Village Anchor Pub takes roost

Myra’s fried chicken at Village Anchor

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes

Got milk? Or a Nike swoosh? How about “comfort food with a twist”?

Indeed, what kind of wacky restaurant concept might we expect from one of the nation’s top corporate-relations experts — a man who’s run campaigns for such iconic enterprises as the American dairy industry and Nike — when he comes back home and turns restaurateur?

That would be Anchorage resident Kevin Grangier, former sole owner of award-winning CarryOn Communications Inc. of Los Angeles, New York and … St. Matthews.
(more…)

Molly Malone’s alive, alive-oh in St. Matthews’ fair city

Mussels at Molly Malone’s

Voice-Tribune review by LouisvilleHotBytes
Think of the name “Molly Malone” and get an instant “earworm,” the tune that sticks in your head and will not go away. “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive-oh” indeed!

In Louisville, however, Molly Malone gains quick recognition as one of the region’s many amiable Irish pubs; a stalwart in the Baxter Avenue club zone for years, Malone’s added an East End branch in St. Matthews Station last autumn, replacing the old BW-3 at the corner of Shelbyville Road and Breckinridge Lane, adding another stop to a block-long concentration of watering holes that also includes BBC, Brendan’s, Dutch’s and 60 West, a collection that’s starting to rival the Baxter strip.

The new Malone’s is a fun and friendly Irish pub with a really good beer selection, but as I’ve found the food generally edible but unexciting.
(more…)

Lots to like about Bank Street Brewhouse

Mussels at Bank Street Brewhouse

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes

We arrived at Bank Street Brewhouse on a beautiful late-spring afternoon. The temperature was in the balmy upper 70s, the breezes were gentle, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

I looked longingly at the four round patio tables out front and whispered to my bride how frustrating it is that the outdoor dining section has become the de facto smoking section for many Metro eateries.

The server must have overheard me. “Those tables are no-smoking,” she said with a smile. “Take your pick.”
(more…)

Unmasking the two faces of Zanzabar

Roast Beef at Zanzabar. Photo by Ron Jasin.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes
by Kevin Gibson

By night, Zanzabar is a hipster hangout, a music venue that attracts local and touring artists alike, and it offers a varied dinner and late-night menu, along with a pretty fair beer list. By day, Zanzabar is a mild-mannered purveyor of boxed lunches and “the lunch line” — a one-price, one-stop, cafeteria-style alter-identity that offers all-American, down-home goodness at a decent price.

Is it just a coincidence that there is a Batman comic book lurking behind the horseshoe-shaped bar?
(more…)

This Blind Pig’s no visually impaired porcine

The Blind Pig’s Spaghetti Puttanesca

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes
When I heard The Blind Pig in Butchertown, just down the street from that bacon-makin’ factory the neighbors are trying to run out of town, was ready to open last month, I was right there. And so were about 5,000 other foodies who’ve kept this charming new spot slammed since Day One.

Now, The Blind Pig isn’t only about pigmeat, although in honor of its historic neighborhood, partners Joseph Frase (once of El Mundo) and Michael Grider do offer a bill of fare with plenty of pork dishes featuring locavore meat, sausages and bacon made in-house.
(more…)

Browning’s returns to Slugger Field

 

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.

(more…)

Roll out the barrel at Bank Street Brewhouse

Mussels and a brew at Bank Street Brewhouse

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes
With guest critic Kevin Gibson

Lovers of microbrewery beer now have another local mecca: The long-awaited Bank Street Brewhouse, an offshoot of New Albanian Brewing Company, opened its doors this month and is operating with a limited menu and limited seating in downtown New Albany.

If an early impression does justice to the end result, this brewpub will indeed have been worth the wait.

I visited during a recent evening when, in spite of the lightly publicized “soft opening,” the small pub was mostly full, thanks most likely to the fact that the weather was warm and there were plenty of New Albanian beers from which to choose.
(more…)

We Tappa Keg at BJ’s & The BBC Tap Room

BJ’s: a 30-year-old Southern California chain, has expanded to Louisville with the launch of a large and very well capitalized brewhouse at Oxmoor Center. Photos by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com
(BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse; BBC Tap Room)

Inquire about the American Pale Ale (aka “APA”) at Louisville’s BBC Tap Room, and you’ll get a virtual education in this classic American beer style: Made with Special Pale, Caramunich, Flaked Barley, and Special B malts and bittered with Centennial and Willamette hops, it’s a rich, copper colored ale with a full-bodied bitter hops flavor supported by generous amounts of malt.

Ask the same question about the APA at the new BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse in Oxmoor, and you may hear something like what a friendly server told me: “It’s a light beer. Well, one of our lighter beers.” She paused, then grinned conspiratorially. “They train us not to tell people it’s ‘bitter’.”
(more…)

Urbane renewal in the heart of St. Matthews

The 15-year-old Bluegrass Brewing Co. emerged from cosmetic surgery last week with a new look and an updated menu, including a hot bacon and spinach salad and fried polenta fingers. Photos by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eats with Louisville HotBytes
(Bluegrass Brewing Co.)

With a history that dates to 1779 and bragging rights as one of Louisville’s first suburbs, St. Matthews owns a long-standing reputation as a quiet, family-oriented community, a safe and frankly conservative kind of place to bring up the kids.

Indeed, the community signaled its social conservatism way back in 1850, on the fateful day when its upright burghers decided to change the town’s name from “Gilman’s Point” (chosen in honor of the local saloon) to “St. Matthews” (in honor of a more “suitable” namesake, its then-new Episcopal church).

From that day to this, St. Matthews’ churches and watering holes have co-existed in usually comfortable harmony. So it’s no real surprise that you’ll find at least three bars, a brewpub and a martini bar within an easy crawl of the intersection of Shelbyville and Westport roads and Chenoweth Lane, the exact corner where Gilman’s Tavern once stood.
(more…)

Earlier reviews of Bars and Brew Pubs

Bluegrass Brewing Co.
Browning’s
Cumberland Brews
Jack’s Lounge
Red Lounge
Rich O’s