Bar Louie

My coworkers and I came here for lunch one day and probably won’t be coming back. With a consensus, our food was not good. They got sliders, SLIDERS!!! of all things to mess up, it’s hard to create tasteless teeny tiny burgers. I got the fish tacos with double serving of rice pilaf. The rice was bland, the fish was bland, the guac was bland, everything was bland. NOTHING was seasoned. Although the food was not up to par, the waitresses were very nice and friendly. I also liked the restaurant atmosphere and the cleanliness as well. It had big windows allowing ample amount of sunlight in, making the place look bigger.

I’ve been here many times for dinner me happy hour… A consequence of working nearby. Every time I’m more and more disappointed. Service is always slow and subpar and there’s never anywhere to park. This time the waited spilled someone else’s beer on me and didn’t bother to apologize or being a towel to clean it up. I found myself unrolling the silverware for sufficient supplies! To make matters worse he was terribly terribly slow. We ordered food and drinks and the food arrived before our beer and wine. The waiters excuse was that he was busy in the back doing dishes… WTF! The only good thing about this place is the happy hour special.

This is a really good location which is close to my house. The staff is very friendly, and the food was very good. The amount of food you get is reasonable for the price.

Good place, recently attended with one of my social groups. We had around 40 – 50 people and we took up most of the back corner of the restaurant. They only had one waitress (Holly) assigned to our group. Somehow she remembered all of our names and orders, amazing, but she did great and didn’t miss a beat. Food was typical bar food. It was $ 5 burger night and that was great. Their tater tots are as good as advertised. Burger was tasty, prepared properly and seasoned well. Holly had the bar staff prepare me an Arnold Palmer, even though it wasn’t on the menu, and brought me several refills. The only reason for 4 vs 5 stars is because I ordered a burger to go for carryout for my wife at home and I ordered without a bun as she is gluten free. When the burger arrived, there was a bun on it. It was brought to me by kitchen staff and not Holly, and when I requested it go back for the bun to be removed, the waitstaff who brought it to be was kind of rude and put off. If you order something some way, it should come out that way.
I will likely go to this restaurant again when I am in the area.

Been here on a few separate occasions and was never truly impressed. The service is hit or miss — whenever I sit at a table I get good service, but the one time I sat at the bar, the bartender was rude and didn’t seem to care enough to wait on us. Food is so-​so. I’ve had their loaded fries — good but dripping in oil, which was kind of unsightly. Their chicken parm sliders are great, however I’ve bitten into chunks of fat while eating them before. My boyfriend has had both the beer braised mussels and chicken tacos and seemed to be satisfied with both. BEWARE OF THEIR DRINK PRICES. Their drink menu doesn’t have prices listed — with good reason I suppose — most of their drinks end up being $ 10/​each. Pretty steep for a restaurant in the middle of Herndon, I would pay less for a better drink at a nicer place in Reston.

Food is excellent… grilled chicken & mac and cheese! unbelievable! desserts are fantastic, too. Excellent wait staff.

So I come here cause it’s close to my job. I get here at 0132 and they have the doors locked and they have the kitchen open late sign off. This is so typical for these lazy restaurants here in Faisal county and here of all places! The bartender looked me dead in my face and shook her head! Not to mention the last 2 times I was here they under cooked my fries and added bacon so I feel like because I asked for new fries that’s why they did that! I also tried to call as soon as I got off they refuse to answer the phone!

Let me just start by saying, I am not the biggest fan of this franchise, absolutely hate the one in Ashburn.
I was excited when this location opened up because it’s conveniently located. since their grand opening I have been here a few times. Overall experience is better… service is not so great but I like the atmosphere here more.
Their happy hour specials are great, it’s from 5– 7). I can never make it to the happy hour but I hear many of cocktails are good. I do like their Tuesday $ 5 specialty burger specials though. Super affordable and you are literally saving 50 – 60 percent from the actual price. Burger I had however, wasn’t that good. Meat was cook too well although I asked for medium and bread was too much. I did like the tater tots, cooked well and super crispy.
I definitely think this place has a lot of potential if service can be improved. One of the biggest problems at bar Louie (both locations) is that their staff are just so not caring. No one pays attention, have to repeat the orders a multiple times, takes forever to pour beers, not attentive whatsoever and list goes on.
I mean I understand it’s not Morton’s here but I am only paying you tips based on the service received even if the food wasn’t as great. A pleasant experience is what a lot of customers are looking for, service makes a difference and wanting to come back to try other items on the menu.

I’ve been here numerous times, sometimes empty and sometimes slammed with people. Without a doubt they have a great happy hour for beer, wine and food certain food items. (They might also have cocktail specials on SOME things but I can’t remember. I know they DONT have any deals if you drink plain liquor, ie vodka as my friend likes it straight and it’s pricey as their «rail» is Absolut.)
But for beer, wine, and food deals you can’t go wrong. During HH the place is always extremely crowded, and once it’s over it thins about fairly abruptly.
They have a lot of beers to choose from and the wines are on special no matter the cheaper wines or the more expensive ones.
I’ve also been here on a weekend afternoon and we were greeted by about 15 people as they had nothing else to do I guess (it was very not-​crowded then).
The place can open one of the walls up if you’re sitting by there you can have somewhat of a feeling that you’re at an outside patio, even if you’re not. I like the place but hands down the worst thing about it is the parking. It’s INCREDIBLY hard to get a parking space during HH which is why I don’t go nearly as much as I would otherwise.

Nice place, good food and wonderful bartender…
I didn’t expected so good
Thank you guys’ll

I guess it does depend on who your server is!
We had Matt and at first he did scare me off a little bit when we ordered a pineapple sangria and as he was walking away we– I thought nicely– called out to him to make it two but there was no response until I repeated it and he said something to the effect of «yes, I heard u!» With a little bit of exasperation in his tone. Upon his return however we found Matt to be playful, polite, professional and really interesting to talk with!
We ordered two apps– spinach/​artichoke dip which I found to be very dense and not overly enjoyable to eat and loaded tater tots with bacon, scallions and cheddar cheese. Found these to be crispy, and flavorful!
Will return soon and if your looking for somewhere with decent drinks, bar food, weekly specials and not too rowdy than this Herndon Bar Louie is good choice on weekends!
Matt– hope to see you soon perhaps in… Wait for it… DC!

Ill give this place 3 stars for the simple fact that my appetizer was absolutely disgusting. I went here with a couple of co workers for happy hour and it was PACKED. I ordered two Martinis and the loaded fries. Boy was that a huge mistake. The fries were disgusting, soggy, cold and it tasted like I was dipping them in old, oily Alfredo sauce. Basically I felt like the chef didn’t put one ounce of effort in the food and the waitress didn’t bother to be like «heyyyy are you sure you don’t want to try something else?». My waitress did well otherwise, she was very attentive even though it was a mad house. I will go again but they need to get those cheese fries off the menu!

Bar Louie in Herndon has a modern/​contemporary feel to it when you walk in. It kinda feels like you’re at a lounge, except with a bunch of businessmen/​women drinking and eating their hearts away. The bar is located conveniently in the middle of the restaurant, so it is really easy to go and get a drink as all sides are covered. The happy hour is pretty good here (draft beers are ~$ 3.50) and a lot of people rave about the flat breads (never had it… yet). The only thing I would say is to beware of the businessmen/​women coming in for corporate happy hours after work as it gets pretty rowdy.
I’ve only been here two times for lunch and I have to say the food is absolutely delicious! I had the fish and chips the first time and the fish was battered/​fried to perfection. I think I finished it in 2 minutes (didnt help that I was starving as well). I got the blackened fish tacos the second go around and it didn’t disappoint. The only caveat I would say about the fish tacos was there wasn’t more fish!
The service here is below average. The waiters/​waitresses are nice but in terms of attentiveness to asking if everything else is ok or refilling drinks; I would say subpar. In order for you to get your glass refilled or order something else, you would have to actively flag one down, sometimes you might be turned down because they aren’t your waiter.
Overall, I would say the experience was A-​OK. Definitely a fan of the décor and food, however service could use a little work (in the nicest way possible) :)

Went to Bar Louie for a company happy hour and the service and food were great!
It was really crowded and we had ordered about 10 drinks and 10 appetizers that were all brought out to us within 10 – 12 minutes.
The waitress was really kind and checked on us an appropriate amount of time.
Its really dark in there which is kind of a downfall for a company happy hour, but great for a one on one date.

3 stars for a passing attempt at providing a large-​scale happy hour/​live music/​bar food venue in a small town that has otherwise few options. That being said, I’ll continue to prefer the smaller and locally-​owned (and arguably more fun) Jimmy’s Old Town Tavern, O’Sullivan’s, and Carpool.
However, for a situation in which you need to entertain many coworkers from out-​of-​town, or need a place that accommodate more than just your bar-​fly friends, Bar Louie is A-​OK.
In terms of live music, Bar Louie has been accommodating in terms of a friend and co-worker’s band playing, with a nice front-​of-​house setup, decent acoustics, and enough space so that the band can do their thing and restaurant/​bar patrons can do theirs.
Happy Hour does have a sparkling wine/​champagne/​prosecco option, which is nice when you’re not feeling like a rail liquor drink or a limited-​selection domestic beer. I believe there are half-​priced appetizers, too, which is always welcome when you desire a flatbread pizza or nachos to soak up your HH booze intake.
Menu contains an amalgamation of what you’d expect from a Bennigan’s/Chili’s/Applebee’s/Hooter’s…nothing to write home about but there might be some hidden gems among the tater tots, wings, and fries.
Location is convenient to several office buildings, hotels, the airport, and the toll road, so they’ve got that going for them. Parking can be tight in their lot, especially during happy hour or when there are live music events happening, but at lease parking is free.
To me, the whole Bar Louie thing feels a bit manufactured, but it is a national chain, so I guess that’s par for the course. If you’re looking to feel more «local» or like a regular, check out the bars listed at the top of my review. If you need to cater to a larger group or people of widely varying tastes, who are hungry/​peckish/​thirsty/​like familiarity in their bar/​dining, Bar Louie in Herndon is a safe choice.

I love bar louie. Especially when the weather is warm because they open the window on one side of the table area. This last time I went on St. Patrick’s Day and they offered green beer. It’s a fun environment and the waitresses are always nice. They have some really good happy hour deals which I’d recommend.

I go to bar Louie during happy hours and $ 5 burger nights since they can get pretty pricy with their menu items. Since I go on those nights it gets over crowded and I never get a table, so I volunteer for the couch area so I can sit and eat. The employees always seem irritated during these nights which I understand why but some need to learn to not give an attitude to customers who are kind to them and are willing to tip them.
They are not very clear on their reservation policy with groups. One time I brought a group of 15 in, made a reservation, checked the night before to confirm my reservation then I come in, can’t find my table, asked the manager where it is and then he says «we don’t take reservations on Tuesdays because it’s $ 5 burger night» even though I was never told this and called 2x and made sure my reservation was all set. I come back another time with a group of 12, it was crowded like usual and there was a 30min wait because it was so crowded then an employee asks «why didn’t you make a reservation?» I explained to her what happened the last time and she had no idea why the manager told me they didn’t take reservations on Tuesdays for groups over 10. Finding this out just irritated me.
The food is normally good, the tater tots are great, and the drinks aren’t too strong. If you’re going to this place for $ 5 burger night come after 7:30 to avoid the previous happy hour crowd.

Jay, you are the best! Thank you !
Great Food — Awesome Service!!!
Bar Louie in Herndon

Avocado fries as a starter were delicious. So crispy on the outside and velvety smooth on the inside! Paired with the chipotle mayo it was perfect. Limited menu item so Def try it.
I got a house salad. I was expecting boring iceberg lettuce and a few tasteless tomatoes but I actually got a good sized mixed green salad with tomatoes, cucumber and some sweet balsamic dressing and a side of garlic bread. It was delicious!
My bf got some chicken sandwich with avocado and cheese on wheat bread and that looked great as well. The tots were my favorite.
Overall great experience. Our server, Brian, was awesome as well!

Well, Bar Louie, your reviews are all over the place — from 1 star to 5 stars. So… the best way for us to proceed is to go to your place and find out for ourselves.
We were here on a rainy Saturday around 5:30 p.m. On first entering, you are greeted with a blackboard that tells you to sit wherever you want. As we walked past the bar, the bartender greeted us. A good number of the tables are high top ones. There are some regular tables by the window. We wanted to sit by the window but unfortunately, the a/​c system was continually dripping water on them. The manager suggested that we sit in one of the booths that they have. We took his suggestion.
Our server showed up promptly. She was friendly and welcoming. I chose to have a S’Mores Martini which had the waitress enthusiastically telling me how good it was. My husband had a beer.
Yes, the server was right. That S’Mores Martini was quite tasty. It consists of «Absolut vanilla, Godiva chocolate liquer, toasted marshmallow syrup, cream, marshmallows, chocolate syrup and a graham cracker rim on the glass. All these ingredients resulted in an indulgent drink that wasn’t very strong.
We get that Bar Louie is mainly about the drinks with food on the side. So… we weren’t expecting to be wowed by the food. What we did expect is decent food — and that’s what we got.
We started with Traditional Chicken Wings. You can get them with either buffalo sauce, bbq sauce, hot sauce and «en fuego». We played it safe and got bbq sauce. The wings were impressive — meaty, tender and moist. The bbq sauce had nice flavor. They also come with either bleu cheese or ranch dip plus celery and carrot sticks. We chose ranch.
My husband had the Backyard bbq burger which consists of cheddar cheese, bbq sauce, bacon and fried onion strings. Our server asked how he wanted it cooked he said medium. He chose fries with it. His burger came out well done and dried out. While he ate it all, he wasn’t impressed.
I got the Sesame Tuna sandwich. This consists of (supposedly) sesame encrusted ahi tuna steak, romaine, tomato, avocado and gingery mayo on a brioche bun. I said «supposedly» because the tuna wasn’t «sesame encrusted» and the mayo which was applied with a heavy hand didn’t taste at all like ginger. Still… the tuna was cooked medium rare and the veggies were fresh. I decided to try «tots» with mine as I hadn’t had tater tots in ages. Just as I expected, the «tots» tasted just like the ones you get in the freezer case in the supermarket — in other words «meh».
As we were eating more people came in and gravitated to the booths. Even though the place wasn’t very busy, it was still loud. They were playing 80s music and the acoustics in the place were poor. I can only imagine just how loud it gets when it is busy.
So…a mixed bag. We would definitely get the wings again and I will have that great S’Mores martini. For the main courses, we will try something different.