This venue has gone through some name changes, some identity swaps, and now a hurricane. It's taken a long while for the dedicated owner to get it back in order post-storm damage and insurance tussles, but his victory is complete with a well scrubbed new facility. Grit like that, plus loyalty to the city, should be rewarded, which is easy, since the Nile is smack in the center of the thriving Frenchmen club scene, and so is easily added to your list of stops. The two-story club (there is often a supporting act playing upstairs) has better than average sightlines, except for near the bar where archways can obstruct views. There should be excellent pizza (it's owned by the same people who do Rocco's in the Quarter) for late-night munchies upstairs, and at least three shows a week by a wide variety of locals plus late-night DJs.

Copyright: Excerpted from Frommer's New Orleans 2009, (c) 2008, Wiley Publishing, Inc.

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