three muses

while in new orleans on business, i was enjoying all the fantastic live music on frenchman street.

i spent hours going in and out of nearly every establishment. my experience at the three muses deserves mention. i travel for work and i am in sales. i speak with strangers easily and make friends everywhere i go. which i why this story is so amazing to me.

upon entering this place i noted the amount of people in the three muses was very low, maybe 15 people total on a very busy night. being alone, i walked up to the bar and ordered a drink. when i receiving the drink, i took a sip and remarked to the bartender that the drink was great, she said “why wouldn’t it be?” hmm, i thought. odd response.

i turned to the music, as the band was very good. when the person next to me ordered a drink, i noted some ingredients that i like and asked this same bartender what the drink was called, she glared at me saying nothing. i thought she could not hear me, so i asked again. she reached down, grabbed a drinkmenuand tossed it at me. i was shocked. i was trying to imagine what i could have done to make this woman so unkind towards me. i looked at the younger bartender, that miss happy was clearly training and she rolled her eyes at me. as if to say, “i don’t know why this manager/bartender is being so mean to you but i am sorry” we all know the look. the young bartender even went so far as to let me try some of the new drinks she was learning, when miss happy walked away. when the mean employee returned however, she quickly moved away from me and stopped speaking. the straw that broke the camel’s back was this- as i was quickly drinking my one and only drink, i asked very nicely “sweet heart, could you please give me a glass of water, when it is convenient” to which she said “did you just call me sweetie?” i responded, i was simply trying to be nice, i am from texas. i was being sincere. the water never came. i paid my bill and began to leave. when i asked about the water she stated with a stern look in her eyes. “you said ‘when it was convenient“ and then sneered at me.

upon leaving, i could not find one single employee who would tell me miss happy’s name. i have never been in a restaurant or bar in my life where every employee was in fear of revealing a person’s name. they all said things like “why not ask her?” “why do you need to know?” clearly, this happens all the time and they cover for her. therefore, i will kindly describe the bartender who is scaring all your customers away. she is a heavyset blonde-haired woman, with pale skin and tattoos up and down both arms. if you own the three muses and you are wondering why your sales numbers do not compare to the other bars on frenchman, she is working at your bar. i will never come back here and will recommend people avoid this place. your entire staff knows this is occurring, regularly, and they are enabling this person. it is clear she needs therapy and should not be customer facing. as a christian, i will pray for her, she needs it.

unbelievable food!. don't expect bar food in this bar. everything on themenulooked so good, i had an appetizer, entree and dessert! it was all fantastic. i couldn't believe i could get food of this caliber sitting at a crowded bar.

you went too far. four of us sat at the bar for a glen david andrews performance...the surly female bartender shooshed my appropriately enthusiastic, not drunk group and continued to chastise us and shame us even after we sat quietly for 'music appreciation class'. then she had a very loud conversation with my friend that actually made it so i, the patron, could not enjoy the performance. since i had guests, i decided not to shoosh her back. three muses will be my absolute last choice place to see gda or any band. thankfully he has residencies at dba, the saint and little gem, all of whom appreciate my enthusiasm and patronage. gda earned 3 new fans that night...three muses lost one.


-----16 aug, 2012-----

good cocktails. no cover for live music.. let's start with the positives...no cover for music. they are considered a restaurant so people under 21 are allowed. i could bring my 10 yr old neice to hear a little flamenco music. the mixed drinks were well done...my friend got a persephone's revenge and i got a blueberry mojito...quite a good mojito for a bar on a tourist street. my niece's feta fries were tasty. i'll definitely try other things on themenuwhen i return.

service is lacking but what's new with that? the staff ignores you and everything others have said about having to order at the bar when you have a table and leave a credit card even if you don't plan to order anything else are absolutely true but not so off-putting that i wouldn't endure them to see a band i liked.

fabulous but know your scene. this is not the place to go if you expect to be seated right away or have problems with crowded restaurants. saying that, every single thing on thismenuis amazing i have been frequenting this place since they opened and have had just about everything on their menu. yes some things (steak and cake, feta fries, mac and cheese, lamb sliders) are better than others. but trust me you won't be disappointed with whatever crosses your lips. even their house speciality drinks (the muse is my favorite) are delicious, and i don't usually go for the uppity drinks. most of their staff has multiply duties so everyone is always helpful, even when they are slammed.

horrible. this is the worst resteraunt in nola. themenulooks good, but do not be decived! the pork belly was extremly flabby and undercooked. the salmon dill sauce and the chickpea pancake (which sounds good) were overseasonded which detracted the taste of the salmon. the cheese plate was minuscule and the bacon wrapped dates were flavorless. theirpriorities, in this order, are 1) liquor 2) music and 3) food. do not make the mistake of going here.

great food, but won't return. i was really torn on whether to "like it" or "don't like" this place. the food was exceptional. the bacon-wrapped dates stuffed with cheddar on the happy hourmenuwere so good, we ordered two orders. we also had the duck confit pizza, which wasn't very flavorful and the arugula was a little too plentiful and make it difficult to eat politely. the steak and crab cake were equally delicious in the steak and cake order. the steak was tender and juicy. with all this being said, our food order alone came to $30, plus tax. the waitress did explain that the food was tapas style, but still we left feeling hungry. after $30+, we should not be as eager as we were to find a place to have dinner.

attitude and rudeness rule. okay, everyone read the rave reviews...so we tried to go...twice. the first time we asked the red-headed bartendar for amenuand she pointed and turned her back on us. we left. last night we tried again...ordered a cheese plate and then asked if we could change our order. she told us no i already put in your order. the cheese plate arrived - a joke. compared to the chartres street bistro, mimis on the marigny....sorry i think the three muses thinks they are all that and a bag of chips. we're done. too many other great food places, with good food and great service. we ended up at the something else cafe and had great service, a great hamburger and fabulous salad.

mixed review. great atmosphere and music. themenulooked great but the food was a huge disappointment and overpriced. knowing that you have to eat to sit at a table would keep me from going back.

beautiful food and cocktails - seriously. my glowing review will just add to others here, but it is so well-deserved. we were in nola over the holidays and came here twice in our 6 nights in town - it's that good. we heard two very different jazz groups - both great - and ended up sampling about half of the total menu. hey - we were hungry.

for drinks, the spaghetti western is now one of my guy's all time favorite drinks. he is a huge bourbon fan and loved this drink. lots of the other cocktails looked really tempting, but he just wasn't willing to forgo another spaghetti to try something different.

the dishes are all "small plates" but they are truly a decent size. just to hit a few of the best, the mac and cheese, with tiny meatballs, was superb. just superb. creamy, cheesy, and the meatball addition was brilliant. the pork belly is stupendous, and actually has a foie gras quality - it's that melt-in-your-mouth good. they've already changed themenusince we were there, which says a good deal about their creativity. and as a reformed vegetarian, i did note a good selection of vegetarian dishes.

for dessert, get the banana-mascarpone strudel. it is lightly sweetened, and a beautiful contrast of textures with creamy cheese, crunchy pastry, and banana, and the salty caramel contrasts nicely with the creaminess of the strudel. it was great and we got it both nights.

the bartenders were pleasant, efficient, and made great drinks. both nights we were there one of the owners was there, making sure people were finding seats. yes, it was crowded, and we were lucky to get seats at the bar.

we will absolutely be back the next time we are in town.

a special thing.... while there are a few things about the street that embrace "refinement," frenchman has one now. visited the place last night, and with very little in the way of expectations (our neighbors told us it was - pause - "different."). imagine our surprise to see a beautiful, well lit, and thoughtfully designed space with live music. the place smelled great too - hardly a problem when we're starving...

the model of the place is a little tough to deal with - you have to order from the bar no matter where you sit. it's not all that much of a problem, but with the folks at the bar already, and the 40 or plus people sitting in the dining room, it is nearly impossible for 2 bartenders to handle the load. harder still is that they both are trying hard not to make eye contact with anyone that needs to order, lest they get spoken to...

but that's where the not-so-perfect ends. once they have time to talk to you, the bartenders are charming, and rather well-informed. themenufor drinks and wines, while not deep, is broad...and then there is the food.

muses is a place where you continue to eat long after the "i'm full" threshold is crossed. it's easy to justify, too, because you have convinced yourself that the dishes are small, but they're unusually filling. lamb sliders worth fighting close friends over, perfectly spiced; feta french fries that finish with that perfect greco-citrusy mouthfeel; rabbit empanadas that literally disappear as if never ordered...the only issue that we had was with the crab ravioli, seemingly cooked before the sauce was added, and never seasoned - they were nice, potentially, but a little bland. whatever - we ate them anyway.

best part of the deal is that we left, full and glowing from wine, for under $100. that included our gratuity, and we're not the worst tippers in the world. enter with an open mind - and if you try without looking for bad, you'll see that this is a gem that we need to keep around.

impressive cocktails, clean air, and a nice bathroom - excellent addition to frenchmen!. went to three muses for a wrap party, had a great time! beautiful art, innovativemenuof small plates (featuring duck empanadas), quickly expanding cocktail menu. overall, a polished, well executed space. a refreshing addition to the frenchman street drag. no smoky hovel with a pit toilet in the back (though some of us, myself included, will always love that kind of bar), this place is actually kinda classy. i enjoyed the music. piano bar stylings of everything from etta james to sublime. i know it sounds hokey, but it works. i'm sold. three muses gets my vote. here's to hoping they stay around for quite awhile! also, the owner is an absolute peach!

coming along nicely. tried themenuboth last sunday at bacchanal and last night at the opening. the place was busy and jam packed to be sure, but compared to other 'first night at a new restaurant' fiascos i've laid witness or contributed to in the past, it's overwhelmingly obvious that the three proprietors have their stuff together. the place looks great, the music was reminiscent of a prohibition era speakeasy, and the diversemenuwas full of some really creative ideas. thank god - foodies can have their version of pub food too.