I am an avid fan of Key West and visit there at least once a year (from Miami). Several years back I discovered Louie's Backyard and have been back to Louies a few times over the years. Truthfully, I enjoyed it up until my most recent visit on May 6 th, 2008.

Before I describe what took place on my most recent trip, I will give credit and say Louies has a great setting in a very cool old house with a great porch and water veiw. The food is usually quite good as well. Now with that said, I will explain why I will never go back to Louies (sadly) and why I tell anyone that will listen what happened to my three friends and I there.

We ordered three mixed drinks and one glass of Pinot Noir to start, followed by several apps, as well as four entrees. After the drinks showed up my friend Danielle told the table her wine was warm and did not taste right. We took turns sipping it and all agreed it was down right warm and tasted off to boot. I discreetly asked our waitress to come by when she had a minute. When she did I politely told her the wine was warm and tasted bad and we wanted to switch this glass for something else. The waitress said she would have to talk to the bar tender (which I did not understand at the moment). When she returned, she said the bartender tried the wine and deemed it to be perfectly fine and that they would have to charge us for it even though we said it was unacceptable.

Our mood changed dramatically from happy and lite to shocked and aggravated. We did not order another drink, nor did we have desert or coffee after we finished our entrees. Truthfully, we were so put off we just wanted to leave as soon as we finished our meal. So we paid the check (including the $12.00 glass of wine) and tipped the waitress 15% (would have been more normally) and walked out front. I stopped at the hostest stand and asked to speak with tha manager (Nancy) and quietly told her what took place and how unfair I though it was and how dissapointed I was in Louies over it. The manager went on to tell me she knew about the incident (although she never came to our table) and that she agreed with the bartender. She went on to tell me that it is her favorite wine (so what) and also shared with me that if a guest sends back a dish, the cook and manger taste it and if they deem it to be fine, they will not atke it back and force the customer to pay for it.

I realized the level of arrogance I was dealing with and politley said thank's for your time Nancy and I left. After returning home it continued to bother me so I put a call into the owner (twice). After the second call, she called me back. She was kind enough to spend about 15 mins. talking to me about the situation and said she had heard about it. She then told me that she too sided with her staff's actions. The only consession she made was to say she did not know the wine was warm and that her staff should have taken back the glass and chilled it. She then offered to buy me a glass of wine if I ever went back since they did not offer to chill it.

Even though I do appreciate the owner taking the time to call me, I completly disagree with her customer service philosophy. They have lost a customer for good in me and my friends, and I will continue to pass this story on to whom ever I discuss Key West with down the road. All over a $12 glass of wine on a bill of nearly $250 (that would have been even more if they hadn't pulled this arrogant act).

Go to Blue Heaven or one of the other great restaurants in Key West and avoid Loiue's Backyard and their complete disregard for customer service.

Although we've visited Key West for about 20 years now, we have always managed to avoid Louie's Backyard. In past trips, our innkeeper and longtime friend gently steered us away, suggesting there were other places with better food, better service and better prices. Our friend has since moved on to greener pastures, so we decided this year not to ask for advice and made a reservation for a late lunch. We now understand his past suggestions. The food was fine, although nothing special, and certainly with a minimalist approach. The jambalaya was exactly that - no bread, no accompanying salad, nothing else but. No mention of an a la carte' menu, but I guess we should have assumed that. The view from the outside deck is pleasant, although the constant buzz of jet skies a few yards away becomes a little annoying.

Our biggest disappointment was the attitudes. We have dined in enough fine dining restaurants to recognize that often times staff feels a need to take on an attitude as part of the ambiance. Louie's was totally different. I don't ever recall as much effort being made to make customers feel unwanted. I was surprised but relieved to read other reviews with very similar comments. I'll concede we were tourists, didn't try to hide that fact, but we dressed well for the "occasion", in fact, better dressed than most customers. We asked to dine outside if shade was available, then we were seated at the sunniest open table. When we asked to move to one of the many shaded tables, we were amazed by the amount of effort and consternation required to move two menus and two glasses of water. To her credit, our waitress was pleasant and efficient, although we saw her only once after the meals were delivered, and there were no suggestions of coffee, desert, or after lunch drinks. The rest of the staff, including the maitre d'/host, were simply rude and unfriendly.

Our recommendation - If you're a Jimmy Buffett fan and hung up on Key West tradition, go ahead and do Louie's, and get it over with. The clear message we got from the staff was "please don't come here". In the future, we'll be sure to grant them that wish.

My husband & I stopped in around lunch time to grab a drink a see the views. We are so glad we did - what a gem we found!

Louie's backyard consists of several dining areas: inside (more formal) back is all glass so you still get great views, the multi-level patio, and the "after deck" where the bar is. There is also a quaint little bar tucked away by the entrance (where the bathrooms are).

We sat at the bar, where we had fabulous views and enjoyed an amazing breeze. The bar carries many top shelf brands.

We ordered the conch fritters as a "snack". They were excellent! By far the best we have had. They were served with wasabi & hot pepper jelly on the side. We were not sure how this would be, but it was unique and delicious.

The bar tender was great. Even when the bar got swamped, she was great about checking on us.

I would note that the menu is pretty small and somewhat pricey. But definitely worth it. They also have daily features that looked great.

We can't wait to go back here for a full meal!

After reading the reviews, we went to Louie's backyard in Feb 2008. We had a table outside and really enjoyed the experience. The food was great and the service was good.