Watering Holes And Bars You Miss Most In Southwest Louisiana

Seeing that I am from Southwest Louisiana, I was thinking about when we were in our hay day and we would go out and some of the places we loved to go have a drink and hang out with friends.

Well I took to my personal Facebook page and asked my friends, "When you were in your younger days, what Bar/Watering hole do you miss the most in SWLA?"

Well the response was huge.  I ended up with over 200 responses!  So I decided to rank the top 10 places you said you missed the most!

10.  The Chateau Charles -- Westlake, La

Chateau Charles was located basically in the Westlake area right off of 1-10 at the PPG drive exit.  It was a huge hotel with a great nightclub in it.

9. The Lakeshore Club in Lake Arthur

Located just right over the bridge in Lake Arthur on the water, the Lakeshore Club was a massive building the size of like almost a Sam's club.  they had bingo, live music and dances.

8.  Cest' Tout in Lake Charles

The Cest' Tout lounge was located in Chennault air field area.  I remember my dad talking about this place and how it was one of the most popular spots to go to back in the day.

7.  Crocs inside the Lake Charles Hilton

I know your thinking especially if you are younger, where the heck is the Lake Charles Hilton?  Well if you are on Lakeshore Drive in Lake Charles there is a huge parking garage standing their where Harrah's casino once was.  Well before that, the Lake Charles Hilton was there and it had a kickin' nightclub in it called Crocodiles but everyone in the area called it "Croc's".

6.  Doc Holidays in Lake Charles

I remember seeing Doc Holiday's when I was younger but never had the pleasure of going there.  It was located on Ryan Street South of the 12th street area.  There was a dollar store located there for a hot minute but now there is a medical office now at the location.

5.  Cheers in Lake Charles

Ah good ole Cheers!  And I am not talking about the TV show either.  There was a Cheers here in Lake Charles and it was located on Ryan Street.  The building is still standing and is located right next to Southern Spice on Ryan Street.  There is like a restaurant located at the old Cheers.  What I remember most about Cheers was that they had a Beach sand Volleyball court out back!

4.  Old Yesterday's in Lake Charles

So you are probably like the Old Yesterdays?  Yes Yesterday's basically had two locations.  The most remember is the brand new Yesterday's which was located just North of Cowboy's which is now Walkon's.  But the original Yesterdays was located just to the South of Cowboy's across the side street.  There is nothing there now since the building was leveled but it was the site of the old Miss Kittie's.

3.  Miss Kitty's in Lake Charles

Oh boy Miss Kitty's!  Just the name of the bar brings back so many memories for me and I am sure you too.  How do I describe Miss Kittie's?  Well in my own words I would say it was like a Country bar with a touch of top 40 music mixed in.  I always felt like it was like our own personal Gilley's Honkytonk in Lake Charles!

I remember going every Friday while in College and since we were in school we were on a budget!  So we would go before 8pm to get stamped for free and then come back later.  We would have an icechest full of beer in our truck and at the time you could walk in and out of bars with drinks so we were all set because we didn't spend much $ on drinks.  Miss Kittie's is truly Iconic!

2.  Peppers in Lake Charles

Now we getting into the last tow place on the list and they were my personal favorites and obviously yours too!  Peppers was a Tex-Mex type restaurant but also has a killer bar in it. It was located on West Prien Lake road in Front of the Prien Lake Mall.  If I am not mistaken, Petsmart is now located there.

On Wednesday, Friday and Saturday nights was rocking in the bar! On those days, Peppers would always have live music.  What was great about it was that it was usually just one guy and one guitar playing live Country music!

I remember watching Brad Brinkley and Judd Bares there all the time.  The beer and Margaritas were always flowing in the Peppers bar and was a great place to do some pre-gaming before you hit the town.

1. John's Barn in Lake Charles

By far the most iconic bar in Lake Charles and Southwest Louisiana!  The building had so much history and had just a unique feel to it because it had been open for over 50 years.  What was great about it was that everyone was friendly and the laughs were non stop.

Some of the greatest highlight's of John's Barn:

Mr. Glen the owner always knew your name and always wrote jokes for you on bar napkins.

The jukebox.  It was by far the best jukebox you would ever hear.  It was fully equipped with nothing but Cajun music and classic old country music.  We would sit there and listen to it for hours.

Sausage, Mustard and Crackers.  If you ever went to John's Barn, you didn't get the full experience unless you got yourself a Sausage with Mustard and crackers. For me, I would replace the mustard for BBQ sauce but still delicious!

Coldest Beer ever!  I also loved that they served can beer!  Old school baby!

This list was based on your comments on Facebook.  Did yours make the list?