Dining and drinking review: Bite Bar happy hour

Post-holiday blues got you down? Perk up your evening with happy hour at the Bite Bar: classy, budget-conscious, and as always, within walking distance of The Esplanade.

Review and photos by Ted Broussard

Bite Bar is located on the fourth floor of the Hotel Murano, at 1320 Broadway

Good Food in a Quiet Setting (Most of the Time)

One of the things I like best about hotel lounges is that unless they’re having a full night, the lounge/bar can be a great place to get decent food and drink without the crowds. Bite Bar on the fourth floor at the Hotel Murano is exactly that kind of place. If you hit it right without a convention booked there, you can have delicious drinks, a relatively quiet setting, and very good “Nosh & Nibble,” as they like to describe their bar menu. Otherwise, you’re on your own. I once tried to wait for a seat at the bar while a convention of knitters was booked, and after waiting twenty minutes or so with grumpy people, I decided to leave before someone got stabbed with a knitting needle.

The Bite Restaurant and Bar is located on the fourth floor. The bar area up there consists of seating at a very long bar as well as several booths, where one can order off the bar menu or the restaurant menu. There is also a lobby bar which offers only the bar food menu.

The official happy hour offerings run from 4:00 until 7:00 p.m.nightly, in both the Bite Bar and the lobby bar, which gives a little more time to get there after work than the typical 6:00 p.m. ending. Every Thursday night is called "Bite Nite" in the Bite Bar only, with all appetizers for $5 each and a couple of cocktail specials. It’s a good deal with a decent discount from the regular prices.

Food is overall pretty good. Our favorite offering is the fish tacos, although we also enjoy the flatbread with Andouille sausage and the fried green tomatoes, when available. The Kobe slider with garlic fries includes only one slider and the garlic fries are pretty heavy on the garlic. The other offerings are good but nothing remarkable from our point of view. We especially like the rosemary flat crackers they serve as a starter when you order - a delicious, crisp cracker even better with their creamy butter on it. There are several creative cocktails (our favorite is the French Margarita) and a beer list that should have something for everyone.

The service here is what keeps us coming back. We’ve become friendly with Karen, the bartender in the Bite Bar, and she always takes the time to chat us up and make us feel welcome. She works usually Wednesdays through Saturdays, and if you go, be sure and tell her Ted and John sent you. Not sure if that will get you anywhere but at least you won’t be escorted out immediately.

Bite Bar happy hour is a great option for downtowners looking for good food and drink and a place to have conversation without a roaring background. However, if there is a convention going on, you may have to wait a bit or not be able to get in at all. And as mentioned before, if you see angry knitters waiting in line, keep walking. No happy hour is worth risking being stabbed.