Andrew W.

I've driven past this little dive bar hundreds of times. The outside is lit up by a giant fluorescent sign. The Lamplighter. In Metairie, on lower Veterans, near the new Starbucks (or rather, recently moved), and right next to BK (actually, the parking lot is shared). And though I've never been much of a drinker, I was curious enough to look for reviews. I found the business on Yelp, but there were no words about it. I looked around a little more and found two lone reviews. The first one talked about how good one of the bartenders made burgers. The other one is the one that got me in the door. It said something like "cheap drinks, weird people....open late (never closes)". Its the weird people that did it for me. I, apparently am one of them. My first time there, I didn't even make it in the door before, someone said "I've never seen you before....what's your name?" or some such similar attention grabbing statement. I had to excuse myself just to get a drink. As was mentioned before, I'm not a big drinker, so the two drinks I have will be nicer. I'm not a Bud guy, or Miller, or PBR. I think those taste like crap. So I walked in and got an Abita Purple Haze for $3. All of the bottles are $3. Sam Adams, Newcastle, Red Stripe, the Abita crew, you name it. Everyone there is nice and welcoming. It's like a little vagabondish family. There are regulars, there all the time, and there are frequenters, a couple times a week. It's totally cool, they've got a video jukebox, so the music selection is excellent, compared to a CD jukebox. There are dart boards, but I've never seen people playing. I hear they're going to bring the pool table back inside eventually. So, it is with much reluctance that I put the word out about the Lamplighter bar and lounge. I almost don't want people to go and ruin it's quaint affection. It's like the dive version of Cheers. With weird people. I honestly didn't think I would find that in Metairie. If you're weird (excessively intelligent and creative) and seek the same, but do not want the hassle of driving (the 6 miles) to the French Quarter, stop on by. More younger drinking at night, much older during the mornings, not sure about the afternoons yet. But you get the picture.