The Crown & Anchor

The self-proclaimed lone authentic English pub in all of New Orleans, The Crown & Anchor sits across the Mississippi River from New Orleans proper. Located in the timeless and historic Algiers Point neighborhood, getting to The Crown & Anchor means taking the public ferry across the river, a scenic way to either take in the view of the city or mentally prepare yourself for a long night of drinking English beer and playing trivia. Both are excellent options.

Walking from the Algiers Point ferry means passing a handful of restaurants and slightly more upscale drinking options before getting to The Crown & Anchor. For a bar that requires a ferry ride to get to, this slightly recessed location feels just a bit further off the already less-than-beaten path, an excellent trait as far as dive bars go.

The lot that today houses The Crown & Anchor has operated some kind of commercial business since the late 1880s, rotating through grocery stores, saloons and a sewing machine store. The original building was destroyed by fire and rebuilt at least once. Town Tavern operated as a bar here during the 1960s, offering the well-named Chicken In A Box carryout restaurant from the back of the building. More recently, Town Tavern Cocktail Lounge opened in 1976 before closing in 1997.

Enter The Crown & Anchor, opened in 1998 after taking over for Town Tavern Cocktail Lounge by Dawn Alastair Jackson after they purchased the building the previous year. Ownership has changed hands a few times since then, but the New Orleans dive bar has remained an integral part of the ancient Algiers Point community since its inception. Visually, the bar blends seamlessly into the residences that surround it, save the large blue British-style phone booth that serves as the bar’s entrance.

Settled in 1719, Algiers Point is one of the oldest neighborhoods in the city and that sense of history and community colors really everything that happens at The Crown & Anchor, from the food pop-ups that attract countless nearby residents to frequent communal events hosted at the bar. The typical Crown & Anchor event calendar includes watch parties for New Orleans Saints games, a chess club and pub quiz nights that run every second and last Thursday night.

Inside, the vibe is as British as it’s going to get in New Orleans, countless mugs hanging from a ceiling criss-crossed by the exact wooden beams you’re picturing right now as you conjure up the image of an old English pub. The bar’s whiskey selection is robust and the beer selection includes a number of British mainstay varieties alongside the usual New Orleans dive bar beer suspects like Abita. Decorations here are a little less overwhelming than the usual New Orleans dive, a function of the British theme that is naturally a bit less insistent on constant visual stimulation, though bar mirrors are plentiful.

Not to be missed is the massive back patio that feels more like a friend’s backyard than anything else. Umbrella-laden picnic tables are distributed throughout the paved portion of the patio with ample grass for those that need a little dive bar backyard exploration in their lives. Cornhole boards are often perched here. The patio in front, code for ‘the sidewalk’ is similarly attractive, another set of picnic tables offering the perfect perch to watch the Algiers Point community go about its business.