Mule's (pronounced moo-lays). 1701 La Harpe St. (7th Ward) Wed to Sun: 5pm to 'till. No credit cards. 504.943.2868. Plus-30, Creole bar. So the first time we walked through the doors of this 7th Ward bar we were greeted with a desolate "Can I help you?" Uh oh. The words coming out the mouth said, "Can I help you?" but the tone was unmistakably, "What the hell?" Our offense: We were wearing an over-sized white t-shirt, the uniform of the New Orleans gangster. Don't ask us why this is -- it just is. New Orleans criminals prefer the white t-shirt. So do we. But that's another story. The point is that Mule's, which is owned by a retired police officer, doesn't like foolishness. So we explained that... well, we were just looking for a good drink, and we lived in the neighborhood. And they handled the situation with typical New Orleans grace: They gave us a black Mule's t-shirt. For free. Boom! The big night for this bar is Wednesday, when they give out free seafood: boiled crab, potatoes, turkey necks and corn on the cob. There's a one-drink minimum for the seafood. And a DJ spins old-school tunes. The music bouncing off the new, post-flood stucco walls is loud. The conversation is raucous. Around about the third drink all the problems of the surrounding (dangerous) neighborhood melt away, and you think: God, life can be short, drunk and good.
