When Pearl Bar jumped the shark

For those of you who ever went there between 2000 and 2001, Ms. Mae's (or The Club, as it was also called) was the one of the best places in New Orleans. And while there were plenty of places to go grab a drink or four, Ms. Mae's during that era was epic (Laura). Maybe the bartenders did not know your name, but they sure were friendly. Well, that's not exactly true, as they were in fact quite rude. The clientele was truly special. The guy with nine teeth playing pool or the drunks playing foosball always seemed to have a good time. You could catch a game there during the summer time. Well, they only had one TV. But the best part was, drinks were a dollar. That's right. One dollar. And you had some space to relax and chill out. It really was a New Orleans institution.

But then, 2002 happened. That is when every frat guy at Tulane figured out they could get some moron freshman trashed and in the sack and still get change from the $10 bill they had tucked into their Armani Exchange jeans or in the popped collar on their pink LaCoste shirt. You could no longer chill out without some jerk with a Long Island accent screaming about something stupid. The Club sucked. You could never go there again. The Club jumped the shark.

And now, on to Pearl Bar. Pearl Bar re-emerged onto the newly energized Washington Avenue scene. It was a fun place to go. Shuffle board. Ping Pong. Big patio. Cool people. But then recently, there was a 1L happy hour bar. They advertised the bar as The Pearl. That's not the name, jackass. But when those kind of people start going to "The Pearl" you know its heading down the wrong rabbit trail. When every (ok, obviously not EVERY guy, but enough to annoy the rest of us) guy who goes there drives a Range Rover and wears a striped shirt with black pants, it's not a good sign. Then, when its packed at 8pm on a Thursday, it's not looking good at all. Think Janet Reno in a two piece bad. You can't even sit down there anymore. It's all yuppies.

But the last straw came last night. Last night, the straw came that broke the proverbial camel's back. 90% of the people there were guys with slicked back hair, drinking Michelob Ultras and Bud Selects, talking about the Red Sox and fondling their BlackBerry. Pearl Bar jumped the shark. That's a wrap folks. Pearl Bar is dead to me.