Finding a tourist-light, dripping-with-authenticity dive bar in the middle of a neighborhood best known for beads and 3-for-1 drink specials is no easy feat. Couple that pursuit with the fact that said neighborhood just happens to be in the tourist capital of the southern United States and the search becomes even more problematic.

New Orleans’ French Quarter provides an interesting challenge because of those factors and others, one of the world’s best-known places to drink overrun with bars and restaurants that exist solely to attract and monetarily drain tourists. To be sure, New Orleans authenticity shines through because a city this steeped in culture finds its way no matter the venue, but it takes a special spot in the French Quarter to channel the vibrancy of the city completely.

Luckily, places like Chart Room and The Abbey, stretching from the heart of the French Quarter to the edge of the French Market, anchor drinking options that sure, may never be totally bereft of sweating tourists, but keep just enough edge to feel like true tenants of one of the world’s most trafficked neighborhoods.