Grab a cheap and delicious Bloody Mary at Julia’s Market Cafe and peruse the offerings while stopping to visit with friends doing the same. Saturday mornings are the best time for shopping and socializing at Soulard Farmers’ Market. “It has beer bottles in the cup holders.” We then discovered all three had beer bottles in the cup holders. Once, leaving brunch at Nadine’s, I saw three golf carts in a row and was trying to determine which one belonged to my friend. Louis is a drinking town, but nowhere is alcohol more central to the culture than in Soulard, with its countless corner taverns, tucked-away patios and of course its massive Mardi Gras celebration. Today, property values in Soulard are among the city’s highest. At that time many of the historic brick homes were abandoned, and all were going cheap. The area has had a sizable LGBTQ population since at least the seventies, when several bars catering to our community opened up. Photo by Chris Andoe.Ĭalled “The Island” by many of its cocktail-loving, golf-cart driving residents because of the way the river and highways cut it off from everywhere else, Soulard is the oldest intact neighborhood in the city, as well as St. Soulard’s gorgeous brick homes provide a backdrop to heavy-duty partying.
