Artmosphere

Artmosphere is one of my favorite places to be in Lafayette.  I like the Cheech's up in smoke.  They have some local beers.  Music is fun most of the time.

Some nights it's very relaxed.  Some nights it's crazy busy.

This is my preferred bar in Lafayette because it has good (bar) food, a good beer selection, and depending on the time you go, good atmosphere. I'm not a huge fan of the place when it's super crowded and smokey, but I'm not much of a typical "bar-person" to begin with.

Features:
-Decent prices all around - cover, drinks, and food
-Good service, albeit a bit slow at times
-Eclectic mix of bar food. (try the Cheechs Up In Smoke wrap, the Mediterranean pizza, the quesadillas, and the spinach dip) Mostly everything I've had was good.
-There's plenty of indoor/outdoor seating.
-Chalkboard tables outside to draw on.
-Paper covered tables inside to draw on.
-Live music every night, as well as "Open Mic" night on Tuesdays.
-Good mix of music when there's no band playing
-They also have hookas to smoke on if that's your thing. (I've tried 2 or 3 flavours and they were all great)
-Lots of interesting art inside and outside
-Relaxed casual vibe with a nice variation of people
-Convenient location on a main street
-They offer free trivia
-They're open all day

My friend and I passed through Lafayette on a Friday night and drove around in search of something to eat. Artmosphere caught my eye because it seemed like it would be a quirky and fun. Indeed, the artmosphere (ha) is really chill and made me feel like I had time traveled to a college in the 1990s, which was fine with me because I've got loads of faux nostalgia for that time. The walls are covered in art of variable quality but overall the decor is pretty cool, and the music that played was a mix of 90s/early 00s indie which I love.

We ended up sitting at the bar for hours, eating, drinking, and chatting with the locals. The staff was super friendly and efficient and the patrons were really friendly...they're a mix of the hip scene of Lafayette and older Cajun country folks so I had pretty interesting and diverse conversations. The food was just OK but reasonably priced and filled me up, which is what I was looking for. I didn't try the hookah because I don't smoke but the flavors looked pretty good and decently priced. Later in the night the music started and the band that played was great. After their set more people trickled in and the bar got really packed and had diversified to include some fratty folk, which is not really our scene so we left.

In all, Artmosphere is a really fun place with nice, interesting people, good entertainment, and decent food. I'm in the Lafayette area for a few weeks and would add this to my list of places to frequent during my stay.