Maple Leaf Bar

Great local spot to hear your favorite local bands play. The drink prices are reasonable and the staff is very kind. If I could change anything about this place I would definitely put in some more seating and maybe clean up the back patio a bit.

As with any good dive bar/​music venue looks are supposed to be deceiving! This place goes the extra mile to bring you the bare minimum of what makes a great little music club. Bare bones and rocking to the core. Whether it was seeing Rebirth here hack in the day or a recent stop to get my mind blown apart by The London Souls, good times/​great music are always happening. Bar staff was fantastic last visit, I was just drinking bottled water, but the barkeep was quick on the draw and kept me hydrated.

Awesome venue! I went for the Oak St Festival and stopped in just to get a drink and ended up staying because of the incredible band playing! Fun, quaint little place with great vibes

Sardine death trap waiting to happen.
There are a few things you can count on at Maple Leaf:
— The band will start no less than an hour after whatever time the Maple Leaf staff tells you when you call to ask.
— The band will start no less than an hour after the start time listed on the website.
— The Maple Leaf will oversell their capacity by 100%. And they will continue to let a ridiculously inordinate amount of additional people in.
— After they let all the aforementioned people in, they will continue to let in the other 50 people who were still standing in line outside. And the other 50 people who get in line after them.
— If this place were ever to catch on fire and you are standing anywhere other than immediately next to the front door, you can kiss your life goodbye.
— Bartenders and staff are friendly.
— The drinks are solid.
If you ever find yourself, wittingly or unwittingly, turned into a human sardine by the Maple Leaf’s insatiable desire for cash money cover charges, have the sense to ask for a refund when you leave. They’re polite enough and they’ll give it to you. And look around online– with a little effort you can find a phenomenal band, brass or otherwise, to see elsewhere pretty much 7 days a week in NOLA.
Later in the night we ran into some fellow sardines who decided to stay for the show. They said that Maple Leaf kept trying to pack people in all night, despite the fact that they were far, far, far over capacity and all the people that they were letting in had zero chance of ever seeing the stage. They were drenched in sweat and said that the entire place turned into a sauna despite that fact that all people were doing was standing, packed more tightly than anything they had ever seen.
Zero stars for human-​sardine-​death-​trap greed, a few stars for solid drinks and decent bartenders, let’s call it 2 stars…

Killer music any night of the week ! Come for some good prices beers and drinks. The bands are hand picked to perfection. Local or tourist you are always welcomed. Be aware there is a cover, but well worth it to support local artist (who ham their souls out for you) a blast of a time ALWAYS! (those weak of heat and «soul» beware) lol

Rebirth brass band… THEY ARE WHO WE THOUGHT THEY WERE!
The wait was worth it but it was packed and hot af on a Tuesday night. The intermission was a bit longer than expected at about 45 min but the music was sooooooooo good. Didnt drink much so can’t comment on prices and staff but overall a must do if you’re in New Orleans. Also, get food from the ladies slinging home cooking out front, you won’t be disappointed.

OK, first I must state that I do not write a lot of reviews. When I do write one, there are two reasons, one, I want to let the world know how great a product or service was or two, the total opposite. I will start this conversation by stating that the Maple Leaf Bar was of the second reason… absolutely horrible!
I went to this venue to see the brass band, Rebirth. I had heard there were a must see, so naturally since I was in New Orleans and they were at the Maple Leaf it was a no brainer. I arrived at the Maple Leaf, approximately about 9:45 PM and the band was scheduled to start playing at 11 PM. There was already a line, about 40 – 50 deep, so my wife, cousin and I already knew we might either get turned away or at the worst, a crowded back of the room, standing, squeezed-​tight spot where we could at minimum still see the band. We finally got to the front door, after approximately a 20 – 25 minute wait, and paid the $ 15 cover charge per person. Well, as we entered to go to the main venue floor there was no room, not for one more person. So, we thought we might wait a few more minutes and maybe, maybe the club would possibly open additional space, NO!
Not only was there no space for me and my group, but there was absolutely no space for the other 50 people that followed behind us, but the Maple Leaf kept taking the $$$$! Not only did we not get to see the band play, but we sat at the only table available and got booted from there because they wanted to sell merchandise there. Now, I will say I am by no stretch of the imagination a high-​brow patron of any sort. Quite frankly, I have worked at dive bars and have never experienced such a pathetic venue.
I will not now or in the future recommend this place to anyone except for those that just want to experience AWFUL! Thanks Maple Leaf for being about the $ and I hope bands like Rebirth will reconsider using your venue because it reflects just as poorly on them.

Best crawfish boil in town. I mean they have pigs heads and rabbit meat. But you must be here on town for people known the deal. This place is a gem fosho

Quirky little dive bar with very dim, very red lighting. Good, strong, inexpensive drinks. If you’re waiting for Jacques-Imo’s to open, stop in and have a drink before dinner. There’s not much else to do anyway, lol. The bartender is a hoot and very friendly. If it wasn’t so far from our hotel, we would’ve hung out here for a bit after dinner too. Worth a stop!

Music is great. Cheap drinks. Bartender was a total jerk. I have to think twice about going back. Very rude dude. Made a fool of himself mocking a customer.

Loved the music. So much fun to come in grab a drink and set back. Perfect. Love New Orleans and so happy we stopped in to this place.

This is a must see bar for locals. My favorite day to check this place out is on Sunday’s during crawfish season. They do an awesome boil with different things like duck, pork shoulder, and gator. The drinks are cheap and the atmosphere feels like New Orleans. Hard to explain unless you’ve been here. Definitely one of my favorite bars off the beaten path.

If you don’t like it you don’t get it. If you get it there’s nothing like it. Nothing else to say.

I’m only giving this bar 2 stars because the bar shift changed and we didn’t have to deal with the train wreck that we had initially opened our tab with. This guy was so busy arm wrestling it took a a total of 4 tries to get our order right. Once he finally decided to complete the order and remake a drink he had made wrong he first grabs the drink that was wrong slams it in front of us and says whatever. There was no music playing yet so maybe he was b team and doesn’t know his way behind the bar but if I were the owner I would remove this cancer before he really causes problems.

I love going to the Maple Leaf… when I’m in the mood. It’s dark, a little grungy, and has enough space to not get super packed. The live acts are always top notch (looking at you John Gros), and the bartender is usually on top of his game. One thing that stinks is there always seems to be a cover. But it’s (usually) worth it.

Check another one off my bucket list, I finally saw Rebirth at the Maple Leaf!
Well, sort of. We sat in the back room, so we could actually sit, thinking that the view from the benches along the wall in the front room would probably have no view whatsoever. But by standing on the front rung of my barstool, I could actually see these amazing musicians. The sound level back there was really not as loud as I expected, and the only downer to the evening was a male hen party that materialized right in front of us, five guys who were so deep into conversation, that I couldn’t believe they paid the $ 20 cover to stand there and talk about baseball. But it was still a great experience.
Drinks are strong and reasonably priced, and the bartender kept up with the growing crowd well. The patio out back looked pretty chill, but we were afraid to give up our seats to check it out. The heat from the packed-​in crowd up front is legendary, but the back room stayed comfortable. So if you don’t mind a partial view of what’s going on up on stage, the back’s the place to be.

My girlfriend and I visited Maple Leaf Bar on a Tuesday night in order to see the Rebirth Brass Band play their weekly show. I had seen the Rebirth Brass Band at Austin City Limits several years ago, and I really enjoyed their show (why see Skrillex push buttons on his MacBook when you could see these guys?).
After putting our name on the list at Jacques-Imo’s, we went over to Maple Leaf for a few pre-​dinner drinks. Well drinks are $ 5 there, and the bartenders actually pour a decent amount of liquor into the drinks. Maple Leaf has a cool backyard area, so we took our drinks outside and sat on a bench. Early in the evening on Tuesdays, it’s just a really chill dive bar.
We left around 9 pm for dinner, and then returned shortly after 10 pm for the Rebirth Show. The cover is $ 15 which is a little high for a «local» show, but is understandable considering how renowned Rebirth is.
The bar wasn’t very overly crowded at 10 pm. We found a table by the back bar in the room behind the main room, so we sat down there. We expected to be able to hear the band well from that place. During the next hour, people continued to fill up the venue until the main room was packed.
At a little after 11 pm, the Rebirth Brass Band went on stage. Unfortunately, the acoustics at Maple Leaf are not very good. From the back room, we could barely hear anything. The speakers playing music earlier were somehow louder than live music fifty feet away from us. We got up and ventured into the main room. However, the sound was still pretty quiet there too. We watched for a while, but the show wasn’t really that great from the back of the main room. It was hot and crowded and there wasn’t really any room to dance around. To be honest, the Austin performance was way more fun. My recommendation is that you should either get to Maple Leaf really early and stake out a spot in front (not that you’d have any room to dance) or you should just see Rebirth Brass Band somewhere else. It’s not like they did anything at this show that they don’t do at other shows.
While I’d definitely recommend Maple Leaf as a cool bar to drink at, I think the Tuesday show experience is a bit over-​hyped.

Love this place. It’s a great little New Orleans institution. The live shows here are very intimate, especially rebirth on Tuesday nights. It tends to get very packed so I suggest getting here early, grabbing some dinner on oak st (plenty of great places to choose from) and then walking over to maple leaf. You wait out by the back bar or the outdoor patio until the live shows begin. That’s the best way to beat the crowd lining up on Tuesdays! Rebirth put on a hell of a show.
Snag a spot anywhere, the venue is small enough so you don’t necessarily have to be in the front of the stage to enjoy the performances. Warning, the place gets packed with people wall to wall and it gets HOT. My suggestion would be stand near the back, enjoy the performance and give yourself that little extra room to dance!
I myself will come back to this place as long as they keep having live performances

BLUF: Standard music bar but hard to come by in this area so it is needed and is pretty good.
Standard bar with good prices and good service. Nothing special bar wise. You go there for the music though. They have a wide range of acts and they are usually bigger local acts. Great western side of the city to see a band if you are in the area. Good place.

Had a hell of a time in this joint on Tuesday night!
My friend who is a new resident of New Orleans told me an awesome band called Rebirth. Cover was $ 15 and there isn’t an ATM inside so make sure you bring the dollars. Whoever does the lighting in the place is awesome as it give off a great vibe while listening to some awesome jazz. The band rocks on stage while the crowd rocks out below on the main floor. There is a bench on the wall for sitting drinks or standing to get a better view as it gets mad crowded here so get ready to sweat.
Drink prices are standard as they of course have a full bar. This is definitely a place I will try every time I go to NOLA.