Louie's

I'm finally getting back to normal, followers. Finally coming out of the daze I've been in due to Mom being in the hospital for two weeks. But she's home now and it's time to get back to normal. I actually slapped on some mascara, wore heals, and went out on a Saturday night! Okay, so I was home by 10pm because I was pooped. But I went out. In public. And I was nowhere near the hospital. WooHoo! WiDiDallas is back!

We went to Louie's on Henderson for some pizza. If you're trying to picture where Louie's is on Henderson, it's the bunker looking building on the south side of the street just west of Sunflower (fka Newflower) Market. Look for the sign with the martini on it. Louie's is a Dallas institution. It's been making people go to Henderson long before Henderson was cool. It was featured in 2009 on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HtO7j9FJd0E Louie's definitely fits into the Dive category.

Now if you've never been to Louie's there are a few things you need to know. First, in case you weren't paying attention to the previous paragraph, it's a dive. Your napkins will come out of dispenser on the table. Your bar stool and table will wobble. The cloth seats on your chair will be stained, badly. So if you aren't down with the dive scene, go down the street and get your pizza chain experience on at Fireside. Don't worry about hurting Louie's feelings. Trust me, he won't care.

Second, be prepared to wait for a table. Louie's is always busy, particularly on the weekends. All sorts of folks come to Louie's. Families, singles, businesspeople. But tables turn fairly quickly so the wait is not too bad. And waiting is made easier because you'll get to drink a martini. A good one. They make it right and they make it cheap. But speaking of alcohol, the third thing you should know about Louie's is if you only drink draft beer, have a soda or go someplace else. No draft beer at Louie's. But there's a full bar and the wine's not all that bad.

Fourth, Louie's doesn't take anything but American Express or cash. The story is Louie got in a fight with the Visa/MasterCard people and he swore he would never use them again. He's lived up to that promise. Even Neimans will take Visa/MasterCard during the Super Bowl (yes, you read that right but only for a limited time), but Louie's will not make that exception.

But the most important thing you need to know about Louie's is it's some of the best pizza in Dallas. A cracker thin crust, a slightly sweet sauce, and really fresh ingredients makes it a pretty good pie. We ordered a large chicken and jalapeno and a large mushroom and green pepper pizza. The jalapenos weren't too hot and the chicken breast was cooked perfectly and cut in big chunks. Yum. I'm not a huge green pepper girl but they were sliced really thin and gave the pie a nice flavor. 2 large pies for 5 people was just the right size but if you have some bigger guys in your group, you might want to get just a bit more.

Louie's has other things on the menu as well. We always start with the Greek salad with lettuce, tomatoes, feta cheese, and pepperoncinis. Usually stellar, ours was way over-dressed and very soggy. Bummer. If you aren't into pizza, there's plenty of other choices for you. Pastas, burgers, seafood. I wish I could tell you what those other things taste like, but I just go there for the pizza. You should too. Just be sure you have cash or an American Express card.

Cheers!