This restaurant has been here forever and I think it's completely lost its will to live/survive. Â
The salty old waitresses take no pride in their job whatsoever and come around to check on you MAYBE once every 45 minutes. Â It's like they don't want to make money. Â
They don't have beer on tap. Â They were nice enough to give my mom a little extra of her cocktail on the side, since the martini glasses are miniature.
We ordered fried calamari, and it was about 75 percent bay shrimp. Â It was also smothered in aioli and nobody asked if I wanted lemon. Â It was really heavy, we didn't finish it.
The only reason I'm giving this place two stars instead of one is because the karaoke was really fun and entertaining. Â Who knew a dive like this could have so many passionate singers? Â They're not Broadway caliber but they are vivacious. Â The song selection is good and the guy who runs it is great.
We were on our way up for a day in the snow when we stopped in Auburn for the night. Â
This place right off the freeway caught our eye. Â Before deciding where to eat I checked the reviews on Yelp and thought we can try it out. Â
When walking in it felt like a good choice as there were locals at the bar and older folks eating. Â The service was ok, nothing to complain about but the food was nothing special. Â My husband ordered the prime rib and I ordered some pasta. Â Both were mediocre and there was nothing special about it. Â The service was good but I will not be returning.
Note: This review is for the fabulous Karaoke on Fridays and Saturdays. Â
Roy is the Karoake Host and so friendly. Â He also has an amazing voice!
He lended his harmonies to several singers, adding immensely to the pleasure of the performances. Â
The mood is friendly and welcoming. Â The bartenders pour generously and the pricing is very reasonable. Â
Great place to stop en route to or from Tahoe. Â
We were too late to try the food, but really, it was the karaoke that drew us in. Â We were up in Auburn for a Christmas caroling weekend, and tried it Friday, then promised ourselves we'd return the following night because it was so much fun. Â
Roy's book of songs was nicely organized. Â It's not extensive, but it's quite thorough with a lot of favorites. Â
Be sure to tip Roy and Debbie, the very sweet bartender (who also happens to have a beautiful voice!). Â
There is a big warm fireplace, perfect for driving the chill away on those cold mountain nights.
All I can say is that this place is about as average as they get. Average food with average service and average prices. They must be doing something right as they are holding their 66th anniversary and they are still in business. Â Only reason we came in is because my wife needed to recharge her frequent flyer airline miles before they expired and they were one of 2 restaurants in the area that were on the dining program. I wouldn't go out of my way to come here, but it's not bad. Could use some updating as it's starting to show that some parts of the place are actually 66 years old.
Review Source:Way more variability than I would have expected. Â I would have expected all these 3s and 4s. Â After seeing it along I-80 between Sacramento and the long climb culminating at the Donner Summit, I decided to check it out. Â Was it going to be a steak house? Â Was it going to be French, based on the last name? Â Was it going to be tacky? Â I got my answers.
It is a basic steak house with an attached bar, which seems to have somewhat of its own personality, that has been an Auburn staple for years and years. Â In fact, if you read their history, the founder is a Hollywood ex-pat who wanted to move his family to greener pastures. Â Actually, during the summer, the area can be quite brown.
I have eaten here several times. Â I have had London Broil and I have had prime rib. Â It's all good, as are the accompanying side dishes and sauces/dips. Â I like meat that's well done, so that has to be stressed to them. Â The quantities are sufficient. Â The service is reliable. Â It seems like the ladies who work here have worked here for a long time. Â The restaurant itself is slightly frayed, but not to the point of being offensive. The foothills above Sacramento are a world unto itself.
I recommend lunch more so than dinner. Â There are some sandwiches on the lunch menu, but there are also entree type items. Â It is also more reasonably priced during the lunch hour. Â However, it's also a decent enough place to have dinner every now and then ... or they wouldn't have been there for decades.
NEWS FLASH*******  Karaoke is alive and doing well in Auburn.  I was visiting a friend in the area and they mentioned karaoke in Auburn.  Why not I said.  The DJ was an older guy who was really into his music and his job. I thought his sound system was  good considering the fact that I sounded pretty good. Trust me... I don't usually sound that good. The crowd was mixed. The bar was hooping.  Drinks were reasonable. A few folks even got up to dance. I'd go back there next time I am in the area.
Review Source:We have traveled past here for years and this Friday night I decided to stop. Â It just wasn't worth it and was a bit disappointing. I was expecting an atmosphere of somewhere that is a long-time neighborhood spot that you shouldn't miss. Â Well, I was wrong. Â Stood at the entrance to the "dining" room for 15 mins....and wasn't acknowledged, by the wine-drinking hostess, until it appeared to her that we might seat ourselves. Â There were some locals at the bar that obviously knew one another. Â The menu was decent, but the flat iron steak.....sounded great on the menu but ended up being worse than something you'd expect from iHop.
The only nice things I really have to say it that the prices weren't bad and the place appeared to be really clean; although my husband said it was the world's smallest rest room.
One big surprise was that we were not the only gay couple there; we were one of three actually.
DISGUSTING!! Â Ill never eat here again nor recommend this place to anyone that I like.
We were in town for an event and stayed at the Best Western next door. While checking out the next morning we decided to have breakfast here at Lou La Bontes. Looks old fashioned from the outside but usually these places serve the best food.
I ordered the house special breakfast with 2 pancakes, bacon, and fruit on the side instead of eggs, Â and orange juice (which was $3.25 or so per glass by the way, Â and the best thing I had that morning, and it wasn't even fresh squeezed OJ, it came out of a bottle / jug, whatever).
The atmosphere was very quiet, one other couple eating near us. No one else came in to eat while we were there which i thought was strange for a Sunday morning but whatever.
When the food FINALLY came out (about 35-40 minutes later, wow!! for us being the only 2 people in there besides one other couple), it looked amazing, the pancakes were huge!..........But, bacon was burned to a crisp, so I started on the pancakes. The pancakes were very tasty at first, then I got to the middle of the pancake which was still RAW BATTER!!! ABSOLUTELY DISGUSTING!!!! WHO LIKES RAW PANCAKES?????
My husbands food was just ok too, they overcooked the eggs that were supposed to be over easy, they were hard in the middle. Toast was hard as a rock too!
Then the bill came, $40.00 for 2 disgusting breakfasts. Of course we paid, Â and on the receipt there was a space to rate the food and service. We left a comment on the receipt that the food needed help. Of course the waiter, nor the cashier apologized for the gross food and took our money without hesitation. ( I did tell the server that we were not happy with the food and got no response. He just took my full plate of food back to the kitchen and didn't see him again).
Lou La Bonte's, you need some serious help!!! Â Get a new cook or something or you will be going out of business soon at the rate your going. Or maybe your bar / karaoke business may keep you afloat, who knows. I know I will NEVER EVER eat there again. Sorry.
Lisa K.
I would think between the economy and the lousy service at this restaurant that it will be gone soon. Â Good riddance. Â My family has been to this place twice. Â The first time, years ago, was an okay experience in every respect. Â Thus on our second visit it was quite surprising to go through the absolute worst dining experience in my entire 60 years of life. Â Apparently there was some banquet going on in another room of the restaurant, so we were shuffled of to a remote corner in an empty room and then left to die. Â Horrible, horrible service; totally ignored from the minute we were seated. Â It took forever to get an order placed. Â It took forever to get our appetizers. Â Forever to get our salads. Â Guess what? It took forever to get our entrees. Â By now you know how long it took to get our check --forever. Â Twice I had to get up and go find an employee. Â Get a refill on your Pepsi? Â Ha! Â The entire dining experience lasted almost three hours. Â Think about that. Â Three hours for three courses. There were no cocktails, no desserts. Â Just long, long torturous waits between courses. Â Lastly, here was no apology from the wait staff. Â In a normal situation like this Big Lou himself should have made an appearance, expressed embarrassment, and comped some of the meal. Â Well, if I'm gonna use up my wishes, I might as well wish for a million dollars. Â If I could give this place zero stars, I would.
Review Source:I've lived in the area a very long time. Â This restaurant is an old standby. Â We have eaten here about three times in the last year, and I would say that we were very happy with our meals. Â We've ordered fish and steaks primarily. Â They have a Chipolte burger that was to die for. Â
This is an old fashioned place, so the menu options are more meat and potato. Â
I have great memories of the whole area snowed in with no electricity and everyone piled into this restaurant drinking hot buttered rum! Â
I wouldn't expect a high-end vegetarian entree here. Â If you are looking for a stiff drink and an excellent burger or steak, then this place is for you.
We both had the linguini and clams @ 16.95 with a side order of french onion soup @ 5.95. The linguini and clams were very tasty, with a lot of small clams.  The french onion soup was also good. The linguini was a good value, the soup a little expensive for the amount served. Parking was adequate, but the service could stand improvement.  Some people might find  the bar a distraction, but it was not noisy, just conversations about the football game on TV.
Review Source:No, no, no. Â I've lived in the area since 1999. Â I always wanted to try the Prime Rib Special. Â One night, filled with anticipation, I finally walked into the place. Â I was a little taken aback at the general look, but once we finally figured out, with help from the folks at the bar, where we were supposed to go to get seated in the dining room, we headed that way. Â The waitress who seated us really didn't want to be there. Â The service was sufficient, but in no way friendly. Â Now the food: Â The salads had to have been pre-made and set aside. Â They were just "aged" not crisp and bright. Â My daughter's fettucini alfredo looked pretty good, my husband's hamburger was adequate but far too over-priced for what you got. Â Now, the prime rib. Â I was SOOooooo disappointed. Â I think Sizzler can do better. Â It was just sad. Â Well, scratch them off the list. Â There are WAY too many good restaurants to bother with this one again.
Review Source:I called ahead to ask if there was a place for my RV. They said plenty of room behind the restaurant. The parking lot will hold one or two RV's max. If the restaurant gets busy you will get blocked in. We were of to a bad start.
The garlic mushroom burger is a great idea spoiled by an awfull tomato . There is no reason to serve a plastic tomato in Central California in August.
I would rate this place a 3.5 stars...
For those who have given low ratings, I feel like they must have expected something other than what the outward appearance of the restaurant tells you--it is an old fashioned place with old school food and atmosphere.
That being said, Chris and I had a perfectly enjoyable experience there for our first visit last weekend. Â Our initial intention was to stop into Ikedas for breakfast pie (I don't know why, but it just sounded right that morning), but unfortunately the restaurant part of the place wasn't open yet. Â So off to Lou's we headed!
We saw patio seating and asked if it would be ok to sit there (it didn't look like it is regularly used, but we had moll-dog and thought we'd ask!) Â The young guy (busser, I think) said it was no problem and took us right out. Â He took our order of two bloody Marys. Â Chris asked him if they were any good...he hesitated and said yes...after he walked away, Chris realized that it was a probably a silly question to ask someone who doesn't look a day over 18!
Bloody Marys were classic and just spicy enough--no complaints there! Â My Italian sausage and spinach scramble was yummy, and Chris' pancakes were delish! Â Giant, fluffy, and with a slight vanilla taste...I stole more than a couple bites! Â
They offered Molly some water, and she enjoyed entertaining the little kids inside the restaurant that were watching her through the window :-)
I'll bump it up a star once we have had an indoor dining experience, assuming it is good!
I can only echo other reviews here and confirm what they wrote. This place is waiting to die. The service is poor to non-existent, the food average, and the prices too high for what you get. It must be the bar that keeps the place going, it's not the food or the staff that would make anyone come back.
We've tried this place several times over a period of years and nothing has changed. The last time was the last time.
You can do much better in Auburn than stopping here.
I really wanted to like this place. We were stuck in Auburn unexpectedly due to a road closure to Tahoe. As we passed Auburn I saw the old-school sign in front of the restaurant and said, "I want to eat at that place someday." A few hours later--after being turned back 15 miles up the road--I had my chance.
The old-school Italian charm is the one thing this place has going for it. It's what Bucca de Beppo dreams of being. There are lots of photos on the wall of the original Lou and his family. But the food . . . it's not awful, but it ain't great; Bucca's food is better. And for what you get, I thought the prices are a bit steep.
My wife's salad looked like it should be covered in plastic wrap and sitting next to 20 identical salads in the cafeteria display window. There was nothing fresh or homemade about my three-cheese tortellini; packaged pasta and canned sauce. And no offer of parmesan from the waitress; I doused it in pepper to give it a little zip.
The burger and fries were fine, according to the kids. And the steak was OK too. The service was passable; business-like but not too friendly.
Overall the place leans heavily on the charm of its heritage, rather than the food.
What a gyp! Â Walked into Lou La Bonte's after having passed it on the way to Tahoe for years today at 12:23. Â Walked in the door, passed the people smoking at the bar (who at least nodded to us, in acknowledgement of our existence), into the dining room where there was only one full table, and ten feet into the back entrance to the kitchen before an employee acknowledged the fact that we (my wife, myself and my 2-year-old) were even in the place. Â When I asked the guy (who ironically seemed to be running down the hall away from me) where the bathroom was, he shouted "through the bar" at me and pointed me back in the direction I had just come from.
 Dragging my toddler back out of the kitchen, through the mostly empty dining room again, and back through the bar to the restroom, the boy managed to get away from me as I was using it, pushing the door open and running into the bar full of smoking patrons screaming "mommy, mommy, mommy, mommy!" My wife and I managed to take care of our bathroom needs, and walked back through the bar, and poked our heads back into the dining room, and still received not so much as the finger from one of the employees.
 At what point is this ridiculous?  Everybody in the bar knew we were in there, yet not even the bartender nodded to us or bothered to remind us that 2-year-olds aren't allowed to drink (or smoke for that matter) in Lou La Bonte's bar. Â
 Whatever.  I'm not going to force you to take my money, Lou.  Your dining room looks like it was pieced together from a rest-home rummage sale, and you can scrape the nicotine off the wall in the bar with your fingernail.  My hope is that if Lou La Bonte were still alive, he'd come in and kick somebody's ass, because it was the poorest example of how to run a restaurant I've ever experienced. Â
We will not be back.
P.S. Lou: If I could give you zero stars, I would. Â
P.S.S. You owe me for the picture of your sign I took on the way in, when I was optimistic of my experience. Â I hope your "proudly serving you since 1946" concludes in 2011.
This traditional stop on the way to the mountains is something we'd wanted to try for years (Forest Hill exit off I-80). We've never been able to find another Auburn eatery that consistently pleased us.
One Sunday, we came through about 2 p.m. This, one of several visits in the past 2 years, turned out just great. The servers weren't busy, had time to chat, made willing substitutions to menu items, and refilled iced tea plenty of times.
Husband liked the reuben sandwich, and I liked the salad entrees. We also think the apple/cole slaw is quite good.
Although the patio is nice, you do get traffic noises from the street and interstate, so our favorite place is at the indoor corner table by the patio. When the downstairs is closed, it's o.k. to eat in the bar, but seems like a different restaurant.
This is a retro-feeling place; there aren't too many left, except maybe in L.A. & N.Y.C.
Had lunch here with my parents and was generally pleased with my food.
I ordered the grilled chicken breast sandwich which was delicious and exactly what I expected. Â It was a good sized piece of grilled chicken on a ciabatta roll with basil aioli, lettuce, tomato, & roasted red peppers. Â The fries weren't as crispy as I would have preferred but they were still alright.
My dad ordered the Reuben with potato salad and my mom ordered a well done bacon cheeseburger with coleslaw. Â As for the Reuben, dad was also generally pleased with the low amount of thousand island but would have liked more sauerkraut. Â Mom's burger was ok, though they did forget to put the bacon on the burger & brought out a side of bacon after the fact.
She also comments that she has had better $10 burgers.... including burgers she's ordered from applebee's. Â Also, she wasn't exactly pleased with her coleslaw as the apples and cabbage were grossly overpowered by basil. Â I didn't try it but both of them sampled it and neither were impressed. Â In fact, they agreed that it should be renamed "basil slaw".
Overall, it's a decent place to eat. Â The only aspects of eating here that could be considered outstanding is the charming backdrop it offers for your eating experience. Â We dined outside underneath a lovely pine tree. Â Ambiance they have in spades but the service is average and the food seems a little hit or miss.
Great choice for people staying at the Golden Key Best Western located next door.
We ski at Boreal several times a season and Lou La Bonte's is a great place to stop in for a meal. The food is good, the staff is nice and helpful. We usually travel with a large group and they have always been accomodating and friendly. The place feels like you've been transported back to the 1960's. Once again good food and good spirited folks!
Review Source:My honey and I went out to dinner last Friday night and decided to try Lou La Bontes. We arrived and were seated right away, which for a Friday night is pretty good service. I expected to wait at least 10 minutes. The staff is friendly and took us to our table and we were immediately swarmed with other staff making sure our table was spot on. We ordered  two house salads which were leaf greens instead of ice burg lettuce and croutons which is a welcome change once in a while. The restaurant is quite large inside, there is the bar up front and "Low-Lit" tables in the next room and extremely spacious. I ordered the Twenty oz. Prime rib. It comes with a Light garlic mash potato and a side of vegetables which was squash and Brussels sprouts. Everything was wonderful with the exception of the veggie's, the Brussels were crunchy, so they got left behind. My wife ordered a chicken dish which consisted of the chicken being roasted and garnished with asagio cheese. Very good. Her dish also came with garlic mash and veggie's. The wait staff was attentive and did a very nice job of giving us our privacy at the right times. After dinner, we waved off desert as we were pretty well satisfied from our meal. Cost of the evening was around 60.00 which I feel was pretty good when you include the service and everything. Overall I would go there again. Very nice place to take your honey.
Review Source:We stopped here on our way home from a day in the snow. Needless to say we were starving. I wasn't sure what to expect since I'd never heard of Lou La Bonte's, but our entire party  was happily surprised. The food was delicous. Our appetizer of calamari and shrimp was so tasty, fried lemon and fennel slices made the dish stand out from other places. Everyone enjoyed their entrees, which is a first. The hangar chicken, marsala ravioli...all very savory. And you can never go wrong with warm, fresh bread. I do agree with some other posts that the food is heavy on the salt. We'd stop again when in the area.
Review Source:I am sad to say that I was very disappointed in their dinner service the night I was there.  My husband and I chose to go there for my birthday on Dec. 16th with my niece who is staying with us.  When we arrived, the bottom floor seating was filled and someone came and sat us on the second level, gave us our menus and left.  After ten minutes of sitting there watching the poor waitress, who I can only assume was the only one, I realized this may be a long night.  The bar had maybe 4 customers at it and the bartender walked by us maybe 3 times.  We were wanting to at least get a drink order in but the bartender was not assisting the waitress.  The busser did get us some water though.  5 min. longer and the waitress finally rushed by and said she would be right with us.  10 min. later she came by and finally took our orders at which time we also placed our drink order.  10 min. later, still no drinks.  Finally, after 35 min, we got our drinks.  Some start to my birthday celebration.  When the food finally arrived it was OK.  I just wanted to eat and get out of there by that point.  For the price of the meals there, I would expect the service to compliment it.  Anyway, the waitress quickly cleared our table and dropped the check off.  Upon leaving, we passed the bartender standing outside in front of the restaurant smoking a cigarette.  I guess what I would really like to say is that my experience in owning a restaurant/bar, I always expected my bartenders to keep an eye on  the floor and help out when needed.  I am not one to not give a second chance.  Perhaps I should try their breakfast instead.
Review Source:Went there last weekend and it was quite a surprise. Â The hamburger was made of 'fresh' ground beef rather than those premade patties. Â The cheese steak sandwich was not bad and the french onion soup was pretty good.
My only problem was everything seemed on the salty side. Â So next time I will make sure they lay OFF the sodium. Â Plus as I read, it could use a face lift, on the other hand, it appears to have the authentic local historic atmosphere.
Will go again.
Not bad for what it is... We stopped in for a breakfast on the way to tahoe... We were the only people in the restaurant when we showed up.. By the end of the meal, there were four other tables.... We were fine with that..
The service was fine..
The food was decent..
The atmosphere is... older.... but fine...
The prices are a little high for what you get at breakfast.....
Overall... We might go back and try the prime rib special.....
I would give this place 3.5 stars if I could.... If dinner is good, it will get 4 stars...
I've been thinking for a couple minutes, kind of half heartedly, about why someone would choose this restaurant over any others in the area. Â
What I've come up with:
*In 1969 you proposed to your wife here because back then it was THE happening place in Auburn, and now you're being a romantic, yet misguided, fool and revisiting the magic. (Note: the magic is gone - consider other options)
*You spontaneously gather a group of 30 friends that need restaurant space. Â In one hour. You consider that this is one location that can handle that capacity at short notice, and well gee, they'd appreciate the patronage. May not know what to do with a full restaurant, but appreciated.
*You like chewy undercooked beef. And enormous bland meatballs.
I CAN see this being kind of an awesome place to stage a retro bday party, complete with costume if you bring in your home karaoke machine, with permission of course. Â Or without, if you're that type.
We have been stopping here for 30 years, every time we drive through Auburn. WE have never had a bad meal nor a spectacular meal, but always a good one. Service has been good and friendly too. So if you are ever driving through Auburn stop by and enjoy an hour before you jump back on the freeway.
Review Source:I'm giving them extra points since we were a group of 25, and they did a great job of serving us all... keep that in mind.
Our food was very bland and overpriced. I was going to order a veggie pizza as someone suggested on here, but they don't have that on the menu, so I settled for cheese pizza. Then, my aunt (a local), warned me that the pizza was horrible and not to order it. So instead, I ordered the pesto pasta. It had mushrooms and was very tasty, but nowhere near a value of $15.00.
My aunt and I decided to share the pesto pasta and another dish to get a taste for both. We ordered the $25.00 ahi tuna. It was covered in salty sauce, and the veggies were WAY over cooked. I was very sad about this, don't order the AHI! The fish was good, but the sides were useless and I didn't eat them.
Overall, looking around at my red meat loving family, they were very happy with the stakes and burgers. I kinda wished I could eat meat and maybe I would have ordered one of those burgers... hmmmmm...
The bathroom smelt like some old lady had just got done spraying herself with an entire bottle of expired drug store perfume and smoking a pack of cigarettes... ew... but it was clean, so you can't complain that much. I actually enjoyed that it was decorated with a 60's flair...
... and the bar is a hot place to pick up sassy grandpas with big glasses. Sweet! I think I'll come back if I'm single after I join the AARP. I wish I could have seen them sing.
Another must before trucking the next 45 minutes to Tahoe....friends & I have a tradition of a shot before heading off into the mountains.
Lou La Bonte's is an Auburn institution and that may or may not be a good thing. Â This place serves food (although I've never eaten here) and is full of characters drinking and singing Karaoke.
The last time I was there a man was singing Frank Sinatra off key --- and he had to have been about 90. Â The other old timers at the bar were cracking jokes and having a ball.
Let the beautiful people buy turkey burgers and clementines at Ikeda's. Â I want me some Lou La Bonte's on my way up to Tahoe. Â If you ever have wanted to spend some time with the locals in Auburn, this is the place. Â Check out the old timers drinking at the bar. Â The food is better than I expected and the toilets were clean. Â Overall, a good place to grab a bite if you aren't in too much of a hurry.
Review Source:Ahhh... same old story. Â Can't hold a tune? Sing out of key? Too drunk to read the teleprompter? I've got your solution...whistle karaoke. Â No need to mess with sloppy words, or embarrass yourself when you sound like Bobby Brady singing "time to change". Â Just whistle it. Â Blowing tunes into the mic sounds really freaking good loud. Â If you find yourself on I-80 on your way back from a wedding, stop at Lou La Bonte's (Foresthill exit) for Saturday night karaoke. Â It is especially fun when you surprise the small town establishment by bringing the entire wedding with you. Â Don't worry, there is a Best Western next door when La Bonte's serves it's last Budweiser and kicks you off stage. Â They may stop serving food at 10, but thank God there is 24 hour Jack in the Box with a walk through window near by. Â It is even better when the bride orders off the dollar menu in her $8000 gown. Â So maybe Lou La Bonte's isn't worth 5 stars, but the Foresthill exit area sure IS!
In any case if you can manage to whistle karaoke your favorite song without laughing, it's worth the pit stop to prove it to 40 close friends and family.
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