Suga’s Deep South Cuisine & Jazz Bar
Just off the I-10 Freeway in Beaumont, Suga’s Deep South Cuisine & Jazz Bar has been renovated to include a state-of-the-art sound and video system in the upstairs event space.
The restaurant is housed in the storied Coale Building in Beaumont’s downtown district. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the Coale Building’s detailed period restoration received Honorable Mention for the 2006 President’s Award for Best Building Renovation.
The Coale building was named for its first owner, former Beaumont Mayor Ray A. Coale. He purchased the building when it was built in 1914. After some time as a respectable neighborhood barbershop in the 1940s, it became a central player in the red light district and home to a notorious illegal gambling operation that was eventually shut down in 1961. Once the red light district was cleaned up, the building had a much quieter reputation as a storefront for various insurance and retail outfits. In 2005, the newly renovated building was introduced as Suga’s Deep South Cuisine & Jazz Bar.
“We’re known for our real, deep-down Southern cuisine,” says Events Coordinator Keba Randals. “We’re a historic landmark, and we’ve also got the real down south cooking like bayou catfish and fresh Gulf shrimp and grits.”
The event space accommodates 120 to 200 people depending on whether it’s a reception or seated event. “We have upstairs and downstairs covered patios that can also be used,” Randals says. “Our upstairs room has a big screen monitor with DVD access and wireless microphones, plus a dance floor, stage, DJ booth and full bar.”
The space also has a lot of restored woodwork, big windows and original details that preserve its historic charm.