Louie's California Bistro

Review summary

1. B

   Bob Jr.

   Central Coast

   139 reviews

   4.0

   139 reviews

   Dined on November 2, 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 5

   My wife and I very much enjoy dining at Louie's The food and the atmosphere/location/ambiance are great.
   

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2. D

   David

   Las Vegas

   1 review

   vip
   3.0

   1 review

   Dined on November 1, 2024

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 1

   We were only ones there, my pizza tasted like a frozen pizza, they noted online they had certain entrees they didn't have and they charged us for splitting entrees when each person had their own and didn't remove the charge when asked
   

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3. B

   Bob

   Central Coast

   4 reviews

   3.0

   4 reviews

   Dined on October 31, 2024

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 2
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 3

   Having been before and had a very positive experience this time was disappointing. The chicken piccata wasn’t really a chicken piccata and was so/so. The cioppino was mediocre.
   

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4. A

   Ann

   Sacramento

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on October 28, 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Wonderful food and great service. The Flourless chocolate cake was easily for 2 if not 3 or 4. Very rich and yummy!
   

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5. C

   Catherine

   San Francisco

   2 reviews

   4.0

   2 reviews

   Dined on October 11, 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 4
   4. Ambience 3

   Joli établissement un peu en retrait des quartiers touristiques. Galerie autour du restaurant où il est possible de manger à l’extérieur. Carte resserrée mais intéressante et bons conseils du serveur.
   

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6. R

   Robyn

   Orange County

   21 reviews

   vip
   1.0

   21 reviews

   Dined on October 6, 2024

   1. Overall 1
   2. Food 1
   3. Service 1
   4. Ambience 5

   I can’t tell you how disappointed we are with our experience last night. We sat at our table for more than 30 minutes without being acknowledged by our server. The host and hostess were wonderful and seated us promptly. They brought bread and water and then absolutely nothing. We waited about 20 minutes trying to be patient and then asked the hostess if she could let our waitress know we were ready to order. Still nothing. We ended up walking out after sitting there ignored for 35 minutes. Can’t rate the food because we didn’t even get to try it. Probably won’t go back
   

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7. M

   Matt

   Central Coast

   1 review

   5.0

   1 review

   Dined on October 5, 2024

   1. Overall 5
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 5
   4. Ambience 5

   Louie's Bistro is open again and our experience there was just wonderful. The new owner was extremely gracious as we had a gift card for the restaurant we had received while the restaurant was under the previous ownership. Although not obligated to honor the gift card, they kindly offered us a 25% discount on our meal. The food and service were stellar, we couldn't have been happier! Louis his back, and they are better than ever.
   

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8. L

   Len

   Central Coast

   5 reviews

   vip
   4.0

   5 reviews

   Dined on September 29, 2024

   1. Overall 4
   2. Food 5
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 5

   We were there on an evening where they had more customers than they could deal with due to their process of ramping up staff after being closed for sometime due to a lost liquor license, now restored. In spite of this, they were very gracious, and the food was outstanding. Fortunately, our patience paid off.
   

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9. J

   Jonathan

   Los Angeles

   3 reviews

   3.0

   3 reviews

   Dined on September 29, 2024

   1. Overall 3
   2. Food 3
   3. Service 3
   4. Ambience 5

   the ambience and attitude are superlative. Food quality is excellent. Salads are masterful. Appetizers and dishes are quality ingredients but need some help with flavor and sometimes texture. Great focused wine list. Something for everyone. Diverse choices of quality mid priced labels across a number of types of wine. And even a good Malbec. Not great not bad. Nicely designed dishes and quality ingredients. They just need a little More time to perfect things. In fairness, they were understaffed and very busy that evening and we were on a deadline. The salads are excellent. Quality ingredients, fresh, beautifully ensembled, and delicious dressings not overpowering. The crab / scallop cakes are tasteless and tough, but 100% shellfish. The sauce was ok but didn’t carry the dish. A little more seasoning and some Breadcrumbs would Go a long way. The bread basket was stale and pauce. Not a good way to start thinfs given the price point. The shrimp angel Hair came out with linguini, the shrimp were generous, the presentation was nice but the flavor wasn’t there. It was in a kind of bland tomato sauce. The breaded fish filet was fresh, nicely cooked But again not flavorful. The filet was a quality meat but not a good cut. It had fat which needed to have been trimmed, and had a very thin flat side as if someone decided to put the last cut in, rather than slice it up for the stroganoff or the tidbit appetizer. Flavor was so so, the potato cake again needed seasoning and they should decide is it mashed potatoes with a crust or a crunchy potato pancake. I like the owner a lot. There’s a lot of potential here but they need some time to mature and work out the kinks. For someone less demanding than I am, it’s a good bet. It is a beautiful setting, a marvelous owner, and a lot of sincerity. I’ll be keeling an eye on how they mature and hope they succeed.
   

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10. LL

    LiLi

    Los Angeles

    21 reviews

    5.0

    21 reviews

    Dined on September 29, 2024

    1. Overall 5
    2. Food 5
    3. Service 5
    4. Ambience 5

    It was the first time my husband and I ate at Louie’s and it didn’t disappoint. Amazing tomato and gorgonzola salad to start. My husband had chicken piccata and I had the salmon. The salmon was grilled to perfection. My husband’s chicken piccata was accompanied by angel hair pasta. He gave it a big thumb’s up! Louie’s is in the Upham bed and breakfast and close to downtown Santa Barbara but far enough away to easily find parking. We will be back!
    

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