An unsuspecting time machine sits next door to Hooter’s on College Drive in Baton Rouge, transporting to a time of old-fashioned cocktails, jazz and debauchery.
Welcome to the Hayride Scandal. This unique cocktail lounge is curated with plush vintage-style sofas beneath dim-lit chandeliers, and its wall art dates back to the Prohibition era.
“You come here for a different experience because you don’t want to be at home,” said co-owner Lance Paddock. “You want to be with people. You want to be in a social environment.”
Paddock is a walking chronicle of cocktail history, apprising stories like where commercial ice was born (New Orleans) or the origin of the Gold Rush cocktail (a New York City bar called Milk & Honey).
“Both of us love history,” co-owner Remi DeMatteo said about himself and Paddock. “I always feel, though, that bars should have its name roots in the city that it’s in because bars necessarily are products of their environment.”
The story behind Hayride Scandal’s name is derived from a Times-Picayune new story from the 1930s. In the “hayride scandals,” millions in state funds were stolen in kickbacks and mail fraud. Hundreds of Louisiana state officials were indicted, seven sent to prison, including former LSU President James Monroe Smith and the former Louisiana Gov. Richard Leche.
In 2017, Paddock and DeMatteo opened the perfect hideaway at 5110 Corporate Blvd. to sip craft cocktails themed after one of Baton Rouge’s most infamous government scandals.
Good bones, brass and Edison bulbs
Different members on the Hayride Scandal team contributed bits and pieces to the space’s design, but it couldn’t have been done without interior designer Sharae Hand.
“Whenever you walk through those doors, it’s like you were transported somewhere else,” Hand said. “Not that you were just beside Hooters.”
The building, formerly Lock & Key Whiskey Bar, had “good bones,” Hand said, evident by elements that were already in the building like the wood paneling and front bar.
She wanted a blend of textures to touch all five senses, whether it was the Edison bulbs above the bar, red velvet armchairs or wallpaper from Paddock’s mother’s attic. To achieve the look, Hand and the team explored several antique shops, estate sales and warehouse sales in the Baton Rouge and New Orleans areas.
The parlor room, a separate space just past the main bar, was added a few years after the lounge’s opening, and one of its most eye-catching elements is its light-pink and black floral wall.
“That wallpaper was everything when it first hit the scene,” Hand said. “It was big and bold and really expensive.”
Across that wall is a gallery of antique mirrors, most of which were bought from antique stores in Denham Springs and Circa 1857 in Baton Rouge.
“I love mirrors, and I love to decorate with mirrors,” Hand said. “I have mirrors all in my house sort of like that. Definitely a Versailles moment on a very small scale.”
Hand has several favorite pieces throughout the space, including a pair of brass candelabras from Circa 1857 sitting to the left and right of the mantel. She also loves the grand chandelier in the center room.
Some pieces have been switched out since the initial opening, and the furniture layout fluctuates.
“It’s an ever-evolving space,” Hand said.
The art of bartending
In addition to beers and wines, the menu offers house-crafted cocktails like the Paper Plane, with bourbon, aperol, meletti and lemon. There are also classic cocktails like the Gold Rush with bourbon, honey and lemon, which can be ordered for $8 during the 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. happy hour.
Paddock and DeMatteo believe bartending is more than just making drinks — it’s an art, a craft.
“The smallest difference can throw a cocktail off,” Paddock said. “You’re talking about bitters and small things in there. When you start getting to five to six ingredients, it’s a total disaster if you don’t get it right.”
And something like shaking instead of stirring radically changes a drink, he said.
“The first step for a bartender from being a great craft bartender is, ‘Do you care?’ As long as you care, you can master this,” Paddock said.
DeMatteo believes a great bartender’s best skill isn’t making a cocktail.
“To me, 90% of bartending is observation and communication skills,” DeMatteo said. “Ten percent is technical knowledge, historical knowledge.”
Live music and free red beans
Live jazz sounds through Hayride Scandal two nights every week. Andy Pizzo Trio, a jazzy funk fusion band, performs 7:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Wednesdays, and the Bishop Ellis Trio plays from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Thursdays.