I've ever experienced.
My friends really loved this place for awhile so this was kind of our default hang out for a few several weeks one psychotically hot NOLA summer. Â It does seem to be quite the "neighborhood bar" - located away from hectic-ness of Magazine street. Â You'll see locals here, but sometimes yes, college kids and law students. Â
The actual bar is quite quaint and intimate - definitely not the place for extremely large groups. Â The service is pretty prompt and acceptable and drinks are decently priced - the other patrons can be friendly but will strike up a conversation with you should you so desire. Â
I recall there being darts, maybe even a pool table in the back? Â It's been too long! Â There is a shuffleboard table perchance you dabble in that sort of treachery (I suck at it!). Â
I prefer Kingpin over most of the bars on Magazine, that's for sure, but I wouldn't say it was a "favorite" because there was nothing particularly redeeming about this place. Â It just happens to be an all right place to hang out with few friends when compared to the alternatives.
One of the greatest dive bars of all time, The Kingpin, or "The 'Pin" as the regulars call it, is a great neighborhood bar with lots of atmosphere. Laid back crowd, great selection of beer, lots of seating and shuffleboard. The bartenders are fast and super friendly, and no matter what you are into, you'll feel at home at this bar.
Review Source:I love this place. Â The only reason I am not giving it a 5 is the crowd tends to be a little young (college age) on Friday and Saturday nights for my taste. Â It is close to my house, inexpensive and has a very friendly staff. Â This is a GREAT place to watch the Saints games. Â We watched the NFC championship game there and had a blast!
Review Source:This place was packed on a Friday night but with snooty people; the bartender included. I tried to get her attention by raising my hand and she about bit my head off for doing so. I may give it one more chance but probably not anytime soon, there are too many other places in town to bother.
Review Source:Normally if I go to a bar alone I drink really fast - and get drunk super fast because I have no one to talk to
But not here
Ok Ok I didn't come here alone but my friend was working
It was a Saints game the place was totally packed but I managed to get a seat (thanks Jeff ;-)
In a matter of minutes everyone was talking to me and I had a GREAT time
Tami was spot on and super fast - literally the second my empty glass would hit the bar she would get another - and it was BUSY
Jeff anticipated everything that Tami needed and everyone espoused about how cool he was
If I lived I could easily see this being my local (esp. with the owner dancing on the bar)
I use to live on Lyons back in the day. Â My bf and I (at the time) We would walk here to grab a beer and talk with the owner. Â I LOVED LOVED LOVED this place. Â Great neighborhood bar. Â The owner was in love with elvis, everything is elvis up in here. Â Sweeet! Â If your in the area, get a vodka 7 here, they are the BEST, and really big :)
Review Source:I agree with the other reviewer. Â It is much nicer inside than it looks from the outside. Â The service is always very friendly. Â Good draft selection including NOLA Brown and Blonde, two Abitas, Blue Moon, Newcastle, Hoegaarden, and two Flying Dogs, among others. Â The beer is a little on the warm side for me...
Review Source:From outside appearances, I expected this place to be dirty, smoky and cheap. It turns out it's none of those. It's actually a decent place to grab a beer with a good atmosphere and a surprisingly good selection of 15-20 beers (although short on dark beers). For a neighborhood bar it's not  cheap, though ... the good drafts are $4.50-$5.
Review Source:This is a good neighborhood dive bar that is periodically over-run with college preppy types seeking to experiance the grittier side of night life. Â Drinks are priced fairly, but be careful that the bartender doesn't take your $20 and give you change for a $10. It only happened to me about a dozen times, and I dont think it was an honest series of mistakes. Â If I hadn't lived only 3 blocks away I probably would have drank some place else, but it was still a decent hangout.
Review Source:
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