My wife found this New Orleans style eatery with live blues music online a few days ago. It sounded too good to be true in a city like San Jose but we decided to turn up here last night. It had been hot as hell the 2 days we were staying in San Jose and it was 90F when we walked in just after 6pm. The place looked kind of cool with a stage set up in front of an outdoor beer garden with a bar out the back. We walked upstairs into the house section to order our meals at the service counter / kitchen.
There were a bunch of dining tables upstairs but it didn’t feel air conditioned to me so not much more comfortable than the outdoor beer garden. The place was getting kind of busy soon after we arrived so we stood in line as quickly as possible to place our order. Having been to New Orleans a few times and eaten at a bunch of restaurants there we were familiar with Cajun / Creole style food. They had a pretty decent canned beer selection in a fridge behind the service counter.
However I figured the full bar downstairs should have what I wanted to drink . . a good tasting hazy IPA on tap. We ordered a full Muffaletta Sandwich . . after the cashier assured us it was as good as anything out of Nola. At way over 20 bucks with tip it was about the same price we were used to paying at Central Grocery & Deli in the French Quarter. We paid and the cashier handed us a ready buzzer. We settled at a table in the beer garden so we could catch the live blues being played by the Legendary Ron Thompson & his cohorts. The band was playing when we arrived and they were knocking out real authentic delta blues. I asked the barman Mike about a hazy IPA and he offered me a sample of what he had.
It was from Frisco’s Anchor Brewing and I didn’t like it at all. I headed back upstairs to grab a can of the hazy IPA the cashier had shown me earlier. There was a long line to of customers waiting to order and we had just been buzzed that our Muffaletta Sandwich was ready. I managed to get my can of beer which the cashier strangely opened before handing it to me. At 9 bucks for a pint it wasn’t cheap. So we finally got settled with our dinner and I had my hazy IPA which tasted pretty good.
Our Muffaletta Sandwich tasted very good . . way better than I expected for a live music joint. It was so hot and steamy but the great blues music being played helped me forget about it . . my wife can handle the hot weather. We stuck around to just 8pm because it had been a long day and we had a late morning flight to catch the next day. There was a huge building next door called The Studio where Poor House Bistro features bigger acts such as Jimmy Thackery & The Drivers.
