Review: Cafe Lou Lou in the Highlands

Cafe Lou Lou's Turkey Delight sandwich (shrimp and grits in background). (Credit: John Rott)

The food of Café Lou Lou is good wherever you eat it.

It was at the old Frankfort Avenue location that I fell in love with the shrimp and grits – New Orleans style shrimp cooked in garlic, butter and Cajun spices and served over creamy cheese grits so good I swore my daddy made them. And I soon adopted another favorite Lou Lou dish, the turkey sandwich delight — turkey, provolone cheese, hummus, mixed greens, tomatoes, avocado and alfalfa sprouts on fresh homemade bread.

When Café Lou Lou moved to a St. Matthews shopping center, I followed and spent some great nights noshing on gourmet pizza and sipping wine at the bar.

So when I finally checked out Café Lou Lou's second location in the Douglass Loop, I had no doubts that I would be pleased.

On a recent Saturday night my husband and I stopped by to check out Lou Lou's Deer Park digs. In case you haven't been yet, the Dundee Road location has the colorful art-adorned walls that we love about Lou Lou and the friendly staff.

When we arrived, the gentleman who greeted us hustled to get us seated as quickly as possible despite the crowd. And not only was the server assigned to our table attentive and polite, but other staff members kept stopping by to see if we needed fresh drinks or had dishes we wanted cleared away.

On this particular night I had another favorite of mine, the grilled chicken roll ($9.25) — grilled chicken, roasted red peppers, goat cheese, mixed greens, tomatoes and pesto aioli rolled in lavash flat bread. All sandwiches and rolls come with a choice of Cajun crisps (think super spicy waffle fries) or Mediterranean pasta. I went with the pasta, which seemed even better than I remembered it from my last St. Matthews Lou Lou visit.

My husband had the Asian shrimp roll ($10.25), which includes shrimp, teriyaki sauce and veggies.

Our dinners, plus a root beer, tax and a $4 tip came to $26.79. One of the things I love most about Café Lou Lou is how budget-friendly it can be. Not only is the grilled chicken roll, for example, less than ten bucks but you get so much food you can easily save half for the next day. And like I said Café Lou Lou food is good anywhere, even at home as leftovers. That grilled chicken roll made for a perfect lunch after church the next day.

As with its other location, this Café Lou Lou restaurant also seems to echo and amplify noise, so it gets pretty loud in there as laughter and chatter fill the air. But the delicious food and awesome wait staff more than made up for that and all those sounds just let you know everyone is having a good time.

Add a comment