New Orleans was founded in 1718 when French explorer Jean-Baptise Bienville claimed it with the intention of building a new colonial city.  Two hundred years later, a guy named Walter. J. Teolet established a bar and grocery store in Harahan on the banks of the Mississippi river.

It’s unlikely that Mr. Teolet knew that his dwelling would some day become the Rivershack Tavern and serve up bodacious beers, burgers and live music for locals and tourists in metro New Orleans, but that’s what happened.

In the years between, the tavern existed in various forms as a bar, inn, private residence and liquor store.  Then, just a few years ago, the asbestos shingles from the Rivershack Tavern were peeled off revealing a slew of cardboard advertisements from the 1940’s.  The already rich history of the tavern became local lore.

History is a confluence of people and places from the past and here at the Rivershack Tavern, we like to reflect on those who have come before us.

What would Mr. Teolet be up to today if he was still around?  Would he be running the pool table at the Rivershack Tavern in between snacking on a delicious platter of buffalo oysters?

How about Mrs. Golda Brooks, who was proprietor of a liquor store at the Rivershack Tavern dwelling between 1954-1957?  Would she stop in to taste one of the many ice cold beers the Shack has on tap.  Would she consider it, like many do, to be the best bar and restaurant outside of the French Quarter to watch sports and listen to live music?

Would she get her groove on to one of the many live blues, rock, jazz and funk bands that tear up the stage at the Shack every week?  Would she stop in on Tuesday and trade a tacky ashtray for a free drink?

We believe that the history of metro New Orleans comes alive at the Rivershack Tavern.  We’ve been around in our current incarnation since 1990, and in that time thousands of locals and tourists have come through our doors.  Many of them prefer the cheap beers and great live music at the Shack over pricey, crowded French Quarter bars. We like to think that our ancestors would do the same.

Tags: beer, food, fun good drinks, harahan, Live Music, Metairie

This entry was posted on Friday, July 30th, 2010 at 3:59 pm and is filed under The Shack. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.