LAPEL, Ind. —
Laissez les bon temps rouler — let the good times roll.
That’s the spirit at Mardi Gras Pizza & Pub all the time but even more so on Fat Tuesday, owner Todd Armstrong said.
The Lapel eatery and bar celebrates Mardi Gras year-round with beads, New Orleans-style drinks and even a Bourbon Street mural stretching the length of the bar.
But on the culmination of the celebration — Feb. 21 this year — there will be even more Louisiana-flair thrown in for good measure, he said.
A Fat Tuesday party begins at 4 p.m. and instead of the pizzeria’s normal fare, the pub will feature Cajun food including gumbo, etouffee, Creole casserole, jambalaya and King Cake.
“We’ll be Cajun for a day,” Armstrong joked. “I want to make that day special every year.”
In addition to the special food, the bar will be filled with New Orleans-style blues and jazz and Zydeco.
Armstrong has owned the bar for more than six years and said the name and theme came about during a vacation with his family in New Orleans. He owned a couple other businesses — a cellphone company and a tanning salon — and had been approached by the owner of Pappy’s Pizza in Lapel about possibly buying the restaurant. Armstrong said he’d always wanted to own a restaurant and decided to mull the idea over while on a vacation.
“The two ideas meshed — buying the restaurant and our trip to New Orleans,” he said. “Mardi Gras Pizza, I loved the way it rolled off of my tongue. I knew it would be a party place, a fun place. You hear the name and you know it’s a place you want to be.”
Armstrong bought the bar a few years later and relocated the eatery to the Main Street location and rebranded it as Mardi Gras Pizza & Pub. His intention has always been to make Mardi Gras more than a name. The pub has given him more opportunities to do so.
The Bourbon Street Mary and Mardi Gras Lemonade are two of the bar’s signature drinks offered year-round. Both are reminiscent of tastes of the bayou.
The Bourbon Street Mary is Mardi Gras’ spicy spin on a Bloody Mary featuring vodka, Bloody Mary mix, lime juice, celery salt, fresh-cracked black pepper, crushed red pepper, horseradish and hot sauce. The drink has a spicy, fresh and robust taste.
The Mardi Gras Lemonade is a stout drink with a smooth taste — vodka, gin, rum, tequila, blue curacao, triple sec, lime juice, sour mix, Sprite and fresh squeezed lemon.
The style of the pub is reminiscent of a classic Bourbon Street bar complete with the wrought iron framed patio. Armstrong embraced some of the space’s “accidents.” A fire in the building next to the bar created what is now the patio. He kept the brick walls on the far side of the patio and framed the front with wrought iron. He said it creates a New Orleans feel and also provides some privacy. In the summertime the patio is also home to live acoustic music, cornhole games and a basketball hoop.
There are daily drink and food specials, free pool on Wednesdays, free Pizzingo on Thursdays, karaoke on alternating Fridays and a disc jockey every Saturday.
About 50 percent of Mardi Gras Pizza & Pub’s business is in food and about 50 percent comes from drink sales. Food is served until the bar closes and the menu includes much more than pizza, although the place is known for pizza. Other menu items include nachos, gourmet potatoes, salads, wings, calzones, sandwiches, wraps and burgers.
Armstrong said he also caters with food from the regular menu as well as more traditional event food like stuffed chicken breast, pork medallions and garlic cheddar potatoes.
Contact Abbey Doyle: 640-4805, abbey.doyle@heraldbulletin.com
Community
Related Photos
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Chase Campbell offers Mardi Gras Pizza & Pub's two signature drinks, the Mardi Gras Lemonade and the Bourbon Street Mary. John P. Cleary
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A sampling of some of Mardi Gras Pizza & Pub's food and drinks. John P. Cleary
Discussion
Bar offers taste of the Bayou
Mardi Gras Pizza & Pub in Lapel hosting Fat Tuesday event
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