Bar Louie - Fenway - A Little Bit About a Lot of Things A Little Bit About a Lot of Things

September 23, 2013 Bar Louie – Fenway

You may know Bar Louie – they have a location at Patriot Place. They had their soft opening on Friday, September 20th. They invited me to be their guest with a few of my friends to help them test their soft opening. Bar Louie has a prime location at 121 Brookline Avenue – perfect for a drink before the Sox game or dinner before a movie at the Regal cinema next door.

Like most of the bars on the street, they have high windows that open up onto the street – great people watching. I think it was confusing for Sox fans – Bar Louie looked like the perfect location to go because all the other bars on the block were packed with a line around the corner. The hostess had to continually tell people that this was their soft opening and turned people away. People were very confused. They were told that Bar Louie was opening at 8pm and they should come back. When I got to the front of the line they didn’t have my name on the list, but she said not to worry, they were having issues with their reservations. We arrived at around 6:30pm. The front area near the street was pretty sparse, most people were at the bar or in the back at high top tables. When I asked the hostess if we could sit at the table closer to the window she looked at me with a blank stare…so I explained to her that the table she originally wanted to sit me at would be fine.

They have a large bar in the middle of the room, with booths, high tops and couches around the perimeter. TV’s surround the bar, so no matter where you are sitting, you have a good view of the game.

The noise level was ok, but we weren’t at full capacity. Liked the ambiance here – a little more of an upscale bar, and it’s nice to have other options in this area.

Our waitress was a little confused with what was on the menu and what/how we could order. We were offered one appetizer to share for the table and every could have an entree, with the stipulation that we all had to get something different. We get the bruschetta to start. It comes out in an enormous martini glass – a playful presentation. It was tasty – the bread was toasted just right and the bruschetta was flavorful. (regularly $8)

The food and non alcoholic beverages were provided for us, but we paid for alcoholic beverages. I had the strawberry margarita: Camerena Silver, O3, fresh sour, lime, and strawberry purée ($10). Really nice flavor, and loved the presentation. We waited some time between our app and our main course. It gave us time to take in the sights. It was hard to tell who was a waitress, other than the fact that they were all gathering around the host stand and chatting. They were all in black tops of some sort, but some were in booty shorts, some were in jeans. All of the servers were pretty young, the younger staff gives the place a good spirit, a really fun vibe. I think that they could have benefited from another day or two of training – but that is what soft openings are for right!

I had the mac and cheese (regularly $10). The dish was good, if not a little one dimensional. It came out a little on the luke warm side but it had a very nice presentation.

The meatball hoagie (regularly $10): premium meatballs, pepperoni, marinara, spicy giardiniera, mozzarella, parmesan, on a hoagie roll. The tots were way too salty but the sandwich was good – the meatballs had a really nice kick to them.

If you follow this blog, you know I am a sucker for anything with a fried egg on it. This burger is no exception! The Louie burger was tasty, probably the best dish out of the three. (regularly $12) Prices here are affordable, entrees running around $10-$12, beers on tap at $7 and mixed drinks hovering in the $10 range.

Overall a good experience. As I mentioned before, the servers could use a bit more training to make the process smoother – I can imagine how swamped they would get during Sox games and they need to be prepared. The bartenders were on point, cranking out drinks like pros. I look forward to coming back in a few months to see what it’s like when they are in the swing of things, this place has good potential.