Local Restaurant Celebrates 30 Years in Business in Shreveport
We don't have to tell you what an accomplishment this is for an eatery in Shreveport-Bossier City!
The Blind Tiger in downtown Shreveport is celebrating its 30th year in business today (05/26/22) at 2 pm with a ginormous birthday cake!
The restaurant business is tough. Over the last few years, it's gotten even harder to survive due to the pandemic, supply chain issues, staffing shortages, etc... That's why it's such an amazing feat for The Blind Tiger to be celebrating its 30th birthday. Over the years, downtown Shreveport, and more specifically Shreve Square has gone through a lot of changes.
Back in the '70s and '80s, Shreve Square was THE place to be until soaring crime slowed traffic to the area. This was way before all of the casinos came to town and started cleaning things up. During that time, the iconic restaurant on the corner of Texas and Spring was once a T.G.I. Fridays and later, Chelsea's in the Square. Chelsea's was a favorite, but the restaurant still ended up closing its doors in the early '90s leaving the building vacant.
In 1992, the old Chelsea's was purchased and new life was brought to the building in the form of The Blind Tiger. According to Liz Swain with the Downtown Development Authority, the owners of The Blind Tiger say they've served up over FOUR MILLION shrimp in the 30 years they've been in business, over TWO MILLION catfish filets, and 145,000 gallons of etouffee. In addition, they've given away almost 900,000 of their ubiquitous plastic Blind Tiger 'go' cups. In fact, you probably have one, or more, in your kitchen cabinet already. I know I have a few from back in the day when The Blind Tiger was packed every Sunday night for karaoke. Sadly, my days of late nights are over, but The Blind Tiger will forever be a part of my own 'coming of age' here in Shreveport. You can read more about the history of downtown Shreveport and The Blind Tiger thanks to Liz Swain on the Downtown Development Authority website.
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