In colorful, creative New Orleans, this neighborhood stands out
By Jenny Adams
New Orleans (CNN) — – If you meet a local to hang out in the Bywater, they might suggest a matcha latte at Petite Clouet Café. Or, a visit to Chance In Hell SnoBalls, where icy confections come in wild flavors like dill pickle, ube or root beer.
Petite Clouet is pale yellow. The SnoBall shop is painted electric pink. You can’t escape color and creativity here, be it literal or figurative. In a colorful, creative city, the Bywater stands out.
This 120-block neighborhood, right on the river not far from the French Quarter, is home to an admirable art scene, dynamic menus, significant architecture and a linear river park.
It’s home to growing pains, too. Like many cool districts, it got discovered. The working-class hideaway has been gentrified, in parts.
The Bywater was a predominantly African American, family neighborhood prior to Hurricane Katrina. Rents have since risen. Airbnb exploded here, for a time draining affordable houses for permanent residents before short-term rental restrictions arrived. There are major property developments now threatening to change this storied neighborhood –– some argue for better; some for worse.
For now, Bywater remains a walkable, wonderful, idiosyncratic New Orleans neighborhood, worth visiting and supporting.
As a local myself, here’s what I would suggest.
Take in history, on foot
First, take a walk. There are more than 2,000 structures, ranging from Greek Revivals to Victorians. But the predominant house styles are Creole cottages dating from 1840 to 1870 and small shotguns, dating to the 1880s.
If you want a true tour, Glennis Waterman is a local guide, volunteering with Friends of the Cabildo, a non-profit supporting the Louisiana State Museum.
“In the early 1800s, the proximity to the river made this prime land, and there were a handful of small plantations,” Waterman says of the neighborhood east of the French Quarter, just past the Marigny.
Two of the oldest structures she stops outside of are 631 Independence Street, part of the Macarty Plantation, and the restored Lombard House at Chartres and Bartholomew. Dating to 1826, the Lombard House is one of the finest examples of Norman trussing — an intricate type of roof structure — as well as West Indian architecture, which once flourished.
European immigrants, Spanish Creoles and Free People of Color were arriving by the mid 19th century.
“The Bywater was called Little Saxony, for the large number of Germans,” Waterman continues.
On city maps, it became the Ninth Ward in 1852, further designated as the Upper Ninth Ward in 1919, when an industrial canal arrived, separating it from the Lower Ninth.
“There was a local competition in the 1940s,” Waterman explains, as to why it’s now called Bywater. “A student suggested the name. It was the telephone exchange when someone dialed the switchboard.”
Green space and independent artistry
During the Progressive Era of the early 1900s, industrial expansion brought more wharfs, rail lines and factories. After World War II, however, as more people moved to suburban areas, these industrial spaces lost manufacturing tenants. Many were left abandoned and by the 1970s, ’80s and ‘90s, there was blight, particularly at the water’s edge.
“The entire stretch along the river was abandoned, self-demolishing wharf land,” says Amanda Rivera, senior associate/architect at Eskew Dumez Ripple, referring to the blighted riverfront where ships once dropped and collected cargo. The firm won the bid to reimagine the river frontage. Crescent Park opened in 2015 –– a 2.2-mile linear green space.
Blight became jogging paths, a dog run, native foliage and event spaces –– all with uninterrupted Mississippi River views.
One park access point is a massive bridge at Piety Street. “We used a naturally rusting material for it, symbolizing the industrial history here,” Rivera says. “You see old timber posts in the water from the bridge. Those once supported the wharf sheds. We left them to preserve the past.”
Preserving history is something New Orleanians, in particular, relish. On Bywater’s eastern edge, at Kentucky Street, Lucullus Antiques is a must-visit.
Shop, design studio and workshop, it’s filled with treasures –– from gilt mirrors to silver teapots, collections of early 19th century copper cookware to etched crystal decanters and glassware.
“Wherever I go, I love discovering the authentic charms of a place,” offers proprietor Patrick Dunne, who, along with long-time associates Kerry Moody and Nathan Drewes, moved the operation from the French Quarter to the Bywater in 2020.
“Like Bywater itself, our shop is a destination. We want intrepid travelers, not tourists,” he says wryly, “… those adventuring for something special. With my passions for history and aesthetics, I love Bywater’s vibe of an eccentric and colorful small village.”
That village vibe comes from embracing art of all genres. On the western edge, the city’s most prolific street artist, Brandan “BMike” Odums, opened StudioBE in 2016. The gallery’s towering murals highlight the Black experience and political struggles. It’s also an education center for young artists, an event space and a non-profit.
You’ll see two of Odums’ most recognizable murals, thirty feet high, on the warehouse exterior walls, next to the train tracks at Homer Plessy Way –– a corridor named for Louisiana’s famous shoemaker and Black activist.
“The Black Boy and Black Girl are really billboards to announce this neighborhood,” Odums says. “I wanted to make sure that the history here is not erased. A predominantly Black neighborhood at one point, families had generations here. It’s always been an area for creatives. As the demographics change, we want to keep Bywater sustainable.”
To be a traveler, rather than a tourist, as Patrick Dunne so aptly put it, supporting independent businesses is vital. It’s also easy and entertaining.
Tiger Rag Vintage on St. Claude sells fashions from the 1880s to 1980s. Flea market scores and Mexican art abound at The Bargain Center on Dauphine. On Chartres Street, Euclid Records has rare vinyl pressings by the thousands, and the indoor/outdoor sculptures of Dr. Bob’s Folk Art yard invite wandering.
The Bywater supports out-of-the-box entrepreneurs, in particular. In 2023, The Railyard Nola opened as a bed and breakfast specifically for the safety and warm welcome of queer and trans travelers. Their pool offers days passes for non-guests.
Since 2024, you can buy costumery and wearable puppet art at the Monsters of the Underworld shop and the aforementioned Chance In Hell SnoBalls got a permanent outpost on Dauphine Street in 2025. Studio West is the adjoining boutique for eclectic fashion and retro home décor.
The art is edible
You can’t discuss creativity without mentioning culinary arts. For this, the scene skews international, and ardently experimental.
Acamaya is a sexy, red-lit temple to Mexico City’s cuisine, helmed by Chef Ana Castro. Opened in 2024, she’s been lauded on multiple New York Times “best of” lists, for her skilled rendition of dishes like chochoyotes, a masa dumpling. Hers gets seasonal updates, like the current version with crab, squash, mushrooms and peach rush pepper. The aguachile verde, hailing from Sinaloa, has Gulf shrimp, cucumber, tomatillo and serrano.
French dishes get dashes of Japanese flair at N7, a dreamy European courtyard hidden behind a tall privacy fence. Strings of marquee bulbs hang from live oaks and camping lanterns dot the tables.
“(Our space) was an abandoned tire repair shop,” says Aaron Walker, who’s owned/operated N7 with his wife, Chef Yuki Yamaguchi, since 2015. Reservations are usually necessary to dine there, where the menu features steak au poivre, steamed mussels and pommes frites.
You’ll absolutely need an advance booking for Saint-Germain, one block away, for the 10-course tasting experience. In a two-room cottage, scallops or Guinea fowl may be paired with biodynamic wine.
Pop by Galaxie Tacos any time. The revamped, 1940s Texaco station is home to tender barbacoa, homemade tortillas, smoky mezcal and single-estate tequilas.
Ernie Foundas and Adrienne Bell have run nearby Suis Generis for 13 years. The ultra-inventive, weekly changing menu has included homemade kombucha and kimchee, duck prosciutto or vegan Philly cheesesteaks.
Across the road, Sneaky Pickle’s vegan/vegetarian standouts include cardamom cold brew, black-rice eggrolls and smoked tempeh Reubens. At night, the space becomes Bar Brine and meat returns to the menu — from rare tuna with yuzu to a killer, six-ounce cheeseburger.
Find a curb for real community
Like the art and the architecture, the longstanding establishments proffer flavor, but they also foster deep community connection.
It’s not at fancy dinners where you’d meet the most locals, but over breakfast or curbside lunch.
Bywater Bakery has live-music sets outside on weekends, and hot coffee and buttery pastries are available every morning.
Elizabeth’s combines a bayou, roadside ambiance with caloric Cajun plates.
The Joint smokes the barbecue out back. While the pulled pork plate is worth a sit-down, they do have a quirky perk. They sell single ribs, falling off the bone, to-go.
The best Louisiana lunch? That’s to-go, at Frady’s One Stop. The yellow corner storefront at Piety and Dauphine is decorated in folk art. Kirk Frady got his education at the knee of his father, who opened in the summer of ‘72.
“We like to keep the local lore,” says Frady. “Red Beans & Rice traditional, every Monday. Tuesday is Meatloaf Day … my grandmother’s recipe … and Fridays, fried catfish.”
For more than 50 years, locals have come for po-boys, batteries and beer. An organic party often forms outside at noon. As seats fill at the iron tables or the peeling front bench, many simply sit down on the curb.
“I’ve certainly watched this neighborhood change but never imagined it as a tourist destination. My dad ran tabs for struggling families, back when the area was rough and grandmothers hid money in their bras,” Kirk Frady says with a laugh. “Dad used to tell customers, ‘If you make a wish on your first po-boy, it will come true.’”
He hands me a fried-shrimp on French loaf, wrapped in wax paper. I ask Kirk what his wish is.
“You can’t recreate a neighborhood like this,” he says. “So, my wish is that we protect it.”
The-CNN-Wire
™ & © 2025 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.
