Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Louie's Cajun Kitchen & Bourbon Bar

THE BUZZ ON LOUIE'S CAJUN KITCHEN & BOURBON BAR


Happy Hour: Tuesday – Friday 4:00 -6:30
Food:
 $3 Fried Okra, Fried Grits, Hushpuppies, Red Beans and Rice and Garlic Fries
 5$ Boudin Meatballs, Bib Shrimp and Grits, Chicken Wings, Nachos, Andouille Sausage

Drinks:
 $3.50 well drinks, beer, house wine
$5: Cosmo, Lemon Drop, Mojito, Margarita, Whiskey Sour, Up Martini

Louie's Cajun Kitchen & Bourbon Bar Website
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Julie's Review

 
I like the ambience of Louie’s Cajun Kitchen on Church Street.  The restaurant formerly known as Clouds has transformed into a New Orleans hot spot.  The walls are covered with colorful murals depicting jazz musicians and mardi gras décor.  The owner, bartenders and waitresses wear Mardi Gras beads.  It’s a lively engaging atmosphere with a full bar.




Josephine was already there when I arrived.  I was really glad that the happy hour lasted until 6:30.  It can be really difficult to get to a place before 6:00 when you are coming from over the hill.  That extra half an hour can really make a difference. 
Louie’s offers some reasonable prices and interesting dishes.    The well drinks, beer and wine are only $3.50.  I asked the owner who was taking our drink order if I could get a well bloody mary at the happy hour price and he said sure.  Now, I love a place you can get a bloody mary for $3.50 – that’s cheaper than the Crow’s Nest! 

 

When Josh, our bartender, brought over a nice tall spicy bloody mary, I knew I was going to like this place.  


Josephine had been before and had some food recommendations – I got the bowl of red beans and rice and BBQ shrimp over smoked gouda grits; Josephine ordered the fried okra and chicken wings.  I loved the varied menu and definitely will come back to try their hushpuppies, Andouille sausage and fried grits.

  
When the food arrived we were not disappointed!  Jo knew the BBQ shrimp over gouda grits was too sweet for her taste, but I loved them.  The red beans and rice were a little bland for me, but luckily they have a wonderful selection of hot sauces – all my favorites. 





 I loved the fried okra – I would definitely get that again, though I wasn’t as impressed with Jo’s chicken wings, though she liked them and she is picky about her wings.  We dug in and completely enjoyed the food.



Next I decided to try one of their specialty drinks so I had a Lemon Drop, rimmed with sugar and a nice twist of lime.  Delicious.  Josephine was enjoying her wine.  We talked and laughed and got that nice happy hour buzz.
The service was not very attentive.  It was steady, but not that busy at the bar. I was disappointed that we weren’t offered Mardi Gras necklaces.  Really?  The J & J don’t get necklaces for the blog?  Since our motto is "show us what you got, we’ll give you a shot” I usually expect superior service.  I liked everything else about Louie’s however.

They give you that extra half hour until 6:30, (though I am always in favor of one weekend day, say Sunday).  The prices were great; just what you want for happy hour and the food was interesting and delicious.  Love the ambience of the place and the drinks were great.   Give me a necklace and I will be back for more!

 
Julie’s rating: 4 shots!

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Jo’s review


Louie’s Cajun Kitchen and Bourbon Bar, located in downtown Santa Cruz, is the place to be if you’re looking for a taste of New Orleans. It has all the qualities of a fun New Orleans restaurant. This place use to be Clouds restaurant, known for their specialty Martini’s, but the owner wanted to change it up a bit and it seems to be working for him. 



As soon as you walk in the place is full of color and flair. Beautiful and colorful designs of masks, singers and musicians cover the walls and the piano at the front is ready for action.  The lively jazz playing in the background gets you set in the mood to party, and at any given time you’ll see someone at the piano playing away. 



 
They have a good size bar and tables in front and around the bar for light dining, an elevated dining area, and more tables in the back. Everyone seems very friendly and happy.


  
I arrive before Julie so I start clicking away on my phone.  It is the first time I’m using my phone for the picture taking, I usually have my camera so I apologize for the quality right off the bat. Though the place screams have a Hurricane or choose something from the 50 different bourbons they have I go for wine. The happy hour deal which is Tues. – Friday 4-6:30 offers well drinks, beer, and house wines for $3.50, $5.00  Cosmo, Lemon Drop, Mojito, Margarita, Whiskey Sour, Up Martini and appetizers for $3.00 and $5.00.


 
My usual bartender is not working today which is a real dis-appointment, I always like visiting with Jeff, but the other bartender Josh is very friendly and willing to have his picture taken.



Julie arrives and we quickly start looking over the appetizer menu and Julie starts off with a well bloody mary. I was surprised to see it arrive in a full pint size glass, nice. Julie asked for water as she always does but I did not have to ask for mine, it came at the same time the wine came, a plus. For food we decide on fried Okra, chicken wings of course and I opt for fried instead of buffalo style (gotta go with the theme), shrimp & creamy smoked Gouda grits, and red beans and rice with Andouille sausage.

As we are catching up on each other’s lives the food starts to arrive. The fried okra is a generous portion, bite size pieces with a very tasty spicy light breading and a spicy Cajun aioli sauce. All of the portions are pretty generous for appetizers, the shrimp and grits look great, could use a few more shrimp but it has a tangy bbq sauce on it and yummy grits. The wings are good, very moist light and airy with a light breading on them. The red beans and rice are good, the beans are a little mushy, I would of liked them to of held up better but good flavor and a good amount of sausage. 


 
We were munching away and working on our second drink by now, Julie switching to a vodka sour. Enjoying ourselves very much.
So all in all it was a great happy hour, the food was good, and drinks were good and the folks working very friendly. Louie’s is a great place to hang out and have fun at.

 
Jo’s rating: 4 shots



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