Bottega Louie
Italian restaurant · Downtown Los Angeles
700 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90017
Highlights
Pastas, pizzas, brunch & Parisian-inspired pastries in a stylish spot
Pastas, pizzas, brunch & Parisian-inspired pastries in a stylish spot
"Aging has always been a tough pill to swallow in this town. You’re either hot or you’re not, and if you’re not, time to start sleeping with vegetables on your face at night. It’s a daily struggle that only local Benjamin Button, Jennifer Aniston, has mastered. And in the restaurant world, aging is arguably an even tougher hand to be dealt. Splashy openings are easy. Longevity is the tough part. And keeping that bar set high when it so quickly wants to slip down. The bar is slipping at Bottega Louie. In 2009, Bottega’s opening was monstrous. It was the middle of a nationwide recession and DTLA was a shell of the revitalization hub it is today. But along comes this gigantic, mature, yet everyday Italian eatery in the heart of downtown. Gamechanger would be the accurate term. But a few years later (and with a major influx of competition), Bottega Louie hasn’t exactly been keeping up with the Joneses. The space thankfully will always be impressive. The enormous, white-walled dining room defines the meaning of grand and reminds us all what the world’s bougiest psych hospital lobby probably looks like. The service is still solid too, with eager servers who easily cover more ground than any other wait staff in the city. Here’s to hoping you all got orthopedics for Christmas this year. But unfortunately, that once promising menu has fallen to the ho-hum levels of so many other aging restaurants. Nothing is bad, but nothing is great. And that’s incredibly disappointing. The good news for Bottega Louie is that it still resides in one of the more thriving area of downtown, with as good of foot traffic that exists in this city. But if they plan to rely on that notion alone, we fear Bottega might eventually slip even further. Raise that bar back up Bottega and you’ll be downtown king again before you know it. Food Rundown Burrata Pizza Topped with everything that humans like, this pretty looking pizza is all curb appeal, nothing else. Calabrian Chicken Where is that nduja?! If anyone can taste it anywhere in this bland dish, please message us. Cioppino This Italian seafood stew has some good flavors going for it, but head to Connie and Ted’s for the real deal. Artichoke Pizza See: Burrata Pizza. Portobello Fries These are actually pretty darn delicious. But worth $13 for about seven of them? No. Scallops You can’t really screw these up, but for $30, they need to be a whole lot better than this. Macarons A Bottega specialty that are beautiful to look at behind the glass. You won’t be disappointed if you eat some, either." - Brant Cox
"Bottega Louie is a feast for the eyes, the stomach, and the wallet. It's like a visual candy store for designers, and well literally, a candy store for everyone else. With confections, baked goods and gifts covered in the identity, packaging suite and merchandising Creative Director [Leah Faust](http://www.lfn.company/) developed, it's hard not to resist purchasing pastel boxes of sugar covered in swashes and flourishes. Design makes a difference, and in this case, transforms culinary objects into gifts that keep on giving." - TypeEd
"Back when Bottega Louie opened in 2009, it was the de facto ruler of Downtown Los Angeles. And while it’s since slipped a bit in the DTLA pantheon, we’re always more than happy to eat our weight in colorful macarons and drink a bottle of wine here - especially when there’s no corkage fee for the first bottle." - kat hong
"If eating multi-colored macarons in DTLA was a core memory for you back in 2007, Bottega Louie probably holds a special place in your heart. Brunching at this patisserie and bistro was a bucket list activity up there with scoring tickets to the Sweet Escape Tour and showing off your Blackberry Pearl to friends. These days, Bottega’s center of gravity has shifted to Santa Monica Boulevard with a second location that’s as beautiful as it is corporate. The food is decent for a last-minute hangover brunch (stick to the thin-crust pizza), plus there’s plenty of room if the entire friend group shows up to rehash what happened at Hi Tops the night before. Skip the mass-produced macarons though, they’re flat, mushy, and $20 for a half-dozen." - brant cox, sylvio martins
"There's one downtown and one in West Hollywood. It's a gourmet restaurant. It has macarons and stuff like that, and I don't wanna say this in a bad way, but it's super Instagrammable. It's like a patisserie. A lot of these places are also gourmet markets. I like when you can go and shop for specialty foods that you can't find at Ralph's or Whole Foods. And Bottega Louie has a really fun cocktail menu too. And they have this drink called La Passion on the drink menu, which has passion fruit—it's just so yummy and delicious. Sometimes you gotta wait for a table. It's that popular, especially the one downtown because it's near the Staples Center and it is a bit of a scene. If you want to be seen, go to Bottega Louie." - brennan carley
