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| - Bar Louie, a nation chain recently took over the location previously held by Metro Bar + Grill in Cleveland's warehouse district. While the name has changed, plenty has stayed the same. Much of the furniture remains um changed, lighting fixtures remain, patio furniture is still here from the Metro days, the outside bar on the sidewalk still draws a walk up crowd and some of the interior decorating is still in place. In fact, aside from paining interior walls to a pea green color (or was it pea green all along with additional lighting showcasing it's beauty?) and a different name on the door the space still has the feel of the old tenant. That's where the similarities end.
The first noticeable change is there is a crowd, something Metro would only see on a Friday or Saturday night. There is a new staff to serve the patrons and while there seem to be plenty on hand in this early phase, you wouldn't know it by their lack of attention. One patron even tried to switch bar seats in hopes of getting service. The kitchen appears to still be in the process of working the kinks out because orders were coming out to the dining area at a turtles pace. When my order did come out, it was sent back by the bartender who apparently has better quality control than the head chef.
The menu is larger than the Metro days, and should provide picky eaters a wide range of traditional options that may not be commonly available in the warehouse district. This seems to have appealed so far to a more mainstream crowd and less to the yuppie/socialite scene. Bar Louie had a good mix of after work drinkers, jeans and t-shirt goers and couples both young and old. Pretentious types were in low supply.
The early returns are favorable. I'm disappointed that the service at a national chain wasn't top notch right out of the gate. The larger, Americana style menu is a plus over it's predecessor and the low key environment makes all guests feel welcome. Time will only tell if the warehouse districts latest tenant will last past its 15 minutes of fame to become an anchor in the neighborhood.
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