Night Life in Shreveport/Bossier City (New Orleans, Jackson: home, casinos, living)

[djdski3]

Hey Everyone - My husband & I are looking to relocate to the Shreveport/Bossier area in the next 6-8 months. I wanted to know more about what to expect for the "night life" in the Shreveport area. We don't like to go out regularly. But sometimes we like to hit the town and cut loose. We're more interested in the relaxing crowd not the single-meat market bars. We like to go somewhere and have a couple drinks, play a game or two of pool, a dance a little, and yes have a conversation. We like to listen to all kinds of music, but mostly country.

Are there any such places in the area? What is the "night life" like for the more older (mid 30's-40's) crowd? Are there any country bars/clubs that you can go and dance? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks

[Eastender67]

There is no night life in Shreveport or Bossier. Every thing closes at sunset. No liquor either. No dancing. No pool. No conversations. No town hitting and no cutting loose.

Try Memphis.

[djdski3]

WHAT???!!! Are you serious? Even Jackson, Mississippi (currently residing) has something!

[justmiinNE]

He's messing with you. I dont live there anymore so I dont know specific names. But a lot of the bars stay open till 6am the others 2am I think unless that has changed. I dont think youll have any trouble finding a place.

[SBCmetroguy]

Yes, he/she is screwing with you. Either that or for whatever reason he/she is trying to make Shreveport-Bossier sound like Hickville. If it's the latter, such foolishness will not be tolerated by me and I will gladly set the issue straight for you. But I tend to be a very open-minded person, and I much prefer to think it's not the latter and that the poster was just screwing with you.

There are lots of the singles 'meat-market' type of clubs around here and they can be a little on the wild side, and some are just downright dangerous. But there are also plenty of places for people in their 30s and above.

There's a club called Phoenix Underground (it's literally under ground) downtown that was supposed to be for a more mature crowd but I'm not sure if it's living up to that or not. Might be worth checking out just to see... you could always leave if it didn't seem like your type of place.

Also downtown there is a place called The Stray Cat (for some reason locals just call it by just the name Stray Cat's.) You might have recently read in the national news where some very well-known actors were arrested for disorderly conduct at a downtown Shreveport night spot ... that night spot was The Stray Cat. That was an isolated incident and the place isn't typically so wild. A lot of professionals will head in there on Fridays after work for drinks and conversation.

Outside of downtown there are other places, but unfortunately I can't think of the names. My wife and I don't frequently go out so the names are escaping me. One thing to keep in mind is that the casinos typically offer free drinks as long as you're spending money, so if you're ever in the mood to do that, go for it.

Oh another place that comes to mind is the CMT Crossroads Bar. It's the flagship club based on the well-known Country Music Television show CMT Crossroads. They have excellent local and regional entertainment, and quite often very famous musicians will stop by to perform unannounced. They do this on purpose as part of their marketing to keep people entertained. Basically you go there to hear good music but you never know who you might end up seeing. They work closely with touring acts to get major names to just stop in and surprise the crowd and it's a great thing.

Hope this helps you, just feel free to ask. And as justmiinNE said, most of the bars and nightclubs in Shreveport are open until 6am. If I'm not mistaken we have the latest legal nightlife in Louisiana outside of New Orleans. Just keep in mind that Bossier clubs aren't allowed to operate so late, so I believe all their clubs close around 2am. Unfortunately the bulk of the clubs in Bossier are geared toward the younger crowd and those which aren't are generally in older parts of town and full of really creepy people (sorry, but I speak the truth and I have no qualms about profiling people based on appearance!)

[djdski3]

I was gonna say!! Unless Shreveport has gone down hill in the last few years, there had to be some kind of night-life! Especially with the military base there.

My husband & I came over a few years ago to see George Strait at the then "new" CenteryTel Collisum for a night. And after the concert, we went to some country club right off the Hwy, of course, I can't remeber the name. It was 2 story and offered both dancing and coutry music (all we need!) I think it even had a seperate "bar" inside playing top 40 dance music and we had a good time. We drove around the next day before heading back to Jackson, and thought that the city seemed & looked like it had potential and had alot to offer. Who would ever thunk that we would consider moving there several years later! (now)

So here we are looking into relocating. Right now that we are considering, the Shreveport and the North Houston area. I think I'm leaning more towards the Shreveport area though. We originally came from a BIG city (Denver) and we've gotten used to the smaller city. But Jackson has become too small. And with my husbands work moving West (LA & TX) now, it makeing it alot easier to leave this closed one track city (shoot the whole state, for that matter) behind and move on. We are soooo ready!

[djdski3]

And as justmiinNE said, most of the bars and nightclubs in Shreveport are open until 6am. If I'm not mistaken we have the latest legal nightlife in Louisiana outside of New Orleans. Just keep in mind that Bossier clubs aren't allowed to operate so late, so I believe all their clubs close around 2am. Unfortunately the bulk of the clubs in Bossier are geared toward the younger crowd and those which aren't are generally in older parts of town and full of really creepy people (sorry, but I speak the truth and I have no qualms about profiling people based on appearance!)

Shouldn't this arrangement be the other way around!

Coming from a middle aged person: I think that the younger crowd can hang until all hours of the early morning....I know I could hang alot later when I was younger than I can now! Besides the older crowd usually have responsiblities to get home to and can't hang as long. (no offense to any older crowd peps). I just know from personal experience that when I do "party" late, my body makes me pay for it at least a day or 2 afterwards!!! (if ya know what I mean!) haha

Ooooooo the enjoyments of getting older!!!

[SBCmetroguy]

The club you're talking about is Rockin Rodeo (formerly Cowboys,) which I think is 3 bars in 1. It's a 2-story bar right off I-20 next to a Texas Roadhouse and a Holiday Inn, Hampton Inn, and other stuff.

Well Shreveport has a lot of the more dangerous clubs and those usually have problems from 12-6am, and Bossier is more conservative so they don't want the same issues to arise like those in Shreveport, where people are stumbling out of the clubs at 6am while other people are driving to work for the day. It's a pretty dangerous mix and I've seen it myself.

Size-wise Shreveport is much more similar to Jackson but I personally feel we have a lot more to do here, and Houston is just ... well ... HUGE. lol If you like the conveniences of a medium-sized city with a lot to do, and don't want the rat race of an enormous area like Houston, I think you'll like it here. Good luck with whatever you do and feel free to ask more questions.

[djdski3]

Thank you so much for all the input....I'm leaning more towards Shreveport myself, my I think my husband is leaning more towards Houston. I really fo think we've been out of the rat race too long. And now we've become spoiled!!!

We're in the first of the investigating steps, so it's going to take awhile to research & go visit these places. So if I come up with any other questions, I'll let you know.

[SBCmetroguy]

Originally Posted by djdski3

Thank you so much for all the input....I'm leaning more towards Shreveport myself, my I think my husband is leaning more towards Houston. I really fo think we've been out of the rat race too long. And now we've become spoiled!!!

We're in the first of the investigating steps, so it's going to take awhile to research & go visit these places. So if I come up with any other questions, I'll let you know.

I love Houston and would live there if I had the chance to go. Dallas, too. But my real love is Chicago, so my wife and I have talked many times about moving there. So you can see I'm no stranger to huge cities either, and as much as I love home (Shreveport-Bossier) I do know there is a lot to miss out on if you don't live in a much larger area.