Restaurant Review - Bar Louie

Bar Louie

Patriot Place
232 Patriot Place
Foxborough, MA 02035

(508) 623-1195

Black Friday.  The traditional start to the Christmas shopping season.  With some retailers opening up on Thanksgiving Day (yuk- a family day), there may be a diminishing to the whole concept of the mobs out on the day after Thanksgiving.

Nonetheless, Black Friday is forecast to be the busiest shopping day of the year.  (The “Best” Days to shop are Tuesday November 27, Monday November 26 and Wednesday November 28 – ranked from least to most retail foot traffic.)  So as many start hitting the malls, Patriot Place will also be on the list including a place called Bar Louie.

Bar Louie is located across the street from Davio’s Foxborough.  Don’t make the same mistake I did…”across the street” is still within Patriot Place and not across Route 1 (I ended up in Sharon before I could turn around.  Argh!)

Entering Bar Louie immediately gave me a positive impression.   It’s a large facility, bright with nice earth tone finishes.

As I beat my buddy to the place, I sat down with the large drink menu and started a debate. 

While it was rather late in the day, and arguably after Bloody Mary time, “The Ultimate Bloody Louie” caught my eye.  “Absolute Peppar, Guinness Stout, Tabasco, bloody mary mix and the signature garnish.”  My initial reaction was concern over the Guinness, and was assured I wouldn’t taste it.  I must admit, it was quite refreshing.

My friend arrived an quickly ordered some Bavarian Pretzel Sticks, with cinnamon butter, queso and honey mustard.  The pretzels were served piping hot, and very soft. They were arguably the hit of the night.

With that, I had to deal with a call for work, and my friend took the opportunity to order some other apps.

We had:

• Potstickers – pan-seared pork dumplings, with Szechwan sauce – decent, while not particularly tasty
• Loaded Tots – with queso, giardiniera, bacon and scallions – a blob of tater tots glopped together on a plate (the tots were all stuck together….)
• Bacon Cheeseburger Sliders – Applewood smoked bacon, cheddar, pickles, topped with fried onion strings – this had such small burgers on the tiny buns we reminisced about Clara “Where’s the Beef?” Peller.

While I had switched to water, my buddy kept trying different drinks (including old standbys like a margarita) and never found one quite right.

Overall, my enthusiasm over my first impression, my initial beverage and the pretzels quickly faded.  

At the end of the evening, we both declared Bar Louie an amber light.  It was frustrating because of what could have been….and ultimately Bar Louie missed with mediocrity. 

Hours

Daily     11 a.m. - 1 a.m.

Bar Louie gets an AMBER LIGHT…Use Caution

About the RAG scale:

       Green Light – Go and enjoy

       Amber Light – Use caution

       Red Light – Save your time and money

The Author

Gary Kelley has lived in Westborough since 1994. His reviews are what he would tell friends, and are not an academic analysis. You can follow him @glkelley or www.garylkelley.com