How to spend a day and night in St. Roch, New Orleans

The cemetery and the chapel on St. Roch Avenue

St. Roch Cemetery No. 1 and St. Roch Chapel (1725 St Roch Ave) is a walled Gothic burial ground of the 1870s: rows of whitewashed above-ground tombs, and a small pointed-arch brick chapel closing the central aisle. The district raised it in thanks to the plague saint for being spared in the yellow-fever years of the 1860s. Nobody charges at the gate, small self-guided groups are fine, and licensed guides may bring tours.

The chapel interior is what you come for, and its annex keeps far narrower hours than the gates around it. Call the parish before you build a morning on it. Arrive on any other day and you will see the tombs alone.

Our Lady Star of the Sea Church (1835 St Roch Ave) faces the cemetery wall from further down the avenue: red brick under twin gables, a squat corner bell tower, tall stained-glass lancets. This is the parish that administers the shrine, and visitors can attend services for nothing. Plan around the Sunday Gospel Mass at 10 a.m.; the vigil is Saturday at 4 p.m. If you come as a group, take seats and stay through the service.

The Healing Center on St. Claude

New Orleans Healing Center (2372 St Claude Ave) fills a three-storey 1920s warehouse block behind a mosaic-and-mural facade and a tall sign. Inside, a skylit atrium is ringed by small shopfronts, with a gallery landing upstairs and a yoga studio above that. More than 20 independent tenants trade here, among them a gallery, a gym, a cafe, a vodou botanica and a performance hall. You can wander it for nothing, 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, and the rooms and the atrium are rentable. Each autumn the city's long-running Day of the Dead procession sets off from the building. If you have an hour and no plan, start here.

Island of Salvation Botanica (inside the Healing Center) is hung floor to ceiling with painted Haitian sequin flags, herbs bottled on wooden shelves and hand-painted loa portraits, and a candle-covered Marie Laveau shrine alcove sits at the back. That alcove is the International Shrine of Marie Laveau. Sallie Ann Glassman, an initiated Haitian-vodou priestess, has run the shop since the 1990s, and respectful visitors are welcome. Browsing costs nothing, Monday to Saturday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday hours are 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The room is tight, so a party of more than six should split and go in shifts. Readings are booked by phone only.

Cafe Istanbul (Healing Center ground floor) is a 3,800 sq ft black-box hall with a bare brick side wall, exposed ceiling trusses, a shallow stage under coloured wash lighting and loose cabaret seating. The programming runs to theatre, poetry, world music, drag and storytelling, and the autumn and winter 2026 calendar includes The Moth in December. Shows are ticketed per event, and bar shows are 21+. Buy ahead for named nights, because the hall also goes out for private bookings and buyouts.

St. Roch Market and eating on Elysian Fields

St. Roch Market (2381 St Claude Ave) is a long white Greek Revival market building of 1875, low-gabled, with arched window bays onto the avenue. Inside is a bright white-tiled hall under skylights, a marble bar down the middle and nine open stall counters along both sides. The kitchens are independent: Burmese-Malaysian at Laksa, Egyptian at Dolma, oysters at Salted Pearl, Creole plates at Not Ya Maw's, with drinks poured at Roch's Reprieve. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. every day, and the hall is busiest and best Thursday to Sunday. Nobody takes a reservation; you order at a counter and sit at a communal table, in the $$ band. A private-events team quotes catering and buyouts for a group of any size.

Melba's Po-Boys (1525 Elysian Fields Ave) never closes. The sprawling yellow-and-red corner building on St. Roch's western edge holds a po-boy counter, daiquiri machines on a back wall, a laundromat and a free-book shelf under one roof. Order fried shrimp or hot sausage at the counter and carry the tray yourself, at $. Breakfast runs from midnight to 10 a.m. The room is big and loud enough to absorb a large party at any hour.

Baldwin & Co. (1030 Elysian Fields Ave) occupies a two-storey cream Art Deco corner building at St. Roch's river-side edge, with blond-wood shelving, a coffee bar, a glass-walled podcast booth and a side patio of cafe tables. The shop is Black-owned and named for James Baldwin, and the drinks carry the titles of his novels. It opens daily, 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., and you can browse for nothing. Author talks and book clubs take drop-ins, which is the easiest way for a visitor to meet people who live here.

Nights on St. Claude

NOLA Art Bar (2128 St Claude Ave) opens at 5 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursday to Saturday. A white-walled gallery room hung with rotating local canvases runs to a short cocktail bar along one side, and a deep courtyard garden sits out back under strung lights. Craft cocktails, wine by the glass and tapas put it at $$$. The courtyard is the quietest outdoor space on the corridor and the one place on St. Claude where a conversation holds. Both the gallery room and the garden can be booked for a private group, which makes it the district's best option for a sit-down party.

Siberia (2227 St Claude Ave) took its original name back in 2022 after a stint as Carnaval Lounge. The room is blacked out and narrow, with red stage lights, gig flyers papering the walls, a long bar down one side and a low stage at the back carrying metal, Balkan brass, punk and bounce bills. Doors are 4 p.m. Monday to Thursday and 6 p.m. Friday to Sunday, the door is 21+ and cover is $10. The room is compact and fills fast.

Hi-Ho Lounge (2239 St Claude Ave) reopened on 1 October 2026 under new independent owners Mike Davis and Melissa Eckert, after closing on Halloween 2024. Behind the narrow frontage and its vintage sign, murals run down the side wall to a rear stage backed by a cluttered rig of PA speakers, and brass band and indie showcases are back on it. Locals' Mondays come with free red beans and rice, Tuesday is taco night, Thursday is 80s night, and Sunday is for the game. The door is 21+, cover varies by night, and nothing is served at tables. Check the listing before you set out, because the room is newly back.

The AllWays Lounge & Cabaret (2240 St Claude Ave) is a red-walled cabaret room with a small curtained stage, mismatched velvet seating and mirror-ball glitter, plus a darker Twilight Room entered round the corner on Marigny Street. The bills change constantly across burlesque, drag, variety, plays and vaudeville nights, and Ambush GAA voted it the city's number one show club for 2025 and 2026. The door is 21+ and asks for photo ID or a passport. Shows are ticketed, and weekend burlesque needs reserving ahead.

Kajun's Karaoke Bar (2256 St Claude Ave) is a corner bar with a neon-lit back bar, a touchscreen song console at the end of the counter holding more than 50,000 songs, and a mic stand under a spotlight on the floor. Karaoke is hosted, the crowd is mixed and inclusive, and there is no cover at a 21+ door. It opens at 4 p.m. on weekdays and noon at weekends; the round-the-clock hours it kept as Kajun's Pub have gone. On a busy night the rotation is long and a group will wait between songs.

Saturn Bar (corner of St Claude and Clouet) has traded since 1960 under a hand-lettered Saturn-with-rings sign. Leopard-print velour booths face walls crowded with salvaged neon from dead businesses, and Mike Frolich's dark red-sky demon paintings hang above the bar. Two floors are in use, including an upstairs balcony room that takes a group. It opens at 4 p.m. on weekdays and 2 p.m. at weekends, 21+, usually with no cover. The walk down the avenue from the market takes 15 minutes, and the Frolich murals repay it.

St. Roch Tavern away from the avenue

St. Roch Tavern (1200 St Roch Ave) sits deep in the neighbourhood, off the St. Claude strip: a small shotgun-style corner barroom lit by beer signs, with a battered wooden bar, a pool table, string lights and a band squeezed into the front window corner. It runs from noon to 2:30 a.m. daily and will put a band on any night of the week, with DJs most Saturdays, country on Mondays and the long-running haircut nights on Tuesdays. The door is 21+ with no cover most nights. Bring cash and no agenda. The room holds 200 and it is tight.

Where to stay

St. Roch has no hotels of its own, so the Marigny side of the avenue is where you sleep. Balcony Guesthouse (2483 Royal St) is a double-galleried Creole corner house on the corner of St Roch Avenue, its white wrought-iron railings wrapping both street faces and shuttered French doors opening onto the upper gallery. The house has 11 rooms at $150 a night and free parking, and some rooms come with a private balcony, kitchenette and living area. Book direct to hold several rooms at once. It is a short walk across St. Claude to St. Roch Market and seven minutes on foot to Frenchmen Street's clubs.

Planning the day

Two things set the daytime plan: the cemetery gates, and the chapel annex's single monthly opening, which you should confirm by phone first. Book tickets ahead for named nights at Cafe Istanbul and for weekend burlesque at the AllWays, and carry photo ID to any 21+ door.

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