Beyond the French Quarter, the heart of New Orleans stretches south and west, the bend of the Mississippi River mirrored by one of the main routes through the area, Magazine Street. A trip along Magazine provides an abundance of options to eat, drink, shop or even pop off to John Goodman’s house. There are, however, hotter spots than others, including concentrations of neighborhood dive bars that have grown up as the area around them has evolved.

In some cases, like Ms. Mae’s The Club, for example, that growth and evolution has meant revamping a once more “rustic” space into a slightly updated version of the original. In other cases, like Brothers Three (III) Lounge, the arrival of nuclear fallout to New Orleans probably wouldn’t be reason enough to change anything about the dive bar. Generally speaking, Magazine Street is a pretty polished, tourist- and walking-friendly part of town, but there are some destinations a little divier than the rest.