Nightlife and Entertainment – When darkness falls, Baton Rouge nightlife comes alive with an ever-growing number of choices. Some new faces emerged in this category this year.

4385 Perkins Rd., 303-9400
Founded (locally): 2008.
Owner: Herb Dyer

The Bulldog bar doesn’t take its name for nothing—this establishment holds regular fundraisers for the ASPCA. You can purchase a novelty pint glass secure in the knowledge that 100% of the profits go to needy animals. That’s something to toast to.

The Bulldog 41.70%
2nd place: The Loft, 10111 Perkins Rowe, Ste. 140, 663-2891 25.77%
3rd place: The Grape, 10111 Perkins Rowe, Ste. 160, 763-2288 18.96%

Already a landmark in New Orleans and Lafayette, it’s about time Baton Rouge got its own branch of this famous tavern. Although the menu is expansive and the food is excellent, let’s not fool ourselves—when you walk in, you know what you really came for is the beer. More than 200 varieties are on sale here at any given time, an astonishing 81 of which are draft. Ales and lagers, pilsners and stouts, you can bet they’ll have just what you’re looking for. If you find yourself overwhelmed by choice, don’t hesitate to ask one of the bartenders for a recommendation—their knowledge of their stock is truly encyclopedic.

To create their 2005 album The Angie House, the band’s manager had them live together in an isolated farmhouse in the town of Angie, La. The closeness created a reality-show atmosphere, but it also produced some excellent music.

Benjy Davis Project 42.95%
2nd place: Chris LeBlanc Band 28.21%
3rd place: Meriwether 9.97%

The Benjy Davis Project’s siren song lures our readers in for another year, giving this local rock sextet a strong lead in our polls. The re-release of Dust last November has only helped broaden the band’s appeal, and they’ve been touring the country to drum up even more support for the album. Bluesy second-placer Chris LeBlanc is still tirelessly bringing the funk with sold-out shows throughout the south, and poppy sensation Meriwether keeps their fans close to home, having dropped a new album in April this year.

Genius runs in the family; Tabby’s son, Chris Thomas King, is an actor and Grammy award-winning blues musician as well.

Tabby Thomas 29.19%
2nd place: Chris LeBlanc 27.99%
3rd place: Luther Kent 17.26%

His legendary blues club may be history, but Ernest J. “Tabby” Thomas is anything but. Whatever we say about this man surely can’t be enough; he’s done more for the Baton Rouge Blues scene than anyone else on our list. His life is the blues movement writ large, when the highs are really high and the lows are truly low, but even a car accident and a stroke haven’t stopped him from performing his throaty classics at festivals and shows throughout the city, nor from hosting his lauded radio show on WBRH 90.3 FM every Saturday at 1 p.m.

304 Laurel St., Ste. 1B, 223-6109
Founded: 2006
Owners: Rob Musemeche, Dennis McCain

If you love wine but find yourself stumped on which bottle to order, you can always go by most popular—the J Pinot Noir is the Wine Loft’s best-seller.

The Wine Loft 30.45%
2nd place: The Loft at Perkins Rowe, 10111 Perkins Rowe, Ste. 140, 663-2834 24.27%
3rd place: The Grape, 10111 Perkins Rowe, Ste. 160, 763-228823.37%

Uncorking a bottle and unwinding has never been so easy as it is at this chic downtown lounge. The Wine Loft provides a haven from the college crowd and the perfect place to head after work for some low-key letting your hair down. The number of choices of their titular tipple will have your head spinning even before you take your first sip, so relax on one of their broad leather couches, nosh on some aged Brie and take your time with your selection and your glass. There’s no rush.

The Molly Ringwalds pair teased hair and Eighties makeup with fake names and nasally British accents to create a facetious persona that’s all-too-perfect for the decade they represent.

The Molly Ringwalds 38.41%
2nd place: Stormy 15.05%
3rd place: Bag of Donuts 10.05%

225 feels it has to do the right thing and apologize for the cheesy references that are about to ensue, but the Molly Ringwalds just have us moonstruck. The ’80s may be over, but they’ll never truly die thanks to this eclectic revival band. Taking the risky business of covering past pop hits very seriously, this group dons the garb of various icons of the era before taking to the stage to rock us all like Amadeus; from “Whip It” to “White Wedding,” their shows are a clever pastiche that’ll make you love your neon leggings again.