In the spirit of full disclosure let me open this review by stating that I am a native of the Rogue Valley and a regular at Louie's. In mid-June of last year, Herself and I were invited to Trivia Tuesday by our friends Brian and Cathy. Â We had so much fun that by the time the evening was over, we were hooked.
Even though it's a 15 mile drive from our house in Medford, we consider Louie's our "local." Everyone on the staff is friendly and genuinely happy to see us when we walk in the door. Â Lyric, our regular server, knows us so well she almost always anticipates our orders. Â My personal favorite is the Recession Burger: a classic quarter pound cheeseburger with lettuce complete with generous slices of red onion and tomato. Add Louie's Kettle chips and a pint of Double Mountain IPA or Pin-Up Porter and you have the perfect meal. Â If I'm in the mood for something a little different, I'll go with the Organzolia burger with bacon and tangy gorgonzola or the Jack Daniel with bacon and Louie's own BBQ sauce. Â Herself often orders the Chicken Club wrap or the Chicken Caesar wrap. Â While we haven't tried everything on the menu, we have yet to be disappointed. Â And the prices are great, with nothing over $10 you can't go wrong. Â Herself and I are also looking forward to trying Louie's new late night menu. Â
The atmosphere on Tuesday night can be a bit loud and raucous, but everyone is having fun. The trivia competition is light hearted and exciting. It's less about winning and losing and more about having a good time.
From my point of view, Louie's has everything you're looking for in a pub: good beer, good food, Â good friends, and good fun.
It is interesting to read the variety of reviews and rating of this business.
As background, Ashland is a tourist town thanks to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, and Louie's is located in the "hot spot" for visitors. Rent there is high and Ashland imposes a hotel and restaurant tax to let the visitors share in the costs of public services thus prices are on the high side. Each year thousands of students are bused in for the plays and seminars and others are on a tight budget, which brings us back to Louie's. The owners make available some low priced items and lower prices on Tuesdays. During the day time this is a good place for youngsters, though the high chairs and tables inside may not be suitable for little ones so in good weather sit outside along Ashland creek.
The food is good; I like the chili bean bowl (it is mild), the specialty burgers and fries. The soups and salads entrees are above average.
I am not a bar patron but indications are that at night the place is very popular with its big screen TVs for sports and its trivia  and bingo night competitions.
On a long drive through most of the state of Oregon, I had the chance to eat at many fine & good & exciting places. Louie's was definitely one of them. While in Ashland for the afternoon I wandered thru what looked like the downtown/restaurant district & chose Louie's almost at random; it seemed pretty cool from outside & the prices looked right. Sat outside in the "beautiful creekside dining" area - so nice & relaxing on a sunny afternoon. The staff was young and enthusiastic and they all seemed to be working well together. I had the Recession-Proof burger - $4.99 - and it was absolutely just right for the price. Chips on the side were great. Had some local beers, don't recall which ones, and yes, they hit the spot too. Louie's had a great local vibe - something I crave when I'm traveling - even for a tourist like me. If I lived in the area I would definitely hit up Louie's often!
Review Source:They used to have the best burger in town (5 years ago) but this last time it was awful. They were cold, the waitress screwed up the order, didn't offer us more fries or anything, charged us for organic beef on both burgers when I only ordered it on one. Â Even the beer selection wasn't great.
Don't bother to eat here.
Gayle and I returned to Louie's Bar and Grill for Lunch on a warm and sunny Tuesday and just before the showing of Medea/MacBeth/Cinderella. This time we sat out back along the creekside deck. Service was good and almost all of the menu items were less than $10. In honor of it being "Tightwad Tuesday", I went again for the Recession Burger, while Gayle opted for Chicken Skewers (with Thai Peanut Sauce and Sweet Chili). Both were very good and had nothing to do with the "heartburn" that we both felt while watching the afternoon's OSF production.
I write a lot of reviews and am often surprised on how some of them circle back to me. In this case, Louie's had laminated a number of their positive reviews from various sources and mine was one of the ones posted! Â So yet again I've proved to my Lovely Bride that if she sticks around with Eric B., that she'll go places like Louie's.
Today was my second experience at Louie's and I really enjoyed it. Â Laid back atmosphere and good bar food. Â The owner greeted us and seated us at a lovely creek side table. Â They were totally chill about my dog and very kid friendly. Â The service is fine for a bar but if you are looking for the "Ashland Dining Experience" maybe check out the Asian place next door(can't remember the name but it smelled amazing!). Â I like the local no-frills setting and the inexpensive menu. Â The organic grass fed burger was delicious! Â I might go there later for a drink too, Happy Dining!
Review Source:Had a quick dinner sandwich here w/wine before seeing the Shakespeare Festival and entered this place while the locals were having a bingo-like night and it was super loud. Â Was trivial something night. Â Everyone was yelling as if it was a bunch a little kids yelling for food. Â Service was fine but the dining experience left a lot to be desired.
Review Source:I sat down and ordered before reading other reviews. I probably would have kept going if I had read them prior to sitting down, but I was very suprised by the quality of the chicken wings. The waiter recommended a great brew to go with the wings. I'd go back given the chance to be in Ashland again. Â This town is full of hidden gems.
Review Source:In a town known for great food, go somewhere else. Overpriced for very mediocre food.
I was charged an extra $2.50 for substituting a salad for fries, which I'm fine with...until the salad comes out and is a handful of mixed greens with five croutons. Â Sorry folks, that's not a salad. Â
On the plus side, the beer I had was local and great, and it was one of the few casual places I saw that was open past 8:45pm. Â
However, when the I got the $25 (post tip) bill for a veggie burger, beer, and bowl of chili, I was a less than satisfied customer. Â
Come here for drinks, go somewhere else for food.
Overpriced. Lousy service. Bad food.
Maybe it was just a bad night? I don't know. But I was pretty much ignored when I walked in. The waitress didn't have any reccomendations for me. I ordered some sort of coconut lime chicken skewers. Sounded great, tasted awful. Really, really awful.
I was really disappointed. Especially when I got the bill for a dinner I didn't eat. :/
Great food in an awesome environment. Very friendly owners and employees, no fuss food. Oregonzola Burger is full of flavor, hot wings make a great starter, but if you have nothing else just get the garlic feta fries and take a big whiff before you dive in. A great Ashland establishment.
Review Source:So, the food is not great, although I do like the garlic and feta fries. The reason to go to Louie's is that it's just a laid back, casual bar amongst a sea of pretentious Ashland joints. It's almost a relief, an oasis! The beer selection is good, the service is usually decent, the people are friendly.
In response to other reviewers, I bring my kids to Louie's in the daytime because they like the recession burger and it costs a lot less than burgers elsewhere in Ashland. Lighten up, peeps. Have another drink, mm k? thanks.
Cheers!
Terrible food...and I've tried most of the menu there! Yes, recession burger is a good price...for a frozen chuck patty! As someone else commented about elementary kids running around, I can't stand the idea of children in bars around swearing and drunks. Â Yet, what bar closes at 9PM on Sunday-Wednesdays anyway?
Review Source:I love the show Bar Rescue. The one where bar/hospitality expert, Jon Taffer, goes to failing bars/clubs/pubs and revitalizes/reinvents the establishments by retraining staff, renovating the joint, changing themes, etc. If you haven't seen the show, watch it. But I must warn you that it can get addicting. My DVR is set to record every episode and I've seen everyone since it has aired on Spike.
Well, Louie's reminds me of a mix between the Blue Frog 22 and The Chicken Bone episodes. They're both "chidren/family" friendly bars. Really? A bar that is "child" friendly is not necessarily a good thing to most. First off, if I'm at a bar watching a game, drinking away my sorrows, or just out with the boys having fun, I don't want to see a bunch of six year olds running around. WTF? Monday night is Bingo night? Tuesday night is Trivia night? And the kicker? Wednesday night is SPELLING BEE night?!! lmfao!! That's just so wrong in so many different ways. So you're out drinking at a bar on a Wed night and you have a bunch of seven year olds competing in a spelling bee? That's just not right!
Ok, enough of my ranting because it is what it is. So this bar at least has good burgers, right? Umm...nope. Let me get this out of the way and say that the staff was very friendly. The servers and bartender were all cool and the atmosphere is beyond their control. But the food was pretty bad. I love to order burgers, onion rings, wings, etc. at bars and pubs. I ordered the double bacon burger which was 1/2lbs of beef. Yum. Unfortunately these patties were generic frozen burgers and tasted it. I mean, it was pretty bad. It's hard to get a burger wrong but this was wrong in every way. I was left speechless.
In fact, I think I'm done with this review. I'm not even going to go on about the food anymore. I don't dislike Louie's, but at the same time, I don't think I'd ever return should I be in the area. And hopefully I'll never have to drive all the way down to Ashland ever again! The food was horrible and the atmosphere? Well, if you like a bunch of elementary kids on the table next to you while you're drinking and watching a game, then this is your spot. It's definitely not mine!
Surprisingly, I didn't find the food to be all that bad. Aside from the over-priced dinner salad ($4.99), I enjoyed my meal. Of course, this was the first meal of the day (1pm) and it was followed by several beers. Still, though, the outdoor patio was nice and my chicken wrap was great.
The biggest downside at this restaurant were the disgusting bathrooms. So dirty that I walked out!
Showed up here with a date.. I'm from out of town. It was a week night. They had some bingo going on, and SUPER cool music playing from some server's playlist/ipod or something. Very good service. Good martini. Was hoping for a Ninkasi Total Domination (since they had signs) but no such luck, for whatever reason. Either way, cool place. The garlic and feta fries are a must!
Review Source:Awesome place! Great steak sandwich and feta fries! Prices are very reasonable, service was excellent, and good friendly football crowd. They have excellent appetizer prices for sundays games! We will be back! (ps, we brought our 5 year old, although he was the only kid in there they were friendly toward him).
Review Source:Pros: Great screens for sports (they have alot, so easy to see the game), relaxed atmosphere just off the plaza, servers are nice.
Cons: Gawd, the food is pretty awful. I'm not one for conspiracies but how the heck do they win the "best burger in Ashland" award for 11 years straight? Seems fishy to me.
It sounds like they used to make good homemade burgers, but what we got was a microwaved frozen meat patty that was not worth even $5.
When they go back to cooking real food I'll add 2-3 stars to the review. They have everything else going for them.
Great for watching games and sitting out on by the creek if you want a decent burger/sandwich at reasonable prices. But the salads are bit on the expensive side. And they only really have an ok selection of beers. I occasionally enjoy a hard cider with a burger and wish they'd carry that too. We actually eat here way more than the 3 star review because it is consistent.
Review Source:The menu says "Kids Favorites", but it's not a kids menu. Our 10 year old ordered a pepperoni pizza that cost us $15. A mention by the waitress that it was a full size pizza would have been welcomed.
Ordered the fish and chips, but could not eat them. They were so bad I sent them back. Â Husband ordered the Taco's Three Ways. Very small portion with even smaller flavor. The beer and creekside seating rate the two stars. Â Overall a very disappointing experience.
If it's a beer and a game you are looking for this is a fun place and a good place to watch a game. Â I would give it a 3.5-4 based on this.
HOWEVER
The food is a 1.5 at best. Â The recession burger is a good deal for a burger and fries under $5. Â But everything else (and I've had most of the menu items) is pre packaged and pretty tasteless.
Limited "Bar food" and the service is a bit untrained for the most part.
Was in Ashland visiting family. Â Had never made it to Louie's so we thought we'd give it a shot for dinner.
Their menu said they were known for their burgers, so it seemed like an easy choice.
I don't recall the exact burger I got, something with mushrooms and swiss i believe. Â Bottom line, the burger and fries were worse than average and definitely not worth the cost.
That's not why I'm giving them one star. Â The reason I'm giving them one star is because the crappy burger gave me food poisoning, which created a very unpleasant night. Â It has probably been 10 or more years since anything I ate made me sick, so it was not a welcome surprise. Â I'll save you all the details, but there is no question that it was their burger that made me sick.
Anyway, there are plenty of other good restaurants in Ashland, AVOID this one!!
Stopped in Ashland on a road trip. Â Louie's was promoting a "Recession Burger", which the group was enthusiastic about. Â
I had the patty melt. Â Overall, it was very good. The meat was tasty, but the patty was a bit too small for the bread, meaning that the ends of my sandwich was basically buttery toast with some grilled onions. Speaking of onions, they were indeed grilled, but not to the point of ultra-softness. They still had a very slight firmness, which I liked because in this state they retain a bit of bite. There was enough American cheese to make the sandwich moist but not overly gooey. My patty melt was accompanied by a chipotle coleslaw, which was slightly spicy but not necessarily amazing. It was good, and I enjoyed it as a side dish, but it wasn't anything I would yearn for.
Couldn't decide between the two local light beers, so I had the server surprise me. Â He brought me a Mirror Pond, which was hoppy, light, and refreshing.
Had a taste of the wife's French fries. Â Crispy on the outside, mealy on the inside, and very, very lightly salted. It was a French fry certainly meant for dipping.
Would give the place 3 1/2 stars, but doesn't look like Yelp does half stars.
If u like McDonald's, go here. Â Poor quality meat with over-priced feta fries for $2.50 extra (literally a pinch of feta). Â Even the regular fries were bland. Â And the food was cold when it arrived. Â Though the bar looked good with a decent assortment of beer. Just don't fall for the sign that reads "Best burger in Ashland 11 years running", cuz it's not true! Â Especially considering how many other places in town have fantastic sirloin burgers. Â Like the Stillwater bar. Â Needless to say, we won't be going back unless of course we're only drinking beer.
Review Source:Stopped in at Louie's Bar and Grill for dinner after a walk through the town. Fun atmosphere, yet a casual place to enjoy a burger and beer. Although I didn't have a burger, don't eat meat, 2 in my family did have burgers and raved about them. The service was prompt and friendly and the place was packed. I recommend giving Louie's a try, I don't think you will be disappointed
Review Source:I like Louie's because it's a good place to go when you've got vacation restaurant fatigue: gawd, I don't need a fancy-ass steak or swordfish or tower o' salmon again, where can I get a burger that's not bigger than my face?  So  I usually drop in for a burger and fries on one of my days in town for lunch.  They're small, but good. Â
Do not get the turkey sandwich, though. Â Two thin slices of turkey log does not a $7.95 sandwich make. Â If you want a sandwich, go to the co-op.
What a marvelous location Louie's has, with such great potential to be a really good sports bar, or perhaps a bar and grill, or both.
They had a good thing going with a great cheeseburger for a low price. Â Everyone would go there for the cheap burger and then order a drink! Â The new owners touted the great review of the burgers, and promptly shrunk them down and raised the price. Â It's a shame, too. Â We used to go to Louie's pretty regularly, particularly when we wanted to watch a sporting event on TV. Â But now they don't really cater to the sports addicts either. Â They seem to be going for the hapless tourist crowd...
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