Entry No. 99 — the New Orleans file — filed under: kermit-ruffins
Kermit's Tremé Mother-in-Law Lounge
Ernie K-Doe opened this hot-pink corner building in 1994; his widow Antoinette ran it until she died at Mardi Gras 2009, and Kermit Ruffins took the lease in 2011 and reopened it in January 2014. The K-Doe murals still cover the outside walls, and the whole thing sits directly under the Claiborne overpass, which does something strange and useful to a trumpet. Kermit plays it himself at 6pm on Saturdays when he's in town, and the barbecue and red beans coming out of the back are part of the evening rather than a concession stand bolted onto it. The rest of the week moves around — his own site currently has him at the Blue Nile on Fridays and, starting in September, over on Bourbon Street on Mondays, so the lounge's other nights are whoever turns up.
→ Three more underground music & performance in New Orleans — never the same twice
The story
Ernie K-Doe cut 'Mother-in-Law' in 1961, an Allen Toussaint song that went to number one on both the Billboard pop and R&B charts and then defined the rest of his life. He spent the 1980s on WWOZ and WTUL as a gloriously unrestrained radio presence and the 1990s reinvented as the self-declared Emperor of the Universe, cape and crown included, and in 1994 he opened this corner building on N. Claiborne as bar, stage and shrine to himself. He died on 5 July 2001 and was entombed in St. Louis Cemetery No. 2.
His widow Antoinette kept it running, revived the Baby Dolls masking tradition, and maintained a life-size mannequin of Ernie that she dressed, seated and paraded — days before her death she rode with it on a Krewe of Muses float. Katrina put five and a half feet of water through the building; she reopened it on 29 August 2006, the storm's first anniversary, with help from the Hands on Network. She died of a heart attack at the lounge on Mardi Gras Day, 24 February 2009, and the place went quiet.
Kermit Ruffins — Rebirth Brass Band co-founder in 1983, Barbecue Swingers bandleader since 1992, and a man whose reputation for cooking at his own gigs precedes him — took it on in 2011 and reopened it on 20 January 2014. The K-Doe murals still cover the pink exterior. The building sits directly beneath the I-10 Claiborne expressway, dropped through this neighbourhood in 1969 at the cost of roughly 500 homes and the Black business district that lined the avenue; the only oaks left on Claiborne are the ones painted onto the support columns in 2002. In May 2025 Ruffins handed off day-to-day management after sixteen years. He still owns it, and he still plays it.
What it's like
It is a small pink room under a freeway, and the freeway does something genuinely useful to a trumpet. Saturday is the night that matters: WWOZ lists Kermit Ruffins and the Barbecue Swingers at 6pm, which is early by local standards and means the set is over before most of the city has started. Get there by 5:30 if you want a seat along the mural wall. Food comes out of the back and is part of the evening rather than a concession — take a plate. There is no stage-and-audience geometry to speak of; Kermit works the room between numbers and other players drift in with horns and sit in during the second set. Bring cash for the tip bucket. Nobody is dressed up and nobody cares that you are not.
The move: Saturday, 6pm, for Kermit and the Barbecue Swingers. Get there by 5:30, take a plate and a seat along the mural wall while there's still a choice of seat, and stay through the second set — that's when other players start walking in with horns and sitting in.
📍 Before you go On N Claiborne at the overpass, a short ride from the Quarter with easy street parking underneath the interstate. Open Sunday from noon and Mon-Sat from 4pm, closing time listed only as 'until.' Check kermitslounge.com or text (504) 435-8763 before you commit — the schedule shifts with the season and Kermit plays other rooms on Fridays and Mondays right now. Sets start early by New Orleans standards, and bring cash for the tip bucket.
- 📍 New Orleans
- 💸 $
- ⚡ Big night
- 🌗 Indoors
Where: 1500 N Claiborne Ave, New Orleans, LA 70116
Hours: Added 2026-08-26 — confirm current hours before you go.
⚠ Seasonal or scheduled — always check before you go.
Pair it with
- Domino Sound Record Shack — A mile up Bayou Road in a shotgun building, with crates running to dub, calypso and highlife — the daytime, record-collecting half of the same afternoon, though it shuts at 2pm most days.
- St. Louis Cemetery No. 1 — Ten minutes away on Basin Street and tour-only since 2015, so book ahead; it is the historical weight to set against a 6pm set that is pure celebration.
- Bar Tonique — On N. Rampart at the edge of the Quarter, a quiet brick room with a chalkboard cocktail list — the deliberate, low-volume place to land after the horns stop.
More weird in New Orleans
Good to know
Will Kermit actually be playing?
Only if you check. His own site currently has him at the lounge on Saturdays at 6pm and at the Blue Nile on Fridays at 10pm, with Mondays at 208 Mayfield's on Bourbon Street from September and Tuesday-Wednesday guesting with Irvin Mayfield. Confirm on kermitslounge.com or text (504) 435-8763 before you build a night around him.
How do I get there and where do I park?
1500 N. Claiborne Avenue, a short ride from the French Quarter. The neutral ground under the interstate is the parking lot — free, covered, and directly outside. Rideshare is straightforward in both directions.
What does it cost?
It runs cheap: drinks at neighbourhood-bar prices, food from the kitchen, and a tip bucket instead of a ticket. Bring cash for the bucket even if the bar takes cards.
What are the hours?
Sunday from noon and Monday through Saturday from 4pm. Closing time is published as 'Until,' which is not a joke — it means what it says. Sets start early, so 'until' rarely matters on the front end.
Is there anything seasonal to know?
Yes — summer is the slow stretch and the schedule contracts with it, which is exactly when Kermit's weekly count drops to two nights. The lounge also runs its own annual Blossom Fest; the 2027 date has not been posted yet, so watch the site.
Plan a visit & invite your people →
Further reading: Official site · Wikipedia · wwoz.org
last checked: 2026-08-26