Louie's Bookstore Cafe - CLOSED

 

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Sue Z.

San Francisco, CA

(Paul, we may have been here at the same time, late-80's-early-90's!)  My friends and I would come here for ritualistic late nights with the white chocolate pound cake with coffee ice cream.  Amazing stuff, which we talk about to this day -- ginormous wedges of dense (probably a pound of butter per slice) cake with a crumbly crunchy buttery crust, washed down with a cool, mild and meltingly sweet mound of rich coffee ice cream.  We always each got our own, scarfed it down like ravening wolves, and then got all happy and laughing from the sugar high.  
As for the bookstore cafe, it was a beautiful place that I remember as having high ceilings, intricate, original moldings and huge floor to ceiling columns.  I think I also remember a long, wooden bar, and a jazz trio that played nights.  
One of these days, I'll have go back to see what's still there....

UPDATE:  Alas, the place is closed.  Google says it was replaced by a restaurant called Ixia in 2001.  So it only exists in our memories.....RIP!

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Paul D.

San Francisco, CA

SO SAD YOU CLOSED?! :(

My god this place takes me back.  I used to go here in the late 80s with my shoulder pads, big hair, and....wait, that wasn't me.  Alexis, are you there?

Actually I went here everyday during the summer--after stuffing my face with Ben & Jerrys down at the Inner Harbor.  My friend and I would go downtown, get ice cream, and then make our way up to Louies for coffee and cake.  Hello Fatty McFatterson!  Can we say large Marge was definitely in charge during the summer of '89.  Don Henley can have '69 all he wants, '89 was all about me and my stretchie pants!

At the time it was the place for all the cool cats to hang out.  We thought we were cool so we'd go there and read the Baltimore rags over our lattes and Chocolate turtle cheesecakes.   My friend and I would discuss Moonlighting and the color of Rudy Huxtable's dress over some light jazz.

We thought we were regulars, but no one ever knew us.  We prayed every night that we would get "Buffalo Bill" as our waiter.  We swore he looked like that creepy guy from "The Silence of the Lambs".  He could have definitely skinned me that summer as I was way bigger than a size 14!

God, I hope that place hasn't changed.  Tell me Louie, you still selling cake to minors and providing refuse for closeted teenagers?

Love from SF,

Paul

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Jessica K.

San Francisco, CA

I'm so sad Louie's is closed! During a gritty summer in Baltimore, the day I spent at Louie's stands out as a definite high point. The bookstore had a fantastic selection, and it's where I bought one of my favorite books, To the Wedding by John Berger. My mug from the cafe is one of my favorites as well. I don't know if I'll ever return to Baltimore, but alas that I can't return to Louie's. RIP indeed.

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