It’s opening day at Lou’s, a lounge, restaurant and live music venue at 13 Brattle St. in Harvard Square – the former Beat Hotel, Beat Brasserie and Beat Brew Hall. The 5,600-square-foot underground space offers band performances and DJ sets nightly under a team led by music and restaurant industry veterans including executive chef Jason Bond of Bondir, general Manager Allison Finney of Roadrunner and assistant general manager Bree-Anne Zeek of Pammy’s.
The 1920s speakeasy-style space, by the interior design firm Elder & Ash, is around a block from The Sinclair and Club Passim music venues on Church Street; with the return of The Comedy Studio yet another block to the south, Lou’s represents more nightlife opportunities for Cambridge’s Harvard Square. (Regattabar brings in jazz acts a few blocks away.)
“I was excited to get back into the local music scene,” Finney said in a press release. “The quality of the food and beverage programs at Lou’s are unlike any concert venue in the area, and that’s something we’re really proud of. We hope to become a long-standing institution in Harvard Square and to bring extra soul to a neighborhood we all love so much.”
Bond’s menu includes a rotating selection of housemade pastas and nightly “plats” with a nostalgic vibe – Mom’s Spaghetti and Meatballs, BBQ Meatloaf – but includes more upscale dishes as ceviche and beef tartare, a Veal Schnitzel alla Cesare with anchovy, endive, fried capers, lemon and Parmigiano and steak frites alongside chocolate chip cookies baked to order with warm malted milk. There are cocktails focused on local sourcing and seasonal ingredients: The Cobbler (Amontillado sherry, Amaro Montenegro, blueberry rhubarb syrup and lemon), the Run Rabbit (coffee and pineapple rum, lime, fresh carrot juice and smoked salt) and the Bam Bam (bvodka, cantaloupe elderflower cordial, lime, and Aperol).
Lou’s is named after the late Harvard Square entrepreneur, Louis “Lou” DiGiovanni whose son, John DiGiovanni, operates the building and several others under the Trinity Property Management umbrella.
Lou’s is open daily from 4 p.m. to 1 a.m.
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