If Walk-On’s Bistreaux and Bar is truly the “Best Sports Bar in America,” as a recent ESPN online poll dubbed the New Orleans locale, then it only makes sense to open the original Baton Rouge location on Sundays now that the Metro Council has OK’d it, says co-owner Jack Warner.
And that means getting all the premium channels that would make every NFL Sunday game viewable, as well as the packages for NBA, MLB and soccer—and possibly other sports.
“We’re really taking that opportunity now to button up all the packages,” Warner says.
At the same time, Warner says, Last in Concepts—which owns Walk-On’s—is interested in creating a “Sunday Fun Day” atmosphere at its other establishments: The Roux House and Happy’s Irish Pub. Schlittz & Giggles, which is also under the Last In Concepts umbrella, has long been open on Sundays, as it met the previously required food sales quota of 50% or more of gross sales.
Andy Blouin, a managing partner in Firebelly Concepts, which owns Serranos Salsa Company, Blend Wine Bar, Boudreaux and Thibodeaux’s, and The Edible Event Catering, says the ability to open on Sunday is great for when conventions come to town—but adds his company isn’t so sure it will be opening its downtown bars right away.
“We’re putting together a marketing plan right now to make a decision,” Blouin says of Blend Wine Bar and Boudreaux and Thibodeaux’s.
Whether Mayor Kip Holden signs the ordinance into law this week—making it effective immediately—or lets it automatically become law on its own in 12 days, The Radio Bar on Government Street is ready to open Sundays for business, probably at 3 p.m.
“As soon as the law goes into effect, we will open on Sundays,” says co-owner Dave Remmetter.
The Baton Rouge Police Department is taking a more sober approach to the new ordinance, which allows bars to open from 11 a.m. to midnight on Sundays.
“We are going to follow the law to the letter. And if we see there are any problems, we’ll make adjustments,” says spokesman Cpl. L’Jean McKneely. “But we don’t foresee that.”
McKneely adds that a late amendment to the ordinance approved Wednesday by the Metro Council—which pushed back the Sunday closing time to midnight instead of 2 a.m.—”makes a big difference” to law enforcement.
