Bottega Louie, 255-Seat Italian Restaurant, Gourmet Market, Pátisserie, and Café in the Financial District

[dcs]

I recently had a chance to visit Bottega Louie, a bright, cavernous space in The Brockman Building on South Grand that is both a gourmet market and restaurant. The large open floor and high ceilings plan gives the place a certain vibrancy, with an accompanying noise level that you might expect from such a large room. I took a seat at the 10 stool bar in the front closer to the market and quite enjoyed the Cioppino, which also cost $30. It was a full bowl of succulent seafood, that contained perhaps the most plump mussels I have ever been served. Truly satisfying.

[dcs]

They serve breakfast here as well.  Pastries in the front counter.  Sitting at a table you can order burrata and prosciutto atop a potato pancake, that I am hoping someone reading this in the DC area will choose to offer in their restaurant locally.  So simple, really.

[dcs]

Mass appeal - A taste of the nation’s most popular restaurants, by Tom Sietsema, July 19, 2018, on washingtonpost.com.

[DaveO]

2 hours ago, dcs said:

Mass appeal - A taste of the nation’s most popular restaurants, by Tom Sietsema, July 19, 2018, on washingtonpost.com.

I enjoyed the article which is far more a "feature" about the busiest restaurants in the nation by Sietsema, a food critic, not a business "analyst".  He found a common theme.  The first paragraph on the Chicago restaurant was a particularly telling anecdote imho.