Dining Out: Louie's Coney Island (Kokomo, IN)

Gotta love restaurants with a proud family history

Exterior: 4/5

Eye catching!

A little background: Louie's started out in downtown Kokomo and then moved to a location closer to the 931 commercial strip in 2005. They suffered significant damage during a tornado in the early 2010s and it took some time for them to bounce the building back. What's here now is a testament to the fortitude of the owners, because not only did they not cut and run, they also invested in making the building appealing and functional. We went at lunchtime on a Saturday and there were lots of cars both in the parking lot and in the drive-thru. It's not an ostentatious storefront, but it's well-kept and attractive.

Ambience: 4/5

You can eat at the counter here, diner-style

There's also a lot of seating in in the main dining area

(The green is me blurring my face out of the photo, not schmutz on the mirror or something)

There's a lot of ways to eat Louie's. Like I said above, you can go through the drive-thru. If you prefer to dine in, there's an option to sit in old-timey stools at the counter and interact directly with the staff. If you're not flying solo, you can seat yourself at a table or a booth and let the waitstaff serve you. I loved the menu above the counter - I knew as soon as I saw it that we were in for some fried deliciousness. But even though it's a greasy spoon, it's so... clean! Squeakily so! Plus the furniture is all well-maintained and the color scheme is intentional and consistent. Now the seating isn't incredibly plush, but with the fast food/diner vibes Louie's sells I don't think anybody comes in expecting it to be.

Variety: 4/5

Greek Salad

Seasoned Fries

Check out all the dessert options! Sugar cream pie shoutout!

The menu at Louie's went so hard. There aren't a ton of options, but what's there has some serious range within the fat-fried-food spectrum. Like, there's Coney dogs. There's also "bakes," or beef shaped to look like a hot dog and baked. Plus there's burgers and sandwiches and salads. And to top it all off? The Greek food accents you expect at a Coney Dog joint. There's not a ton, and it's not especially pinky-up Mediterranean, but I love that I could get both a grilled cheese and a gyro if I wanted to. Everything on the menu is a la carte, so it's easy to mix and match and try a lot of things.

Quality: 4/5

Fried Pickles

Grilled Cheese

Pita (that came with my Greek Salad)

Baklava

It was the fried pickles that sold me on this place. They're dipped in a batter that includes dried dill, and the result is a super-pickly pickle. But really everything we tried was good. I also loved the seasoned fries and the thick-stacked baklava we got for dessert. The regular fries didn't impress me as much, but my 5YO thought they were pretty lit. I don't know how they made a basic grilled cheese taste great, but my husband was over the moon about eating his. All in all, good stuff!

Kid-Friendly: 4/5

Plain Hot Dog (and happy kiddo)

I loved that they drew smiles on the kids' cups.

This is definitely a menu that will satisfy the picky-pants crowd. Hot dogs? Grilled cheese? Fries as far as the eye can see? Yep, sign my kids up. Now I will say that there weren't any crayons or anything to distract them while we were waiting for our food and they got a little squirrely, but honestly waiting is a skill they need to learn so that wasn't the end of the world. It's a bonus that you don't need a special kids' menu here, because everything is already cheap!

Would Eat Again?: Green Light

This place is a delightful combination of vibes. It's a diner, but it's also fast food. It's burgers and fries, but it's also Greek. And in the middle of all that intersecting are some amazingly reasonable prices. We walked out of there having fed four people for about $30. My husband was so satisfied with his food and the price point that he actually said "Yep, this is my new comfort lunch place." I've gotten the impression that Louie's has a bit of a cult following, and I'm down to learn the secret handshake.