The Cove is hands down one of my favorite spots in Baton Rouge for beer and a casual night out.
It's spacious and has several rooms/areas- with a specialty bar that mixes up old fashioneds and other drinks from a by-gone era. Although the lighting is very dark, it's still a great place to gather with friends for a casual evening. The music, which typically consists of 90's grunge, is played at a low enough decible so that you can still hear conversations.
The wall murals are also ecclectic and fun, with a pirate theme in the main bar area and pin-up-esque murals in the bathrooms.
What sets The Cove apart from other bars in Baton Rouge, in my opinion, is the expertise of the bar staff. Don't know what you want? The bartenders at The Cove know their menu and can recommend something right on target for you. Not to mention the fact that the selection at The Cove is immense (an amazing array of beers from all over the world as well as an impressive selection of whiskey and scotch).
I love the atmosphere of The Cove. I just wish there were more people when I went.
I don't care to be in crowded bars but this one can be pretty sparse at times.
The beer selection is unrivaled in Baton Rouge. If you want to try some unique beers or whiskeys/bourbons, you need to go to the cove.
It's very dark and dungeon like but also very friendly and stays away from the underground feel.
Definitely reccomend going here.
I've had to update my review to five stars. This is probably the best bar in Baton Rouge at the moment. They have the largest alcohol selection in the city. They also have the largest beer selection I have ever seen. It's bigger than anything I've seen even in Houston or New Orleans. They have really stepped up their game in their tap room. They have at least 60 taps at the moment(though it may be at around 70 now). They are even carrying Goose Island now. They also have recently added a new cocktail bar. It is a very impressive cocktail bar. The cocktail menu is approximately 20 pages long and has drinks of all varieties. That being said they do take a long time to make and are expensive. Then again they are done very traditionally, as they even hammer your ice for you. This place has definitely stepped up its game since my original review which was right around when they opened.
Review Source:Louisiana still has smoking in bars unfortunately. Â The place is sparsely decorated but who really gives a s$&t when they have the biggest selection of liquor and beer in town and the staff is tops on their booze smarts bonus is that they are willing to help you figure out your drink of the night. Â Sure there are better hang out spots with comfy chairs but for selection alone they get 5 stars. I didn't hang out in the cocktail lounge which looked like a cool option complete with pool table. Â Next time!
Review Source:This is a really neat little bar. Â Not only do they have TONS of different beers (pretty much anything you could want) but they have a huge whiskey and scotch selection.
I got my usual Harp, but the b/f and his friend shared a $30 glass of Whiskey. Â I'm not sure what type it was and I don't drink the stuff, but they were saying how smooth and tasty it was. Â Feeling adventurous and in the mood for something kind of fancy? Â Check out the shelf of "unaffordable Scotches". Â Yeah, you read that right. Â You can actually buy shots of well aged scotch for as much as $300. Â I would love to meet the person who can afford that.
They also had a beer for $135 that was 45% alcohol. Â Um... maybe next time.
For overall atmosphere and clientele, I would give this place one star. Their only saving grace which raises them up to two stars is their massive beer selection. That being said, while they may have what you want, be prepared to spend about 20 minutes reading their beer menu. To me, that is just too long. There is such a thing as having too big of a selection, and the cove has it. The clientele reflect that; they are snobby. Very snobby, and the air that they put out is just off putting. The bar is very dive-y, which usually I don't mind. In fact, I usually love pirate themed things. But the decor here is so half-assed that it is just upsetting. Most of the drinks seem really over priced too. I would likely not go back, unless I happened to be craving a specific beer that only they carry. Which is unlikely considering that baton rouge has a lot of bars with large beer selections - I'll take the chimes over this place any day. Or if I'm looking for the true dive atmosphere, the vineyard will always win out.
Review Source:Comparatively, there are no other bars like this in the city of Baton Rouge. It has a serious selection of beers ranging in all tastes and prices to accomodate their mixed crowd. It's every thing from a service industry bar to a drinking establishment for those with money find their most glorious of prohibition era libations. Because Baton Rouge is a college town, there are limited opportunities to experience something like that as their most prolific bars are frequented by students without taste or money to pay for it, even if they did have it.
In larger cities, there are several bars that are akin to this one where they specially craft cocktails from the freshest local ingredients (from the surrounding perimeter of the city), so when I experience Tom, the bar owner, sassing me, I'm not a happy camper. When I've unloaded serious money on the drinks I purchase in his bar, I expect to be treated as a valued customer. If you're of the mind that you are going to snub a patron for their drink selection, don't put it on your menu! It's also incredibly bothersome to see anything that is a WalMart generic brand being used when some of the cocktails are upwards of fifteen to twenty dollars. I want something that is organic, local, and sourced for that price! If you cannot keep up with the demand on your product, adjust your ordering procedures for the high quality ingredients... or at least go through the effort of hiding the generic label from your customers.
On certain cocktails you're required to pay a deposit for using whatever proper glass is necessary to create the perfect drinking experience. Are you kidding me?! If the staff cannot do their job in keeping up with the sterling silver Mint Julep cups, hold them accountable or use something silver-plated instead, but don't alienate your paying customers by treating them like potential thieves. And, although the Juleps are not served in the proper glass at Sullivan's, they taste better, and I don't have to deal with such an atrocious, unheard of policy.
The theme is a serious after thought and frankly kind of dumb. It gets very noisy as the place was once a large Jazzercise studio/gym. If you're of the mind that you're going to be able to hear anyone or anything when you're here, it's going to be impossible once it gets moderately busy. Moving the fancy cocktail lounge to the main bar was the worst idea as half the appeal was that it was tucked away in a quiet, smoke free environment with comfortable seating in which you could actually hear the other members of your party speaking.
My friend took me here when I was visiting town. The cove does a good job of keeping away people there just to drink bud or coors. You have to walk back a bit to get to the real bar The staff was very knowledgeable on their ginormous selection.
When I say the selection is ginormous, it's a bit of an understatement. They have almost 2 pages of mikellers to choose from amongst other things.
The beers were priced pretty well for what they are. I liked that you had to pay $4 for a bud while only paying $4.50 for a quality hefeweizen or something of that nature. They want you to have the good stuff.
I enjoyed the cove a lot. I wasn't here for too long, so maybe my rating is slightly lower than if I was able to really dig into it here. Still, impressed is the word that best describes things for me
I'm torn between a 2 star and a a 4 star rating on this place, so I guess I'll split the difference and go with 3 stars.
4 star: This place has a RIDICULOUS selection of beers and single malt scotch. Â There are 19 (9.5 front and back) pages in tiiiiny font listing out their beers - it just goes on and on. Â The scotch selection is freaking incredible - 349 to choose from, and some of them very rare and hard to find. Â I always have to use all my willpower here so I don't end up buying $40 drams.
2 star: the bar area is kind of sparsely decorated and boring outside of the flags and a painting of a kraken. Â Yawn. Â The bigger problem, though, is the glassware. Â Several times now when I've ordered a scotch the glass I've received has kind of smelled like wet dog. Â That's... not really ok when you're paying $15 for 3 ounces of a single malt; the smell is as important as the taste. Â I've gotten around this problem by requesting my scotch in a short glass, rather than the glasses they usually put their scotch in, but it's still a little ucky to think about.
Anyway, I can tell that this will be a staple while I'm working in Baton Rouge - I expect to be here a couple of times a month, at least. Â If they fix the glassware problem, I'll definitely up the rating!
ARRGH MATEY! Welcome to the Cove. Â
The Cove is a great place to get confused about beer. Â
I like beer, and thought I knew what I was talking about until I walked in here. Â
There are SO MANY beers here it will make your head spin (from deciding, the drink induced spinning comes later). Â Luckily the bartenders are very knowledgeable. Â Usually I just ask for what I'm feeling and let them decide. Â
"I'd like something easy to drink on the light side". Â Without hesitation the bartender turns to the cooler cracks one open and pours it into a glass (I still don't remember what it was...hard to pronounce Belgian something something). Â Normally I would be a little off put by someone assuming that I'm going to drink whatever they put in front me without even looking at the label, but these guys are good (I drank 2).
Smoking is allowed everywhere but the booths, which is weird b/c you can smoke at a table 2 ft from the booth. Â I don't mind either way. Â
Foosball and pool are available. Â Lots of TV's and Tom will only allow sports. Â We came here once and the 2 girls I brought and I were the only people there and the bartenders didn't hesitate to say "Hell No Tom would kill us" when the ladies asked for a channel change to non sports. Â
They also have a new room up front that is non-smoking and looks like an old school pub. Â I haven't sat in this room but it looks nice. Â
p.s. I know this is a bit gauche, but this is a great place to "borrow" glasses from. Â The shot glasses have pirates on the bottom and they have all the specialty glasses that the vendors provide to "experience" the specialty beers that go with them.
Best beer selection in baton rouge by far. Knowledgeable staff. Thumbs up. You can tell the owner/manager takes alcohol seriously, and makes sure the staff keeps up on new beers, beer styles, etc. I drink beer at the Cove because they have the best selection in Baton Rouge (by far), but they also have an excellent selection of Whisky (Whiskey/Scotch/Burbon) and other liquor. While the staff has an awesome knowledge of beer, their expertise does not extend to cocktails. That doesn't affect me, but it makes bringing my wife there harder. She usually orders an apple martini. I've heard they are opening a cocktail bar next door, so I'm sure their mixed drinks will get on par with the beer and scotch soon.
I can't really comment on the weekend crowd, but during the week, everybody seems laid back, and a little older than a college bar (mid twenties to early thirties). Smoking is allowed at the bar, but you can't smoke in the booths, so either way you should be good.
Prices are reasonable, but if you want to you can spend copious amounts of cash. For instance, I had a taste of Brew Dogs Tactical Nuclear Penguin (which is billed as the worlds strongest beer), a $100+ bottle of beer. I'm pretty sure the only place you can get it in Baton Rouge is The Cove.
One final thing - they don't have any beer on tap. I understand that decision, but I still find it odd.
Being a sailor, it gets 3 stars. Huge selection of alcohol! It is a diverse crowd. I found the pirate motif a bit cheesy since none of it is authentic. Also, the night I went I noticed the owner sitting at the end of the bar cautiously watching his employees measure all the alcohol accurately! I could tell the bartenders were not comfortable.
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