Bar Louie

I walked in on a Monday night to grab some dinner with friends, the place was pretty dead, but that didn't bother me. It was rainy and gross outside, so that may have impacted the crowd.

Happy hour goes from 3-7 and they offer half price small plate appetizers - chips and guacamole, hot wings, brushcetta, etc. We went the trio of chips and dips which included salsa, queso, and guacamole for $3.50. Not bad. I think $1 burgers were a special on Tuesdays too.

I was disappointed to hear there were no drink specials on a Monday. Boo. I think there are buckets of beer specials one night - maybe Wednesday? Beer, wine, cocktail list was extensive. I ended up with a glass of white wine, and one of my friends ordered a sangria.

In my group of 3 - 2 of us ordered the ham, turkey, and brie panini (for $9) and 1 ordered the tacos (I think $12?). One panini was ordered without ham, but it came with ham anyways. And the food took a really, really long time to come out. I mean, there were maybe 3 other tables in the whole restaurant. What gives?

The decor was nice and modern. I would guess that the restaurant got recently re-done. Very inviting, and I loved the huge booths. The temperature was pretty arctic though. Maybe we were sitting under a vent, but we were all pretty cold.

Out waitress was nice, and checked on us often. She was able to respond to our every request. She didn't try to rush us, it would have been surprising since the place wasn't busy, but we were there for quite a while - more than 2.5 hours.

We'll likely be back, maybe on $1 Burger Night.

You'd think a place called BAR LOUIE would live up to its name on alcoholic beverages but unfortunately on Tuesday nights they have incompetent female bartenders. I ordered a $9 dos suiza margarita with light ice and it tasted VERY watered down and wasn't strong at all. I'm not one to complain or send something back, but I told the waitress who gave us our food if the bartender can make another one because it just doesn't taste good at all. Our waiter than came back with the same drink that was first served to me saying that the inadequate bartender said it tastes like that because I ordered "light ice." Not once have I ever had this problem in all the times I ordered light ice for my margaritas or mixed drinks. And the last time I came I ordered the same thing and it tasted great. The waitress came back and asked if my drink was okay and I told her that the bartender sent it back because I had ordered light ice and even she told me that it shouldn't taste like that, that if anything it should taste stronger and apologized for having that happen to me. The fact that a waitress has better alcoholic knowledge then a bartender is pretty sad. I enjoyed coming here every week for the $1 burgers and $10 corona buckets but I will not be coming back.

I have always been a fan of this place, just wasn't aware I had one so close to my home. I still love the place, shocked it was so slow on St. Patrick's Day because of the nature of Chicagoans.

The bartender was new and a little nervous but she was friendly. Hard to avoid her little cleavage as I didn't expect her to be hanging out of her shirt.

We did not eat here the day of my visit but the Woodchuck Cider on draft will keep me coming in!