Guidry’s Friendly Lounge
Status: Closed
Parish: St. Landry
Location: Lewisburg
Photos by Maida Owens (left) and Marty Guidry (two at right)
Marty Guidry: “Guidry’s Friendly Lounge on Tony Street in Lewisburg entertained a varied crowd with authentic Cajun music. As the fiddle and Abbeville squeeze box (a.k.a. accordion) hummed from the bandstand, old timers and young folks alike crowded the old wooden dance floor to two-step the night away. The pool tables, foosball game and, of course, bar in the front were always occupied. Located nine miles south of Opelousas in the tiny hamlet of Lewisburg, Guidry’s was worth the short drive from Lafayette to enjoy an old-time Cajun dance hall. The simple plank wood construction and the low ceilings at Guidry’s typified Cajun dance halls.”
Gallery:
Photo Credit: Maida Owens/ LA Folklife
David Roy
We used to hit this place often from the 80s through the 90s. It was owned and run by Wilbur and Eura Guidry and hosted some awesome bands like Nolan Cormier and The Cajun Hee Haws, Bill Pellerin & Pat Elkins, Le Band Passe Partout, and Jay and The Traveliers. Of all the dancehalls in Louisiana I’ve been to or played, I miss this one the most.
Jackie Usher
Hello!
My husband Graham and I lived in New Orleans from 1980-1984. We were soon taken to a bayou to fish for crabs, and the area fascinated us – so different from England, our home. In (I think) 1982 some friends came over from England, and redheaded Phil Shepherd asked if we could go and listen to some Cajun music.
We set out for a well-known place advertised in the New Orleans guide, but when we arrived the place had obviously closed down. We asked a local man for another place and he directed us to ‘Guidry’s Friendly Lounge’. None of us will ever forget the evening we spent there. It was ‘Old Time’ night, with a band of twelve playing, including a little boy on fiddle – and he was expert! We were not allowed to buy ourselves even a beer, but our table was filled with cans bought for us, but I didn’t drink much because my husband ‘gave permission’ for me to dance with a local gentleman, who taught me the Cajun Twostep.
At about midnight my husband realised he was too drunk to drive four hours back to N.O. We were told we should have let them know we were coming, and there would have been a bed for the night.
Instead, the hostess ‘fixed’ Graham a great pile of sandwiches filled with hot sausage – and as she had told him, they sobered him up.
We stopped on the way home for coffee and Dunkin’ doughnuts, which had not then reached Great Britain.
We have found hospitality in Crete, France and Italy (and even our own country) but have never known hospitality to equal this. We love you Cajuns, and really hope you will get the help from your government to mend your bayous. Our BBC have just finished a programme about Bayou Lafourche and the erosion.
Best wishes and love to you all,
Jackie and Graham Usher.
Michael Jordan
Oh I’m having a flashback!
In 84 or 85 a bunch of us non-Cajuns went to a BIG crawfish boil in Opelousas. Many drinks later a good friend said, “y’all wanna have some fun, I know where to go.” We ended up in Lewisburg. When the door opened, in the smoke I saw a BIG man with a cowboy hat and a HUGE gun on his belt playing pool.
We went into the dance hall and got introduced the the nicest little lady Mrs. Guidry.
My friend told her I didn’t two step and she dragged me out on the dance floor and was teaching me.
I told her, “Well Ms. Guidry I saw you dancin with your husband when we came in.”
“Oh no chere. Dat’s not my husband. Dat’s my BOYFRIEND! My husband’s out dere shootin pool.”
Later, the band found out “visitors” were there and played the one song in english they knew.
Lot of details slipped through the cracks, but I’ll never forget that night.
JesseReynolds
This is very I interesting I grew up in French Settlement La. They had dance hall