Louie’s Wine Dive

I was only here once for a Unilocal event, and it’s not within the rules to review a place based on Unilocal special event, but now that it’s closed, I think I’m ok. The place always seemed to have an off kilter vibe, it felt corporate without being classy or hip. I hope it gets replaced by a real dive bar, as there are no more left in the area.

Is currently closed for renovations. .. or closed altogether, I guess. .. which I found out when my party arrived. Would have been great if their site or Open Table said anything about this.

There were only two things that caused me to not give a 5 star rating. There was only ONE guy working in the restaurant dining area, that acted as the host, waiter and food runner, and I saw one guy in the back cooking. It wasn’t terrible but I felt bad for the guy. Service was good though, there were about 4 – 6 other tables at the time.
Monday has all day happy hour which was cool. 25% off bottles of wine is a pretty good deal. We chose a bottle of Pinot Grigio, the Cheese Flight, which was not apart of the happy hour special– the sage infused was great, and the calamari that was apart of the hh. The cheese and wine were great, but the Calamari was below average. It was not crispy, and it seemed like it was made earlier and just sitting. Which is pretty disappointing.
I do plan on coming back though! Fun and cute place.

Went here during brunch. It was quite dead but the food was good! They had great deals for mimosas (which I’ll come back just for that)

Loved it here! Had been meaning to try the place for months and finally convinced some girlfriends to join me! Wine list was so long it was almost too long (if thats a thing). All of us chose pasta dishes and were very pleased with them. The four pork gnocci was DELISH!

$ 12 Bottomless Mimosas.
Just needed to put that right up at the top so you wouldn’t miss it. The mix and match flavors are just ok, I’d recommend you indulge in the classic, because sometimes you just don’t need to mess with something that’s great just the way it is.
The brunch menu has a pretty good variety of savory dishes and only a handful of sweet, but like we discussed before, you will need the protein if you’re going bottomless, so it’s not really a problem. I had the breakfast flatbread with scrambled eggs, sausage and a sriracha mayo. It was light, crispy and had a hint of spice, so really a good choice all around. I also took note that there were a number of gluten free options, which is great for when my sister visits, we’ll definitely come back.
I had the pleasure of sitting outside in the sunshine on one of the last days of summer and loved the atmosphere and old school upbeat music they had going on. I think it’s literally impossible not to have a good day when you start with champagne and «Little Bitty Pretty Ones.»

Tonight was the night. I was finally going to check this place off my list and un ‘bookmark’ it. I get in my car2go thinking about all the delightful food I’ll eat and get there a bit after 9. I’m seated and excited with anticipation when my waitress tells me they have stopped serving the dinner menu. Cue all sounds of sadness and trumpets.
She states they only have a late night menu and as I’m starving having expected a delightful Spain style dinner, I order the Mediterranean flatbread… and an 8 oz glass of wine. At least I’ll have something akin to a Spanish dinner. A couple friends arrive and one gets the chocolate tort while the other orders wings. Both are delicious. The torte is like the ultimate fudge brownie with strawberries around the edge and a freshly made whip cream with vanilla bean flecks. Heaven.
The wings are a beautiful upgraded presentation with shaved cabbage and carrots instead of slices. There were bits of semi-​melted blue cheese and the wings had an oh so slight kick. The flatbread on the other hand left a lot to be desired. It seemed like your basic bread with a few specks of tomato and standard cheese. The one redeeming quality was the fresh basil sliced on top. Compared to the other two, this just wasn’t good. If they step up the ingredients it will be more on par with the rest of the late night menu.
I shall return again before nine to see what they have for a dinner menu. For now, all you’ll read is my late night review feed.

A great spot in the edge of uptown to try a bunch of wines from small boutique vineyards and to enjoy a great meal.
I’ve been there twice now, once with a buddy and a second time with my wife and had a great meal and tasted a number of great wines.
In my most recent visit they offered a fantastic seasonal soup, tomato basil with a delicious cheese croûton floating in the middle. Portion-​wise it was quite small, but so was the price and it was a great taste of summer. My wife and I then shared a salad bursting with cranberries, apples, goat cheese and bacon served with a light vinaigrette over mixed greens. For our main course we shared the delightful house-​made gnocchi with a rich bolognese made from sausage and pork. It was more than enough for the two of us and we left very satisfied.
Of course the main feature of the place is all the great wines by the glass. Prices are really good and from my two experiences, quality is high.

I’ve visited Louie’s Wine Dive on three occasions (dinner during Restaurant Week, a Unilocal Elite event, and Sunday brunch with a large group), but I’ve had three completely different experiences. For the sake of fairness, I won’t go into detail about the event since it was most certainly outside of the norm, but here’s the lowdown on dinner + brunch.
I love a good wine bar, and Louie’s had recently opened prior to our first visit (during Restaurant Week), so I was excited to check it out. We began with a pitcher of sangria, and a round of appetizers. The sangria was a bit underwhelming, as it lacked much actual fruit… and isn’t chomping on wine-​soaked fruit part of the fun of sangria? At least the food started out with a bang… the shrimp bisque was jam-​packed with flavor (although it could have used a few more chunks of shrimp for this seafood lover). For my main course I had the lamb, which was seared and served on a bed of mashed vegetables. It was a little rare, and could have used a bit more seasoning, but it decent. Entrée envy really set in after I took a nibble of Island Boy’s scallops, which were cooked and seasoned perfectly, so I began to think seafood may be a strong suit of theirs. We rounded out dinner with a couple of desserts – a fruit tart and a key lime shortcake, both of which were quite fantastic.
After our first visit ended on such a high note (and the Unilocal event was great as well), we were excited when Johanna V. decided to celebrate her birthday over brunch at Louie’s. No brunch is complete without mimosas, which Louie’s offers plenty of. Their mimosas are $ 6, but if you’re gonna dive in to at least two, you can go bottomless for $ 12 (and come on… it’s champagne and fruit juice we’re talking about here, so one is NEVER enough)! What’s even better is the variety of flavors they offer, including classic orange, grapefruit, cranberry and grape. They’re all delicious and become more so with every glass!
Unfortunately, the food didn’t live up to the mimosas or our previous visits. I was in the mood for a hearty breakfast, so I opted for the biscuits and gravy, while Kash kept the seafood trend going with the crab cake benedict. Perhaps our hopes were too high or we waited too long for our meal (over an hour while the other 10 people at our table enjoyed their food), but the flavors and execution just fell really flat. The biscuits were way too heavy and tasted like they were straight out of a box, and the gravy was just flavorless white paste (not to mention it was cold by the time it was served). Kash’s bennie wasn’t much better, although hunger got the best of him and he actually ate it. I on the other hand threw in the towel and hit up a fast food drive thru on the way to our next destination… Sad, but true. I really hate having to complain, so thankfully our server picked up on our dissatisfaction (it was really hard not to), and she comped our tab. The rest of our table seemed to have a great experience, so I’m hoping it was just a fluke incident (or else they were too many mimosas in by the time the food was delivered that they didn’t care).
I’m torn on this one… I would really say overall Louie’s deserves a 3.5, but since I can’t award ½ stars I’ll give them a nod to 4 for the fact that even though there was an issue, they took responsibility for it.
A few random things to note:
–Check out the Alice in Wonderland adventure in the back hallway – it offers the most entertaining trip to the bathroom.
–A limited selection of wines are available by the glass, but if you commit to at least 2 glasses of ANY wine, you can get it by the glass instead of the bottle. (You can also find a list of open bottles available by the glass on the chalkboard wine wall).
–Dogs are allowed on the patios – the one along Aldrich is covered and quieter than the sidewalk patio along Lake.
–Limited free underground parking is available, which is accessible from Aldrich.

Louie’s long has been the object of my scorn. I detest chain eateries. And, while no Olive Garden or Red Lobster, Louie’s does have several other locations throughout the country. To me, this meant that Louie’s was a spiritless place detached from the local community cranking out uninspired and mediocre dishes, like chicken alfredo or sizzling fajitas.
In actuality, Louie’s is quite a bit less dreadful than I’d assumed. On a gorgeous summer evening, we grabbed a spot on their (pet-​friendly) sidewalk (Tip: snag a spot on the quieter Aldrich side versus Lake). The Uptown Meltdown caught my eye as a lighter dish — a cod sandwich on naan. It ended up not being a filet, but more tuna salad-​like, just not gunked up with tons of oozy mayo. Served with herby shoestring fries. Incredibly flavorful and light and, dare I say, creative, particularly given Louie’s chain status. Maybe even a 4 or 5-​star meal.
So, why a 3-​star snub when the food was so delicious? Largely, the vibe, particularly inside, still has me down a bit — it’s just that personal preference for locally-​rooted businesses, and maybe others would take no issue here. Secondly, the prices are just maybe a tad bit much — though I’m a self-​confessed cheapskate.
But, overall, Louie’s seems to have a pretty solid menu of offerings. My entire party of 5 left delighted. I might even consider an upgrade to 4…

Everything I’m looking for in a wine bar. Yummy salads, excellent selection of red wines, chill ambiance with good jams
Update: well that was until the waitress ruined the ambiance by turning on the tv and blasted the volume :/​I prefer music

Came here for Saturday brunch while visiting from out of town and had a great time! The service was great, the food was amazing and the bottomless mimosas for $ 12 made the weekend alcoholic in me very happy. I will definitely be coming back here next time I am in town!
I recommend for brunch you try the country fried steak with the side choice of potatoes (some of the best breakfast potatoes I’ve ever had). Also, I did cranberry juice with my mimosas it was delicious.

It was my first time at Louie’s Wine Dive this past weekend when I visited for a book club brunch with a group of 6 women. We were able to make reservations, since Minneapolis brunches tend to be popular but probably wouldn’t have needed to since the restaurant had open tables all afternoon.
Honestly for how not busy the place was, our service took quite a while. We all ordered the bottomless mimosas but each time there was refill needed it took about 5 – 10 minutes even though I could see the refill station from our table. That being said, towards the end they simply brought carafes for our table to refill as needed.
The food was pretty terrible. I ordered an omelette and what I got was a luke-​warm 2 inch by 5 inch thin egg tortilla with tasteless, oil coated veggies on the inside. When I think brunch omelettes, I think hearty and filling and this simply wasn’t it. The side of fruit was about 8 grapes and a single strawberry and the women who had the breakfast potatoes had a small handful of not-​very-​crispy fried potato squares.
I can’t say I will be revisiting Louie’s for their brunch — there are way too many great places in the cities to settle for eating slightly warm plates of skimpy portions and bland food.
That being said I might come back for their daily happy hours, which boasts 8 oz pours of wine for $ 5.

Louie’s Wine Dive has an amazing brunch on the weekends. The food is delicious. I’ve tried a few of the menu items including the biscuits and gravy, eggs benedict, and the the potatoes. They have bottomless mimosas that come in different flavors, and the servers allow you to mix and match. It’s a nice change from straight orange juice all morning. I recommend Louie’s to anyone looking for brunch, I will continue to return regularly.

Been to Louie’s Wine Dive for a couple different events and really like the atmosphere. A nice wine bar fit for the area. Both times I didn’t find the food or wine to be anything special. I would say average at best. The staff seems to be really nice and friendly.

Yet another Uptown Louie that fails to dazzle me.
I love the thought of a wine bar seconds from my doorstep, especially in comparison to Spill the Wine (which is now closed) which I was not in love with.
Louie’s Wine Dive is an out-​of-​state franchise and that is so painfully apparent. The art on the walls is clearly non-​Minnesotan. Which is fine! Except it’s a generic city and farm-​scape. Why not have local art (bonus: by local artists!!) on the wall?
They’ve also added some Minneapolis-​sounding menu items, but they don’t make a whole lot of sense to me. Again, the out of state thing.
The set-​up of the space is weird and lends itself to awkward navigating of the restaurant. I get that they have to work with the space given, but why so many hidden «alcoves» and odd spaces?
The service quite frankly always has sucked. Royally. I don’t know if their motto is that wine bar = aloof, unavailable servers and bartenders, but that’s the path they’ve always seem to have taken when I’ve been there.
Their wine list is amazing. I will give them that. I always find things that I have loved and when I can get a bartender to talk to me (usually never in a reasonable amount of time…) they have given me good suggestions based on what I want to order.
They’re trying out DJ nights on Thursdays and Sunday nights and even though I am not in love with Louie’s, I’ll be back for that good music.

I thought this place was just alright. I came in for happy hour and the place was strangely empty and a bit uncomfortable. After being seated, we eventually went to order wine before the sommelier came over and suggested a flight. While a good deal, it was a bit strange and we had no idea what it was going to cost or that flights were offered at all. The wine was good and the flight was fun, but the service was a bit uncomfortable.
While we planned to order food, nothing on the menu appealed to us so we ended up getting food elsewhere. Overall a strange but not unpleasant experience.

I didn’t want to like this place and had been purposefully avoiding setting foot inside because I was convinced I would hate it. My reasons for this were completely irrational: I wrongly lumped this place in with what I refer to as the «douchinization of Uptown» as Louie’s appearance happened around the same time as all of those atrocious, cheaply-​made and overpriced apartments that crowd Lake Street and tend to attract, well, douchebags.
I’m sorry for judging so wrongly. While I have seen a fair amout of douchebags as clientele, everything else about Louie’s is pretty great. The staff is attentive and knowledgable. Having sat at the bar and overheard conversations held by the chefs I can tell they actually give a damn about the food they cook. The lobster poutine is freakin delicious. Sadly its the only thing I’ve tried so far foodwise, but everything I’ve seen go out has looked amazing.

I live close to Louie’s and have been meaning to visit for a while. I visited Saturday night and was largely happy with the experience. Good atmosphere, good food, and friendly staff were all to be had at Louie’s. I got the Pan Roasted Chicken and was pleased. No complaints, I would visit again. Seems like a great place for a date.

I’ve had two experiences with Louie’s now and both were pretty great. First, I attended a Unilocal event there and instantly fell in love with their atmosphere, food, and service.
But they won my heart during my a pre-​birthday brunch a few weeks back. I had decided that I wanted bottomless mimosas and biscuits to celebrate my Monday birthday because that’s just how I roll. I started calling around. The head count ended up being close to 15 people so I got a few rejections pretty quickly.
I called up Louie’s Wine Dive and a very nice guy with a chipper voice was more than happy to take my reservation. He even suggested that I add a couple more to the reservation just in case folks brought other folks. Very helpful.
Day of the brunch, I arrived a bit early and the table was nearly done. We ended up being about 13 people and a lot of us ordered bottomless mimosas with our food. Our server was fun and sweet. I’m pretty sure by the time we left the poor gal was taking care of us and other tables.
There were a few mix-​ups and some food came out a smidge late for one couple but overall they were able to accommodate a large, tipsy group who ordered sporadically and needed separate bills. In the end, they even gave me a free bottle of wine to help me keep the celebration going.