Best Bars To Celebrate Mardi Gras On The Peninsula
Mardi Gras Lounge
1628 El Camino Real
Redwood City, CA 94063
(650) 368-9979
www.themardigraslounge.com
As its name suggests, this popular neighborhood bar is considered the fun place to go any time of the year, and especially at party times like Mardi Gras. The Mardi Gras Lounge will be offering favorite New Orleans drinks such as Sazerac, Vieux Carré, the hurricane and a Cajun bloody mary during February and March. Celebrate for two months if you can do it. To sweeten the offer, the lounge has live music on most Saturdays, and karaoke every Friday night.
Nola
535 Ramona St.
Palo Alto, CA 94301
(650) 328-2722
www.nolas.com
Celebrate the energy of Mardi Gras and the spirit of New Orleans with the tastes, drinks and sounds of that famed Mardi Gras city. Nola restaurant has been in downtown Palo Alto since June, 1996, and this Mardi Gras will be the restaurant's 17th celebration. Mardi Gras is by far Nola's busiest day of the year, seeing on average about 1,200 guests come through the doors that evening. This year, Nola will open at 5 p.m. and feature the live music of the Funky Gators. The restaurant will have bars staged throughout the site, and all staff and many guests come in costume. While Nola will not offer a traditional dinner service that night, there will be many Cajun bites on hand. The beads and drinks will be plentiful.
Related: Best Bars To Celebrate Your Birthday In The North Bay
7 Mile House Historic Sports Bar & Grill
2800 Bayshore Blvd.
Brisbane, CA 94005
(415) 467-2343
www.7milehouse.com
The 7 Mile House, an historic restaurant and bar, remains a prime spot rich in character and lighthearted in atomsophere. Set to observe its 160-year anniversary in its original location, 7 Mile House enjoys celebrating special events and holidays, including Mardi Gras, with its regulars and new guests. This year's Mardi Gras celebration at 7 Mile House presents crawfish, hurricanes and jazz! Join the 7 Mile House team for live Louisiana-inspired jazz by the Al Molina Jazz Quintet with special guest vocalist DIMA (no cover) from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. The evening's dinner special will be the bar's popular crawfish clambake ($25) with crawfish, clams, shrimp, mussels, corn and potatoes in red wine broth, served with garlic bread, plus $6 hurricane cocktail specials.
Red Crawfish
401 E. 3rd Ave.
San Mateo, CA 94401
(650) 347-7888
www.redcrawfishsm.com
More than a bar, this is the spot to enjoy live Louisiana crawfish and Cajun-inspired cuisine with a kick of Asian-fused fare in the mix. Known for its expansive Cajun and southern food menu – with traditional beignets for dessert -- Red Crawfish is a fun place to celebrate Mardi Gras. Add a classic signature hurricane, spicy bloody mary or cucumber gimlet to complete the Mardi Gras ambiance.
Ale Arsenal
971 Laurel St.
San Carlos, CA 94070
(650) 594-2337
www.alearsenal.com
Downtown San Carlos is proud to have Ale Arsenal, a quintessential American craft beer bar serving a variety of craft beer brewed in the United States. This year, Fat Tuesday, commonly known as Mardi Gras, falls on the beginning of San Francisco Beer Week, and Ale Arsenal has several themed tap-takeover nights planned for the week featuring limited-release beers from local up-and-coming Bay Area breweries. On Mardi Gras, February 12, the bar will be tapping a keg of Devils Canyon Barrel of Monkeys barrel-aged Barleywine. This is the public's first chance to sample the 2012 vintage outside of the brewery itself. At 16 percent ABV, Barrel of Monkeys is a big, bold beer perfectly suited for the spirit of Mardi Gras.
Related: Bay Area Mardi Gras Hot Spots
Melanie Graysmith is a freelance writer and artist based in San Francisco. She writes on adult education, art and lifestyle topics, and enjoys writing short stories and poetry. Melanie is a member of an independent filmmaking group and aims to spin her stories into film. Her work can be found at Examiner.com.
