8316 Oak Street,

New Orleans, LA

(Uptown) 

Located on Oak Street near the mid-city section, this is a down and dirty, nothing bar, small load, generally not too crowed, but they generally have great music of every type and generally for only $5.  I go here after arriving from the airport when I go to NOLA.  There’s a pool table in the back, but not much ease.  Music usually starts at 9 or 10 pm. The reason that I like this place is because the crowd there genuinely loves the music that is being created.  I actually saw my first hip-hop group there a few months ago, and while this is not my style of music I stayed until about 1:00 a.m. because the music, the entertainers and the crowd for really pretty entertaining.  To enjoy New Orleans you really just have to forget everything else in the world and go with whatever flow you get caught in and let yourself explore new sensations.  I know that sounds a bit deep, but to enjoy places like the Maple Leaf, be open to new ideas and enjoy.   Blues, R&B, New Orleans Funk are among the styles of music that you'll hear at the Maple Leaf.

There’s a excellent restaurant about 15 feet from the Maple Leaf called Jacque Imo’s and I would suggest considering dinner there follow by late night music at The Maple leaf.  The wait for dinner may be 60-90 minutes, even on a Monday night, but, the atmosphere in the dining room is wonderfully fun and intimate at the same time, the food has a great New Orleans variety and tastes wonderful.  It’s not all that expensive either.  An interesting feature of this restaurant like many in NOLA is that you have to walk through the kitchen to get to the dining room.  You won’t go wrong with this place.  NOT A Tourist Trap, just real NOLA tunes.