- My Forums
- Tiger Rant
- LSU Recruiting
- SEC Rant
- Saints Talk
- Pelicans Talk
- More Sports Board
- Fantasy Sports
- Golf Board
- Soccer Board
- O-T Lounge
- Tech Board
- Home/Garden Board
- Outdoor Board
- Health/Fitness Board
- Movie/TV Board
- Book Board
- Music Board
- Political Talk
- Money Talk
- Fark Board
- Gaming Board
- Travel Board
- Food/Drink Board
- Ticket Exchange
- TD Help Board
Customize My Forums- View All Forums
- Show Left Links
- Topic Sort Options
- Trending Topics
- Recent Topics
- Active Topics
Started By
Message
re: downtown baton rouge resturant scene
Posted on 10/12/20 at 8:44 am to bigberg2000
Posted on 10/12/20 at 8:44 am to bigberg2000
(no message)
This post was edited on 11/15/21 at 6:59 pm
1
Posted on 10/12/20 at 8:47 am to puse01
quote:
The garage on Convention and Third was $25 the last time I tried to park there. Insane.
Well, what special event was going on?
You have to walk a couple more blocks, but the two garages on Government and St. Louis are usually a better deal.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 8:49 am to Paul Allen
quote:
Going out seemed different 15-20 years ago. I know everyone gets older and life goes on, but you had way more variety back then. The varsity, the Caterie, the station, Texas club, triple a, southdowns, Fox and hound, ringside at Sullivan’s. Great memories.
I agree......and not one of these bars were located "downtown".... There is not one place that would lure me to downtown BR other than a court date or a po-boy at Lloyds. Catfishtown failed 40 years ago and we learned to stay in the burbs after dark.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 9:02 am to tigers1956
Great restaurants cannot survive on the weekday lunch crowd alone. They need dinner and weekends. Downtown was going decent on friday and Saturday nights for a short while there in the late 2000’s/early 2010’s, but Mayor Broome purposefully killed it to stiff her political rival John Delgado.
There’s a couple good restaurants downtown worth driving out there for in Cocha and Tsunami, but little else worth writing home about.
The reality is that Baton Rouge has done a very poor job with making downtown a destination worth going to and worth staying in after work. The River Center isn’t bringing in enough acts or sporting events (bring back the Kingfish! ). 3rd Street needs to allow bar hopping and open containers again. Galvez Plaza needs better acts for live-after-5 and some Saturday concerts as well. Downtown needs the theater at the Shaw Center and Basin Street to bring in touring bands people will want to drive in to see. Baton Rouge needs to decide on a tourism identity, craft a downtown image around it, and then market the hell out of it. I thought the blues concept could work well, but it was all so half-arsed. You’re not going to be Memphis, Nashville, Austin, or New Orleans, but with the right marketing strategy and vision, you could at least be a low budget version.
There’s a couple good restaurants downtown worth driving out there for in Cocha and Tsunami, but little else worth writing home about.
The reality is that Baton Rouge has done a very poor job with making downtown a destination worth going to and worth staying in after work. The River Center isn’t bringing in enough acts or sporting events (bring back the Kingfish!
). 3rd Street needs to allow bar hopping and open containers again. Galvez Plaza needs better acts for live-after-5 and some Saturday concerts as well. Downtown needs the theater at the Shaw Center and Basin Street to bring in touring bands people will want to drive in to see. Baton Rouge needs to decide on a tourism identity, craft a downtown image around it, and then market the hell out of it. I thought the blues concept could work well, but it was all so half-arsed. You’re not going to be Memphis, Nashville, Austin, or New Orleans, but with the right marketing strategy and vision, you could at least be a low budget version.This post was edited on 10/12/20 at 9:08 am
Posted on 10/12/20 at 9:32 am to kingbob
No objection to anything in your post. With that said, they have the money earmarked to at least start down that path. There is a major gutting/renovation underway with the theater, which if I recall correctly, is one of the early stages of more spending downtown.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 9:48 am to kingbob
quote:
You’re not going to be Memphis, Nashville, Austin, or New Orleans,
But maybe that’s the issue. We’ve been hearing about downtown development literally for over 30 years now. Maybe it’s an overzealous pipe dream and no one wants to admit it.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 9:49 am to Joshjrn
I agree with everything you said..
Downtown has gone from being very boring to being on life support...on a Friday and Saturday night raising canne's on 3rd street is the most happening spot..that is sad to say...
I think it's a combination of a horrible mayor, a horrible city council and a very very horrible and ineffective downtown development district...
Downtown has gone from being very boring to being on life support...on a Friday and Saturday night raising canne's on 3rd street is the most happening spot..that is sad to say...
I think it's a combination of a horrible mayor, a horrible city council and a very very horrible and ineffective downtown development district...
Posted on 10/12/20 at 10:07 am to Paul Allen
quote:
But maybe that’s the issue. We’ve been hearing about downtown development literally for over 30 years now. Maybe it’s an overzealous pipe dream and no one wants to admit it.
It's not a pipe dream; it was just incompetently handled.
You're never going to have enough local "tourists" to keep your downtown going. If you truly want a vibrant downtown, you need people to live downtown. That's what they screwed up decades ago. They wanted to pump money into the businesses without simultaneously bringing in residents.
Now, we are still years away from where it needs to be, but now that you have a legitimate grocery store downtown, you're starting to see residential projects pop up all over. Now, they are crazy overpriced, but they are still at damned capacity. I think the Chase South Tower project might be a residential tipping point. If that gets done without too much issue, you're going to have a lot of people now living downtown that can help support businesses during off-peak times of the day/week.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 10:34 am to Joshjrn
Covid is obviously going to prevent any decent plans from having any chance of success, but I thought a perkins rowe type development with a movie theater and antique/boutique retail infilling those two empty lots by the river would be a good step. The nearest movie theater to downtown is all the way out at citiplace. Convince LSU students and the garden district peeps that the downtown movie theater is their spot, and it could work.
When you go to small tourist-lite places in the south like Natchez, St. Francisville, Nachitoches, and Fairhope there’s always antique and thrift stores downtown along with restaurants and bars. I understand that most of downtown’s retail disappeared after the 80’s oil crunch, but why is one suit shop the only game in the neighborhood? Could places like Pink Elephant, Honeymoon Bungalow, and Alladin’s lamp not survive a couple miles away in downtown?
Getting a few antique/boutique type retail places would cater to the riverboat and casino crowds and at least bring in more weekend lunch traffic. Improving the 3rd street bar scene with open container laws to facilitate bar-hopping, and getting more touring music and comedy acts performing downtown could provide a shot in the arm to the dinner crowd.
More people living downtown helps as well, but unless they give people more reason to want to pay the premium to live there, those residential developments won’t last. Downtown needs to offer an experience not possible anywhere else in town (other than walking to work). It had that with bar-hopping, but no longer does. It needs a draw worth driving/ubering for: an elite brewery, dave & busters, sports team, theater, unique retail, stylized architecture, music scene, etc something that makes people want to go downtown to experience that one thing they cannot do as well going to other places.
When you go to small tourist-lite places in the south like Natchez, St. Francisville, Nachitoches, and Fairhope there’s always antique and thrift stores downtown along with restaurants and bars. I understand that most of downtown’s retail disappeared after the 80’s oil crunch, but why is one suit shop the only game in the neighborhood? Could places like Pink Elephant, Honeymoon Bungalow, and Alladin’s lamp not survive a couple miles away in downtown?
Getting a few antique/boutique type retail places would cater to the riverboat and casino crowds and at least bring in more weekend lunch traffic. Improving the 3rd street bar scene with open container laws to facilitate bar-hopping, and getting more touring music and comedy acts performing downtown could provide a shot in the arm to the dinner crowd.
More people living downtown helps as well, but unless they give people more reason to want to pay the premium to live there, those residential developments won’t last. Downtown needs to offer an experience not possible anywhere else in town (other than walking to work). It had that with bar-hopping, but no longer does. It needs a draw worth driving/ubering for: an elite brewery, dave & busters, sports team, theater, unique retail, stylized architecture, music scene, etc something that makes people want to go downtown to experience that one thing they cannot do as well going to other places.
This post was edited on 10/12/20 at 11:02 am
Posted on 10/12/20 at 10:41 am to kingbob
Perkins Rowe needs to fill those Kona Grill and Lava Cantina vacancies. California Pizza Kitchen isn’t doing well at a national level. If that CPK shuts down, then that court area in the middle would look really vacant.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 10:44 am to Paul Allen
I think anything will struggle until covid is over. Perkins Rowe charges exhorbitant rent and tends to market its retail spaces exclusively at national brands and national tastes, though that Jinya place is pretty nice. With Covid, the movie theater cannot provide the walking traffic that made the development work, so the whole thing suffers.
I think lava was an interesting concept, but so poorly executed, and in such an expensive space, I don’t know what could fill it? Maybe a brew pub?
I think lava was an interesting concept, but so poorly executed, and in such an expensive space, I don’t know what could fill it? Maybe a brew pub?
This post was edited on 10/12/20 at 10:58 am
Posted on 10/12/20 at 1:01 pm to Paul Allen
quote:
Perkins Rowe needs to fill those Kona Grill and Lava Cantina vacancies. California Pizza Kitchen isn’t doing well at a national level. If that CPK shuts down, then that court area in the middle would look really vacant.
Yes very good point. I saw CPK filed bankruptcy but wondering if they are closing the location?
Posted on 10/12/20 at 2:02 pm to Joshjrn
(no message)
This post was edited on 11/15/21 at 6:58 pm
Posted on 10/12/20 at 2:08 pm to tigers1956
By using the word "progressive," the answers you receive are going to demonstrate the answer to your question.
Very clever.
Posted on 10/12/20 at 2:15 pm to Joshjrn
Are portions at Cocha still tiny?
Posted on 10/12/20 at 2:42 pm to BugAC
(no message)
This post was edited on 11/15/21 at 6:57 pm
Posted on 10/12/20 at 3:01 pm to BugAC
I’ve never felt like the portions were small at Cocha 
Posted on 10/12/20 at 3:07 pm to kingbob
quote:
I’ve never felt like the portions were small at Cocha
I went when they first opened. My wife and a couple friends went. After eating, everyone was still hungry and we picked up burgers from McDonalds.
Posted on 10/13/20 at 9:23 am to BugAC
I agree...the portions were so small I went home hungry also..
But the food was good but...I wouldn't go back again
But the food was good but...I wouldn't go back again
Posted on 10/13/20 at 12:44 pm to tigers1956
I love Cocha, but I definitely have had some small portions there. Smaller than most upscale places.
It has happened a few times, but by far the biggest one was when I ordered an entree salad and it was just a few little leaves. I realize not everywhere does Chimes level salads, but man. This was a side salad.
We went on my birthday last year and got a massive steak though.
It has happened a few times, but by far the biggest one was when I ordered an entree salad and it was just a few little leaves. I realize not everywhere does Chimes level salads, but man. This was a side salad.
We went on my birthday last year and got a massive steak though.
Page 3 of 7
Popular
Back to top
Follow TigerDroppings for LSU Football News