Bar Louie

Ratings Guide:
Half handshake, half chest-bump hug – 5 stars
Chest bump – 4 stars
Fist bump – 3 stars
High five – 2 stars
Handshake – 1 star
Fone and fone – 0 stars
Manly ass slap – ½ star


Restaurant: Bar Louie
Location: All over the place


The second installment of Fat Tuesday took place after work at Bar Louie. Of all the great places to eat in this city, why Bar Louie? Because they have $1 burgers on Tuesday night. That, and they have $1 burgers on Tuesday night.

Now, you can find Bar Louie all over the city, since it is a citywide chain (like Giordano’s). And I’m assuming most of them have $1 burger night at some point during the week. At the Bar Louie in Wicker Park/Bucktown (on Damen, just north of North Ave.), the special event takes place every Tuesday.

Now, you may be skeptical of the whole $1 burger night thing. The burgers can’t be that big. They charge you out the wazoo for extras or something. There’s a limit to how many burgers you can order. Well, there is no catch. At least not really.

The burgers are big. At least ¼ lb, but I think even a little bigger than that. They are the same size as the burgers you would order off the menu on any other night. It is a big, fulfilling burger. So there’s no catch there.

You can order as many as you want. I ordered three one time. Then I ordered a stomach pump. Then I ordered a defibrillator. If you can order more than three, you’re my hero. Even if you can finish three, you’re still my hero. Two is doable, but not really worth the way you feel afterward. Of course I ordered two on Fat Tuesday. Because I’m fat. And the great thing about $1 burger night is if you don’t finish your burger, you don’t really care, ‘cause it only costs you a dollar.

Now, they do charge you for extras on the burger. Lettuce, pickles, ketchup, and mustard are all free. But, cheese, other toppings (onions, tomato, etc…) cost you 25 cents a pop. Which really isn’t bad. I usually get cheese and onions, so each burger is costing me $1.50. But then again, sometimes I’ll keep it plain, just so I get the satisfaction of eating a $1 burger.

The only real “catch” is that you can’t have the burger made to order. So, where I always get my meat cooked medium rare/rare, they only serve these burgers medium/medium well. But really, it’s not that big a deal. And again, they’re only $1, so who cares?

And you know what? The burgers are good. And they taste even better when you’re paying only $1 (or $1.50 in my case). It really might be the best deal in town. Plus, with the money you save you can add some sides and drinks. And if you get a side, go with the tater-tots. They’re awesome. And they’re fried. And you can turn to your friend and say, “Are you gonna eat your tots?” Then you can grab them and stuff them in your pocket and save them for later. And they’re served with a spicy little dipping sauce that is great. It’s kind of like a spicy cheesy mayonnaise or something. Or not. All I really know is that it’s good.

At the end of the night, I had two burgers (could only finish 1.5 of them), some tater-tots, two beers, and only ended up paying $18, and that includes tip and tax. It’s a steal. And if you’re fresh out of college or short on cash, you can pull this little trick – order two burgers with nothing on them, drink water, and order no sides or anything. Then, eat one burger, and get a to go box for the other one. You end up paying $5 (with tip and tax), and you get two dinners out of it. Or a dinner and a lunch. Either way you’re coming out ahead.

And while I’m here, I’ll also mention that I really like the food at Bar Louie. They do have pretty good bar food. I’ve had a little of everything – steak sandwich, apps, chicken sandwich, burgers, Philly cheese steak, etc - and everything is really tasty. When you’re looking for a laid back place with decent food, I’m gonna go ahead and recommend it. My only knock is that I wish there weren’t so many of them so they didn’t feel so generic. But, you consistently get good stuff, so it’s a tradeoff.

Bar Louie gets a fist bump with a manly ass slap.

Fat Tuesday gets two heart attacks and several trips to the john.



Got a question? Send it to born2fork@yahoo.com.