Lou's Barton Springs — Restaurant in Austin

The food was pretty good. I had a burger and fries, which were standard burger and fries. My friend had a BLT which he said was "very very good." So, no complaints there.

You seat yourself, and, since it wasn't busy, this was easy. Then, you scan a bar code to get the menu and order on your phone. There is no 5G service there, so the menu was slow to download on a weak 4G signal. There was a Lou's Guest Wifi, but no signs to indicate the password to get onto the wifi. All of this takes place with no interaction with the people who work there. When placing your order, you pre-pay. This includes a tip. I should have put zero and then put cash on the table after, because, when you prepay for service, you get no service. The tip is supposed to be a reward for excellent service, at least that's how I was raised. Anyway, the ordering screen defaults to a 22% tip, with choices for 20% and 25%. Tipflation is really bugging me since the pandemic, but that's my issue. I chose 20%, because no one seated us, no one took our order, no one came around to answer questions about the menu or make recommendations, no one told us the wifi password.

It didn't take long for the food to come out, and someone did serve it to us. She also gave us a thing to get out of the parking garage for free. That was our one and only interaction with the staff. It lasted less than 30 seconds, and that's what I got for my $7.58 tip. They never came back to check on how the food was. They never asked if we needed anything else. When my ice tea was empty, I did get a refill, but had to walk my glass over to the bar to get it. It was a 12 ounce glass, so it didn't last long either.

The restaurant is nice and clean, airy and comfortable. I liked the atmosphere. I'm sure the location has expensive rent, so I'm not surprised the meals were over $20 each for simple food. The one thing they could improve, and it needs a LOT of improvement, is the service. While the staff were friendly, this was 99% a...

The parking was the worst thing about this place. The garage is apparently paid by the restaurant, but unfortunately, no server explained what we needed for the parking garage. We figured our digital receipt would have whatever proof needed, but we were wrong. There is a QR code given to you for the garage (we were never given one and found this out after leaving by a sign hidden near the garage) if there was not a valet by the gates who got us through, we would've had to pay 18 bucks for parking. Getting the worst out of the way, the food is good-not great for the price - but good. It is priced high for the taste and came out to be around 50 for 2. When walking in, you seat yourself and order from a QR code on the table. No server comes out to welcome you until after you've ordered your food. It is jarring to have no service as a new customer and then be asked by the online menu to tip. Who am I tipping in this case? Seems like I'm giving the business more money when they've cut labor... I don't mean to seem harsh, the staff are quite nice when you meet them. I think the business should change how it operates to have staff seat you as you come in. The atmosphere is nice and chairs and tables are placed well for space. Honestly, if the prices were lower and servers were present, I would be more inclined to come again. But until then I'd rather just go to Dan's or Willy's...

Okay I don’t know what stick is up these low star reviews asses, but Lou’s off Barton is fantastic - food, staff, environment, ordering system, speed of service, the works. Don’t trust a cumquat who doesn’t know how the food & bev industry works. We came after some disc golf on a Sunday at the peak of lunch, and everything was amazing. Bartender lady - super nice. Manager was awesome, made sure we were taken care of. The girl that delivered our food was the sweetest. Lil’ Latino man came and filled up our waters and cleared every empty plate any chance he got. THE FOOD, chefs mf kiss. I only got pictures of two food items because it was so good we couldn’t wait, but get these things and you will not be sorry: -watermelon & feta 👏 didn’t know I needed that combination in my life -THE WINGS 👏 perfectly tossed and meaty and crunchy and just yum -pulled chicken sandwich 👏 do yourself a favor and get the piri piri sauce with it -rotisserie potato ball things 👏😩 I was full and still ate them ALL. They put these whole cloves of cooked garlic that spread across them like butter. -mama got the rotisserie salad and it was the perfect balance of hardy filling healthy goodness -drinks: THE FRIGGIN HORCHATA HOLY CRAP. The watermelon marg and raspberry fritz were perfection for the 95+ degree fake Fall weather we had that day.

STICK IT TO THE MON, LOU’s. You’re...