USA, LA: Bayou Teche Brewing to open a new location in downtown Lafayette

A popular Acadiana-based brewing company will open a brewery on the bottom floor of the 83-room hotel planned for downtown Lafayette, The Advocate reported on April 9.

Bayou Teche Brewing will occupy the 4,500-square-foot space in the $19 million Hotel Lafayette that is expected to open mid-year 2026, the hotel’s ownership group, Sans Souci Properties, announced Thursday.

The brewery will include beer produced on-site, along with a comprehensive food menu that will include wood-fired pizzas and crafted tiki cocktails. It will also operate a seasonal outdoor bar at the hotel’s pool, offer in-room dining to hotel guests and serve as the preferred food and beverage vendor to private events at the hotel.

Construction of the hotel is expected to kick off with a ground-breaking ceremony next month, said Gus Rezende, one of the four owners of the hotel. Demo work began last month on the site, which for years housed Don’s Seafood & Steakhouse restaurant.

“We really want to connect visitors with the vibrancy of the local culture and downtown Lafayette,” said Joseph Thrash with The Thrash Group, the design partner for the hotel. “(Bayou Teche Brewery is) not only bringing something to the hotel that is authentically local, but also giving any interested guests the chance to delve into a full-on brewery experience without leaving the building. This partnership gives our guests the chance to jump right into the Acadiana experience.”

Bayou Teche Brewery, known for its wide range of craft beers, first opened in 2009 and offers visitors a place to relax and gather at its site at 102 Noth Lane in Arnaudville. It also offers cocktails, including the Bayou Tiki cocktail as a nod to its love of tiki culture and premium rums.

It will offer a “Bayou Tiki experience” at the hotel’s site during Festival International later this month.

“Bayou Teche Brewing is excited to be a part of this fabulous project,” said Stephanie Knott, co-owner of Bayou Teche Brewing. “We can’t wait for the opportunity to be a part of the downtown Lafayette community and serve customers there as well as at our Arnaudville location.”

The hotel is a joint project with Sans Souci Properties, The Thrash Group and Tandem Hospitality Group and will also include 2,500-square-foot event spaces.

Sans Souci Properties is managed by Lafayette business owners Rezende, Ryan Pecot, BJ Crist and John Peterson.

A downtown hotel should help grow the local music scene in Lafayette. Speaking at the Acadiana Commercial Outlook on Wednesday, Rock ‘n’ Bowl owner Johnny Blancher said the lack of a hotel within walking distance has impeded the venue’s growth.

The calls about a walkable hotel space come “every single day,” he said.

“It has actually put a cap on what we will invest in live music,” Blancher said. “We can’t get the regional traveler in proximity (to the venue), and when they start actually looking into what hotels are available, they don’t buy. That’s going to change. We hope to help fill (the hotel) up.”

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