Hi, it's Christiaan Mader, host of Out to Lunch Acadiana. I love a dive bar.  And I know I’m not alone. They attract a certain cult-like following among people looking for an unpretentious place to share a reasonably priced drink with an old friend or a new one. The appeal is fundamentally American.  The drinks are cold, the music is loud, the bathrooms might be suspect — but you can be you and everyone's welcome. 

In Acadiana, a great dive bar can be a cultural center of gravity. Especially if it’s got a stage and a spunky PA. 

However adored, dive bars carry a janky reputation. And the people who love them, love them because of that jank. It’s hard to precisely define a great dive bar. But my guest Justin Bennet saw one in the making when he moved to Lafayette and bought Artmosphere, the Downtown Lafayette bar and music venue. 

Justin Bennett grew up in New York and was literally raised in dive bars, sitting on a barstool drinking cherry cokes from the age of five while his musician father played gigs. He went on to earn a bachelor's in journalism from the University of Washington, spent five years with New York City's Department of Management rising from Press Assistant to Public Information Officer, and later served as Press Secretary for the Louisiana Workforce Commission. But it was Lafayette, Louisiana — a city he and his wife Marcela kept passing through on the way to Lake Charles — that eventually called them back.

In February of 2025, Justin purchased Artmosphere, a bar and music venue on Johnston Street that's been a Lafayette landmark for years.

He didn't just buy a bar. He bought a vibe, a history, and a whole lot of deferred maintenance. Now he's fixing the bathrooms, booking the bands, and making his grandmother's meatballs.

Barbecue

There’s maybe no better example of something great out of something humble than American BBQ.

We’re not necessarily known for BBQ here in Acadiana, but Shane Wiggins is doing his part to change that. 

Shane was born and raised in Flynn, Texas. He came up through electronics repair school, then spent years in the oilfield — onshore, offshore, and eventually running a business with his father in Pennsylvania. When that chapter closed, he ended up back in the Lafayette area.

Shane had been making brisket for years. His Texas Twister BBQ sauce became so popular with friends and family that by 2020 he was bottling it commercially. He and his wife Allyson had long talked about a food truck. He told her: if that spot on East Main in Broussard ever comes available, that's the sign.

It did. He had to keep his word.

In early 2022, Deuces Taste of the South opened as a part-time venture — a Texas-style BBQ joint with Cajun influences, built around a forty-two-foot custom trailer that Shane built himself. It didn't stay part-time for long.

Out to Lunch Acadiana was recorded live over lunch at Tsunami Sushi in downtown Lafayette. You can find photos from this show by Astor Morgan at itsacadiana.com.