Hannah and I have officially made a New Year's tradition! While primarily incidental, it's happened two years in a row, which qualifies as tradition for sure: every New Year's Day, we and any combination of our favorite girlfriends go out for brunch. Last year we hit Loring Kitchen, my all-time favorite, and this year seven of us headed to Louie's Wine Dive in Uptown to recap the closing of 2014 and nurse our (varying) hangovers.
Location/Ambiance:
Louie's is located in the heart of LynLake, across the street from Spill the Wine and across the other street from Bryant Lake Bowl. With such great brunches in the vicinity, it set my expectations high. The inside was welcoming and bright, nothing to write home about, but a totally laid-back, relaxing atmosphere for brunch. We had a high-top by the windows, which made people-watching a blast.
Score: 6/10
Beverage:
Oh dear. See, when I said we were nursing varying hangovers, I failed to mention that mine was by far the worst. I blame the bottle of champagne at 1am...oops. That said, Louie's is one of the few establishments in Uptown offering bottomless mimosas, and they offer them in flavors! I had the Ruby Red, made with grapefruit juice, but didn't even make it to the bottom of one. Everyone else had to go with regular, because they didn't have enough grapefruit juice to do bottomless. One thing I will say: the wait staff, though swamped, was appallingly slow with refills. We ended up waiting around 20 minutes for each carafe, and a carafe was nowhere near enough for seven girls. That said, they were good!
Score: 6/10
Food:
Do I sound lukewarm on Louie's? Well, my dear friends, let me turn all that around right now for you. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Mac Daddy.
What is the Mac Daddy, you may ask? It's an omelet, filled with macaroni and cheese and bacon. Yes, as a matter of fact, that IS one of the best ideas anyone has ever had. That hangover I was struggling through? Mac and cheese and eggs and bacon and crispy breakfast potatoes may not have totally eliminated it, but they sure turned me around and got me back on the right track. Total brunch redeemer, right there. I think most of us ordered it and most of us loved it.
The highlight of the brunch, though, had to be great girl time! I loved starting the year off surrounded by friends...rehashing how we spent our nights, contemplating 2014 and sharing intentions, goals and resolutions for 2015. It was the perfect way to begin a year that I hope is all about wonderful things.
To check out Louie's for yourself, visit http://www.louieswinedive.com/minneapolis/, or pick somewhere else to brunch from my brunch list!