Super snowy day makes for empty restaurants, which should make for quick and easy service.
Not at Bar Louie!
Co-worker and I decided to brave the elements today, well after the lunch rush, and stopped at BL. We sat down and waited....and waited and waited and waited. There were three waitresses on staff and not one of them gave us more than a cursory glance.
After about 7 minutes (more than my normal five of expected greeting and less than ten on being fully waited on), we put on our coats and headed to Harry Carey's (where we were promptly greeted and waited on.
It's sad when our corporate discount can't even get us to give them our money!
I will start this review by saying that we usually love Bar Louie, specifically the one in Newport, Kentucky. So when my fiance and I needed a quick drink and appetizer on a Saturday afternoon to fuel some shopping, we thought we'd try this this new location in River North, which is just a few blocks from our apartment.
What a terrible idea.
This was our 2nd time in this location, and I'm sorry to say that both times the service was extremely poor. The first time, our waitress disappeared and after 30 min we ended up leaving cash on the table for our drinks.
The most recent visit we found that not only was the service poor, but the food quality stunk, leaving me to call into question the food safety practices.
Quick rundown of our issues:
- There was not a server to be seen at 2 pm Saturday afternoon. The rather apathetic bartender had to leave the bar and serve us at high-top tables. Â It was pretty empty so this wasn't an issue, but you'd think he could have used his free time to clean the glasses (see below).
- Â I ordered a draft beer with a lime, and it was served in a dirty glass with a lime wedge that had to have been cut the day before or earlier. IT was dry and had no juice. Eww.
- We ordered chicken nachos, which is our go-to item at other Bar Louie's, and usually delivers pretty good taste. This version had brown and wilting cilantro, day-old cooked chicken that had hardened into plastic, and jalapeno slices with dried and curled up edges. I seriously doubt any part of this meal was prepped or cooked the day we were there.
Overall, it was clear that none of the food we were served was fresh, and the cleanliness and lack of fresh food made me overall disgusted. Â The service was bad, and I'd say John Taffer could teach them a few things.
We won't be back to this Bar Louie, and when our friends come to town and stay in the area, we'll make sure they avoid it too.
I love this place. This is situated right across the street from my office and have gone there on mulitiple occasions with co-workers after work for happy hour. The appetizers are great offering a wide range of choices and drinks are super good too. I get a discount with my office building and the staff there are always very accomodating on my bill when I tell them. Other raters should could them some slack, being NYE, get over it. They are probably not the only ones that ran out of juice that night!
Review Source:Stopped in here for a drink or two following a nice dinner. Â It was early and we werent quite ready to call it a night. Â The bartender was nice but she needs a little bit of help making a dirty martini. Â I like them to be a bit on the dirty side but this was over the top. Â Normally I would have returned the drink but I did ask her to make it on the dirty side. Â it was probably half olive juice.
Review Source:We had an event last night at Bar Louie in river north. This was a group event with 50+. Disappointed could not describe how awful it was. First of all, the food that was provided was below average. The quesadillas were soggy and the pita bread was rock hard. That's fine, I could live with the crappy food, they make better food than I do at home. Second, we were promised a DJ and for him to actually play some loud music. We were not looking for a club scene but at least have the music louder than a whisper. The music was played by a DJ across the bar and the speakers could not be heard from that distance. The only reason for giving a second star was because the drinks were reasonably priced for the area and one nice bartender who was very tiny. Kudos to her.
Review Source:My feelings for Bar Louie in the Flower Towers (Marina City if you want to get all technical), are working their way up, up, up like the little guy in Lederhosen working it up the mountain.
Situated across the street from my office, Bar Louie has become a staple in my beer/happy hour/burger diet. After they opened service was totes slow and getting a check was harder than applying for a black AMEX, but I have come to like, nay love this about Bar Louie. The service has improved in spades in the months since opening day, but the vibe of BL is still very much the same. The staff want you to relax a minute, enjoy yourself, and stop rushing. Once that little lightbulb clicked in my head, I now thoroughly enjoy my lazy cocktail hours with friends, or my entire hour-long lunch. Which I'm entitled to but neverevernever take.
Our company has hosted holiday parties in one of their more private areas, and even with one waitress working our group of 50, tabs were kept separate and drinks were refilled faster than I would have imagined. Not only are the employees on top of their game, but I once left my iPhone on the table (forehead smack) and remembered it once I was outside. I went back and the waitress and bartender had already locked it up in the cash register. Quick and thoughtful!
+ $1 burgers on Tuesday nights- FYI they do nickel and dime you on the toppings, but hey. It's a good burger for $2.50. Still cheap-o!
+ Monthly beer specials
+ Tons of space and several areas that can be blocked off
I'm only basing this review on the NYE party. So this may be an unfair rating, but I felt I needed to provide my 2 cents about the lack of service and quality of event.
What an awful event! One of the coldest nights out and they made everyone freeze outside till after 9 PM when the event was supposed to start at 9. We had a VIP table, yet it still took me 40 minutes to get my first drink of the night, which my friend had to go get from the bar for me because the server kept forgetting about me and a few others at the table. By 10:30 PM they ran out of juice! Yep, ran out of juice on one of the busiest drinking nights of the year! They specifically sold this event stating NO LONG WAIT for drinks...liars! Glad I bought my ticket early enough so I didn't spend as much as some people did, but I can tell you I would NEVER go to their NYE party again. Luckily I had great company or I would've left well before midnight.
Went to this Bar Louie as part of a bar crawl. It has a pretty open space in the back, conducive for fellowshipping, pretty spacious bar, and clean. So they had the basics covered.
This review is based on me separating myself from the crawl and just trying to order food and a few drinks. The food was decent -- my nachos were the best out of what my friends ordered. The service was unfortunate. It wasn't until the end of the meal, after asking for napkins and silverware 10+ times that the waitress told us it was her first day. Poor thing. I fault the restaurant for not setting her up for success!
Wow, I seriously cannot believe the harshness of some of these reviews! Â Bar Louie is great and a welcome addition to the hood. Â Never have had a bad experience here and we've eaten just about everything, been served by every waitress and bartender and sampled most of the drinks :) Â I highly recommend the Lemon Drop and the Dirty Martini, but nothing beats the giant bloody mary! Â Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Â The bruschetta is a beautiful and delicious appetizer.
Nothing beats $1 burger night which is also $1 chicken burger or $1 portabello mushroom burger. Â Â They have appetizer specials too.
Not sure what everyone else is talking about . . . . I love it.
I happen to live in the neighborhood and since Bar Louie has opened, it has become our go to place for dinner and drinks. When I say "go to" what I mean is that sometimes you don't want to break the bank on dinner. Sometimes what you're really looking for is great consistant food with excellent customer service. As a rule I try to avoid anything resembling a chain restaurant, but this place is the exception. The staff is friendly and genuine, the bar manager Josh is attentive and accommodating. If you're not looking in the market for a Michelin Star dining experience, you're probably in the market for dinner at Bar Louie on Dearborn. We stop in there about once a week for a bite to eat, and we've yet to be disappointed.
Review Source:Stopped here one Friday night before a concert at the House of Blues after seeing there was an hour wait at Harry Caray's. Â The outside patio was half full so we just headed on in. Â They were fresh out of the seasonal draft special but had at least one decent draft to choose from (Stone IPA I believe).
We opted for some Quesedillas to start and the guacamole was pretty good. Â The Voodoo Chicken, although not a spicy as the name would suggest, was excellent. Â Their Voodoo sauce was more milk curry which went well with the blackened chicken and Andouille sausage.
$1 burgers on Tuesdays with the purchase of a drink!
I came here last week and it was pretty busy. So busy that we couldn't find a clean table for two, so we just grabbed the recently vacant and dirty table from another couple. I didn't care because it was within view of the Bulls game.
One drawback is that they do not have garlic fries. You have to go to the Evanston location for that.
I went in with a friend on Friday night, the door staff was very nice as was our bar tender. Â From talking to the both of them they seemed genuinely encouraged with the location and services they are offering and those they are building on. Â They treated us well and seemed proud of where they worked.
Review Source:We went to Bar Louie for dinner during a bachelorette party weekend. We made reservations so they knew when we would be arriving, and so glad we did! The staff decorated the tables and provided jungle juice shots for us throughout the nice. The service was great. The waitress was not nasty like at other restaurants when we asked for our checks to be separated. It was a great start to a fun evening!
Review Source:Pretty good food. HUGE portions. Terrible service. Our waitress took our order n dropped our drinks and then was never seen again. Someone else dropped the food, which is fine...however she never came back to check on us nor to drop our check. We asked a man for our check and 15 minutes later after he said he told them we added up our total ourselves and left cash on the table. As we were leaving she finally appeared and said goodnite. We were then chased out by the manager...I guess he was...asking us if we paid. What kind of person cant just look on the table see the cash? Not hard. We felt very insulted being chased out after just dining there for the first time. Maybe train your servers on how to properly serve and your managers how to properly handle a situation. Terrible service but decent food. Would go back as a last resort only....
Review Source:A friend and I stopped in after leaving a show last night at the House of Blues. It's a great option for late eats, with the kitchen staying open and serving the full menu until 1:30. We split some appetizers, which arrived quickly and were pretty good. Our waitress was very sweet and attentive, but that's pretty much where the staff stopped being awesome. First of all, there was a DJ blaring pretty awful music so when we arrived, we were looking for the quietest table possible... which were the patio tables, given that the sound system indoors was more like midnight on a Friday than 10pm on a Sunday. There were several unoccupied tables on the patio... however they were all covered in dirty dishes and glasses. We walked around for a bit, hoping they would be bussed, but after that clearly wasn't happening, we settled on the quietest table we could find, a couple tables away from the bar. The bartenders were clearly trashed, and already annoying, so we didn't bother ordering any alcohol. Then they started having a water gun battle. Once again, it's 10pm on a Sunday, everyone is super chill, and this place was acting foolish. I was completely pushed over the edge when the too-drunk-to-be-working bartenders decided to get out of control with this water battle thing and the tables were being caught in the crossfire. I ended having soggy tortilla chips, a wet concert poster, and feeling like I'm in a water battle when all I wanted was to grab some eats on the way home. Their bartenders working were total douchebags. It's a shame, given how nice the waitress was and that the kitchen was fast and tasty. I definitely will not return if I see this same barstaff and their shenanigans working.
Review Source:So...Im biased...I love Bar Louie in general...mainly because of their tots...beer and tots? How can you go wrong?
My hubby and I came to this loca on a Tuesday night for a night out in the city. Â They have nice outdoor seating and tons of seating indoors. Â When we came in, we were told first come first serve, so sit where we would like. Â We were a bit hungry, but didnt want to spend much...two words...Dollar Burger. Â So I ordered the dollar chicken burger (which came with the bun and lettuce) with pickles and cheese and a side of tots of course! Â I was pleasantly surprised that my burger was actually a delicious chicken breast sandwhich...total coming to $1.75...really? How can you beat that? Â We split the burger and tots..perfect amount of food! Â
The service was good, we were there during the week and it was terribly busy. Â They had a good drink special as well... $4.50 for a 20z Sam Adams Seasonal...not too shabby!!
Overall good experience...enjoyed our visit! Check them out!
I came here on a Wednesday afternoon for lunch with some co-workers. Â Now, my building, which is across the street, has an agreement with them that if we flash our id, we get 15% off or whatever, so you would think that the place is aware that there are corporate office workers there that are on time constraints. Â You would have thought wrong.
We walked in and there was no one inside- no one to say even "you can sit anywhere" or anything. Â So we just grabbed a patio seat so we could watch for our other friend. Â That was at noon. Â Our server didn't come over for a good 10-15 minutes and took our drink order. Â We told her we were waiting for someone. Â When she arrived three minutes later with our diet cokes and ice teas, she asked if we were ready to order. Â Um, we're still waiting- the dead give away there would've been the fact that the number of people at the table had not changed genius. Â Five minutes later, our friend arrived. Â She came back right away and took our order. Â Three of us ordered salads and the other two had chicken sandwiches. Â 40 minutes later, we had to flag her down to ask where our food was. Â My one friend, who sat closest to her, asked what was the hold up since we all had to get back to work. Â She didn't yell, wasn't disrespectful, wasn't bitchy, although she did use the mom voice....our server's response was "Yelling at me won't get your food out any faster. Â There's nothing I can do." Â 15 minutes later, our food arrived. Â The friend who asked where the food was asked for a to go box since she had already been gone for over an hour and had to get back to work. Â By the time it arrived, she was done with her salad. Â Two had to get back to work, leaving three of us. Â It took another twenty minutes for us to get our tab, get change, and get out. Â We didn't even bother asking for the discount, because we knew it would take forever to get a new bill. Â
Long story short, even though it is located across the street from my office, I didn't get back to my desk until 1:45, even though I sat down at noon. Â When I got back, I told some people what happened and they go, "Yeah, same thing happened to us...that's why we won't go back." Â Guess what? Â I'm not going back either. Â Horrible service and mediocre food will not last in River North.
Okay, so the food was alright, not special. The service leaves a lot to be desired at lunch time. Corporate lunchers in the neighborhood need to be in and out in about 50 minutes. It took that long to get our food. The server wasn't attentive. The runner that delivered the food was asked for ketchup, but we ended up finding our own on another table. Water glass was totally empty before refill. This may be a fun place for after work, but to make it in this neighborhood, they have to get the lunch time crunch figured out.
Review Source:I came here one night because it was close to my condo, it was a beautiful night, Â and their patio looked really nice but sadly ended up disappointed. This review is simply about their service since it was bad enough I didn't stay for food or drinks. We walked in and the door guy check our ID's then told us we could sit anywhere but let us know their patio was closing in 45 minutes. We wanted to grab a couple drinks outside and then would have been more then happy to move inside but when we went to grab one of the many open tables, we were stopped by a waitress the was very rude. She started out by saying that we couldn't sit there and when we said we just wanted to grab a drink she just said "no you can't sit here." Now if she had just let us know we could sit at one of the tables that was right by the window and been nice we would have stayed and had drinks and food but instead she just walked away. It was very disappointing because their patio looked really nice. Its worked out fine in the end because we ended up going down the street to Bridge House whose patio is open an hour later, the view is better...oh and they are much more friendly.
Review Source:Bar Louie is located uncannily close to my house, which makes it hard to resist $1 burger night on Tuesday. Also, I signed up for their annoying texting campaign, which gets me free small plates from time to time...another plus. Â Otherwise, I'm not sure I'd be chilling here too often. Â Drinks are too expensive and food is obviously of a chain-restaurant quality. Not bad, but also not the best.
Go on a Tuesday and don't expect too much, mmmmmkay?
Not too shabby. I've been 4 or 5 times now and it hasn't disappointed. Hasn't wowed my pants of either but it's definitely a good spot when you want a solid lunch or a $1 hamburger.
Yup...I said it. $1 hamburger. It's on Tuesdays after 5p and it only comes with a bun and lettuce but for $1, it's pretty good. All toppings are extra. A basket of fries is more than enough for two people to split.
The steak sandwich is pretty good and so is the chicken sandwich.
The staff is friendly, and usually pretty slow around lunchtime. So I guess that's a push.
Overall, it's a bar....a bar with a $1 hamburger.
Despite all the other bad reviews and they do have merit, I had a nice experience and will be back on Tuesdays for the $1.00 build your own burger. Â The vegetable and bacon toppings are $.50 each, and the sauces are $.25 each. Â Kind of like adding toppings to your pizza, it can add up quickly. Â You do get shredded lettuce with the burger and bun for free. Â I'm not sure I've ever seen shredded lettuce on a burger before. Â I had jalapenos and giardiniera on mine. Â You cannot chose how you want your burger cooked because they are making so many. Â You will bet medium well or well done. Â I wasn't required to order a drink. Â I asked for water, and they gave me tap water.
I did order a cup of chicken gumbo, and it was delicious and only $3.00. Â I may just get the bowl for dinner next time for $6.00. Â They give you oyster crackers with the gumbo. Â I also ordered the Tennessee Whiskey cake and a side of ice cream. Â The cake was $8.00 and the side of ice cream was another additional $2.00. Â Now, here's the weird/funny/WTF part about the cake. Â Since the cake was a 3"x3"X2" square, thick and heavy, I couldn't finish more than half so I asked for a small container to take it home. Â The hostess told me they couldn't let me take the cake home because of the alcohol content, like they can't let you walk out of the bar with a drink. Â
If anyone from the establishment reads this, the music is too loud. Â So loud that it's hard to have a conversation, especially when the bar is barely full. Â Bar Louis is not exactly the kind of bar that attracts young, loud, rowdy and raucous clientele. Â Everyone there on a Tuesday night was not younger than 35 years old. Â I'm personally glad that Bar Louie moved into Marina City because it's a nice off set to the younger and more annoying Dick's Last Resort, and it's nice to see the storefront occupied.
Came here with a group of friends on Friday after work. We were able to snag patio seating to enjoy this glorious weather we've been having lately, so that alone made us happy and easy to please. Even when our server messed up our food order, we didn't say anything because it wasn't worth it - see also: easy to please.
Things with our server started off great, but at some point took a nose dive. In fact, all the staff we encountered seemed to suddenly hate their lives. Example: I asked a random server where the restroom was and she acted all put out that she had to POINT. Seriously?
Then we asked our server for another round. All my friends got theirs 20 minutes later, and the server realized she forgot mine. Another 20 minutes passes. Our server has disappeared. We try to grab another server but she stomps past us and ignores us. We manage to stop another server and she is a straight up BITCH when I tell her what happened. A few minutes later our server reappears and hands me a drink that is definitely not what I had been drinking. So I sent it back, and she's a bitch about it.
I'm a pretty reasonable person when it comes to servers - if I can tell you're in the weeds, I will cut you a break. But when you are just blatantly giving bad service and ignoring other tables that are seated in your section, then there's a problem.
Based on service alone, I would never come back here. Add in the food, and... no. Sure, the patio may be perfect for people watching, but the crappy food and shitty service? I'd rather give my business to a bar that doesn't suck at either of these things, and in a large city like Chicago there is no shortage of these places.
Even in River North, you can do better than Bar Louie. Skip it.
I was so excited that a semi pub and grill opened within walking distance of my apartment.  I had the fish fry for $13 which consisted of 3 piece cod and hand-cut fries.  Nothing to complain about though they could have thrown in some coleslaw.  Now for the complaining part.  The music in the place was too LOUD.  Luckily, I went with one person and not more.  But the only way to communicate with the person sitting inches away from me was  literally to shout. I must have said "What did  you say?", a hundred times.  And the server didn't bring the appetizer that we ordered between 4-7pm 1/2 price  happy hour.  Perhaps she didn't hear us order it.  Did I mention that the place was loud?  The menu also didn't have a listing of the local brews.  I would have asked the server but I wouldn't have heard her any way.  The place is called BAR Louie and you think they would list their beer selection.  I would have given it more stars but the place was too LOUD.  I won't go back.
Review Source:I went here on a tuesday to try out their $1 burgers. I got the portabella mushroom burger im glad they have a vegetarian option most places do not. I really liked the burger thought it was yummy and would go back to get it again. You have to buy a soft drink with the burger. They charge 50 cents for every extra ingredient. I personally think it should be 25 cents especially if your a college student on a budget. The portabella burger comes with lettuce and red peppers. I added one extra ingredient provolone cheese. All other burgers come with just lettuce. I think they should give the people an option instead of putting the peppers you should be able to choose one ingredient because its cheaper to make than the meat ones. The place was crowded and the server was always there did not have to look for him. The manager even stopped by our table. This is a new location.
Review Source:Real cheese is real hard to find here. Â In fact, I'm not so sure they realize cheese isn't a liquid.
It's one of those places where you can't help but notice that the food has been processed several times before it hit your plate.
The adobo shrimp skewers are a prime example. Â These poor little shrimp have clearly been molested in all sorts of ways. They shine like only previously-frozen shrimp can shine. Their tails are missing. They're kinda tiny. Â They're covered in a blazingly hot adobo sauce. Â I took the poor shrimpies off the sticks and mixed them with the bed of greens they were served on. Â It made for a nice little salad.
Big downer: Bar Louie uses cheese *sauce* on everything. Nachos? Cheese sauce. Pretzels? Cheese sauce. Â
LOUD atmosphere, as you'd expect in a restaurant that has TWO bars.
Is it worth a trip? No.
Brand new and out of the box you can say. Bar Louie is taking on River North calling Dearborn and Kinzie home! We started off with a Spinach & Artichoke dip with half house made tortilla chips and half pita bread. Great combo but you have to ask to have it served that way. But first I had to cleanse the palette with some Metropolitan Krankshaft in a chilled glass. So happy they have a decent arsenal of craft beers to choose from. I immediately followed up with a Two Brothers Cane & Ebel.
Okay so on to dinner. I ordered the house signature dish the "Luigi", sort of like a Philly Cheesesteak using a shaved Rib Eye steak as their meat source. I chose not to add the lettuce rather load their homemade giardiniera instead...great choice! Served on a toasted hoagie roll with a splash of olive oil that soaked perfectly into the bread.
For dessert we moved onto 3 rounds of Baby Guinness shots. My gal pal convinced me to try this interesting concoction. I love Patron XO so it reminded me of an adult version of yoo hoo chocolate milk.
I understand this was the very 1st day in business, there are minor quarks to be fixed and rhythm to be learned. However I felt the staff did there job well giving the circumstances. Hands down I will be back for another visit :)
By the way the parking lot called "Greenway Self Park" on Kinzie at the Dearborn light is the place to park. I bought my parking pass online and only paid $8.50 with a time slot check in of 4pm-7AM...that's 15 hours of parking all for $8.50. Mad kudos for their "Nightlife Promotion".
The 5 best restaurants in the 2015 Denver Restaurant Week
3,611 Views | Category: Denver
The complete list of 2015 Denver Restaurant Week businesses
1,972 Views | Category: Denver
The tourists' guide to Portillos: 5 must have dishes
3,318 Views | Category: Chicago
Pho = Pronounced "fuh" not "foe" for pho-king sake
2,915 Views | Category: Denver
Indulgery selected to exhibit at Collision Conference
2,987 Views | Category: Press Releases
Not Logged In
BUSINESSES
Local Businesses
Near Me
My Favorites
SOCIAL
Blog & News
MY ACCOUNT
Login
Register
Contact Us
Add Your Business
