Bar Louie

Terrible service. Waiter was not really interested is serving us. I tried to get his attention 2 times and he just passed by
We did a drink and a app and left
This was the 2^nd time there and had the same bad service from to different waiters.
Was not that busy either
Not going back

Sat at bar with 3 other individuals. No one asked if we wanted a drink or whether we wanted to order. Four individuals walked past us.

I only gave one star, because I’m in the hospitality industry and I sympathized with the server. For goodness sakes, it was final NBA game 7, a national HR conference, and service was slow. I didn’t get my food by 4^th quarter, so we left. We never got a chance to order drinks… there is no way I can rate the food or drinks. The kitchen time was ridiculous. Poor server probably didn’t get the gratuity he deserved, because he never got food out to others either until the game was over. I blame the manager!!!

I’m being generous by giving this place two stars. The service was very slow and unattentive. I had to send my cocktail back to have it mixed correctly and my wife’s food order was sent as chicken when she’d ordered brisket, a hard mistake to make. The food itself was on par with an Applebee’s but priced higher. My recommendation is to find somewhere else. We had asian food from a food truck the following day that was far superior to Bar Louie’s.

Been at Louie bar quite few times with friends, good place and in a great location. Have had drinks only!
Service is a bit slow, but overall the place will always be an option for late drinks.

The worst service EVER! We sat down and nearly ten minutes went by before anyone came to our table. The restaurant not at all busy so I’m not sure what happened there. Finally a waitress came to our table and we ordered an appetizer, two beers and a pitcher of sangria. Another 20 minutes or so went by and our appetizer came out, but still no drinks.
We were asked what we were waiting on so we told the person that brought us our appetizer. 5 or so minutes later our waitress came back, with 2 beers and no apology or explanation of what happened AND no sangria. After nearly 45 minutes we finally got our pitcher and two one glasses, one of which had to be sent back because it was covered in food. We would have cancelled the order but we literally didn’t see our waitress that entire time.
We had decided on food not long after we sat down but we never even got to order food. Our waitress actually never asked us if we wanted to order food. And after waiting so long for drinks we decided it wasn’t worth it to ask.
In the meantime we did see the table that sat a few minutes after us get their food when we were leaving an hour to get food).
On a bright note, when we asked for the check we received it immediately and were completely checked out in under 5 minutes. I guess she was excited to have one less table. And of course if you never take your tables order, less work for you right?
I’ve never had such terrible service in my life!

The Bar Louie at Gallery Place in Washington D.C. is by far the worst example of customer service among the entire chain.
It’s understandable that a bar located downtown and above a major subway station would be busy during happy hour, but the extremely long waits combined with the rude and inattentive staff behind the bar made for an unforgettable experience that one wishes could easily be forgotten.
There are numerous drinking establishments surrounding the Bar Louie at Gallery Place and it’s highly advised that patrons visit them before stepping foot into this particular location. The odds are extremely high that the competition will not disappoint.
Consumer General

Nice bar decent wings slow staff pick it up dude awesome drink very good martini menu and the Manhattan was sooooo perfect I swear just slow feet staff slow feet don’t make… Well they’re good deft coming back hopefully night bartender is better :/

Hmmm. Well the atmosphere was cool, the bartenders were ok as well. I’m not a big fan of their HH menu. It actually kinda sucked, needs to be a bit more diverse. Maybe it’s just this location. I’ve visited the one in VA and they may have set the bar a little high.

The location is great for pre-​gaming for concerts and other events at the Verizon Center and even the movies at the Regal Cinema Gallery Place. The restaurant is set up with vantage points to view sporting events from many angles on about half a dozen large flatscreens.
The food…
I have been here several times to meet groups of people and even tried to convince them to meet us at another location. ANY LOCATION but my last visit hurt. I had the «privilege» of having their spinach and artichoke dip. The color alone was offsetting to say the least. The dominating color had more of a jaundice hue with green playing the part of the secondary color. Instead of a Bechemel or a Mornay sauce an Alfredo sauce is used. I think the spinach was «wet» before the sauce was incorporated and the color of the product suffered before it was put in the microwave. This appetizer was nuked to the point where what appeared to be artichoke was hardened and stuck to the inside of the serving dish. The chips were a mix of two different periods of time. Fresh and crisp or stale and discolored from the heat of the storing bin. Potstickers were bland and a bit on the chewy side. No noticeable texture difference… just chewy… The «Szechwan» sauce was vapid and void of flavor. If this place is operating on this level at such a low volume time of the day I really don’t think that they would be up to the challenge of preparing higher quality of food.
The beer was pleasantly cold!

Well honestly. This Bar Louie is better than the other one in Virginia.
As I stated before, the bartender was on point. And I suspect the service as far as food orders is slow because it’s always so packed. I’m sure dependable staffing is always the issue. Nonetheless the food and service adequate.

Service here is really slow. I only come here once in awhile and never seems to get any better.
My bartender is clocking out and wanted to get paid so I was able to get an order in.
Men’s bathroom is nasty and smells bad.
Place is huge so usually easy to get a seat, guess that is why I come here before seeing a movie…
So if you are going to Gallery Place movie theater for a quick drink before your flick it is okay.

I’ve been to Bar Louie many times. In general the service isn’t bad. My most recent visit to the bar made me change my entire view of this place. Stopped at the bar for a drink. The bartender, Max, was quite rude. Before I even got to order a drink he tells me, «20 of you came at me, be patient.» Excuse me? I’m not here with 20 people! I did notice he was working the bar alone, but that’s not my problem. He should have asked a manager to assist him instead of being rude! When I asked to close out my tab, again the rudeness was there. Despite the poor service, I still left a tip!

The crowd was good for a Friday night able to get easy seating at the bar then it went downhill.
The bartender was clearly new he made our drinks and poured them short. An annoying waiter came over and tried to justify the finger method… he blow my night making drinks for people across the bar in front of us. What an ass for real.
The chicken nachos are definitely must order.
The manager was no help. Just not the experience that would make me want to go back.

So many visits and I’ve never done a review? Not sure if it’s needed now, but if I’m in Penn Quarter/​Chinatown this is one of my first stops for a happy hour. Actually, most of my visits here are for happy hour. I’ve come here leisurely for lunch or dinner a handful of times.
The biggest issue that was a turn off about Bar Louie was this bad sewage smell problem they had for years! They rectified that last year and I’ve been a happy camper since. They USED TO do Dollar Burger Tuesdays which was a fan favorite, they have seasonal drink menus that I enjoy, the casual atmosphere is usually inviting. Often times the bartenders are friendly and I will even venture here on my own for the happy hour specials ($ 7 signature martinis, half off selected apps, $ 5 beers). The regular dining menu is pretty good (American with some Cajun and Asian thrown in). I’m happy with the offerings. The crowd is usually diverse with a good mix during happy hour– it’s the melting pot of the Gallery Place/​Chinatown area. I’ve only been to one other Bar Louie outside of this one and it met expectations based on my experiences here.
It’s a chain restaurant. Manage expectations. Relax, grab a beer, and enjoy a casual experience. (It’s not upscale dining.) Cheers!

Visited again recently wth my fiancé and a friend and it was decent. My fiancé ordered the burger and I ordered the BBQ salad. The food was decent, but nothing extraordinary. Service was a lot better than it had previously been, so I was appreciative of that! The only thing is that they had a large area that was completely open and they told us we couldn’t sit there and had to sit closer to the bar area. I’d probably return, but it’s definitely not my first choice in Chinatown.

Bar Louie is okay. It’s not terrible but it’s not excellent. It’s a «this’ll do» kind of place.
Hopefully if you’re going here, you’re going here mostly to drink. The food menu is subpar, but that’s okay because with a name like Bar Louie, it’s safe to assume their specialty won’t be their fine dining.
They have a nice, interesting cocktail selection so that works in their favor. If you’re ever in the area catching a movie or a game, this is a decent place to grab drinks before or after.
Unilocal describes 3 stars as «A-​OK» and that’s an accurate summation of Bar Louie.

3.5 STARS*** After several failed attempts of finding a place to eat dinner, my friends and I settled on Bar Louie in Chinatown. Located in Gallery Place, the space is quite large with plenty of televisions — a great place to watch a game and enjoy drinks.
Speaking of drinks, my friends and I arrived at the perfect time for half off Sangrias ($ 5 for individual glass or $ 10 for a pitcher). We ordered two pitchers of their seasonal «Festivus» Sangria and their Pineapple Express Sangria. The Festivus Sangria had a stronger taste of alcohol, whereas the Pineapple was much sweeter (tasty!). Both had vodka, however, and appeared more similar to a cocktail as opposed to a sangria.
Bar Louie’s menu is very simple and exactly what you would expect of bar food — burgers, appetizers, flatbreads, salads, and sandwiches. I ordered their Backyard BBQ Burger ($ 12) which came with a side of tater tots or French fries. I opted for tater tots and they were DELICIOUS! Super crispy and very fresh. The burger itself was also tasty; it was cooked as requested and flavorful. I also had a taste of their BBQ Pulled Pork ($ 10) and traditional Szechuan wings ($ 12). The BBQ Pulled Pork was extremely juicy and packed with flavor! Highly recommend. The Szechuan wings were quite zingy with a sweet and sour taste.
Service was not bad! My friends and I were immediately greeted and seated. Our server offered to change the television for us and accommodated our requests. My only dismay is that when we first arrived, our server only provided us with one menu (for a table of six). While more menus were eventually provided, we noticed that service was a tad slow. My friends and I did not mind too much though, because our server was kind enough to accommodate our request for additional pineapple pieces in our sangria!
Overall, I would be interested in revisiting Bar Louie for happy hour or drinks with friends.

1.5 stars.
I’d always heard bad things about Bar Louie, specifically the Rockville location near where I live. Nonetheless the one in Chinatown is one of the few bars that isn’t completely overrun before games/​events at the Verizon Center, so I went there… now I see why it’s never packed.
I will say one thing — the wait staff here are very very nice. Our waiter, John, suggested we get two beers so that we could make the happy hour cut off at 5:59, so it was nice that he was thoughtful enough to point that out.
Unfortunately 25 minutes after I ordered my food, he came by to say that the kitchen lost the ticket. Honestly never heard that one before… the place just seems disorganized. We were able to at least get some loaded tots out in a few minutes, which were just ok and overpriced.
Meh.

Ok, this is the 4^th Bar Louie’s I’ve been to & may just be my permanent spot.
I was getting ready to post up at one of the community tables in front of the TV’s (LSU & Arkansas was the game of choice) and looking around I saw another bar area. I inquired and it was not a private/​reserved event going on, so heck, when in Rome. I grabbed a seat at the bar, that had two nice size TV’s in clear view and Andrew the Bartender & I hit off pretty quickly. Side nugget-​the chairs are very comfortable with the high back and foot rest, very ideal for long periods of sitting.
I started off with a Diseno Malbec (becoming one of my preferred selections) that was well poured and engaged in cool bar chatter with my new found Mixologist Big A. Andrew. We even had the same liking for a Ginger Beer that they use in a cocktail referencing a mule. Anywho, there were a few other patrons in slowly coming in & he made sure everyone was being serviced in a good flow. A few minutes later, another bartender came up so we now had double the pleasure of getting our drinks and socializing… welcome Kendrick! This young gun was full of witt and seemed to really know his stuff, glad he was a team player in answering all of my quirky cocktail questions and barisms.
I decided to get something to snack on and I was over Hummus (they do have a tasty platter) as I’ve been eating it all weekend. There’s not too much to choose from in a Veggie Burger or Fish aspect, but with the help of the Manager Thomas O. to the rescue, Kendrick was able to order me the Lettuce Wraps with blackened Salmon. Plus, I was delighted that all the yummy fixings that comes with the original menu item I was getting too. After 10 minutes, another glass of wine, and snapping a picture of someone else’s food (the presentation just looked to good not to snap), my food came out.
The sautéed mixture of green/​yellow onions, red peppers, carrots in a sweet Thai chili sauce inside my fresh Romaine Leafs, was DELICIOUS!!! It was a nice size portion as I had to order some more lettuce and the Salmon itself was blackened and seasoned to perfection, which made the entire consumption even better.
Even when other serving staff came back to the area, they were just as engaging, made sitting at the bar on Saturday night watching college football more enjoyable.
Both inside and the patio had a diverse crowd, so that was a cool vibe to partake in. Easy access via Metro and if you are still energize after a great experience at BL, you can catch a movie.
The service was exceptional thanks to the Bartenders Andrew and Kendrick & to Thomas the Manager for making my order make sense.
The good food & wine in addition to great customer service really makes the overall experience winning.