A guitarist with Chicago Al and the Backburners, who are performing Thursday night at Boudreaux and Thibodeaux’s on Third Street, calls out for a cranberry juice on ice.
Farther down the block, two University alumni share drinks at Happy’s Irish Pub. Karen White and Paul Holmes graduated from the Paul M. Hebert Law Center 10 years apart. Now colleagues, they are relaxing after work.
Holmes’ old stomping grounds included Fred’s at Tigerland and The Bayou, formerly located in the North Gate area. White also frequented Tigerland.
“There was not a whole lot to do downtown,” White said of her college days. “You have to credit the downtown business organizations for getting this done.”
Thursday is a calm night downtown, with a few pedestrians roaming the street. Back at Thibodeaux’s, the band is ready to start playing again.
“Hold that ice,” the musician calls. Nobody hears him, though, as the Rutgers Scarlet Knights have just defeated the South Florida Bulls.
Much the same, it seems many younger Baton Rouge residents are oblivious to the variety of entertainment provided in an area within 10 minutes of campus and cheaper than some nights at other popular nightlife spots.
Downtown
Driving north on Nicholson Drive, one passes under the Baton Rouge River Center walkway before arriving at Third Street, a part of downtown neatly tucked in to the north of the River Center.
A number of restaurants are available to patrons on Third Street. After checking out cultural sites like the LSU Museum of Art in the Shaw Center for the Arts, one could walk down Third and get a seafood po’boy at Third Street Bistreaux or Thibodeaux’s. Schlittz and Giggles, a pizza shop owned by Walk-On’s owners Jack Warner and Brandon Landry, will be open in November. The popular sushi stop, Tsunami, is itself housed in the Shaw Center.
Night owls have a wide variety of stops to choose from. Jessy Jarvis, co-general manager of Boudreaux and Thibodeaux’s with Erik LeBlanc, called Happy’s Irish Pub the “best hole-in-the-wall bar in Baton Rouge.” Additionally, patrons might visit the Roux House, the Wine Loft on Laurel Street, Rasputin Restaurant and Vodka or Avoyelles on the River, which is housed in the same building as the Bistreaux. The respective bars offer live music of various genres on different nights. Thibodeaux’s, for one, books local zydeco, country and rock cover bands. Avoyelles hosts Latin Night every Friday. Live After Five – a collaborative effort by several entities in Baton Rouge – is a program providing free live concerts on Fridays during the fall.
Veej Tucker, general manager of the Roux House and Happy’s, said the Benjy Davis Project will perform at Nightmare on Third Street at the Roux House on Halloween night.
LeBlanc said cover is generally $5 and does not exceed $10 for bigger name performers.
Mike Ordogne, a University alumnus, is the Bistreaux floor manager. He recalls spending most of his nights exclusively at Tigerland and recognizes the different atmosphere surrounding Third Street.
“Downtown’s probably a little more calm,” he says. “People want a more upscale alternative to college towns. It’s a place people can get away from Tigerland and crazy bars, maybe [to] sit down and have some dinner and pedestrian traffic.”
Avoyelles frequently hosts private parties, from Christmas gatherings to wine tastings to University Greek events.
Davis Rhorer, executive director of Downtown Development District, says the area is quickly developing into a pivotal arts and entertainment district.
“A healthy mix [of businesses] is always your desired result,” he says. “The area is extremely important. It’s strategically located next to the Hilton Hotel and near the Sheraton Hotel downtown and the convention center.”
Jarvis says the area’s businesses realize a need to collaborate for the success of the whole neighborhood.
“You don’t have your normal bar-to-bar feuding,” he says. “We all collectively try to work together to better Third street and better downtown.”
An Older Crowd
Archana Manapragada, biological sciences sophomore, works at Third Street Bistreaux. Although she’s required to be there for her job, she says she enjoys hanging out in the area on her own time.
“I really like this area because it’s a lot more of an older crowd,” she says. “I went to Tiger Bar on Tuesdays, and [the patrons] are all freshmen. I was like, ‘I can’t deal with that.'”
Indeed, the culture surrounding Third Street is of a more mature nature than that provided by Tigerland, Bogie’s or any given bar surrounding campus. This is because of the proximity of Third Street’s venues to professional offices.
“We are more appealing to the general public,” Jarvis says. “We love the college crowd, don’t get me wrong, but we just give the other part of Baton Rouge the option to have something.”
One of the perks of having a more mature crowd is a safer, friendly atmosphere and a conflict-free environment. The “2 o’clock fights” known to occur at Tigerland are rare occurrences downtown, Jarvis says.
LeBlanc worked as a bouncer downtown for two years before moving into his management position. He says he recalls having escorted no more than “maybe five” patrons out of bars.
“We don’t hire big gigantic bouncers that are going to smash your face in if something’s going wrong,” Jarvis says. “I’m going to sit you down, talk to you and buy you a drink. I want to do everything I can to not get you in trouble. If you act like an idiot, you’ll get in trouble. But we’re going to work with you.” Additionally, downtown venues are generally open at night to patrons age 21 and up. LeBlanc says this reduces the risk of underage drinking.
“We make exceptions,” he says. “We host fraternity and sorority exchanges. But we can monitor them.”
For example, LeBlanc says Kappa Alpha Order had a function at the venue and rebooked for a future event the very same night. Still, the age restriction prevents many college students from enjoying the downtown-area bars.
“The college population, [age] 21 and up, is very small,” he says. “We miss out on lot of people coming out and getting exposed to downtown.”
Everybody Knows Your Name
Those who frequent the Third Street area are the beneficiaries of a friendly atmosphere that encourages networking and relaxing.
“I know there’s been at least a couple of people that came into Roux House that says they met their fiance there,” Tucker says. “People come down here to chill.”
A mixture of age groups occurs on the streets, at the bars, on the Roux House courtyard and on the Bourbon Street-style balcony at Thibodeaux’s. Jarvis says the interaction between college students and the area professionals helps stimulate professional development.
“As the college student is growing and maturing into a young professional, they can meet older professionals down here that can help them better themselves and further their career,” he says. “If [students] go out anywhere else, they’re going to run into the same group of young adults that they’ve been running into.” Jarvis says the downtown bartenders are the best in Baton Rouge, and regular patrons are often on a first-name basis with them.
“It’s like [the TV show] ‘Cheers,'” he says. “Everybody knows your name.”
Everybody doesn’t know about Third Street, though, and that’s something many associated with the neighborhood want to see changed.
“A lot of people don’t know about it, and that’s the problem,” Manapragada says. “We’re doing our best to change that.”
—–Contact Parker Wishik at [email protected]