Hayride Scandal — Restaurant in Baton Rouge

I sat at the bar for almost 10 minutes and out of 4 bartenders, no one approached me for service. As a service worker, specifically bartending, I was very off putted and upset. When I finally asked someone for a drink, they attempted to charge me $21 premium liquor price, when I simply asked for a whiskey and coke. I expected them to use a whiskey well but to my dismay, they didn’t. Even after I brought my issues up with management, my complaints weren’t even acknowledged. Lastly, a visiting group of service workers from LSU had merged with my two comrades for a lively conversation about 30mins before closing. That was apparently not the best time to end my already “long” night because at 2:10am, another bartender came outside and very aggressively and rudely asked us to pass her the cushions we were sitting on and proceeded to tell us that we should have left a long time ago. This world isn’t about color but the group sitting outside I just mentioned consisted of white and black, males and females and we all had the same feelings about the way we were just treated. What I experienced at the bar happened to me, alone, a black male. I truly don’t believe this had anything to do with color or gender. This came down to a simple thing could customer service……something this place seems to greatly lack in practice and overall business sense. Shoutout to the interior designer and the DJ (I wanted to dance like a sexy-man lol) this past Friday...

I sat at their bar tonight for no less than 15 minutes without acknowledgement from any of the 3 bartenders that were behind the bar. There was a group of guys to my left that were helped. There was a group of ladies to my right that were helped. One even returned from the bathroom and had her drink made and I still was not even spoken to. Another guy approached the bar, was greeted and his drink was made, and still, not a word from anyone behind the bar. One bartender even asked the lady if the water that was sitting between us was hers. She said no and instead of asking me if it was mine he just poured it out and continued his conversation with her. I waited another 5 minutes and still nothing. I was not on the phone and my phone was sitting on the bar so there was no reason for no one to not acknowledge me. I left after that. Terrible and absolutely unacceptable...

My wife and i were surprised at the relatively dissapointing nightlife in downtown Baton Rouge. As we drove, she searched for a speakeasy. We came upon Hayride Scandal. Parking was easy, as we came upon the location nestled alongside a Hooters. Tall wooden doors open to a very nicely decored bar room. Darkly tone wood accents with bar or lounge seating. We choose the bar, as it is my habit to strike up conversations with the mixologists and learn about the establishment. 5 stars go to Brian, who was willing to engage my questions and then 3 mixology challenges. Classic black & white movies play on monitors over the bar tv. Fellow bar patrons were excellent conversation and an opportunity to wish them a happy birthday. Brian and Hayride Scandal made up for a great Saturday evening. Highly recommend this...