The direct answer: Metairie's most complete indoor entertainment stop is Pickle N Pins, on Veterans Memorial Boulevard, where pickleball, padel, duckpin bowling, axe throwing, Krazy Darts and shuffleboard all sit under one roof with a full bar and kitchen in the middle of it. That single answer covers an evening by itself, but Jefferson Parish and the rest of the New Orleans area also have a real scene worth knowing about outside that one building, and this guide covers both.
This article is written by Pickle N Pins. Where it describes this venue, that is a direct account of what is on site. Where it names other venues, every fact was checked against that venue's own website rather than a directory listing or a review site, and nothing is claimed about a competitor that could not be verified that way.
When the heat or the rain rules out anything outdoors
Louisiana weather does not leave much room for an outdoor plan on short notice: summers run hot and humid for months, and a clear morning can turn into a downpour by afternoon most of the year. An indoor-only plan removes that variable entirely, and every one of Pickle N Pins' six ticketed activities is played indoors, along with the arcade and the free backyard games.
That makes a rained-out Saturday or a brutal afternoon heat index a non-issue rather than a reason to cancel plans. A simple version of the day: pick one racquet sport or lane-based activity as the anchor, add a second activity for variety, and treat the free backyard games (cornhole, washers, table tennis, foosball and Connect 4) as something to do between bookings rather than something to plan around, since none of them need a reservation.
This also matters for a group that does not want to gamble on outdoor seating when a summer storm is a real possibility: every part of a visit here, including the seating around the bar and the tables near the yard games, is inside the same building. For a longer look at staying indoors specifically because of weather, rainy day activities near New Orleans goes deeper into that angle from a slightly different starting question.
Racquet sports: pickleball and padel
Two racquet sports, two different courts, one shared price structure.
Pickleball
Pickleball is played with a solid paddle and a plastic ball on a court well under half the size of a tennis court, and the rules are simple enough that most people are rallying inside their first game. It is a doubles-first sport by design, so a group of four with very different skill levels can still play the same match without anyone sitting out a rotation. Courts run $40 per hour per court at peak times and $30 per hour at non-peak times: peak is 5PM Friday through Sunday, non-peak is Monday through 5PM Friday. Paddle rental is $3 and a ball is $3 if you need one. For the full breakdown, including worked per-person examples, see how much pickleball costs near New Orleans; treat pricing as the current source, since rates change.
Padel
Padel is played inside a walled and meshed court, closer in feel to a cross between tennis and squash, since the ball stays in play off the surrounding glass and mesh. That makes rallies last longer and rewards positioning over raw power, which tends to close the gap between an experienced player and a first-timer more than an open court would. Pickle N Pins says it was the first venue in Metairie to add padel courts. Pricing matches pickleball: $40 per hour per court at peak times, $30 at non-peak, with racket rental at $5 and balls at $10 for a three-pack. A full side-by-side of the two sports, including how the scoring differs, is in padel vs pickleball.
Bowling, axe throwing, darts and shuffleboard: what a first-timer should expect
Four more activities round out the building, each with a different pace and a different learning curve.
Duckpin bowling
Duckpin bowling swaps a full-size bowling ball for something smaller and lighter, and shorter, squat pins for the ten-pin standard, with three rolls per frame instead of two. It reads as more casual than a full ten-pin night and moves faster, since a shorter roll and an extra chance per frame both speed the game along. It runs $10 per hour per person at peak times and $5 at non-peak.
Axe throwing
Axe throwing is a supervised lane where you throw a hatchet at a wooden target, scored like a dartboard. No experience is expected walking in, and staff set up the safety basics before the first throw. It requires players to be at least 12 years old and to wear closed-toe shoes. Pricing is $15 per hour per person at peak times and $7.50 at non-peak.
Krazy Darts
Krazy Darts is a modern electronic dartboard setup that tracks and totals scores automatically, so a group does not have to do the subtraction themselves mid-game. It runs $10 per hour per person at peak times, $5 at non-peak. If you have never played 501, the standard game darts players default to, the guide to darts rules for beginners covers scoring, checkouts and basic etiquette.
Shuffleboard
Table shuffleboard rewards a light touch and a steady read of the table over strength, which makes it a good change of pace between more physical activities. It runs $10 per hour regardless of when you play, the one activity here without a peak and non-peak split. All prices above are current as of this writing; pricing is the page to check before you book, since rates change.
Going out as a group: families, birthdays and work outings
Because six activities sit inside one building instead of being spread across a city, Pickle N Pins works especially well for a group that does not all want the same thing. Part of the party can play pickleball or padel while others bowl or throw axes, and everyone regroups at a table afterward.
That flexibility is why the venue gets booked for birthday parties, for families spanning several generations, and for company outings and team offsites. The guide to planning a birthday party covers how a party booking actually works, from picking activities to timing the food.
For a family with a wide age range in one group, the free backyard games matter more than they might for an all-adult group: a grandparent and a young kid can both play cornhole or table tennis without either one needing a lesson first, while older kids and adults use the ticketed activities.
If a single visit turns into a habit, single, couple and family memberships are available, and leagues exist for people who want a standing match instead of booking fresh every time. A birthday party or outing that only bowls, or only plays pickleball, is a shorter and more limited version of what the building is actually set up for.
Eating, drinks and watching the game
None of the above requires leaving the building to eat. Pickle N Pins runs a full bar and kitchen on site, with a menu that runs from appetizers and salads to street tacos, sliders, boneless wings and pizza, so a group can eat between games rather than build the whole visit around one sit-down meal at a fixed time.
The bar area has TVs set up around it for anyone who wants to watch a game while they eat or wait for a lane, and there is a large LED wall in the yard game area, in the center of the building, for the same purpose on a bigger screen. That combination, the bar, the kitchen, the TVs and the LED wall, is what makes this a genuine option for someone who mainly wants to watch a game with food and a drink, not just a venue that happens to serve food between activities. Sports bar in Metairie: where to watch the game goes deeper on exactly that use case, if watching is the main reason for the visit rather than a secondary one.
For a group that splits its attention between a match on a court and a game on a screen, that is a real advantage over a venue that only does one or the other well. Food and drinks are available throughout the hours the venue is open, not on a separate restaurant schedule, so there is no cutoff time to work around if a game runs long. The full menu lists every dish currently offered; treat it as the source, since a menu changes more often than an activity list does.
The wider scene: other things to do around Metairie and New Orleans
A "things to do in Metairie" answer that only describes one venue is not a complete answer, and the area has a real entertainment scene worth knowing honestly. Everything below was checked against each venue's own website, not a directory listing.
Pickleball elsewhere in the area. Two dedicated pickleball facilities operate near New Orleans: The Exchange, in the Lower Garden District, with seven courts and a full bar and kitchen of its own, and NOLA PicklePlex, with seven indoor courts near the Jefferson Parish/New Orleans line. Neither combines pickleball with bowling, axe throwing or darts.
Padel. As of this writing, Pickle N Pins appears to be the only currently open, dedicated padel venue in the metro area. New Orleans Padel Club, in the Warehouse District, lists itself as opening soon rather than currently open on its own site; worth a direct check with them before planning a visit around it.
Bowling. Several other venues offer standard ten-pin bowling: GameOn Social Hub in Kenner, which also has axe throwing, laser tag and an arcade; Surge Entertainment in Metairie, with bowling, arcade, laser tag, mini golf and go-karts; Fulton Alley in the Warehouse District, boutique lanes with a full bar and kitchen, minors welcome before 8PM; Colonial Bowling Lanes in neighboring Harahan; and Rock'n'Bowl in Mid-City, pairing bowling with live music. None of their own sites mention duckpin specifically; all describe standard ten-pin, a genuine point of difference if a smaller ball and shorter pins are what you are after.
Axe throwing. The only other currently active axe-throwing venue confirmed nearby is GameOn Social Hub, which requires players to be 18 or older; Pickle N Pins' minimum is 12. A second axe-throwing brand, Stumpy's Hatchet House, appears to have closed its New Orleans location as of this writing.
Arcades and barcades. Dave & Buster's in the CBD and Emporium Arcade Bar in the Marigny both run dedicated arcade floors; Emporium is strictly 21 and over, so it is not a family option the way an all-ages arcade is.
Darts and shuffleboard as dedicated, bookable activities did not turn up on any other venue's own site checked for this guide.
Planning your visit: hours, booking and what to reserve
Pickle N Pins is at 6930 Veterans Memorial Blvd #4419, Metairie, LA 70003. Hours are Sunday through Thursday from 9AM to 10PM, and Friday and Saturday from 9AM to 1AM.
Courts and lanes can be booked online ahead of time, which matters most on evenings and weekends, the same peak window that applies to pricing, 5PM Friday through Sunday, is also when the building is busiest. There is no published phone line for reservations; booking goes through the site rather than a phone call.
What is worth reserving ahead: pickleball and padel courts, duckpin lanes, axe throwing lanes, Krazy Darts and shuffleboard, especially for a specific time slot on a weekend evening. What does not need a reservation: the free backyard games and the arcade, both of which are first-come.
Pickleball and padel are priced per court per hour, not per player, so a group filling a whole court splits one hourly rate rather than paying individually. Duckpin, axe throwing and Krazy Darts are priced per person per hour instead, worth knowing when deciding how to split a larger group across activities.
A simple way to plan a first visit: pick one or two ticketed activities and book those first, since they are the part of the day tied to a specific time slot, then treat the food, the free games and the arcade as flexible around whatever time is left. None of it requires deciding everything before you arrive; activities can be booked individually rather than as a single package, so a group can add a second one on-site if the first wraps up early.
The bottom line
Metairie's most complete single answer to "what is there to do" is Pickle N Pins: six indoor activities, free backyard games, an arcade, a full bar and kitchen, and screens to watch a game, all in one building on Veterans Memorial Boulevard. It is built for a group that wants to do more than one thing in an evening, rather than committing to a single activity for the whole visit.
It is not the only option in the area. Dedicated pickleball and padel facilities, several bowling alleys, and a couple of arcades operate within the wider metro, each with a narrower focus. If the day is about one specific activity done well by a specialist, one of those may be the better fit. If it is about a group with different interests spending an evening together without splitting up to do it, this building is built for that, and the hours, pricing and booking details above cover what is needed to actually plan the visit.
