It's the kind of crumbling ruin that seems perfect as the French Quarter's most famous tavern. Now that the Napoleon House is once again open into the evening hours, New Orleanians are returning there for extended lingering over Pimm's Cups and other beverages, Creole and Italian appetizers, and some of the best muffulettas in town.
The building went up at around the time of the Louisiana Purchase. When it was the home of Nicholas Girod, the former New Orleans mayor offered an apartment in it to Napoleon in exile--hence the name. (The deposed emperor demurred.) The Impastato family opened the present business in 1914, when the French Quarter was a largely Italian enclave. For decades, the Napoleon House was the leading hangout for people who lived in the French Quarter, or who wished they did. Relative to its long history, food is a recent development. One day about forty years ago they started serving muffulettas, and the eating grew from there. Before the hurricane, a gourmet bistro called Girod's was doing some serious cooking in the courtyard and in the upstairs private dining rooms. The Napoleon House came back very slowly from Katrina; for a couple of years, it wasn't open in the evenings at all. Girod's is still not back.
The two main rooms open onto the sidewalk and the courtyard, where a few alfresco tables are available. Classical music plays in the background, and the regulars talk about drinking Pimm's Cups (but more often drink something else). As old as the place and its staff are, the clientele has always tended to the young side.
The best way to enjoy the Napoleon House is to get there at dusk and hang out there until they close, ordering all the drinks you can safely consume and interspersing it with food and conversation about how great it is to live in New Orleans.
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