All posts by Robin Garr

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), A RESTAURANT LISTING..., Commentary, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, White tablecloth, deluxe

Classy Equus drops prices and tablecloths but keeps high style

Warm sparagus salad at Equus

LouisvilleHotBytes.com in The Voice-Tribune

Okay, who wants organ meat? Internal organs, that is, livers, kidneys, hearts and even more unmentionable selections.

All together now: “Eeeeuuuuwwww!”

But wait! People around the world have been enjoying organ meats for millennia, and those who shun them on the basis of the “eeuuww” factor are missing something good.

This is one of the many reasons I love dining with my wife, Mary, and our good friend Lucinda. They’re adventurous foodies, and showed it the other night when we spotted sweetbreads on the menu at Equus.

“I’m having that,” Lucinda said with a happy smile. “Can we share?” asked Mary. Me, too.

What’s a sweetbread? It isn’t bread, and it’s not a dessert. It’s a calf’s thymus gland, or perhaps a bit of his pancreas. Vegetarians please look away.
Continue reading Classy Equus drops prices and tablecloths but keeps high style →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), A RESTAURANT LISTING..., Bistros, Commentary, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

Wathen’s Kentucky Bistro bounces back

Wathen's Mahi Mahi

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

Everybody loves a parade? Maybe. Let’s say that most people love most parades. But the procession of broken dreams that has recently passed through the St. Matthews space that once was home to Rick’s? That’s a parade not so easy to enjoy.

For the historical record, let’s retrace the genealogy of this spot that once housed the offices of the then-Voice of St. Matthews: Rick Dissell established the original Rick’s around 1980, and earned his popularity the old-fashioned way, with a 17-year run in that location.
Continue reading Wathen’s Kentucky Bistro bounces back →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), A RESTAURANT LISTING..., Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Italian (and Pizza), New and noteworthy, QuickBytes

High-tech bar, award-winning fare lift Boombozz Taphouse

White pizza at Boombozz Taphouse

LouisvilleHotBytes.com in The Voice-Tribune
(Published May 13, 2009)

The Highlands carry-out branch of Tony Boombozz Pizza on Bardstown Road – once the location of an urban White Castle still remembered fondly by Baby Boomers – has re-emerged after a major renovation as a splendid pizzeria and high-tech beer dispensary, the East End mini-chain’s fourth property and perhaps its most exciting yet.

Curved banks of silvery metal tubes soar over the bar to pipe down a selection of more than 20 draft beers, most imports and microbrewery beers. What’s more, the region’s only “ice bar” features artificially made “snow” blanketing a strip at the back. Want your beer ice cold? Set your mug on the icy white line.
Continue reading High-tech bar, award-winning fare lift Boombozz Taphouse →

News announcements

Jarfi’s leaving Lentini’s, going back downtown as fancy diner

This report combines an Email discussion and phone conversation with Jeff Jarfi, who says he’s excited about this new venture, having been involved with the opening of Atlanta’s Buckhead Diner. He’s regretful about leaving Bardstown Road, but says the combination of a slow economy and $10,000-a-month lease payments for the old Lentini’s building made it a no-brainer to move quickly on the diner program, which has been on the drawing board for a while.
Continue reading Jarfi’s leaving Lentini’s, going back downtown as fancy diner →

$ Budget (under $30), A RESTAURANT LISTING..., Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, QuickBytes

Great Bunz, loaded with splendid burgers

Burger at Bunz

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

So we’re walking down Baxter just north of Highland Avenue, well into the city’s club zone, and suddenly a new hanging sign catches my eye.

“BUNZ,” it reads, like a hip-hop interpretation of a bread store specializing in … naw, can’t be. We swerved into the tiny quarters that had previously housed Omar’s Gyros and found a spiffy new shop specializing in hamburgers – fat, dense and beefy burgers, mounted, of course, on exceptional buns. Er, bunz.

Located just across the street from Derby City Dogs and a block or so north from the new Highlands branch of Lonnie’s Taste of Chicago, another hot-dog store, this recent arrival would seem to mark a new high-water mark for restaurant specialization in the neighborhood.
Continue reading Great Bunz, loaded with splendid burgers →

$ Budget (under $30), A RESTAURANT LISTING..., Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, World Food

Tuning up our taste buds at Zaytún

Zaytun

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

Want a fried whitefish sandwich on rye that’s as good as you’ll find in this fish-loving town? Want a gyros that’s bigger than your head, piled high with excellent Greek-style grilled beef and lamb, so big you really need to eat it with knife and fork?

Never before has one been able to enjoy such disparate ethnic goodies at a single table in Louisville.

Let’s hail the arrival of Zaytún Mediterranean Grill, a small, casual but attractive eatery that’s packing in crowds for lunch and dinner at the small Highlands spot that once housed Andrew’s, a forgettable diner.

Continue reading Tuning up our taste buds at Zaytún →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), A RESTAURANT LISTING..., Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, Pubs, Brew Pubs, GastroPubs

Browning’s returns to Slugger Field

 

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com
By Guest Critic Kevin Gibson

Mussels at Brownings

Browning’s is back. The brewpub in Slugger Field, with its upscale sister restaurant Park Place on Main, had abruptly closed back in October. Although Browning’s continued brewing craft beer for outside sales, Louisville Bats fans were left high and dry.

Now Chef Anoosh Shariat, backed by investors, has put up nearly a half-million dollars to revamp the restaurant and revise its menu. Browning’s reopened May 12. The Park Place space is available for private parties.

Continue reading Browning’s returns to Slugger Field →

Commentary

Community Farm Alliance rally against proposed farm rules

News Release: Join CFA and Allied Organizations for a Protest Rally! Tell USDA to STOP N.A.I.S! 

Come to Louisville to show your support of Family Farmers and Healthy Food! Friday, May 22, members of Community Farm Alliance and allied organizations will be speaking out against the USDA’s proposed National Animal Identification System.

Our goal is to have 100 people present to tell USDA why NAIS is harmful to family farmers, sustainable healthy foods, and our local food economy. YOUR VOICE IS NEEDED! COME JOIN US AS WE PROTEST N.A.I.S!

News release, discussion on Louisville Restaurants Forum