BOTTEGA LOUIE

REPORT #18
700 S Grand Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90017
(866) 418-9162
Mon - Sun: 6:30am - 11pm
Street Parking or Validated Lot Parking
Standing tall and proud in the middle of sketchy Downtown LA is Bottega Louie, which is basically an Italian Restaurant.  This tall white marble building with shiny gold writing above the entrance, "LOUIE" is protected by two guards outside!  The inside was amazingly beautiful as well: all white walls and ceilings, airy, spacious, and perfect.  I kept wondering where I was.  The lobby to a five star hotel?  A high-end fashion store?  Truly, this was a very bizarre situation after driving through impoverished areas block after block, and out of no where, like how you see a tropical reservoir in the middle of the desert, here it was.

Bottega Louie is famous not only for its looks, but also for its pizza, pasta, salad, their to-go sandwiches, and desserts.  There is a patisserie/market counter to the very right as you enter, and in the back to the left is the restaurant.

The first thing you see when you enter are rows of colorful macaron behind it's thick shiny glass case. They looked dashing, and it was really hard to resist getting all the kinds.  Each macaron was $1.75, and took it in a non-gift box, otherwise, with the gift box it would have been plus $1.

OVERALL:
  • little under 2" in diameter
  • A+ for presentation
  • lots of cream filling
  • uses bright colors

DETAILS:
MOCHA
Mustard-yellow exterior with micro bits of coffee grounds that are not bitter at all.  Inside is a nice thick layer of very sweet milky mocha ganache.

HAZELNUT
Light red outer with bits of almonds on top.  Inside has plenty of hazelnut cream, and goes very well with the crunchy nuts .

LIME
Dark lime green shell, with smooth white sweet cream with a hint of lime zest.  Not sour nor bitter.


ORANGE CHOCOLATE
Bright pumpkin orange exterior with dark chocolate ganache.  The ganache has a very intense orange vest that lingers in your tast buds.


MY FAVORITE:
Lime


CONCLUSION:
Very well-assembled and presented.  Lots of cream is a plus, but the last one was too intense.  It could easily be one of the best ones if only it weren't for the location.