Stan Lerille makes it easier for Youngsville customers to get to the Corner Bar. Stan Lerille makes it easier for Youngsville customers to get to the Corner Bar. By Lisa Hanchey
Friday, July 19, 2013
Photo by Robin May
Stanley Lerille
Stanley Lerille's popular Corner Bar has now expanded to Youngsville. Heeding the requests of numerous regulars living in south Lafayette Parish, Lerille started scouting space in the rapidly growing area earlier this year. "We just saw that there was a need for a bar like the one in Lafayette here in Youngsville, because a lot of people from the Lafayette area are moving out here," Lerille says. "Even a lot of people from the Corner Bar in Lafayette were like, Hey, we live out in Youngsville. When are you going to open up in Youngsville?' So, it was kind of a no-brainer."
Frequent Lafayette customer Eric Rosen of Teal Realty told Lerille about a new real estate development in Youngsville across from Rouses. Lerille checked it out and was sold. "I came out and looked at it, and it was perfect," he says.
Three months ago, Corner Bar opened at 1700 Chemin Metairie Road in Youngsville. The new 3,000-square-foot location employs two managers, Danny Mciver and Jeremiah Tauzin, 12 female bartenders and two bar backs. Inside are sleek tables with high-backed chairs and comfy wooden booths. Outside is a patio with seating for 50. Donning the walls is sports memorabilia from locally based athletes, including Gil Meche and Jake Delhomme, and autographed helmets from St. Thomas More High School, LSU, UL and the New Orleans Saints.
Behind the bar is a painting of a fun-loving old wino that is very special to Lerille. Painted by Olivia LeBlanc, the picture was based on a print that hung on the office wall of his grandfather, Stanley Davis. "I always saw it when I was a kid, and whenever he passed away, I grabbed it and put it in my office when I had Stan's bar," he recalls. "When I left the bar downtown, I decided to do a bigger one. It's a really cool picture, it's really unique. And it really fits this bar."
The new location is similar to the original spot at 3013 Johnston St. and Doucet Road with a couple of twists. The Youngsville joint offers a huge selection of call-brand liquor, frozen drinks, premium wines and 24 beers on tap. But the beer selection is a little different, and there's no pool table. "We are more of a high-end bar," Lerille explains. "We don't carry the base liquor; we carry all of the call and name brands. We are a very simple, very clean, non-smoking bar. ... Ladies that want to come by themselves, it's very safe."
Food selection is minimal. "We have the best hot dogs, nachos and queso in town," Lerille promises.
The bar features 13 LED flat-screen televisions inside, one on the patio and in both bathrooms. "So, you don't miss the game wherever you are," Lerille says. "We are set up for sporting events and to watch games. But more than that, it's a place for people to hang out and have a good time."
There is a jukebox, and customers can engage in a little gaming by playing shuffleboard or Golden Tee video golf.
Athletes have made both Corner Bar locations a must-stop on their routes. In Youngsville, runners sprint to the bar on Thursdays at 6:30 p.m. for a free beer. At 6 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month, bike riders do cycling timed trials at Corner Bar, also getting a beer on the house.
Corner Bar's Youngsville location opened just in time to catch the wave of new construction. Next door a development for doctors' offices is in the works, and another shopping center is planned for the near future. IberiaBank has purchased property nearby behind Walgreens. Opening down the road in early 2014 is the multimillion-dollar, 70-acre Sports Complex & Activities Center. And Chemin Metairie Road's expansion to Highway 90 is almost complete. "It's going to be booming out here," Lerille observes.
"The whole city has really welcomed us; Mayor Wilson Viator and everybody have all come by and visited," Lerille says. "Coming out here, everything was perfect from day one. The city really took care of us."
The Youngsville bar opens Monday-Thursday at 3 p.m., Friday at 2 p.m. and Saturday and Sunday at noon. It closes at 2 a.m. every night except Sunday, when it shuts down at midnight. Happy hour lasts from opening until 7 p.m. every day.