Marie’s favorite dive is The Blind Tiger in Shreveport, Louisiana. She calls it “a restaurant during the day,” and while it isknown for serving amazing Cajun food, it’s also known for being a great bar and hangout.
Marie admits that it’s “a little touristy now” because Shreveport is gaining popularity. However, even though the downtown area has seen a lot of renovation since this dive opened in 1992, The Blind Tiger hasn’t changed its location orits style. It began as a place for the local crowd, it was immediately loved by the local crowd, and most of the crowd you’ll find there is (10 points if you guess what I’m going to say next) local.
The Blind Tiger has awesome food, a weekday happy hour, and karaoke nights. Marie touts it as a great place to take someone on a first date because everyone knows it (and each other), and the regulars will band together before letting their bar get a bad reputation.
Located downtown in one of the city’s oldest buildings, this bar and restaurant is pretty roomy, with neon signs and old-school awnings on the outside. You can’t miss the main sign, which basically looks like someone drew a picture of Stevie Wonder as a tiger. (Rawr.) The menu offers a brief history of the joint and states that the tiger was actually modeled after Ray Charles and even has a name: Bushrod!They also tell us that a “blind tiger” was another term for a speakeasy during Prohibition.
Want to know more? Visit the joint and see the menu for yourself!
There are all kinds of seating available here. Have that first date at a table for two. Push some tables together and cram your whole family together. Watch some TV at the bar. It’s cramped, dim, and noisy, but they’ve tossed in a few curtains and plants for ambience.
The interior décor is mainly made up of neon beer and liquor signs, but there are a few other pieces that look like they’ve been collected over the years, like a signed jersey and some tiger wall hangings. It’s exactly the mishmash you want to see from a bar that’s been a staple in the community for nearly 30 years.
Another thing we love to see in a good dive bar is cheap pricing. You want a working man’s bar. You might not get this on the restaurant side of things (food prices are pretty much on par with the rest of the area), but the food comes in huge portions, and the drinks are more than reasonable.
Get a break on strongly-poured cocktails by ordering the 32 oz mason jar instead of the 16 oz. and stop in during happy hour to try some local brews that are hard to find outside of Louisiana. Be warned, however, that this place will notrefund cocktails. If you don’t like it, screw you, bud. (Isn’t that justthe attitude we love in a good dive?)
Everyone who has ever visited The Blind Tiger seems to be in agreement that the bartenders and servers are amazingpeople. They’re attentive, fun, and always up for a good conversation. So are the other customers!
If you’re hoping to find a genuine local treasure with a “chill” atmosphere and rich history, look no further than Marie’s favorite Louisiana bar: The Blind Tiger.
Located in: Shreveport, Louisiana
Be sure to try: The Blind Tiger (their signature rum punch!)
