Buffa Louie’s

I love this place! The wings are the best I ever had. The sandwhiches are awesome. My fave is the cobb salad. They really load it up. I also enjoy eating in. The building is very cool and talk about great location.

Hands down best boneless wings I’ve ever had.
Great location close to the Sample Gates and nice collegy interior, too. The owner is an awesome dude, who immediately struck up a conversation with us… overall very friendly staff.
I had boneless wings with sweet BBQ and teriyaki sauces, which were both delicious — balanced flavors nothing overpowering…
Wednesday’s you get boneless wings for 70 cents!
Would definitely come back to this place!

My favorite (boneless) wing spot! The fries are served in generous portions and are so tasty. The wings come in a huge array of flavors that you add and they make to order. I prefer the honey garlic! If you «make it a meal» it’ll definitely save you a few bucks with a drink. Enjoy the IU and Big 10 sports items around the restaurant. Next time, I want to try out their breakfast. Who knew?! I bet it’s awesome! Parking is easier to find along 4^th street than in the lot directly behind (campus parking) or along Kirkwood. Enjoy!
Note: be sure to check out the daily specials so you don’t miss out on something extra special!

Best wings I’ve ever had, I got the boneless sweet BBQ and Honey Garlic, both were amazing. Will be a regular stop when we come to town!

First, the one star is for the waitstaff — not the food. Wings are great, and by far the best in Bloomington.
Had a bit of a bad experience with a waiter dropping a wing on my shirt. No apology, no attempt to help clean up — just shrugged and walked away. Guy at the counter gave me a bar towel and a perfunctory ‘sorry’ but I still have someone else’s wing sauce all over my dress shirt.
Again great wings, but tonight at least, service was terrible.

We tried Buffa Louie because I had heard it was a decent place to eat.
The atmosphere is very informal and casual.
You order at the register and find a place to sit down. When your food is ready, they yell out your name and you get up so they can spot you and then a person brings the food to your table.
The food was decent enough, but I definitely thought it wasn’t good enough to warrant a $ 51.00 + bill for 3 people. The total almost took my breath away when she announced how much our meal would be.
We had bone in wings, boneless wings, and a regular grilled chicken sandwich. We had a sampling of a few sides — fries, onion rings, and tater tots. Along with the drinks, it was stratosphere pricy considering the quality of the food. The wings were OK, and the sides were acceptable. The curly fries and tots were decent, and onion rings were notably tasty being that they were dipped and fried in a beer batter. They were cut much thicker to my personal liking, but they were tasty all the same.
The chicken sandwich is another story. While the bun was OK (it tasted like a pretzel bun), the chicken in the sandwich was sadly and unbelievably gristly, tough, stringy and rubbery. It was a big disappointment. I couldn’t eat it the normal way, I resorted to cutting it up in small pieces with my knife and fork just to manage it. After all of that, (always in retrospect — drag nab it), I should have sent it back and ordered the chicken tenders.
Oh well,…I would have given them 4 stars if it wasn’t for the exorbitant pricing and the chicken leather sandwich.
This one is officially,…off the list.
I have my eye on a few other eateries in Bloomington for next time.

This is one place that my bf absolutely wanted me to try while visiting Indiana. I definitely agree that it’s one of the good places to get your wings. It’s super casual. You come in and order at the register and they’ll bring it to you. One thing I didn’t like about the menu was that it changed screens and didn’t give me enough time to look at the different options. You’d have to wait for it come back around.
For this visit, we ordered wings & tenders. For the Louie dozen (?), you get 15 wings with the option of 2 sauces. We got garlic parmesan and teriyaki. For tenders, it came with 2 sauces on the side, TNT (buffalo) and Rasta jerk (?). The jerk sauce was GOOOOD. TNT was spicy but good! We had a side of curly fries on the side which I didn’t think was great at all.
I thought the food was great. I would definitely want to come back and try their burgers.

Best place in town to get wings. A staple in Bloomington if you go to IU or if you’re in town and just want some good food. The décor is really neat if you’re an IU fan. Sandwiches and wings are both excellent, I definitely want to come back and try more things on the menu, like their breakfast!

Give Buffa Louie’s a try for WINGS and the fabulous POT ROAST SANDWICH.
Our preference for wings is the TRADITIONAL WINGS WITH HOT GARLIC SAUCE. The JERK sauce is also worth trying.
The POT ROAST SANDWICH is the real standout, though. And yes, you do want the onions, carrots, mushrooms and horseradish sauce on it. It’s one of the top two sandwiches I’ve ever had in my life.

Overpriced, portions shrinking, and long waits. The wings are fine, not amazing. Everything else on the menu you can get elsewhere in the area faster for less money. Go here if you are a wing enthusiast with time to kill. Advanced Tip: go by a unique name. When your food is ready, they will call your name and bring you your order, but if you have a common name, they might just give your food to someone else, happens all the time.

Love this place. Was nice to try again after many years being gone. It was a bit unorganized when it got busy and they missed the sauce for my sandwhich but the quality ingredients were all there and the staff was very nice. I gave them a break knowing they were likely students doing their best with big surge of customers

Wings, no. Burgers, YES.
Had their wings a couple times and never really enjoyed them as many of the spicy flavors and regular are quite malty/​vinegary.
Had their burgers quite often, my favorite being the All American. The Lou burger is also great but I wouldn’t suggest it for take out as the bread gets really soggy with all of the sauce. Still a great burger though. Amazing buns and portions are good for the price. One of the best burgers in Bloomington. Also, loaded fries are always flavorful and sweet. Food is always consistent and their staff is always friendly.

Great place for cheap wings.
You get a lot for what you pay for, and 15 wings at Buffa Louie’s can easily get an average person through two meals.
Sauces are pretty good, but even their hottest sauces aren’t very hot at all. Maybe my senses were a bit shot from Sichuanese food last night, but even then I’d expect a bit more heat than that.
Crispy, delicious, and meaty wings really help make up for that though. The atmosphere is nice and casual and its a great place to watch anything from tennis to baseball. Love the big table up top! Buffa Louie’s could use a bigger selection of sauces, but for a small indie restaurants that’s easily overlooked.
Chicken: ²⁄₅
Sauces: ¹⁄₅
Dips: ¹⁄₅
Service:2/5
Diversity: ²⁄₅
Price: $/​$$$$
Satisfaction:Price– ⁴⁄₅

It’s not the greatest atmosphere but the wings are delicious and it’s in the Gables across from the Sample Gate at Indiana University which is historical
, all by it’s self, and run by a New Yorker where buffalo wings were first created, this is a little Bloomington gem!

best wings in Bloomington, and probably of Indiana. meaty & delicious, with so many kinds to try and indulge in!!! also, a great atmosphere for eating, drinking and watching games. Good for all ages too!

Hands down best place for wings in Bloomington. Great staff & delicious food.
I just hosted a party for one of my best friends there recently– amazing hospitality! The owner came up and introduced himself. Janelle and her team were incredible, everything was taken care of & they were so accommodating– highly recommend.

Ok, i’m always on the look out for excellent wings and i found them at Buffa louies!
The wings were well sauced, the TNT sauce was excellent though i can handle hotter, will go with volcanic next time. The garlic cheese bread was also spot on.
The key for me to these wings being excellent is that 1) they were rather crispy and 2) the last wing in my basket was not soggy after 15 odd minutes sitting in sauce. That is key.
If you are looking for an AUTHENTIC buffalo wing (been to Anchor bar in Buffalo), you won’t find anything wrong with Buffa Louies!
I see the owner takes time to read and respond to many comments. Sir, how about opening a location in Champaign, IL? The U of I needs you!

Cool location and neat little place. I wonder what they were voted #1 for? The curly fries are fun.

I absolutley positively LOOOOOVVVEEEE Buaffa Louie’s. I discovered Buffa Louie’s during my sophomore year at IUB, and I have been hooked ever since. It is always one of my go to places when visitiing Bloomington. I’m such a bore and order the exact same thing every time — bone in wings with sweet sauce and some tots. Yes, I know. I am weirdo, but these seriously are hands down my favortie wings. The only reason I marked this place down a star is because they are not consistent. During my most recent visit in April, I believe, my wings could have used a few more minutes in the frier. I never know what I’m going to get. I’ve had incredible batches that were absolutley FIYAHHHH. They were cooked perfectly and drenched in the delicious sauce. Or I could get a batch that wasn’t cooked long enough and they skimped on the sauce.
The location on Kirkwood didn’t exist when I was a student (am I showing my age with that comment), but I like it. The location is more central and spactious. I love all of the crimson and cream décor. Hoo-​Hoo-​Hooosiers!
I will continue to visit Buffa Louie’s until I have one foot in the grave. It is a Bloomington staple.

This is one of my regular spots! I remember in college discovering them out on 17^th Street. Now that they are around the corner from my office and in historic location (The Gables), you will find me there a lot!
Menu highlights:
They now have breakfast and I LOVE IT!
Healthy: do a scramblette no tots or a sandwhich on sprouted gran bread
Cheat day: Fat Elvis (peanut butter) or James Brown (nutella) — so yummy!
Lunch or Dinner
Healthy: any of the Meltdown salad options are awesome, they will adjust any menu item for you without a hassle
Cheat day: Sweet Lou burger
On the weekend:
You MUST get THE POT ROAST sammy. It is so yummy and only available on the weekends. I keep introducing people to it and always rave reviews
I love the rasta jerk, sweet q, and mild sauces as my go-​to on wings. This is the only place in town I will go for wings! The offer regular and boneless.
Sidebar: I also have used them for small and HUGE catering events at my last two jobs. Lots of small lunches for 4 – 6 people and tailgates that had orders of over 4,000 wings. Always a hit.
I am so thrilled that BuffaLouies provides options for me when I am looking for healthy choices and a great place to do that when my friends are family want wings and beer. It is awesome to know I can still get what I need.
I love that everything is made by hand here and that you often will chat with Ed and Jaimie, the owners. A true local business and IU tradition!
Tips:
*This place gets busy at lunch. You can call your order in ahead of time or show up at 11;45 p.m. instead of noon, it makes a big difference.
*JOIN THE REWARDS PROGRAM — it is one, if not the best rewards programs I have ever been a part of.
*On the weekends in the summer, they often give the kids free push-​pops :)