Louie's Restaurant — Restaurant in Waukegan

It's not too often my family & I step into a restaurant and are treated like regulars. The last week of this past October marked the first time dining in since the pandemic started.

But I think that was mainly due to the fact that our first son who was 4 years old the last time we dined in used to get whiny because the dimness of the venue spooked him.

I'm no stranger to this place and in fact I first started dining here around 30 years ago. My father who worked at Victory Hospital from 1991 -2007 got me hooked on this place.

I asked my wife if we could finally make a return to this gem being I've been longing for some Poor Man's Lobster and homemade breadsticks. Besides the homey feeling the Patterson brothers provide the moment you walk in, those are the 2 things I look forward to at Louie's the most.

I've had their fried chicken on special on Sunday before which is really good, love their meatball sandwich, their pizza is awesome but the Poor Man's on special every Friday accompanied by their heavenly breadsticks are the sole purpose of my visit.

In fact, easily 4 out of every 5 visits here have been on Friday nights for that wonderful codfish. Told my wife that we're gonna start dining in here a bit more often again.

Whenever I've walked in here, it's almost like something you've seen in The Godfather or Goodfellas, that old time gangster hangout vibe but I absolutely love it here.

I believe this building is one of the oldest in Waukegan and the Patterson family have been in business with this bustling restaurant going on 45 years this year. I really miss George, God rest his soul.

A real find in the city of Waukegan and truly one of my very favorite restaurants of all time. Great food at still reasonable prices, always friendly service in an old classic setting with a nice bar that's always kept very clean.

I wish the Pattersons continued success & prosperity and hope their business stays booming for...

What started out as Louie's Pizza, has turned into a family owned restaurant that has been in the Patterson family for about 48 years. Billy and Tony now run the place, and not much on the menu has changed.

Signature dishes are lasagna, poor man's lobster, all-you-can-eat-fried-chicken Sundays, Angel on Horseback, Devil on Horseback (you won't be disappointed-- the french bread with Italian beef {or without), topped with tomato, provolone cheese and bacon bits. Their salads are excellent including the Chicken Caesar and the Antipasto Salad. The bomber sandwich (Italian Sausage with secret marinara sauce served on french bread with peppers) and the Meatball Sandwich are top notch.

The freshly made bread sticks are worth the trip served with all entrees.

There are only six Italian dishes and they are all top notch. They are spaghetti, mostaccioli and ravioli with your choice of meat or red sauces, plus lasagna and chicken parmigiana and veal parmigiana which is my favorite.

The fried perch sandwich is very good. They also have a french fried shrimp plate, and a fresh walleye plate.

They have several choices of sandwiches and wrap, plus ribs, buckets of chicken to go, and plus several salads with homemade dressings made daily. Their thousand island is the best I have ever had, and their Greek house dressing is...

We dined in on June 29th....had been coming to this establishment for over 30 years with always excellent service, staff and food! This was our second time here since the new owners took over and it was a horrible experience. We waited by the door to be seated for 10 minutes, once seated we waited another 15 minutes before the waitress came by to even take a drink order. We ordered 2 entree meals and were not asked if we wanted soup or salad which is part of the meal...I had to ask if we get a salad. The waitress had zero personality, never came by to see if we wanted another drink and only checked in with us after we got our food. The food was not good, the pizza crust was overdone and burnt on the bottom...the replacement pizza was not much better. The chicken in the chicken parmigiana was dry. To top if off, our friend ordered a virgin bloody Mary and when the bill came we were charged $9.00! For a drink with no alcohol and is basically tomato juice! Mentioned this to the waitress and she came back with an adjusted bill for $2.00 off. So, the virgin bloody Mary was $7.00....the same price as my drink with alcohol in it! That is price gouging. We will...