SAN MARCOS, Texas - When you think of seafood restaurants, most peoples’ minds tend to go to two places - high prices and an overdone nautical theme. Louie’s Beer Garden tries to break that stereotype.
Walking in, the first thing you’ll notice about Louie’s Beer Garden is that it’s definitely not fancy, and isn’t trying to be. Unlike most restaurants, you won’t see a host waiting for you at the door. Louie’s Beer Garden has more of a self-service philosophy. At Louie’s you find your own seats. In fact, the restaurant doesn’t even have wait staff. When you’re ready to order you’ll do it at the bar, and when your food is ready you’ll pick it up yourself at the kitchen.
For an establishment that isn’t trying to be a traditional seafood restaurant, the menu is large and diverse. Fish and shrimp are staples, but Louie’s also offers a few burgers, tacos, and even seafood nachos. For the adventurous, there’s even a fried alligator basket on the menu, and while crawfish isn’t on the menu every day, Louie’s also has a monthly crawfish boil which often draws crowds.
When I visited Louie’s, I tried the seafood combo basket, which comes with two catfish filets, shrimp, hush puppies and your choice of side. The basket comes in at $12.99, which is reasonable for what’s offered. You’ve got the choice of having your seafood grilled, blackened or fried. Of course, I went with deep fried.
All of the seafood is great quality. You can taste the freshness of the fish with every bite. The catfish come covered in a traditional southern buttermilk and cornmeal breading. It’s got a good crunch, and the fish are well seasoned. Each bite is savory and has hints of black pepper and garlic. The fish filets are high quality and seem to almost melt in your mouth. The shrimp are also great, but you’ll only get four pieces with this plate. Luckily they’re very large and covered in a flaky, buttery breading that pairs perfectly with freshly squeezed lemon or cocktail sauce.
Louie’s Beer Garden offers a few side dishes, including traditional seafood pairings like hush puppies and coleslaw. l got a taste of the fries and hush puppies, and also sampled their mac and cheese.
The fries were actually a highlight of the meal. They’ve been fried in the same oil as the seafood, and take on the same rich flavor. They’re almost as good as the fish. The hushpuppies were hot and fresh, and had a nice crispy coating and a soft inside. Both are great compliments to the seafood.
On the other hand, the mac and cheese isn’t so great. While it doesn’t look bad, the taste isn’t anything to write home about. While many restaurants and home cooks across the southern U.S. love to put their own spin on this classic dish, the best always completely cover the pasta in cheese, and usually add a crunchy breadcrumb topping.
Louie’s mac and cheese is paired with a watery sauce that doesn’t have much flavor. It reminds me of something you can find in a box at your local supermarket. I would stick with the seafood classics at Louie’s Beer Garden.
Louie’s Beer Garden manages to have a beach bar feel, without feeling cliche. On warm nights the entire restaurant becomes an open-air experience. They take advantage of the space and often have live music playing in the courtyard. Louie’s manages to be both a great place to be on game day, and still be somewhere you can have a Sunday dinner with family.
At the end of the day, Louie’s Beer Garden delivers great food in a relaxed atmosphere. Louie’s isn’t your typical seafood restaurant. Don’t come here expecting to sit next to an anchor and picture of a lighthouse. There’s no wait staff, so you’ll be ordering at the bar, and picking up your food at the kitchen. But Louie’s homestyle cooking can outclass some of the biggest seafood chains. Louie’s Beer Garden is a little slice of the Florida Keys in the heart of central Texas.
