New Orleans, LA Public Conduct: Public Alcohol Use (2026)

Section 54-404 targets container material, not alcohol itself: New Orleans is well known for allowing open containers of alcohol on public streets, but it is unlawful to "carry or drink from any opened glass container in or on any public street, sidewalk, park or public right-of-way" inside the area "bounded by the upriver side of Canal Street, the lakeside of Rampart Street, the downriver side of Esplanade Avenue and the Mississippi River", the French Quarter. An "opened glass container" covers any glass drinking vessel and any glass container with a broken seal that would normally hold a beverage, though unopened drinking glasses still in their original packaging are excluded.

Establishments that sell beverages in glass containers within the zone must post two copies of the ordinance, obtainable from the department of finance, or face a separate violation for failing to post. Enforcement is "by the issuance of a summons or citation rather than by arrest," though a person who fails to appear in municipal court after a citation triggers an arrest warrant. Subsection (e) extends the glass ban citywide to any public right-of-way within one block of a Mardi Gras parade route, starting two hours before the published parade time and running through two hours after the parade ends or disbands. A related section, § 54-406, separately bars bar and restaurant owners from knowingly letting patrons leave with an open glass or metal container.