Louie's Bar — Restaurant in San Francisco

A hidden gem in SoMa for food and drinks!

Came here on a Tuesday night with a couple of friends to catch up over drinks and snacks. We ordered a few things to share and enjoyed our evening.

Ambiance - 5 stars. This place is cute and cozy. Open bar towards the front against exposed brick with a room at the bar and a bunch of high tables. Not too loud, not overly quiet, and a pretty friendly crowed.

Burrata - 4 stars. A scoop of burrata, super creamy, a little salty, and full of elasticity. Served with slices of buttery bread, toasted on one side, soft inside but crispy around the edges. Accompanied by frisee, a few pieces of dill, and some kind of sautéed stuff... leeks? Olive? Caper? Not sure, but it was flavorful and textured and brought some earthier flavors to the burrata.

Sweet Lou's Bangkok wings - 5 stars. Wings coated in Chinese black vinegar, thai byrd chilis, and sesame seeds. So sticky, so sweet, and a bit spicy. Heavy on the vinegar and sesame flavors, perfectly fried and crispy, and a decent amount of meat on the bones. The only thing kind of weird was that the wings weren't really trimmed, they were still all put together with the tips, but I didn't mind.

Chef's fully loaded fries - 3 stars. Fries topped like a fully loaded baked potato. Sour cream, bacon bits, chives, etc. The dish was ok... I think it might have been good for other people but baked potatoes aren't my thing, so I wasn't really into it. I would have preferred cheese fries or chili fries but if you're into baked potato toppings, this is probably a great dish for you.

Service - 5 stars. Our table server was attentive, kind, and made a few good recommendations. She kept our drinks full, our tummies even more full, and though she wasn't overly friendly, she did a great job.

In sum, I'm glad I checked this place out. Now that I know about it, it's going to quickly...

Don't let this place fools you - even it's successfully trying mimicking dive bars and belongs to same "Pour Guys" who owns the best SF dive bar (in my humble opinion) "Tempest", it's completely other atmosphere inside, even with almost the same type of music. Clientele consists of modern age yuppies, venture capitalists and other tech bro's with their perfect haircuts (sorry, but that stands out somehow). Even the guy who sits next to you, wearing his snapback or trucker hat (!) backwards, funny/ironic t-shirt or hoodie is not an average blue collar - but, hey, he sure can pass some investment advices on next hotter than hot IPO's listings if you, somehow, brake through his mental blocks. Well, I've not even tried, so leaving that to you. But don't forget - they're men (and women) who live in that surrounding high castles on Main St, Millennium Tower and all in-between in Financial District. Well, enough with my alcohol talking, because rotational drafts here is at the same high standards with "Tempest", especially "Louie's" still carries that 17.6% Imperial Stout what "Tempest" lost right during the pandemic. Burger was really tasty for it's bare minimum of $16. But, boy, be prepared for other type of experience, artisanal cocktails and hard liquors, and $100+ tabs all around you from not-your-average not-dive-bar. "Tempest" is still the best, "Louie's" is different, better or worse - that's for you to decide....

We went Louie’s about an hour ago because we wanted late night food and one of our friends recommended Louie’s burger. A staff asked for ID before he sat us down. My ID expired. I didn’t want to order alcohol and just wanted to have late night burger. I thought it’s a restaurant so it’s ok to just sit down and have a burger without a valid ID. Still I was asked to leave, the staff didn’t ask if I was going to drink or not, he just asked me to leave because I didn’t have a valid ID for a burger. We were shocked, we didn’t fight and just left(our friends stayed and they were served food). I didn’t know since when in San Francisco you needed a valid ID to get a bite. Since my husband was the only African-American at the scene and both of us were asked to leave just because my ID was expired (for food), I hardly to not to assume it’s discrimination. We will still find a chance to try the burger since we live two blocks away, but hopefully we won’t be checked ID for food. Anytime we would follow legal procedures but we doubt if it’s a legal move to ask customers to show...