Louie Louie Bistro Bar

We tried out the new(er?) university city restaurant for dining days. Menu looked great. Ambiance is great when you walk in and throughout the meal, but the service was all over the place; I think we needed to go find someone to transition us through every part of the meal (drinks, meal, dessert, getting our check, paying the bill) - everyone was very polite, just disorganized. My friend ordered a salad that never came. The drinks were mediocre at best and we were really excited about them from their descriptions (they tasted watered down and odd, couldn’t put our finger on it). Dining days is usually where we try places on the cheap(er) and we walked out of there spending way too much for ‘meh’ food and drink. Maybe they need a little more time to settle in, I think it has potential - just disappointing.

One of the best places in the university city area. Food and service was very good.

Louie Louie is the requested spot for lunch by my son when we are in town. He loves the oysters and tar tar. It's a great place for a brunch or late lunch with all the classic bistro fare. Service is attentive and professional.

I liked the place a lot. The food was ok. I had a reservation for 4 during lunch time. In addition to our server, the manager kept coming to our table to randomly pick things up. We didn’t like that at all.

This place is really tasteful, with beautiful decor, very Instagramable. The outdoor seating on the sidewalk is also great. The apps we tried during happy hour were very good and the drinks were also good for the happy hour price of 5 bucks. I docked service a few stars because the time between check ins was very long at times. Extra points bc the hostess let me charge my phone at their stand with no attitude whatsoever.

The food was just ok.

Not a great place for families with infants but we enjoyed brunch

Amazing food, Beautful environment, and such nice service!

I had dinner here to celebrate my sister’s bachelorette party. The food and drinks were delicious! The staff was extremely attentive and provided excellent service. My experience at Louie Louie was definitely one that I would recommend to others!

The most beautiful, elegant and Parisian restaurant/bistro in all of Philadelphia-by far. Food was good, nothing to rave about, but cocktails were excellent and we would definitely return. If this establishment were located downtown or south Philly it would make a killing, but its location is very limited to college students and their parents when they visit.

Loved everything! Will definitely be back

Service was poor, food was fair, too noisy! I will not visit again.

The service was extremely slow. Bar ran out of champagne glasses and took over 30 minutes to get them to us. Food was average at best and no gluten free pasta or bread choices

Wow Fearless has truly outdone themselves! This menu is incredibly vast with food for everyone! The lamb meatballs are an amazing app and the west coast oysters are always great! The only problem with the entree menu is that I can never decide what to get because everything looks so good!

I had the linguini carbonara...good taste but too heavy for me (too much lard, but that's likely me).

Croque Madame is excellent
Tomatoe, burrata and mushroom salad excellent
Colleagues had steak salad and soup and sandwich special respectively

All was good

Appetizers and drinks were all very good. This included the lamb meatballs, a cheese platter and onion tart (seemed less of a tart). Everyone enjoyed their entrees except for the special plat du jour) Bolognese which was mainly pasta with little ragout. The paella was deconstructed which was a surprise but still good. French dip, burger and thick noodle dishes were enjoyed. Banana dessert with coconut ice cream was good along with the strawberry rhubarb sundae.

Our service was terrible on Father's Day. There was hardly anyone in the place for it to be so poor.
Food was not very good compared to my prior brunch last month. Not sure we will return.

We had a great time as a family celebrating a special occasion. The service could have been better. The food was great. We had “le grand plateau” excellent choice for a big party. The salads and salmon were great as well. My guests came from out of town and were happy with the experience.

Went here based on high reviews from others. The atmosphere is cool. The food was fine, nothing particularly stand out, and for the cost, did not think the value was there. I get that its in the college area, but prices were a little high. Staff was also aloof, not super attentive. They were not busy, yet fora party of 3 we were seated at a small cafe table and ended up having to put things on the table next to us for space when there were plenty of larger tables open where they sat other parties of 3-4. Also did not like having to give a credit card to make the reservation and the idea to be charged if we changed or cancelled too late. I'm guessing because its not like the place was full that they still want to be able to make some money. Overall, not impressed and probably wouldn't go back.

I’m not sure if the restaurant was understaffed or not, but this was my second time here and the service was much below my first experience. Drinks took forever, arrived after our first course, we didn’t get new drinks before our mains (even though our glasses were empty). We wee not given the correct cutlery for our mains. And lastly when we were offered dessert menu’s we said yes, and promptly received the check instead. All around a weird experience, the food was good, but not that good, the ambiance was great but I won’t be going back!

Our server, Gia, was awesome. We were celebrating a college graduation and the dinner location was chosen by the graduate. We enjoyed the amazing, crusty bread w/sweet butter, appetizers, the entrées were all delicious. We even ordered a couple of deserts. The Chocolate Cake w/milk (so great they paired the milk, such a rich cake needs a nice cold glass) and to die for and Creme Brulee! A-Mazing!

Lobster bisque was very good. Beet salad salty. Our waitress sauntered...was in no hurry whatsoever.

Service was awesome. Food was spectacular. Better than I was expecting. The burrada and the mushroom salad incredible. And the desert.... one of the bests I eve had. What a great surprise as this was my first time here. It was a beautiful day so outdoor siting was great.

Great happy hour experience. Affordable for ten employees. Good service. Good drinks.

The happy hour here is insane. Such a great value and the food and drinks are amazing. I loved our server. I think her name was Jasmine. She was sweet and attentive and so professional as 7 of us ordered endless drinks and apps in an admittedly confusing manor. We had such a great night.

We sat out on the patio and the plastic windows were down. There was an impending storm that luckily never hit down but it was soooooooo hot. We were all sweating so much. We actually were thinking about ordering a third round of apps but we were too hot.

Also there were some guys in suits running food; I’m assuming managers and they were a bit clumsy with service. Putting things in strange places. Not removing empty plates. Awkwardly reaching over and around people. It wasn’t enough of an issue to not return or anything. Just something that could use buttoning up.

All-in-all I would say Louie Louie is probably the best happy hour in the city and I can’t wait to get back.

Enjoyable dinner, BUT one misleading menu item. Overall, the food was very good, with members of our party enjoying the butternut squash ravioli and their signature burger. However, I ordered the "spring vegetable paella," expected a steaming bowl of chicken, shrimp rice an vegetables gently simmered together--instead, the dish consisted of a chicken thigh and several shrimps lying on a saffron rice cake with green beans and peas on the side. It tasted good, but it was not paella, and the restaurant should not advertise it as such.

Oysters were yummy

Great food. Great ambiance. Lovely decor. Nice for a date or girls night out. Instagrammable.

Great food, great atmosphere, just fantastic!!!
Very Chic!!!!

Granted it was Mother’s Day and what can you expect? All the appetizers and salads appeared at the same time. Food runner simply ignored the problem when we mentioned it and the waiter did take responsibility but didn’t fix the problem.

Some apps were lukewarm at best and one meatball was raw on the inside.

This was our second visit and admittedly our first (on a random Sunday, not Mother’s Day) was better.

Went to Louie Louie on Mother's Day with the family. My dad was very happy with his classic steak frites. My grandmother enjoyed her bolognese special and my mom was content with her cobb salad. I found the truffle fries to be soggy and a bit salty but they were still tasty. The tuna tartar was mediocre, lacking acidity. The "grilled sour dough bread" appeared to just be halves of the dinner rolls that may have been grilled at some point, but arrived to the table chewy and not warm. The cocktails were pricey at $12 each, and neither my mom or I enjoyed them. I ordered a pear cocktail that tasted like pure bitters. I was disappointed that the waitress never noticed/mentioned that I didn't drink the cocktail and it was left undrunk and watered down at the end of the meal. I really wanted to love the restaurant, because the ambiance is just so lovely, but the meal just wasn't worth the high bill.

We had a 4:00 reservation on Mother's Day, May 12th. We arrived about 20 minutes early. We were invited to sit in the lounge. We were seated promptly at 4:00.

Overall we enjoyed our dinner, as well as the atmosphere. There were however, a few issues related to the service and value which adversely effected our experience.

The server did not volunteer her name. In addition, she did not wish me a Happy Mother's Day. I can not recall her smiling.

Upon ordering and receiving our appetizer, to share, we noticed other guests were served what appeared to be delicious, warm, fresh bread. We had to request bread. The bread was delicious! The lamb meatballs were also delicious! We had finished our bread and appetizers and we were waiting for our entrees and again, the server did not replace the bread. She noticed our bread needed to be replenished and yet she did not offer or bring us bread! We requested it again!

I asked if the lobster soup was served in a cup or a bowl. The server indicated a cup. It was served in a bowl. If I had known the correct portion size, I would have made a different selection.

Perhaps, I should have voiced my displeasure, but I did not want to add to the tension.

I believe the service was inappropriate and unacceptable. Moreover, although the food was very good, including the chocolate cake and the their specialty ice cream, when the check arrived it was slightly over priced!

Great for brunch! Bottomless coffee! Staff are nice too!

A bit of a wait even with a reservation, but it was a bustling Mother’s Day crowd and the staff and management were extremely kind and courteous. Food and drink were excellent, even better than previous meals here.

Mother's day brunch so the place was very busy. Service was good. Food was great. It's an open restaurant layout, so it is loud, but not terrible. I would definitely recommend it to a friend, and we will definitely return.

Wonderful ambiance and the food and service were perfect.

Mother’s Day.

I made a reservation and the restaurant wasn’t very busy. Plenty of booths and tables were available in the main dining space- yet, for some reason the hostess seated my party of three at a tiny two-top table in the corner of the banquette just behind the hostess stand. I arrived last in my party and after waiting more than ten minutes, I had to go to the hostess to complain as no waitstaff had even been by to take my drink order. The restaurant was out of tequila, so I couldn’t even order the cocktail I wanted. The food was good once we were finally able to order and receive it, however, there wasn’t even enough room on our tiny table to set the plates. The spot is adorable, has great atmosphere and good food, but the service is simply horrible.

Food was amazing. Service was great and we really enjoyed our night.