Category Archives: BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, Italian (and Pizza), QuickBytes

Forumites check out baseball and ballpark fare

Slugger Field

A crowd of LouisvilleHotBytes.com Forum participants took over a luxury box at Slugger Field for a Louisville Bats game Tuesday evening. The Bats nearly blew an early 9-1 lead but hung on to win 9-8 over the Toledo Mudhens, and the happy foodies worked their way through a sampling of ballpark fare from nachos and dollar hot dogs to fish sandwiches and more.

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$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Southern Indiana

Butterburger better?

Some pals with roots in Wisconsin (let’s not call them “cheeseheads”) were all but agog with delight when the Culver’s Butterburger chain came to town early this year, and I have to confess that the very idea of a butterburger intrigued me, too. Butter … burger … fat cooked in fat! What’s not to like?

It’s a pretty little fast-food place, too, a sizable cottage in blue and white, neat as a pin, with little square-paned windows that give it a sort of corporate faux-Colonial style.

The signature Deluxe Butterburger was thin and irregularly handformed, not unlike the burgers my mother used to make when we were young. It had a good beefy flavor but was too thin to make rare or juicy, and if there was any butter in it, I sure couldn’t tell by tasting it. The “deluxe” model came with a thin layer of bland yellow cheese, iceberg lettuce and pale tomato and pickle chips, perched on a large, boring white bun that dwarfed the burger.

A side of “cheese curds,” a Wisconsin specialty, proved to be balls of bland cheese, breaded and greasily fried. Frozen custard was the hit of the meal, properly creamy and smooth, although the chocolate flavor was very mild, more like cocoa than dark chocolate. Hmm … Butterburger, breaded-and-fried cheese and rich custard … I don’t think I should get my cholesterol checked today.

My wife’s choice, the Wisconsin Swiss Melt, was an even thinner burger topped with a paper-thin slice of bland white cheese and a ration of limp, greasy fried onions, grilled on rye until the rye was crunchy (and greasy, too). It came with limp and uninteresting fries.

With two soft drinks, all this came to $19.06, a bit spendy for a fast-food burger. I’d certainly choose it over Mickey D’s or Burger King, but it’s not worth a return trip to its suburban locale for me. Next time I want a burger, I’ll get the real thing at Granville Inn or maybe W.W. Cousin’s.

Culver’s of Louisville
4630 Hurstbourne Pkwy.
671-2001
http://www.culvers.com/
(There’s also a Culver’s in Corydon, Ind., at 240 Federal Drive, 812-738-6464.)

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill

Right on ‘cue: three great spots for ribs

F.A.B.D. ribs
The ribs at Frankfort Avenue Beer Depot (F.A.B.D.) are possibly the best yet Photos by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Rite Way, Smoketown USA, F.A.B.D.)

Speak of barbecue, and many of us will visualize a rural scene: A tarpaper shack, well off the interstates out in blue-highway country, sporting a washing machine on the front porch and a primer-coated car sitting up on blocks in the front yard. Out back, a black iron drum smoker wafts up seductive scents of sweet hickory smoke and gently roasting pork. And then our mouths commence to watering.

In fact, nowhere is it written that proper barbecue requires a road trip. Rural though its roots may be, many a master of ‘cue – or his grandparents – has come to the city, where those aromatic smokers now stand proudly behind trim shotgun houses or sturdy brick storefronts, with nary a washing machine or wheelless ’39 Ford in sight.
Continue reading Right on ‘cue: three great spots for ribs →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown

Slugger Field fare is no picnic

Brats on the grill
There’s lots of food options at Slugger Field, including these brats and colorful grilled peppers. Photos by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Slugger Field, Derby weekend dining tips)

Not only is it Derby Week, but the Louisville Bats’ season is under way at Slugger Field, so even sports fans who have been sweating out the long months until the Cards and Cats are back in play have little to complain about.

But food lovers who enjoy a good dinner to go with the baseball game are pretty much out of luck at Slugger Field, where concession quality has dropped off a long way from the splendid fare that the memorable A. Ray Smith provided when he brought the old Redbirds to town at the Fairgrounds’ Cardinal Stadium back in the early ’80s.
Continue reading Slugger Field fare is no picnic →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Northeast Metro

Something old, something new at Norton Commons

Karem's
Karem’s in Norton Commons occupies a brand-new, three-story red-brick storefront that’s made to look a lot like an old one. Photo by Robin Garr

(Karem’s Grill & Pub, Shady Lane Café
Voice-Tribune, March 29, 2007)

One of the more unusual suburban developments in recent memory, Norton Commons – billed as a “traditional neighborhood development” or “TND” – brings a touch of nostalgia to Louisville’s outer suburbs.

It incorporates acres of parklike green space surrounding a squared-off grid of residential blocks made to resemble an old-fashioned urban neighborhood, with sturdy brick houses lined up side-by-side, most of them equipped with front porches where folks can come out to sit a spell and talk with the neighbors.

And just as in grandpa’s day, a short stroll (no need to get out the horseless carriage) will take you down to the quaint town square, with brand-new, three-story red-brick storefronts made to look a lot like old ones.
Continue reading Something old, something new at Norton Commons →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Commentary, Southern Indiana

Travel back in time at Schuler’s

Schuler's
The crowded parking lot at Schuler’s in Henryville, Ind., signals a popular neighborhood establishment. Photo by Fred Schloemer.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes

Imagine a world without fast-food restaurants, with no golden arches beckoning hungry travelers. It’s almost unthinkable in this day and age, but if you can do it, you’re probably at least 50. For anyone younger, fast food has always been a fact of life.

So says local free-lance writer (and psychotherapist) FRED SCHLOEMER, who favors us this week with this reminiscence of Schuler’s Family Restaurant in Henryville, Ind., a veritable gustatory time machine that can whisk us back to the days when the Beatles were young and Elvis was still alive.

Tell us about it, Fred!
Continue reading Travel back in time at Schuler’s →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

The Earl of Sandwich and his portable feast

Bootleg's Q
You can get mutton (on bun at lower right) and lots of other good Q at Bootleg Bar-B-Q. Photos by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Ole Hickory Pit, Bootleg Bar-B-Q, Jimmy John’s Gourmet Sandwiches)

Let us sing the praises today of John Montagu, Fourth Earl of Sandwich, who one day in 1762 decided to place his lunch between two slices of bread, creating the portable meal that to this day bears his name. “Sandwich,” I mean. Belly up to the bar and call for a ham-and-cheese Montagu, and people will just look at you funny.
Continue reading The Earl of Sandwich and his portable feast →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Outside the city

Taking my ‘cue in LaGrange

Big R's
Big R’s, out in the middle of La Grange in Oldham County, has all the signs of a serious barbecue joint. And the pigmeat backs it up. Photo by Robin Garr.

Meanwhile, I blazed a trail out to Oldham County recently to check out Big R’s, a fine new barbecue joint. It’s located in an attractive country house right in the middle of town, surrounded by all the signals that real barbecue is sold here: a big, black smoker, lots of hickory logs and a statue of an anthropomorphic pig out front.

It’s a smallish place but clean and neat, with freshly painted walls the color of lemon ice and tasteful red-checked curtains; maybe a half-dozen tables inside and a few more on the porch. The menu is basic and functional, too: Baby-backs range from $9 for a half-slab with no sides to $18 for a full slab with two sides. Other smoked meats – pulled pork, pulled chicken and beef brisket – are mostly $5.25 for a sandwich with one side, $6 with two sides.

We chowed down on ribs and a brisket sandwich and four sides between us and were generally pleased. Let’s put it this way: Big R is a master of smoking meat, a champion BBQ artiste who “slow-smokes” pork butts and briskets over hickory for 15 hours and ribs for five; but his tastes in sauces and rubs differs from my “less is more” philosophy: He likes to use a little more.

The ribs, indeed, were as good as I ever ate: They’re very meaty, with surprisingly little fat or gristle, smoked just right so the hickory flavor is like a condiment but doesn’t conceal the natural flavors of the meat. I wish he had throttled back on the dry rub and shiny glaze, though. The aromatic spices in the rub (I think I smelled cumin) and the sweet-sticky glaze didn’t really enhance the excellent pigmeat.

The same was true of the brisket: The smoky beef was tender and delicious, but they shredded it and served it in a thick, sweet sauce like a Sloppy Joe. Why do that to good brisket? I wish they’d just offer a no-sauce option.

The sides were quite good. Baked beans were just about perfect – small and pink in a savory-salty sauce. Potato salad was devilishly good, chunks of tender potato and crisp celery in a thick sour-cream sauce with a hint of herbs, maybe dill. Wide green beans were wide beans, long-simmered country-style, decent enough, though a little bit of ham hock would have taken them to bean heaven. My wife liked her mac ‘n’ cheese despite its alarming Velveeta color.

Too full for dessert, we got away from a generous meal for a very attractive $20.14 for two, plus a $4 tip. In spite of my barbecue maven’s nitpicks, it was darn good ‘cue, some of the best around, and the ribs and pork might have made my Hall of Fame if they had just left them alone.

Big R’s Barbeque Shack
109 E. Washington Court
La Grange, Ky.
222-0058

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

Indulge your pork cravings at Pig City

Pig City
Pig City BBQ: Certain songs with food allusions may or may be what they seem, but there’s nothing ambiguous about Pig City BBQ. It’s about the pigmeat, brothers and sisters. Photo by Paige Moore-Heavin

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Pig City BBQ, Fresco Southwest Grill & Pizza)

Food was never very far from the thoughts of Mississippi blues great Armenter Chatmon, better known to the world as Bo Carter. At least we assume he was thinking about food when he dreamed up blues ballads like “Banana in Your Fruit Basket” and “Your Biscuits Are Big Enough for Me.”

OK, so maybe those references are just a little ambiguous. Maybe he was thinking about food, and maybe he wasn’t. But there’s no doubt that Bo had his dinner plate in mind when he warbled the tune I love best, “Pigmeat is What I Crave.”

I’m right with him there: Meat, fish, fowl or soy protein, it’s hard to beat pork for sheer deliciousity.

Naturally when I heard about a new barbecue joint out in the East End called Pig City, I knew where I had to be. Continue reading Indulge your pork cravings at Pig City →

BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, BY PRICE FOR TWO, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

This drink’s for Fido

Tyler Dorsett
In a rare display of common sense, Kentucky recently made it OK to take home an unfinished bottle of wine from a restaurant. Tyler Dorsett of the Bristol-Downtown shows the first step, re-corking the bottle … Photos by Robin Garr

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Wine doggy-bagging, Cutting Board Café, Aldi’s)

You order an excellent wine to go with your restaurant meal, and when dinner is done, the bottle is half empty. Or half full, depending on your worldview. What do you do?

Common sense would dictate that you poke the cork back in the bottle and take it home to enjoy another day. But common sense, by and large, does not inform alcoholic-beverage-control laws. In Kentucky, restaurants are generally not licensed for “package liquor” sales and, historically, have risked a fine or loss of their drinks license if they permit customers to carry out wine.

In a rare display of common sense, however, Kentucky’s legislature this year passed a new law allowing consumers to take the partially consumed bottle home. The law requires that restaurant staff re-seal the bottle, place it in a closed bag and provide a dated receipt. The consumer must keep the bottle in the trunk, a locked glove compartment or other place “inaccessible to the driver” during the trip home, a rather bureaucratic set of requirements apparently aimed at ensuring that thirsty motorists won’t slug their Chateau Gotrocks right out of the bottle while speeding along the Watterson.
Continue reading This drink’s for Fido →