Bottega Louie | 25

 

(photo taken: November 16, 2014)

Bottega Louie, being in downtown I would always walk by this restaurant and I would think, "Nope. I'm not fancy enough or have enough money to even go inside. They'll probably charge me $50 just for stepping inside!" The first time I went there was with Milton (what a surprise! No for real, it was quite the surprise) for our half a year anniversary! He said he had something planned for us, and made me dress up nice. I didn't know what to expect, I just did as I was told, which I didn't mind because I don't want to sound arrogant, but I did look pretty good that day! If only I was able to keep my heels on.

Well I'm getting ahead of the story! So that day he came over to my house to get dropped off downtown. We both dressed up really good, and I wasn't about to walk to downtown in heels, I'm not an expert! We got dropped off and we just began walking. He kept asking me to guess where we were going. I didn't know, I thought we'd go to Chipotle since we had recently tried it and we said we'd go back. When all of a sudden I see him rush to the door (of Bottega Louie) and hold it open for me. I thought he was joking. Even when we were inside and asking for a table, I was expecting him to say "just kidding let's go", but nope. I felt intimidated because although we looked good and I was taller, I still felt like a little kid and everyone around us were adults going there for lunch, a quick "drink" or "bite". 

I still felt surprised and a bit awkward, but we managed. The menu came and I was completely lost because I don't like steak, don't like seafood, don't like all these healthy options so I didn't know what to order. We waiter came and he poured water into our glasses. I thought it was some type of wine because even their water bottles seem fancy, but you know you need an ID for the liquor. I ended up ordering the Club Sandwich, I'm in love with those, and it was really good! Milton had ordered the Carbonara and that tasted amazing as well! What I really enjoyed about the sandwich are the potato chips it comes along with, they are SO GOOD! *Alex and Mia reference* For being first timers and not knowing what to get or anything, it was a great experience! 

(photo taken: April 7, 2015)

So like anyone else, if you enjoy a restaurant you'd go back. We went back a couple times. We went for certain anniversaries, for Milton's birthday, or just because. We also tried to change up what we ordered. My recommendations? Well pretty much the things I've tried because they were all good! The top picture was *obviously* breakfast, and the thing I enjoyed the most is their bacon! It's not greasy and oily, but it has a great taste! The potato wedges are also really good, I recommend you eat a little wedge along with a piece of bacon, dip it in ketchup, ohh lawd you're welcome! Our tradition I guess you can call it, is to always order a side of the potato chips! The club sandwich was really good as well, WAS. Because the last time we went, they had a few changes to it and it tasted really different and not as good. 

The picture above was a regular pepperoni pizza, with of course the chips on the side. One thing I liked were the pepperonis. Kind of random but they're so cute, they look like little scoops, and they taste amazing and crispy. The second plus is that they make the pizza in those big ovens, not sure what they're called. But you know those ovens which have the big flame inside. If you know what I mean, bless your soul because I suck at explaining. But yes, this pizza is pretty great as well! 

I talked about the Carbonara which is a pasta, according to them the closest thing they have to Chicken Alfredo. It's really creamy, the pasta is thick, it has pieces of bacon, green peas, and the best besides bacon, it had like an egg in the middle. I know it's a different name for it, once again I'm not sure of it. But if you poke it around it will pop and gosh it just tastes so good!

(photo taken: April 16, 2015)

Everything had been great, the food, the service, but then things changed all of a sudden. Certain waiters, or waitresses, were rude. It would take forever to get a seat or our food even though it wasn't crazy packed. This last time we ordered the pasta it felt cold and I felt the bacon wasn't at it's normal crispy level. The time he decided to take my mum and I there, we received pretty crappy service. They tried to make things better by giving us a box of macaroons, WE HATE MACAROONS! They're pretty disgusting, I don't know how people enjoy them unless they just try to fit in. And we gave them a shot since they claim their macaroons are extremely delicious, umm no. That was our first vlog we did, trying them out and it wasn't good! 

Would I recommend people to go here? I mean sure why not, their food is good whenever they're in the mood to cook I guess. Don't expect much from the waiters since they were rude. It was all good until the last few experiences. Then we decided to give California Pizza Kitchen a try, and so far everything has been excellent! That'll probably be for another day, but CPK replaced Bottega Louie!