Rowdy Rebs: Shaking Up The Oxford Day/Night-Life Scene

The dance floor was packed at Rowdy Rebs on Wednesday night.

With crowds estimated at 60,000, one can understand why the owners of Rowdy Rebs, the new restaurant, bar and night club on the square, pulled out all the stops to open by last Friday. Not many places in the south, much less Mississippi, can draw that many people per square foot into an area full of restaurants, bars and shops. Thank you Double Decker!

One likely comparison might be New Orleans crowds on Bourbon Street, and that fits perfectly with Rowdy Rebs’ style and vision to bring “a New Orleans-style restaurant, bar and club” to Oxford.

Manager Jared Foster, also owner of Landshark Crawfish, was super excited about it all when HottyToddy.com met with him. He said there were plenty of people saying they were crazy to try and open in 30 days by Double Decker, but they did. They plunged in and opened with massive crowds at their doorstep.

“We had great feedback!” said Foster. “We only had two people who waited more than 30 minutes for food on Saturday, and we comped them to make up for it.”

Rowdy Rebs is owned by the same owners as Bacchus on the Square — Jourdan Nicaud, along with his younger brother Field (a sophomore at Ole Miss) and Joe Dulaney, who are all from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and know a little about fresh Gulf seafood and the hospitality/entertainment business. Jourdan owns and operates Bacchus in Biloxi, Bacchus on the Beach in Pass Christian, The Oyster Reef Club in Long Beach and many more successful businesses.

What stood out to HottyToddy.com in our interview with Foster was his enthusiasm and passion to provide great food, drinks and a great experience for everyone who comes in. They want people to know them as much for their high quality fresh Gulf seafood and crawfish served day and night as much as the bar and the upbeat-style dance club. Other menu items? They sold a huge quantity of their fresh  chicken tenders and wings on Saturday.

“We sold so many chicken tenders on Double Decker weekend we had to go and buy everything Kroger and Wal-Mart had,” Foster said.

As for the club, it’s different from anything else around Oxford.

“I know this is Oxford, and you can’t make people dance. But I really believe when you dance it releases a better version of a human!” Foster said. “We want people to come here, have fun and be able to release the energy they’ve been holding in all week.”

The very long bar at Rowdy Rebs has red and blue light features.

The authentic brick walls inside the old building (which is the location where Fins used to be) make you feel like you could be in New Orleans. Even in the day time, the colorful high-tech dance club lights are blinking across the floor and walls. The pierced metal bucket light fixtures add to the character. Rowdy Rebs will feature live music as well as top DJ’s for listening or dancing. Upcoming performers include Kevin Gates who will be here at Rowdy Rebs when the students return in August.

And yet another New Orleans-style twist for the weekends is Sunday brunch with live music. French beignets, chicken and waffles and biscuits and gravy.

Students and Oxonians looking for a new experience will definitely find something different from the typical at Rowdy Rebs.

Lindsay Milligan, an Ole Miss junior marketing major from Tampa, Florida, said, “When you go to other college towns, there are so many different types of bars to choose from. Here all of our bars are kind of the same. I’m excited to have something different! Plus I love crawfish and shrimp.”

Features already in place

• Wednesday night 50 cent wells with a $10 cover
• Low cost drinks every night
• Frozen drinks
• If you eat lunch or dinner at Rowdy Rebs, your receipt is your cover that night
• 12 TVs and a projection screens (not a bad view in the house)
• Thursday ladies’ night

Coming soon

• Tiki bowl drinks to be introduced on Cinco de Mayo
• Karaoke
• Cajun boiled peanuts
• Credit card scanner at the door for covers
• Gloves for eating boiled seafood (so your hands don’t smell like seafood!)
• A back entrance facing the alleyway across from the Library
• Late-night food under the back stairs (corn dogs and grilled cheese)

Note: Foster added they open at 4:00 this afternoon, (Friday, Apr. 29) and are doing $2.00 domestics and $4.00 wells.

Allison Buchanan is CEO and writer at HottyToddy.com. She can be reached at allison.buchanan@hottytoddy.com

Follow HottyToddy.com on Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat @hottytoddynews. Like its Facebook page: If You Love Oxford and Ole Miss…