Louisa’s Cafe Bakery & Bar

Wednesday night and the place was pretty empty, guess the rain didn’t help. It made for a quiet meal with our choice of seating — I’m fine with that!
I got the Flank Steak Salad, which was pretty darn good, but had a little less meat that I’d hoped. Regardless, it was quite good (⁴⁄₅).
My friend got the Turkey Bacon Melt with chips. It was huge! She wasn’t able to finish and took some home, but really loved it (⁵⁄₅).
After, our server, Jared, listed the desserts for us — all sounded great, but we got the blackberry cobbler. It came as a bit of cobbler swimming in a pool of blackberries, a la mode. I really liked the presentation and the way it made you eat it (but then my family dumps milk on our apple pie, so perhaps I’m biased). I can’t comment on how the cobber itself tasted, only the blackberries and iced cream, which were good.
The atmosphere is really low-​key and chill, and the kitchen and waitstaff are friendly and laid back. Swing by for an evening meal, or try their popular breakfasts!

I am severely allergic to gluten. I ordered a gf sandwich and a gf scone online to pick up for lunch while I was at work today. Upon arriving to pick up my prepaid for food I was told the order pricing was wrong and they don’t have any scones. Suddenly my $ 8.33 online order is now $ 15.75?
I kindly told the woman at counter do not void my order from online; it is not my fault you have the wrong prices on your online menu. I said let me talk to your mgr. She points to a woman on the phone and says that is the manager.
While on the phone the manager is dealing with a customer who apparently claims the manager hung up on her while she was calling in an order.
After a few more minutes the manager comes over to me and says «Ok here’s what I’ll do– I’ll cancel your online order for $ 8.33 and re run order and give you 50% of a full sandwich price.»
I say ok that’s cool I’m guessing it will be less than $ 8.33 than ?
She than says «no your total is $ 11.78.»
I exclaim to her calmly that why should I be punished to pay more money when it is not my fault your website let me order food for one price and then I go into your store and your manager cancels my order WITHOUT calling me ahead of time to let me know (all my contact info was on the online order form) and then has the audacity to charge me MORE money for someone else’s mistake ?
This is false advertising and I’m disgusted by your inability to perform customer service.
Comp my meal for your error. Come on, they would even do that at Applebee’s or McDonalds…
I paid the extra money because I am gf and allergic and there are very few options in Eastlake for GF food.
The manager basically told me well you can pay more money for your food (and this happens all te time our online menu is a mess) or I can cancel your order.
She offered to give me the owners info and I said yes and then after I paid she didn’t give it to me.
This is not how you run a business NOR is it how you treat a paying customer.
I work 1 block away and will never step foot in your overpriced «restaurant» that doesn’t have customer service ever again.
To the owner — fix this.

As an ex chef I give them 4 out of 5 stars. The breakfasts break out like this:
1. Eggs are cooked to perfection, leaving some moisture and not over cooked.
2. The bacon and sausage is over the top. Think peppery slices and Italian sausages.
3. Fresh baked breads provide an enjoyable toast experience.
4. The hash browns are perhaps the WORST I’ve ever experienced. The first time they were impenetrable, being extremely burnt in both sides making it difficult to slice a piece off of, even with a knife. After ordering a less burnt version, I received yet another burnt side order. Has the staff been duped into thinking burnt has Browns are desire able? The 2^nd visit I experienced the same thing. Louisa’s owners: has Browns are a very important experience to get right on a breakfast platter. Please rethink the cooking process. The chef does not need to precook hash browns ½ hour in advance rendering them hard as a brick. Also, add some oil to give them a bit of flavor and moisture. Get this down and you’ll earn five stars. Ex chef here…
UPDATE: 1÷9÷15 at 9:57
I wanted to investigate further while enjoying a slice of their awesome toast. Folks here is the problem. As I write this there is a griddle half covered with hash browns that have not moved in 33 minutes. Any food item under heat for that long is going to taste burnt and dry as do these horrible has browns.
I’m documenting this in hopes Louisa’s will fix this huge problem.

Been here a few times, and while the food and prices are decent, the service is as slow as the reviews say. That being said, we will still be back because the breakfasts are quite tasty.

0 STARS BASED OFF HORRIBLE SERVICE!!!
Waited for 20minutes for somebody to take our order. The waiters were standing around not doing anything, so we decided to leave. The restaurant was NOT busy there were 2 other tables there and 4 visible workers. We ended up leaving and going somewhere else. Very disappointing.

Breakfast is just okay. Ordered the breakfast sandwich and was happy, but it didn’t blow me away. That said, I do really like the cozy environment Louisa’s has created and it’s a very comfortable place to sit and have a bite. I noticed a lot of people drinking coffee, but I’m not a coffee drinker myself so I didn’t partake with the rest of the patrons. I’m not in Eastlake often, but if I was, and the mood struck me, I wouldn’t be opposed to a return visit.

The baked goods here… awesome.
Service and staff? Great
The sausage gravy and biscuits? Incredible… all 3 trips here have been nothing short of great!

I first came here with kids seeking a baked good as an after-​school snack, but I keep returning because the service is friendly and welcoming and the food is DELICIOUS. My current addiction is their chopped salad and their soups are always fantastic. Can’t wait to try their brunch very soon. Oh… the kids love the cherry crumble bars and sugar cookies. Not too sweet and SO good!

Fast service. Good for breakfast. Big serving.
Theme is English Victorian Era but the staff looked hippie.

Overall a very good breakfast and lunch spot. The menu is somewhat limited for someone who doesn’t like one of the typical breakfast ingredients, and things like eggs and bacon appear in almost every dish. The food also tends to be a tad greasy, but very delicious. The pastries and coffee are
Delicious, and service was pretty good. A good place, but not amazing.

Our third time at Louisa’s. The first two times everything was great but the third time was NOT a charm.
Casey, our waiter, seemer annoyed that we had questions about the menu and I wanted to get some pastries to go but when I asked if they had any croissants with bacon he responded by saying «what you see is what we have». I walked back to my table and said «that’s ok we’re good»
We both had the market fish which was a rock fish sandwich. Tiny portion of fish and no seasoning.
I ordered an ice tea and it was so weak I couldn’t even drink it and told Casey it was too weak. It was on the bill $ 3.50. I said to Casey «I noticed the ice tea was on the bill» and he responded «yeah, but I’ll take it off if you insist» I said «ok»
Bottom line not impressed. And I don’t think we’ll be back. There are too many other great restaurants in Seattle to go to a restaurant with poor service and over priced mediocre food/​drinks.

This place is always the default meeting place for my girlfriend and I. Only been here for breakfast/​brunch, but they serve dinner as well. I always get the same thing, breakfast salad, and she gets the traditional breakfast. Their biscuits are huge, flaky and delicious. Their bloody marys are spicy and flavorful. Their quiche looks good too, but never actually tried it. Decent service and the food comes out fairly quickly. Definitely worth checking out if you haven’t.

I used to love Louisa’s, years ago. I really, really want to love Louisa’s now because I live a half a block away, but it’s SO OVERPRICED it’s laughable and the food is only mediocre. It’s cool they have gluten free and other options, but they charge as much (fucking $ 4!) for «upgrading» as an entire loaf of Rudy’s costs at the store. Then you get a teenie little sandwich that’s less than half the size of the regular you’ve upgraded. That kind of clues you into how concerned they actually are about their customer experience vs their profit; people who need gluten free are pretty trapped. It’s easy to spend like $ 50 + tip on two people for lunch and not get much for it.
The service is generally pretty bitchy. I’ve ordered coffee here several times — always decaf — and they seem mad when they consistently give me regular and have to redo it. It has a tense, snotty vibe for a place that can’t seem to make food and drinks that remotely live up to their prices. I think it’s only managed to be successful because Seattleites shell out huge money for lackluster food all over this city, it’s become a sort of norm, and because this part of Eastlake isn’t too convenient, particularly for breakfast.
No wonder the 14 Carrot Café is always slammed on the weekends.

Kind a a blah breakfast but I will give them four stars for service. My wife ordered oatmeal with the apples and walnuts figuring it would be healthy and asked for the brown sugar on the side. So strangely enough it tasted very sweet and sugary. We asked the waitress and they put apple cider in it, which was not listed on the menu. Needless to say that went half uneaten. Ham and Swiss croissant was way too rich and gloppy. Coffee was decent. Not the satisfying Sunday breakfast we were hoping for!

Yummmm… Had the meat quiche of the day and added on a side of hash browns, which was the perfect compliment! So pleased to see a nice spinach side salad arrive with my flood to green things up a little. Bottomless coffee cake in under $ 2, which you don’t see all that much any more. Service was pleasant and refills came by frequently. It was brunch time on a Friday… A perfect way to start the weekend! Their happily hour deals look pretty dang good, too.

Let me start by saying this review is based on the service. Not the food/​coffee.
Last night the bf and I were walking the neighborhood after a date and thought why not get some dessert at Louisa’s? We both love having Louisa’s coffee and pastries in the morning and always love saying hi to the sweet barista Karen!
We walked in and it was very quiet. We saw what treat we wanted to eat in the case and asked if we could sit to eat it.
The man who gave us the dessert on a plate did not say ONE WORD. Not «do you want something to drink?» «how is your night going» or better yet «OH I notice the table you are at has a used water glass and has not been cleaned… may I take that for you?». He literally said not a word and looked like the most grumpy man alive.
We ate our dessert and waited for the check. After waiting we politely made eye contact for the check. He walked over and did not say ONE WORD and looked so angry and mean. I gave my credit card and he still did not say anything. I have never been treated so poorly by a «server». We were having such a lovely evening until this man.
When we left we also exited the same time as another couple and they looked at us and said «that man is the WORST! Every single time we have been in here we hope he will never be our server because the ladies are so sweet!» We chatted and discovered we were all Eastlake locals as well. We also decided to not go back unless it is for coffee in the morning so we know he will not be there.
This man needs to get a new job. He is driving away loyal LOCAL customers. Not only is he extremely mean with a horrible scowl at all times he is also terrible at his job.
PLEASE LOUISA’S get rid of this guy! I really want to like you guys!

Dropped by with a friend to get brunch this past Saturday. Like most places I hit in Seattle (both on this visit and the previous 10+ others), you check all of the normal boxes here: chalkboard menu available, servers with varying levels of body art and tatts, sustainable/​free-​range/​gluten-​free/​vegan options up the wazoo, low-​key rock/​alternative soundtrack, not a child in sight.
The food here was great; I tried the massive french toast order that my friend got, plus my dish of the biscuits and gravy (the number-​one thing the menu recommends, so I had to try something with a biscuit in it) and a gluten-​free fudge brownie to finish. I tried a neighboring table’s slice of bacon (long story), and I had to agree with her – way too much pepper, which is hard to do… ruining a piece of bacon is sacrilege, so minus one star for that. Space is also a little tricky – as you can see, I eat out quite a bit, but I’ve never been sat at a communal table the size of the high table near the baked goods display where I basically had to talk to the other people at that table. I love people so I got over it, but if you don’t want to talk to someone less than an elbow’s length away, be sure to avoid that spot.
Prices were reasonable, but only after you factor in the serving size (i.e., $ 11 is way too much for an order of biscuits and gravy, but when you get a plate large enough to consider a doggie bag, $ 11 is totally fine). Service was friendly… and, a special note on the $ 8 mimosa – that puppy was big. Like, real big. Very happy with the value prop on the morning cocktails… good job people!

So in my last review I said that I haven’t had a meal here, only something to go. Well I came here for Sunday brunch this last weekend and had good food and service.
I arrived with my sister, her husband and my niece around 11:00 AM. The place was already packed and at least 5 other parties listed before us, but the wait was only about 20 minutes for a table. Once seated we were asked if we wanted any beverages and we all opted for coffee. So in the meantime my niece and I checked out what was in the bakery case real quick. There were huge cinnamon rolls, one variety topped with apples, various scones, croissants and breads. They didn’t have as much as I usually see during the weekday mornings before I get to work. But that was okay, I probably would be too full after our breakfast.
So I ended up ordering the biscuit breakfast sandwich which consisted of a big ass biscuit filled with garlic aioli, sliced tomato, two over easy eggs, cheddar cheese and three slices of crispy peppered bacon. I asked for sausage gravy to go on top which was extra. My sister had the smoked salmon hash, my niece had the biscuits and gravy and my brother in law had the classic breakfast with andouille sausage instead of the usual breakfast meats.
Our food took a little longer than I was used too, probably 30 minutes or so but I figured it was not bad considering it was pretty packed inside. We all enjoyed our meals. I think I was the only one that couldn’t finish my food. It was a huge biscuit sammy you know. Everyone else cleaned their plates! We all enjoyed our breakfast. The service was attentive, our cups of coffee always full and was checked on several times.
I was happy that I finally had a chance to eat here and I definitely will come back.

How I heard of this place: I first heard of Louisa’s when I was gifted the Entertainment Book several years ago. Since then, I have had my hair done at Bridge Blonde Salon next door, and walked/​jogged past it on numerous occasions on the way to or from visiting friends. Not until I met Nicky, one of the bakers, did I make it a point to find a reason to dine there!
Type of cuisine: Parisian-​inspired breakfast, lunch and dinner, with a refined blend of comfort food and northwest flare.
Ambiance: The corner café is spacious and rustic. Walk up to the order counter to place your orders, to gaze, speechless into the pastry case. Sample one of their many cookies availble (from peanut butter to chocolate chip walnut, from snickerdoodles to oatmeal raisin) or a pastry cut into bite sized pieces. Seating at wooden tables, with pew-​like benches on one side, chairs on the other, patrons find a space to work on laptops over coffee, read the paper over breakfast, or enjoy conversation with a dear friend over lunch. Tall ceilings and floor-​to-​ceiling windows bring in the feel of open spaces while allowing for much natural light to enter the casual, neighborhood premises.
What I ordered: Being my first time here, I wanted something satisfying and simple, and selected the Standard Breakfast ($ 6.50), two eggs (over easy) with Louisa’s potatoes and toast, served with a side of four slices of crispy to perfection bacon (for an additional ($ 2). My dining companion went for the lighter, more simple, yet very European Breakfast in Paris ($ 8.95), with a warm croissant, honey yogurt, sliced fruit and fresh butter. A side of bacon had to grace her plate, as well (for $ 3 more).
What I loved: The bacon. ’nuff said. The garlicky potatoes were tasty, the eggs soft and creamy, the bread fresh and hearty, but the perfectly crisped bacon stole the show.
Why I loved it: The cozy, neighborhood feel and the friendly staff make Louisa’s a great spot to stop in for a beverage, take a cookie to go, or enjoy the serenity and comfort, the ease and simplicity of the space while dining in.
Cost: Average ($ 6.95 — $ 9.95 per breakfast entrée)

Louisa’s boasts lots of natural light, beautiful wooden tables, comfortable atmosphere, and friendly hipster waiters that provide excellent service. Upon entering, I immediately felt cozy and welcome. Loved how «PNW» this place felt.
Met one of my college roommates here for a quick brunch. She ordered the tomato basil bisque (soup of the day) with a generous slice of toast. I ordered the salmon hash with a side of hashbrowns (potatoes, more potatoes) with eggs over easy. #yolkporn
The spiced chai latte wasn’t very spiced and more on the sweet side. Coffee was good. Biscuits are made in house and are large and in charge!
Seems as if there are quite a few regulars, and you’ll get a mix of people noming and noshing with others or quietly on their laptops. The table next to us was a silent writing group, casually sipping on teas and writing in their notebooks.
Loved the Pacific NorthWest menu, solid brunch options, and the lovely look and feel.
This was the perfect brunch on a rainy day.