Bar Louie

I received my calamari appetizer and was extremely happy. … until I ate few pieces, not because it tasted too bad, but because the cone presentation was more than 60% shredded lettuce! Not only shocked, but a bit aggravated. Calamari was originally blended with too salty of a flour mixture, not enough lemon given originally, and well… i was hungry for calamari! ! I worked Italian restaurants. For 12 bucks, i expected way more. Ive worked with calamari and know pricing. Probly made a good buck off me!!! Oh well

Our service was good. Not knocking stars for that. They told us upon arrival they were short-​staffed, so we knew our food would be just a little longer.
My chicken breast was really really tough. Like hard to bite through. It did not taste good at all. And the pineapple express sangria — be aware that a very small glass will knock you back $ 10. Absolutely not worth it. For two people, two sandwiches, and two drinks (1 mixed, 1 beer), it should not have costed $ 50. Really disappointed overall.

Not one to complain about a dining experience but nothing can excuse the poor service at this Bar Louie. We arrived and seated ourselves as there wasn’t a hostess and a few minuets later we were greeted by the most lethargic waitress I’ve ever had. We placed our order (I had ordered a pulled pork sandwich) and began watching Sunday night football. Literally 45 minuets later we saw the waitress for the first time since placing our order, and she told us that the kitchen didn’t have any pork and I’d have to order something else. Seriously, it took nearly an hour to figure out they didn’t have a product advertised on the menu? And considering that there were maybe 10 other people you can’t use the excuse it as being busy. To make matters worse the waitress never improved. After another 15 minuets our food was brought out. Sure the food was average but not worth the wait. No compensation of any kind was offered for the time wasted. Much better places to go in oak park feel free to avoid this one.

We happened in here on a Tuesday night of shopping Lake Street. When we walked in, there was a crowd of people standing in the entryway with no sign of a hostess station or hostess. I noticed a sign that said if no one was there to seat yourself and pointed it out to my boyfriend. He wasn’t thrilled with sitting ahead of all the people waiting so we took a seat at the bar.
Tuesdays are apparently the $ 5 burger special so my boyfriend decided to try that out. The basic lettuce and tomato burger is $ 5. If you want anything else on your meat patty, you are going to pay for it. His burger wasn’t too exciting or extravagant but he did get some tater tots to go with it. He enjoyed it. Afterwards, we did the math. The «burger special» is no cheaper than the regular burgers once you add toppings and a side. So, unless you want just lettuce and tomato on your burger, it isn’t as great of a deal as advertised.
I had the grilled Tuscan chicken pasta. I ordered it without artichokes. When I received the meal, I ended up having to check my food and compare it to the ingredients listed on the menu. Sadly, I was right. They put onions in it that are not listed. I am lucky that my aversion to onions is only based on taste and texture rather than a deadly allergy. I picked around them which was ok.
Overall, I probably won’t come back. There seemed to be a lot of deception going on from their «specials» to unlisted ingredients in their entrees.

Our family walked in on a Saturday late afternoon looking for a fun late lunch. The place had about 3 tables with customers, 2 servers and one bar tender. The servers were sitting at a booth playing on their phones however, they did get up when they saw us come in. However they went straight to the bar stool and sat down never even acknowledging us. We waited about 7 minutes with no acknowledgment and decided this was a bad omen so we got up and left. It’s a very nice restaurant, very spacious well lit, decorated. My husband has gone to Bar Louie at another location multiple times and has always been greatly pleased, this however was a big disappointment!

Started with a cup of chicken pot pie soup and Bavarian pretzel sticks. The soup and the queso dip were both watery. Ordered the blackened salmon sliders and I ate a quarter of one of the sliders. The fries that accompany the slider were cool and tasted as if they were reheated. Everything was executed so poorly. To top it off I felt sick afterwards. My friend had to lie down because her stomach was really upset. This is what my friend had to say, «I’m never eating at Bar Louie again, neither are you.»

This was my second visit here and I must say the Salmon Sliders were tasticulous! (Taste-​tic-​u-​los)
In addition to excellent customer service. So could I didn’t take a picture because it was gone before I knew it.
Waitress: Yelah

On ‘Prohibition Night’, even tuna is illegal.
I had just gotten back from visiting Daley Plaza with my cousin (Luke B) and his wife (Amanda M), so we needed to find a place nearby serving drinks and something pescatarian-​friendly. Living roughly 50 feet away from the Oak Park Bar Louie, I figured why not?
Frozen fish, that’s why not.
The staff were dressed up in costumes from the roaring 20’s and early 30’s; I think our waitress was a flapper? Whatever. For the special occasion, they had $ 1 off Stella Artois and era-​inspired cocktails. After a round of libations, we put in an order of spinach artichoke dip and (they) finally decided on the tuna steak. 10 minutes pass…20…half hour and our server tells us that «it should be out shortly». Mmmmmmmkay. She returns 5 minutes later with the news that «sorry, it’s still thawing out» and asks if we want to order something else. You had us wait around for 30 minutes just to tell us that our food is still FROZEN?! What the balls! –_​–
Bread = 2
Circuses = 2, I don’t give a hairy rat’s nutsack about your quirky outfits if you can’t. serve. food.
Pretty weak f*cking effort, guys. Next time I want a quick beer and a bite, I’ll walk my ass over to Friday’s, where the odds of getting the figurative wool pulled over my eyes are slimmer.
Y’all on my naughty list now.

Have been there a few times. Last time recently I saw where they reconfigured the bar and booths differently. The atmosphere is okay, comfortable, modern. Service was okay. I always seem to end up there around lunch time.
Had the flautas there one of my last times. They were okay, not awful, but not really impressive. I guess they change the menu sometimes because I had something else a couple of days ago. But it was not very memorable. Just basic chain restaurant food I feel. And that’s the way it tastes to me. If you want to go somewhere to catch up with an old friend, the atmosphere is just okay, but don’t go there for the food. If I were more of a drinker, I might find more to like about it. But as it is, I typically don’t go out with friends drinking these days as I’m older now. When I go out with friends now, I’d rather enjoy good food rather than ‘signature cocktails’ or craft beers.

we went on the 2 $ burger night and there is a reason it’s two bucks. It ain’t all that good. It was pretty small in size, relatively dry and the fries and tots were a similar disappointment. I didn’t even know Bar Louie’s were still around as all the ones i’m aware of have closed long ago.

Where to start… I stopped in on a Sunday night around10:30 and ordered drinks that took 20 minutes to get and food that subsequently took as long. I stayed in for an hour with delays that built up until the check was delivered with overchrarges. Warning, pay cash.

Food is cooked fresh! I ordered a Salmon sand which and the fish was perfectly cooked. Not what I was expecting from a bar, but I was delighted. The loaded fries are very delicious. We had a great waiter as well.
The second time we went there was a Tuesday and they actually have build your own burgers starting at $ 1! And I was able to get a portobello burger since I don’t eat meat:)
I really like the drink list and variety they offer. Bar tenders are very accommodating if you order something off menu as well, very knowledgeable.

Standard chain food. Decent customer service. I only really go here on Wednesday nights because of $ 1.25 beers and it would appear that a lot of drunk guys hit on the servers so as a respectful, young male I have had mixed experiences for service from frazzled servers.

I successfully left one bad place for one even worse. Just wasn’t my day in Oak Park. I’ve been to other Bar Louie’s before and for the most part, they’re all fairly consistent in terms of food and service.
And then you have here…
Should’ve known it was going to be bad when I walked in and stood there for 5 mins trying to figure out to seat myself or wait. Then a waitress walks by and asks if I need some help like I’m buying a car. Yeah I’d like a seat. You know the sign says «Wait to be seated.» Just to be told, just sit anywhere. She could really careless.
And that attitude showed when it came to our order. We basically waited another 10 mins to put in our order for drinks, another 10 mins to get them and another 20 mins for her to come back and ask if we’re ok. Our last round of drinks was just slammed on the table by someone else, which is ridiculous because the place was empty.
Filed under: Nope, Never again.

Me and my guy went there to watch the Blackhawks game a couple weeks ago. I drinks were weak and not very good and really expensive. You had to get the staffs attention yourself if you wanted anything. I literally sat there for 20 minutes with an empty drink. The grill was down when we went there so we couldn’t even get what we wanted, so we got artichoke dip instead. The chips were stale and the dip was cold and and bland.
To make matters even worse, there was a creepy guy that came and sat next to me who had his hand on his knee and kept touching my ass. I would move away and he would follow. I was sitting halfway off my stool when I finally had to ask him to please give me my space. I know that’s not their fault, but the bartender asked what happened and didn’t even say anything to the guy afterwards. I award Bar Louie no points, and may God have mercy on your soul.

The good– the manager stephan, the martini special, and a little cute Asian waitress who’s name I can’t remember!
The baf — Everything else!

This place really doesn’t deserve anything more than 2 stars. We came on their $ 2 martini, $ 1 burger, and $ 1.25 bottled domestic beer day that they had to celebrate being in business for however many years, and I was not impressed. Our service was top notch that day, as I suspect they anticipated the crowds and were on their A game. The food, however, was atrocious. I am never one to send back food, but I had to send back my burger twice as it was inedible. The patty was still raw and frozen in the middle the first time, and after searing it a second time, it was still raw. I guess the third time must be the charm as it was overcooked and dry when it did come out again. Because of the dry and sad burger, you have to drown it in condiments for it to even taste alright. The martinis were good but super sweet and not enough alcohol. The bottled domestic beer list is beyond sad — your generic bud lights and miller lights and the likes. Definitely would not pay full price for the drinks or the burgers here. There were also screaming babies around and the ambiance overall was just not good. For a good burger and decent drinks, you’re better off heading to a Forest Park bar where they are no screaming children around.

Not so bad and not so great. The staff is friendly and the food is ok. Nothing on the menu screams ‘order me again.’
It’s self seating and I always go there in the early afternoon so I don’t know about the evening rush and wait time. Nothing spectacular about this place, just a regular place for a quick bite to eat and maybe a cocktail.

Pretty mediocre overall. The seared tuna was tough but the flavor was OK. Actually the broccoli was the best part of the dish. Fresh and crunchy. The mac and cheese was runny and bland. Definitely add something to it like broccoli or jalapenos if you order it. The tater tots were good but most tater tots are. Beer selection is weak with only a few craft options. Bar Louie needs to step up their game.

I try really hard to enjoy this place. Things I love: the cozy booths, dollar beer night (usually), the grilled veggie wrap. Things I do not like: the service and basically everything else on the menu.
Tonight, I was out for dollar beer night celebrating my friend’s birthday. Between beers, it took our server about 10 – 15 minutes to check on us and then another 10 – 15 minutes to bring our beers. Definitely a buzz kill. I had eaten dinner already, but my friends ordered food. It is difficult to sit and watch people eat, so my boyfriend and I ordered an appetizer. We got loaded tots. Please do not order this. It cost 10 bucks and was about 20 tots with a tiny drizzle of cheese and burnt bacon (which I picked off). It definitely tasted like this was just heated up in the microwave.
I have had the same server a few times here and each time it was the same. She is extremely slow and not very friendly or attentive. I was celebrating tonight so I wasn’t in a hurry, but two beers and an appetizer should not take 2 hours. I did notice other tables in this server’s area leave as soon as possible. She is definitely losing Bar Louie money.
I feel like my two stars are pretty generous. I used to always have a great time here, but I will not come back here and not even think twice about it. Save your time and your money. It’s not worth it.