The Bulldog

woodychandler

Pennsylvania

4.84/5  rDev +30.5%
vibe: 5 | quality: 4.5 | service: 5 | selection: 5 | $$

Ever since I disembarked from the train from Jackson, MS, people had been telling me "Bulldog!", "Bulldog!" to the point that I began to wonder if I were attending Yale. Well, I found it. It sat in the middle of the block, along Magazine, and the double doors opened directly onto the bar to the left and the kitchen to the right.

Thanks to the heat and humidity, I had my patch jacket at the carry and as a result, my extensive tattoos were on display. I knew that I was home as soon as I Adem the bartender and his great body art. I was contemplating my next move when Jeremy, another bartender, said, "Hey, man, nice specs!" Wait a minute, that's usually my line, dang it! Jeremy introduced me to a whole bunch of people over the course of my visit, which was very cool.

The long, elongated "U"-shaped laminated bar fronted an extensive back bar with a bank of fifty (50!) taps and colored chalkboard lists created by the very artistic Adem. To the extreme right of the back bar was a three-door cooler chock full of quality beers.

I was most intrigued by the Abita selection. It turns out that those Cajun bastiges were holding out on us Yankees. Abita Select - a one-off IPA. For Pete's sake, my blood pressure went into overdrive! Andygator - a barleywine! Whiskey Tango Foxtrot, over?!? Well, as the result of my visit, I know and so will everyone that reads this review. Ha ha, your secret is out, avec plaisir.

Along the right wall, headed aft, was a passageway leading aft to the lavatories, in which a recording of Adem's one-man band, Big Toe, was playing. As I returned to the bar, I was struck by the comely waitresses all clothed in L.B.D.s, which was a fantastic idea. It became fodder for Woody's Bar, a non-existent place that may eventually become the setting of a novel.

Jeremy told me that the owner had also opened a room for those patrons who may have become too intoxicated to drive. Heck, I would have made reservations for the weekend if I had known.

An outdoors seating area was outside and to the left of the end of the bar, headed aft.

Some last, random notes that did not fit anywhere else: the Robin Bell photo prints for sale to benefit the Louisiana SPCA; continuous video trivia on one of the monitors above the bar; and a slogan - "Old beer drinkers never die. They just go belly up." Ha!

01-30-2008 01:55:04 | More by woodychandler

DoubleSimcoe

New York

3.08/5  rDev -17%
vibe: 2.5 | quality: 3 | service: 3.5 | selection: 3 | $

I swear I had read somewhere about the Bulldog being one of the best beer bars in NOLA. I was obviously wrong.

Pretty packed on 31/12, great day to be out in the courtyard overlooking Magazine street. Service is an issue here- order beer at the bar only, no table service, and order food at the kitchen. Annoying, but bartenders are pretty quick and efficient.

50 taps at the bar and nothing I I want to drink. Evil Twin Soft DK is out, and so is vintage Brooklyn Choco Stout. Lots of locals (Abita, Bayou Teche, Lazy Magnolia) plus bullshit galore (Harp, Bud Light, Hoegaarden, Kronenbourg).

Almost everything comes in 16-oz glasses, and I love that. Even my Ovila Quad! Very fair prices ($4.50-$7.50) but so-so quality, my Ovila tasted flat and old. The wife got a Lazy Magnolia Timber and it was fine, though.

Smoky-divey-sporty atmosphere I don't care for. Young people getting ready for the game... not very New Orleans overall, could be a sports bar in Anywhere, USA. Will not revisit.

01-03-2013 04:42:46 | More by DoubleSimcoe

Treyliff

West Virginia

3.59/5  rDev -3.2%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 2.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Visited The Bulldog on a suggestion from a friend who used to live in New Orleans. We went on Wednesday, which is pint night. This is definitely the best night to go, as you get to keep the pint glass for every beer that you order on tap starting at 6:00. I went home with 6 glasses that night, 4 of which were different. If you go in Wednesday,mi recommend getting their early as it got crowded quick!

Atmosphere was pretty good, we got there early and got a table outside on the patio. It's right in Magazine St so it's a good people watching spot. The I side if the bar was a bit crowded.

Service was non existent beyond behind the bar. Bartenders were pretty quick but in the two hours a was there I didn't see an employee working the floor inside or outside.

As for selection, they rotate about 40 different taps with a pretty good variety, from locals to exports. Bottle selection was decent but nothing special.

We didn't try any if the food but it looked like typical bar fare.

Overall it was a good trip. Bought 6 beers on tap and went home with 6 glasses and only about a $35 tab, tip included. Atmosphere and service isnt anything special but if you are in town and looking for a good tap selection, this one is worth checking out.

08-24-2012 04:45:47 | More by Treyliff

NeroFiddled

Pennsylvania

4.13/5  rDev +11.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 4 | $$$

Well I have to agree more with Far333 than Woodychandler on this one... The Bulldog is OK - well, maybe it's even very good (it's far better than the Balcony Bar right down the street) - but it's not great. It is, however, the best bar in mid-city, and maybe even be better than Cooter Brown's to the west (it seemed cleaner to me).

The outside is nice, displaying a kind of English pub feel with lanterns and everything; and I like all of the wood inside and the booths. Nice.

The beer selection only goes so far, however. There may be specialties, but a lot of it is generic stuff. On the other hand, generic stuff is what N'oleans is all about, so you can't discount that. And there are some gems that you can't find elsewhere. Other than that, it's just a collection of world beer (Belgium, France, Germany, UK).

As for the food, ayyiiee - hard to tell. Basic bar stuff. It seemed pretty good to me.

I'd stop back. That says a lot. Worth trying.

05-11-2012 08:39:05 | More by NeroFiddled

ThePorterSorter

New York

3.43/5  rDev -7.5%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3 | selection: 3.5 | $$

We went out here on a limb that it was worth a visit, although their online available tap/bottle list didn't back up that claim.
The bar is a little out of the way (cab ride from downtown), but looks like a well established bar with a quaint outdoor patio. We arrived, but had a little trouble finding a beer to get excited about trying... However, the prices weren't bad! The bartender was off-putting and overbearing. It didn't take long to want a breath of fresh air (smoking bar) so we headed out to the patio. We loved the outdoor seating and tap handle waterfall. Unfortunately, the selection wasn't worth stickig around for... we left after sharing 1 pint. This bar is not worth stopping at to be honest.

03-13-2012 05:11:10 | More by ThePorterSorter

AdamBear

Pennsylvania

4/5  rDev +7.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | $$

New Orleans seems to be a city that really supports its local craft beer movement. However, it doesn't seem to be a city that supports the nationwide craft beer movement as a whole. this bar seems to support both rather well.

Atmosphere: fairly large. typical bar with a nice out side area with a unique fountain of various tap handles pouring out water over a brick wall.

Service: The bartender was patient and helpful to my friends that didn't know as much about beer.

Selection: very large selection...most pleased about the Lousiana offerings.

Fair Value.

One more note: I found it very funny that you can order a beer, any beer, in a clear plastic cup and then take it out of the bar and drink it through the streets!

08-20-2011 20:17:59 | More by AdamBear

asabreed

New York

3.7/5  rDev -0.3%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

Another surprise walking back from Mahony's after grabbing some Po Boys on Magazine Street. I knew I'd be a fan of this place walking in.

There's a long bar on the left, and though they have many taps, there are a lot of domestics and not a lot I was surprised to see or hadn't had before. Abita is, of course, represented very well, and I was thrilled to see there was a DIPA that I could try, which was actually really good.

But this is a bar where the ambiance is a lot of the experience. An old school feel for sure, but not at all feeling like a dive bar. Much of it's decked out in heavy wood, like the bar, with nice stools, nice tables, and not a ton of light coming through the windows. Cool things to look at hanging on the walls. Just a place where you immediately sit down at the bar and feel comfortable.

Again, though they have a good amount of taps, the selection isn't as broad as I'd hoped. But I did have a few brews, and if you don't live in Louisiana, chances are you'll find some things you haven't been able to try before (especially if you live in New York, like I do now).

I'll return in the future if and when I'm back in New Orleans, and I hope to also check out Bulldog Mid City also in the future.

06-26-2011 19:46:04 | More by asabreed

bound4er

Wisconsin

1.78/5  rDev -52%
vibe: 3.5 | quality: 2 | service: 1 | selection: 1.5 | $$$

Stopped in here on a recent business trip at the urging of a local. Lots and lots of taps but nothing stood out other than a couple of Rogue's brews. Ended up ordering a bottle of Duvel. The bartender opens it up and sets it on the bar without a glass. I look at her and she stares back until I finally ask her for a glass. She hastily finds one that is too dirty to serve a beer in. She does clean it without me needing to ask her. Unreal. At least it was 80 degrees and sunny out so we sat outside. Had it not been for the weather and beer garden, I would have left this place without ordering.

03-26-2011 13:01:01 | More by bound4er

imagese

California

1.75/5  rDev -52.8%
vibe: 3 | quality: 1 | service: 1 | selection: 2 | food: 4 | $$

Came in on a recent trip, and checked this place out during happy hour. Craft pitchers are supposed to be $2 off...

Ordered food before checking out the beer list. The guy running the food portion was awesome. He made me feel like this was going to be a good experience. That QUICKLY faded...

The outside patio was packed, there were a few open tables inside, and a few stools open at the bar. Common sense made me assume there would be more than one bartender... WRONG. Once I got a beer list, I was not pleased at all. Very standard craft choices for people not really into craft beer, and most were basic ambers. Thankfully they had NOLA's stout as a "special tap", so I decided to try that and one other stout before ordering a pitcher. Once I got the bartender's attention, she talked to me like I was wasting her time. She gave me two samples in 2oz plastic cups, and stormed off. Once she finally appeared again, I ordered a pitcher, and she pulled it out of a fridge, filled it, slammed it down with two glasses, and barked out the price. Based on the price of the other NOLA beers, it seemed high, so I asked about the happy hour, and she said "I took the dollar off!", then stormed off again. My bad, I guess NOLA isn't craft beer?

Anyway, I took the pitcher over, and proceded to pour the beer. It appeared that there was some ice formed around the lip of the pitcher, and a piece flew onto the table. After getting the food, and drinking half a pint, I looked down, and the supposed ice piece was still there. I looked closer, and to my unpleasant surprise, IT WAS GLASS!!! The lip of the pitcher was chipped to hell.

I went to the food window to ask for a manager, since there was NO WAY I was going back to talk to the bartender. A few minutes later, the manager came out, I told him what was wrong, and basically got an "oh, that happens" response. He got another pitcher and two new pints, then rinsed out the old pitcher and put it back in the fridge. WOW!!!

NO WAY I'll ever step foot in this place again, well, unless I want to drink chips of glass

01-11-2011 08:14:50 | More by imagese

Chincino

Massachusetts

3.93/5  rDev +5.9%
vibe: 4.5 | quality: 4 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4 | $$

I visited the Bulldog during a visit to New Orleans in the spring of 2005 when I was there for the Jazz Festival. I had been to NOLA a few times prior to this visit and locals had told me on more than one occasion to check it out so we decided to do so prior to going to the Jazz Festival.

The atmosphere was fun, vibrant, and had a "young" feel to it. During my visit, there seemed to be a diverse crowd-with lots of tourists like myself presumably there for the Jazz Festival as well as a good-size college crowd of students from Tulane and Loyola. The people we met while waiting for a table were locals and they informed us that this was one of the better places to grab a brew or two in NOLA.

I believe my friend had an Abita Purple Haze and I had a Rogue Dead Guy Ale (or possibly another beer from Rogue). The beers on tap were fresh which was nice on a humid day.

The service was good once we were able to grab seats at the bar. We didn't try the food while we were there. Having lived in the southeast for a few years, the Bulldog was one of the few places with a decent beer selection I encountered during my time there. I would recommend checking it out if you are in New Orleans.

11-26-2010 02:02:30 | More by Chincino