June is Pride month and a great time to visit your favorite bartenders at all the LGBTQ+ establishments and show them love & support. One of those special people who always puts a smile on my face is Jeremy Cole at Good Friends. No lie, Jeremy lifts my mood up just by being in his sphere. That is not just a sign of a good bartender but a fun-loving person in general.
Originally from Houma, he is a Bayou Boy as I like to call them. He moved to NOLA looking for adventure. I can’t think of a more interesting adventure than being a bartender in a gay bar in the French Quarter. He has worked at Good Friends for, as he says emphatically, “TEN WHOLE YEARS!” He says he has never had a bartending job like this before.
Jeremy is a natural charmer and has an impressive work ethic, which makes him a natural behind the bar. He is professional, yet personable, as well as focused and witty. He is a bar owner’s dream. Getting a drink from Jeremy is like being served a cocktail from an old friend. He makes you feel comfortable and safe. He is the epitome of hospitality.
His cocktails are also fabulous. He has created a shot called the Swedish Fish Shot. It’s two parts vodka, one part raspberry liquor, and one part cranberry juice. Jeremy’s favorite drink to make is called the Larkin. “It’s easy, just Deep Eddy’s Ruby Red Grapefruit vodka and soda water in a tall glass! It’s so simple but refreshing.” But when he is out and about cocktailing, he enjoys vodka and Rumpleminze shots.
In addition to making great drinks and his other attributes, Jeremy cheekily says his best asset behind the bar is his legs and smile. And you know he is not wrong.
When posed with the question of what was the weirdest thing he had seen in his ten years of working at Good Friends. His reply was, “One time a drunk guy was pissing in the bathroom and shot his hand off accidentally with the loaded gun he had in waistband.” Wow, and people want everyone to carry guns now, such a horrible idea.
His biggest pet peeve that customers do is when they walk in and say, “Surprise me!” “I don’t know what you like to drink. You know what you like and what you want to drink. So tell me!”
There are many reasons people like being a bartender. Jeremy says, “I love bartending because you make a lot of friends. I particularly love working at Good Friends because I feel like it’s my home and like I’m a part of the community.” And finally, one unique thing about Jeremy that most people do not know is that he is very into Legos!
So come out and try a Swedish Fish Shot or a Larkin. Jeremy works at Good Friends Bar Upstairs (Queen Heads Pub) only on Thursday-Sunday nights. Good Friends is located at 740 Dauphine Street.
