On the outside it looks like a ramshackle hut. On the inside it isn't much more polished, but if you want to hear some great music this is the place to go.
The Maple Leaf has a large bar, a separate area for the stage and the audience and small area in the back for pool. Everything about this place is unpretentious...it's dark, simple, open, plain. The crowd is a nice mixture of young & old, local & tourist, preppy & grunge.
As for the music, this place attracts some of the best local talent. We saw the Iguanas, a very popular local band, that is usually touring around the U.S. I liked them so much, I bought the cd.
The Maple Leaf is about a 15 minute ride ($13) from the French Quarter. It is a little hard catching a cab back, but just wait outside and one will come eventually.