Bar Louie Under Construction in Crystal City

Bar Louie is coming to the ground floor of the Buchanan building in Crystal City.

The Texas-based bar/restaurant chain has started interior construction work that includes core drilling as they work to replace the old Memphis Barbecue restaurant at 320 23rd Street S. Bar Louie applied for a permit in the space this summer, but the company said at the time that it hadn’t made a final decision on a location.

Per an anonymous tipster, management at the Buchanan sent the following note to residents, notifying them of the construction activity.

Dear Residents,

Please be advised that the contractor working the old Memphis BBQ space has scheduled core drilling for tomorrow and Friday, October 24th and 25th, 2013. They intend to work during the day, starting around 8:00 a.m. each day.

Core drilling can be noisy; however, based on the restaurant being on the first floor, we do not anticipate that you will hear too much noise from this activity.

Thank you for your understanding as Bar Louie continues to construct their new restaurant at The Buchanan.

Representatives of Bar Louie could not be reached for comment on a potential opening date for the restaurant. Bar Louie’s website lists the Crystal City location as “coming soon” with a target date of “Winter 2014.”