Bar Louie

Bar LouieBar Louie
Bar LouieBar Louie
Bar, Eatery

1114 N Water St
Milwaukee, Wisconsin, 53202-3108
United States

// CLOSED //
PLACE STATS
Average:
3.37
Reviews:
6
Ratings:
16
pDev:
21.07%
View: Place Reviews
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
 
Rated: 3.58 by BarrelAgedG from California

Feb 07, 2016
 
Rated: 3.38 by Barnoloid from Illinois

Jan 11, 2016
 
Rated: 3.63 by Angerhaus from Rhode Island

Nov 25, 2015
Photo of 03fatboy
Rated by 03fatboy from Wisconsin

3.03/5  rDev -10.1%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3 | selection: 3 | food: 3.25
Nice Downtown Place With Outside Dinning
Jul 12, 2015
 
Rated: 3.94 by Hendrick24 from Wisconsin

Jun 17, 2015
 
Rated: 1.24 by andrewrutman from England

Nov 10, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by Eman17 from Illinois

Oct 07, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by TX-Badger from Texas

Jun 10, 2014
 
Rated: 3.5 by Klinesausage from Wisconsin

Nov 25, 2013
 
Rated: 3 by beerwolf77 from Wisconsin

Oct 14, 2013
Photo of cwcolby74
Reviewed by cwcolby74 from Indiana

3.7/5  rDev +9.8%
vibe: 4 | quality: 3.5 | service: 3.5 | selection: 4
I more or less liked this place. They had 20 or so taps, a decent selection. More stuff in bottle, although I couldn't tell you what so it couldn't have been that great.

The bartender was a nice guy who was more or less knowledgable about beer (at least Wisconsin beer).

It's a big place, lots of seating, looks upscale. It's not a sports bar type of restaurant. Plenty of very attractive waitresses and hostesses.

I would go back, but I'd be more interested in experiencing some of the other places in Milwaukee.
Mar 30, 2011
Photo of Beerfayce
Reviewed by Beerfayce from Wisconsin

3/5  rDev -11%
vibe: 3 | quality: 3 | service: 3.5 | selection: 2.5 | food: 3
I will on occasion visit Bar Louie when I find myself in the downtown area with some time to kill, although my impetus for visiting has always been the Happy Hour which features $2 (+ tax) tappers- observe the glassware as I believe they use 12oz glasses. Anyway...

Bar Louie is a rather large bar in a part of town (Water St. in particular) that favors such places over the neighborhood/watering hole types. The inside is full of dark wood with a high ceiling; couches and lounge seating in the very front, large booths and an array of tables in the rear of the main room with a rectangular bar dividing the two. There is at least one smaller room for groups and a substantial patio and firepit are available as well. Flat-screen TV's are prevalent as well as a smattering of advertisements and simple decor. The main room can get very loud as it fills up, and it seems to be often quite boisterous. Judging by the female servers and bartenders, the establishment doesn't discourage revealing dress, take that as you will. Expect "the game" to be on, and the alternative/college rock/pop/R&B to be loud.
The bar does feature 40 taps, many of them local (Lakefront, New Glarus, O'so, Sprecher) and many of them craft. Not a lot of adventure on tap, but enough that I will come back for a Moon Man when I am in the neighborhood. Bottle selection is not extensive, and I am not sure about wine/spirits. The service has generally been pretty good, with attention to keeping the patron happy. The bar has always been well-staffed and the kitchen prompt, even when busy; Bar Louie knows how to serve a crowd.
Food offerings are decent, a little pricey but well-made with burgers and sandwiches as the driving menu items. There are some entrees as well as pizzas, and a number of interesting appetizer options (seem to be catering more to the crowd that wants to drink and share appetizers when they go out). I don't make it a point to come here for food however, there are better places to eat nearby.
Overall this is not my kind of place (and I don't think I am in their "target" group), but the offerings are not bad. Stop by for happy hour if you are so inclined, but if you finish a Lakefront tour I recommend Wolski's or another corner bar for your free tapper.
Jul 02, 2010
Photo of bonk0076
Reviewed by bonk0076 from Wisconsin

2.35/5  rDev -30.3%
vibe: 2 | quality: 2.5 | service: 2.5 | selection: 2.5 | food: 1.5
This place is okay at best. The problem I have with this place is that it tries to hard to do a little bit of everything. I like the decor of the place, but what drags down the score for me is how they turn the place into a dance club at nights. The place gets pretty trashy. The food is okay at best, and the service can be slow at times. They do have a decent selection of tap beers for a place that's just going to thug it up eventually. Its nice to get Delirium and Rogue in a place like this...
Dec 04, 2009
Photo of sweemzander
Reviewed by sweemzander from Illinois

3.9/5  rDev +15.7%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4 | food: 3
We walk in to get a free beer via a Lakefront coupon. . . sweet!

A large bar awaits that has about 40 taps to choose from! Behind the bar sits a comfortable looking sitting area and restaurant style seating. A fun looking place that has all the really basic beer selection to some more fun local (WI) fair as well.

The bartender was very helpful, friendly, and open to discussion to shoot the shit with. He/she even gave me a free sampler of a beer I was curious about free of charge! Overall, a fun place to hang out if I ever was able to go back there again.
Sep 12, 2009
Photo of BeerFMAndy
Reviewed by BeerFMAndy from Wisconsin

4.03/5  rDev +19.6%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4.5 | service: 4 | selection: 3.5
While waiting for the Lakefront tour we decided to head over to Bar Louie, the closest (to my knowledge) bar that, with the Lakefront Free Beer coupon, gets you a free Lakefront beer!

Shazam! Free Beer!

We park by MSOE (thank god my Jeep wasn't broken into again) and stroll down to Water Street around the giant Harley thing that's going on blocking a lot of Water.

We get in and its pretty empty at 1:30 in the afternoon. The giant U shaped bar has a few people scattered at it so we grab a few seats, get carded, and get our free beer.

The center of the bar has 40 taps with 20 different ones per side. A decent selection for what I had expected of this place. Almost all craft brew on the taps. Despite the lack of clientele the bar tender seemed busy as hell. She also probably knew that we wouldn't be getting anything besides our free beer so I can't blame her for not being attentive.

The topic of discussion here was the interior of the building. Dark wood paneled the walls about 10 feet high with old smoking pictures making it resemble a gentleman's bar. Above the 10 foot mark there was a weird strip about two feet tall of green tile that went around everything. Above that was exposed brick and duct work painted in a cream color that looked really industrial. To me it was haphazardly put together looking but my interior designer girlfriend insisted it was nicely done.

We sat inside at the bar but it looked like there was an outdoor bar/rock garden thing that seemed pretty cool. Overall I liked the place but didn't have food or pay for a beer so I can't really comment on prices here.
Sep 07, 2009
Photo of getch
Reviewed by getch from Wisconsin

4.08/5  rDev +21.1%
vibe: 4 | quality: 4 | service: 4 | selection: 4.5 | food: 3.5
a-its a good atmosphere, little higher class and both locations are fun, but the one in downtown milwaukee is more active.

-good quality and great service,

-service is very good, but when things get rocking at about 8 service tends to lack just depending where you sit.

s-awesome selection of brews on tap!!! at least 10, but compared to other bars in the area beer is more expensive

f-food is good and depending on your state it has good drunk food as well

v-awesome selection and is a bar where if you want a more relax atmosphere a good place to go, yet not boring.

a good bar to either start out a night or finish a night
Oct 17, 2007
Bar Louie in Milwaukee, WI
Place rating: 3.37 out of 5 with 16 ratings