Shreveport Nightlife

The Shreveport bar scene is often hidden to out-of-towners, but don't worry.  We're going to give you a few recommendations for your trip.

As an initial tip, Shreveport upholds the well-known Louisiana alcohol philosophy.  Booze is readily available, even if you're in your car.  You'll see a number of drive-thru daiquiri stands. Isn't that dangerous and simply an enticement to drunk driving?  No.  Louisiana allows these stands to exist because they have to apply a tamper proof device to the lids of their styrofoam cups: a piece of scotch tape.  Who can possibly remove such a foolproof device while driving? 

Anyway, here are a few more traditional choices:

• Superior Grill (6123 Line Ave.) - Loud, noisy, and crowded.  The margaritas are made with PGA, so go light if you're planning to walk out of the bar.
  
• Superior's Steakhouse (855 Pierremont Road, but it's in a shopping center at the corner of Line and Pierremont) - The place to be and be seen in Shreveport.  It's a typical steakhouse with a big, nice bar including a back room with a roaring fire and leather couches.  You can buy cigars there and smoke them on the spacious patio. 
  
• The Cub (3002 Girard St.) - Classic dive bar with a diverse crowd that trends younger as the night progresses.  If you don't like smoke, stay away. 
  
• Giuseppe's (4800 Line Ave.) - The bar is usually quieter and less crowded than the steakhouse with a more sophisticated decor.  
• Wine Country (4801 Line Ave., but it's in Pierremont Mall) - It's a wine bar, but it doesn't lack anything, including two big TVs behind the bar. They also make the best bar food in town.
• Stray Cats (222 Travis St., Downtown) - A small bar, but it got a good bit of notoriety when Josh Brolin was arrested there while filming "W." in Shreveport last year.  There's a back patio that you should ask about, too.
• The Noble Savage (417 Texas St., Downtown) - A bit of a Bohemian feel, but it has the best selection of beers in town.  They usually run some interesting food specials, too.  There's also darts and pool, if you're interested.
• The Louisiana Boardwalk (Bossier City riverfront) - The Boardwalk is a huge outlet mall with restaurants and bars sprinkled throughout the development.  There's a Buffalo Wild Wings and a few other bars in there.  It's a good spot to visit during the day and those bars do a brisk business at night.  Be forewarned, Aggie midnight yell practice will be there Sunday night.
  

Quinton

Shreveport Dining

Shreveport gets a bad, almost unfair rap regarding dining and nightlife.  The city has a bunch of good dining spots, but they aren't in obvious locations or centralized within a few blocks.  In an interest to show you where some good spots are for your trip, here's a list of recommendations for local fare.

Casual dining:

• Superior Grill (6123 Line Ave.) - The busiest Mexican restaurant in Shreveport.  It is almost always crowded, but there is no more popular restaurant in Shreveport.  Beware the margaritas as they are surprisingly strong.  
• Monjuni's (1315 Louisiana & 7601 Youree Drive) - Tasty Italian food featuring a unique sweet red sauce.  
• Country Tavern (823 Brook Hollow Drive) - A Texas barbecue joint that hopped the border, Country Tavern features good Texas BBQ, but the steaks are awesome. 
  
• Bistro Byronz (6401 Line Ave.) - Modeled on a traditional a French brasserie.  Offers good French food for fair prices.  
• The Cub (3002 Girard St.) - A beloved local oddity, The Cub is a smokey dive bar with a steak and seafood restaurant attached.  The restaurant is really small and short on atmosphere, but the food makes up for it.  Great steaks and potatoes au gratin.  Reservations are required (318-861-6517) and you have to leave your info on a voicemail.  If there's a conflict, they call you. NOTE: Everyone in your party must be over 21, even just to eat there.
  
• Oyster Bar (855 Pierremont Rd., but it faces Line Ave.) - Oddly, this is a Mexican restaurant, although it offers raw oysters at the bar.  
• Strawn's (125 King's Hwy.) - A tasty traditional diner and Shreveport institution.  Recommended for breakfast or lunch.  Located across the street from Centenary College.
  
• Wine Country (4801 Line Ave., but it's in Pierremont Mall) - An excellent restaurant attached to a wine store.  The restaurant and bar are brand new and worth the search for the tucked away location.
• Papa & Co. (545 East Washington) - The biggest and best hamburgers in town.
• Herby K's (1833 Pierre Ave.) - Do not attempt without a GPS or a native guide.  This is another Shreveport institution that has never changed locations, even though it is situated in an old, almost abandoned commercial district.  The signature dish is the Shrimp Buster, flattened fried shrimp on toasted French bread.  Herby K's is small and almost hidden, but uniquely Shreveport.
• The Chains - Shreveport has the usual glut of national chain restaurants, too.  They are fairly concentrated along Youree Drive between 70th Street and Bert Kouns.

Fine dining:

• Superior's Steakhouse (855 Pierremont Road, but it's in a shopping center at the corner of Line and Pierremont) - The place to be and be seen in Shreveport.  It's a typical steakhouse with a big, nice bar including a back room with a roaring fire and leather couches.  I don't think they have the best steak in town, but they definitely have the steakhouse attitude.
• Bistro 6301 (6301 Line Ave.) - Maybe the best overall dining experience in Shreveport. 
• Giuseppe's (4800 Line Ave.) - Italian, served in a beautiful new restaurant.  It also features a small, quiet, and well stocked bar.
• Chianti's (6535 Line Ave.) - Another Italian restaurant with a piano bar and good food.
• The Village Grille (1313 Louisiana Ave.) - Where to go if someone else is paying.  There are no menus and the waiters tell you what they serve.  It's also very, very dark.  The food is great and their small bar makes a delicious after dinner drink called a "Snowbear," but be prepared for a big bill.
• Lucky Palace (750 Diamond Jack's Blvd. in Bossier City, located in the Bossier Inn & Suites hotel) - This Chinese restaurant is in a goofy location, but don't let that fool you.  The food is fantastic and they have an extensive wine list.  You're going to think I've led you wrong until the food arrives.

That should be enough.  You'll note that downtown dining is almost nonexistent.  The casinos and the Hilton have restaurants in the hotels.  Those restaurants are good, but they're about all that downtown offers for dining.  I'll do nightlife in a separate post this week.

Quinton

Indy Bowl Quick Hitters

1. The team hotels in Shreveport are reversed from my initial rundown.  The Dawgs will be at the downtown Hilton.  The Aggies will be at the Clarion.  Sam's Town, another Georgia hub, is about two blocks away from the Hilton.   
   
2. The team arrives in Shreveport on Christmas Eve, much to the chagrin of Rennie.  The solution to those blues: beat Kentucky at home.  
3. Our former football coaches will still get their bowl bonuses.  That'll take the edge off being unemployed during the holidays. Sounds like Wall Street bankers negotiated those deals.
   
4. The Dawgs are still a touchdown favorite in a game where motivation will be key.  David Hale reports that the Dawgs are still excited about the bowl game, but I find that sentiment hard to believe.  The players are saying the right things, but it's got to be hard to get excited after a lackluster season that leads to a defensive staff housecleaning.
5. The Georgia fans aren't excited about Shreveport, but the Gator fans aren't excited about New Orleans.  If the Sugar Bowl is a letdown, you may have too good of a program.  I might shank a few of you if it'd get the Dawgs a Sugar Bowl spot.

Quinton

Indy Bowl is a Sellout, Except Georgia Tickets

The Shreveport Times reports that the Independence Bowl is a sellout.  You can still buy tickets, though.  The story reports that Georgia has sold only half of its 12,000 ticket allotment, but because the school buys the tickets, the game itself is a sellout.  Georgiadogs.com is the only place to buy tickets now. 

Look, I understand the logistical problems with a trip to Shreveport on December 28, but if you ever wonder why a bowl might pass over Georgia for another fanbase, here's at least one reason.  We can't muster 12,000 fans to buy a ticket.

Quinton

Howdy! Getting to Know Aggies: The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band

Aggies are easy to make fun of, but you have to respect them when they do something awesome.  One thing that Aggies do better than anyone: play musical instruments while weaving into and out of a military formation.  Sure, that skill is rarely a utility, but it is still profoundly magnificent when demonstrated at a halftime show.

The Fightin' Texas Aggie Band, the official name, is the largest military marching band in the country.  Any band that self-describes themselves as "fightin'" is worth a chuckle.  (Although I remember a few years ago when LSU's band landed a couple of punches on Auburn kicker Damon Duval when he tried to warm up for the second half during the halftime show.)  But, all the Aggie band members are also members of A&M's massive ROTC outfit, the Corps of Cadets.  They play songs like "Patton" and "Fightin' Texas Aggie War Hymn."  That's "fightin'" and "war hymn" in the same song title.  Hmm, maybe they can fight.

There's no doubt that they can march their asses off.  Here's a boast from their website:

"Some of the Aggie Band's maneuvers are so complex that a computer says that it is impossible to do because they require two people to be in the same place at the same time."

That may be more of a statement about the Aggie computers than the band, but it is impressive none the less.  Here they are in action:

It's an exercise in dynamic geometry, musicianship, and Tetris skills. When it's halftime in Shreveport, don't just queue up for the bathroom. The Redcoats and the Fightin' Texas Aggie Band are worth staying in your seat for.

Quinton

WHOOP: Getting to know Aggie Yell Leaders

As we get to know the Aggies, you're going to be confused. It is often said of A&M that from the outside it is hard to understand and from the inside it is hard to explain. We're going to start with perhaps the first and most obvious peculiarity college football fans point to: Aggie yell leaders. Yell leaders are Aggie versions of cheerleaders. No stunts, no short skirts. Just mystifying gestures that incite the Aggie crowd and befuddle opponents.

First, the look is wholesome milkman with sleeves tightrolled so tight that one wonders how blood slips under them. Combine it with the man hugs and thumbs up ("Gig'em") and one can see how this Aggie tradition causes opponents to giggle uncontrollably. By the way, that haircut is standard Aggie issue.

Second, they spew Aggie gibberish, known as "yells," not cheers. Here's an actual yell:

Riffety, riffety, riff-raff!
Chiffity, chiffity, chiff-chaff!
Riff-raff! Chiff-chaff!
Let’s give ‘em a horse laugh:
Sssssss!

Excuse me? What the hell does that mean? I'm not sure if they insulted me or complimented me on my red pants. (I have been told that it is a yell Aggies do when they are upset about something. The last line approximates a hiss.)

Lastly, each cheer has its own unique calisthenics routine that the yell leaders perform. These gestures signal which cheer, um excuse me, yell is on tap. Each gesture during the yell signals timing. My favorite is when they give the two armed flip off gesture for the cheer "Beat the hell out of Georgia!" Here's a little taste of the routines:

Whatever you think of the yell leaders, you have to say they are unique, just like a lot of Aggie things. As the video states, these guys are an old Aggie tradition and there is nothing, nothing more sacrosanct at A&M than tradition.

More on the Aggies to come.

Quinton

Shreveport Hotel Info

The hotel situation in Shreveport is just like any other midsize southern city, with the notable exceptions of the riverboat casinos.  All of the brand name, midscale business hotels have an outpost in Shreveport.  If you're looking to gamble, the casinos are the best choice.  They're nice and have built in dining and drinking.  I know Sam's Town has a significant block of rooms reserved for Georgia fans at about $180 a night.  Of course, you don't have to gamble, but you can.

Every hotel likely has some sort of I Bowl discount.  Mention that you're coming in for the game and see if they offer a discount.  The bowl website has a feature that allows you to book hotel rooms through it, presumably with a bowl discount.

Here are some other recommendations:

• The Downtown Hilton - The nicest non-casino hotel in town.  It's brand new and attached to the Shreveport Convention Center.  It's where your wife wants to stay.  I'm pretty sure it's the A&M team hotel.
  
• The Best Western Chateau Suites - Another downtown option that I'd recommend over the Holiday Inn downtown (of which I do not have a good impression).  There should be an I Bowl discount, but you'll have to contact them directly instead of going through the I Bowl hotel website.
• The Clarion Hotel - This is the UGA team hotel, I think, but you shouldn't stay there.  It's average at best.
• Don't forget Bossier City.  There are a couple of the national brands across the river from Shreveport.  Additionally, the Horseshoe hotel is probably the best casino hotel.  Boomtown casino has a nice hotel on the Bossier side of the Red River, too.

Don't be too intimidated by distance.  Shreveport is easy to get around by car and has lots of interstate highway.  It might take you twenty minutes to get somewhere at the other end of town.  In Atlanta, it takes twenty minutes to get out of your driveway. I'll also say that downtown nightlife is fairly diffused.  My recommended nightlife area isn't within walking distance of a hotel.  Bring along cab fare if your want to get sloshy.

Quinton

See You In Shreveport, Farmers

It's official.  The Dawgs are heading to the Independence Bowl to face the Fightin' Texas Aggies.  I know everyone is disappointed with the bowl selection, but I'm somewhat excited about the match up.  A&M has had their struggles this year, but they looked like they had a potent offense against Texas Thanksgiving night.  Jarrod Johnson is a big, mobile QB with a strong arm who should present our defense staff a big slew of pains.  Oh wait, we don't have a defensive staff.

If you've never been to an A&M game, they are, um, unique.  We'll attempt an explanation of Texas A&M in the coming days.  That'll take a while.  If you've never been to Shreveport, we'll have some tips on places to go as well. 

Quinton