The Eaten Path: Lobster grilled cheese with creamy chowder an unexpected surprise at Lou's Grill
Popular Abby restaurant on Gladys Avenue does pub fare with a little something more
I have never worked in a restaurant kitchen, but I always assume that when a restaurant with a huge menu has a lunch special, those who are in charge of kitchens take particular interest in preparing the daily creation.
Leave the line cooks to make the same burger over and over. Chef So-and-So should take care of the special. Maybe I'm right. Let me know if I'm wrong. Regardless, I always get the special if it is in my wheelhouse of interests.
I went to Lou's Grill with a friend recently being told that the food is great, which was a trustworthy review from this person. Before even looking at the menu we were told the special of the day (Friday, June 6, 2025) was a lobster grilled cheese sandwich with clam chowder as a side. Lobster? OK, well, I'll glance at the menu just for something to read but I'm getting that.
It did not disappoint. Massive chunks of cooked lobster with a light layer of white cheddar (I think) on perfectly toasted white bread. I like wholesome, hearty, healthy bread more than most people but a grilled cheese belongs on white bread, come one. Beside it a creamy rich chowder, the kind that a waxy layer of film forms on top it if you let it sit too long. That's the sign of a super-creamy soup in a good way.
Rich and peppery with chunks of potatoes and celery and seasoned well, the chowder was mouth-watering, and a particularly great thing to dip the grilled cheese in. Leviticus would have hated it for multiple reasons.
My lunch companion had the blackened cajun chicken sandwich, which came on a toasted baguette with the usual lettuce-tomato toppings but also bacon and guacamole, the latter of which the literal icing on the chicken sandwich cake.
Lou's is a fabulous spot, better than your average pub (I'm not talking about you ML in Chilliwack). It has standard sports on TVs, dark pub lighting but cleaner than most and some actual good music playing, which I realize is a subjective thing but, hey, I'll take it. There cherry-coloured wood every which way with massive bold good-from-far-far-from-good reproductions of Group of Seven paintings covering the walls. There is usually room to sit at the bar, a small tabletop lounge area, and a big covered patio.
Our server in particular was above average, which is worth pointing out because it makes a meal a little more perfect. It's small, but little things count. She smiled, no messing around with phony small talk ("Where are you going after this?") and she swept in and replaced a two-thirds empty soda glass well before being asked to do so.
Lou's is also a good spot to stop for just a drink, which was the last time I was there before going somewhere else for dinner. They have 28 cocktails on the list not counting martinis and a good selection craft beers on tap.
It's not cheap but, hey, what is? Burgers and sandwiches are in the $21 to $26 dollar range. Appies a bit cheaper, mains a bit more.
If you haven't been, Lou's is kind of hidden in the sprawling Abbotsford city-not-a-city. If you leave the actual downtown heading north to Mission or to your job at a farm or a moulding factory or the BC Transit yard, you pass right by it on Gladys Avenue. If you don't happen to do those things, you won't notice it by accident.
Lou's Grill is at 2852 Gladys Avenue in Abbotsford. Website is LousGrill.com.
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Paul J. Henderson
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