Category Archives: Bistros

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Bistros, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill

Meeting John Barleycorn at Bourbons Bistro

Bourbons Bistro
Chef Michael Crouch of Bourbons Bistro offers thoughtful, creative dishes that may be rooted in down-home Ohio Valley flavors but travel around the world for inspiration. Photo by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

We did an odd thing at Bourbons Bistro the other night. You might expect a place named after Kentucky’s native nectar to feature steak, potatoes and red wine, but we ended up with a delicious selection of seafood and vegetarian dishes.

That’s the delicious secret (although it’s not much of a secret) at Bourbons Bistro: Bourbon has outgrown its reputation as the potent, old-style liquor that your Old Grand-dad used to sip and has moved into the modern era. Bourbons Bistro, arguably bourbon whiskey’s No. 1 temple in the metro, provides fare to match, with Chef Michael Crouch turning out thoughtful, creative dishes that may be rooted in down-home Ohio Valley flavors but travel around the world for inspiration.
Continue reading Meeting John Barleycorn at Bourbons Bistro →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Bistros

Incredible Dave’s: Flawed Inspiration

Photo in Incredible Dave's
Chuck E. Cheese on steroids: If you’re unfamiliar with the Incredible Dave’s concept, imagine a Chuck E. Cheese on steroids, and with a bar. While the concept carries a touch of inspired brilliance, in practice there are flaws. Photo by Nicole Pullen.

Leo EATS with guest columnist Kevin Gibson.

Incredible Dave’s is a fantastic world of sound and color; the kind of place that makes children’s eyes nearly pop out of their heads when they walk in.

“Oh … my … gosh,” one girl, who looked about 7, said recently upon entering with her younger brother and parents.

My girlfriend Jen and I went to Incredible Dave’s, which opened last month on Westport Road in the site of a former Kroger store, on a recent Saturday around 4 p.m. We had hoped to beat the dinner rush, but the place was packed. Packed. For an establishment that had been open only a few weeks at that point, it was quite impressive to see.

If you’re unfamiliar with the restaurant’s concept, imagine a Chuck E. Cheese on steroids, and with a bar. Incredible Dave’s is kind of a Dave & Buster’s that caters to families, giving the adults a chance to dine, enjoy an adult beverage or two and watch the ballgame on big screens while the kids blow their minds on arcade games, bowling, Xbox and Wii lounges, and plenty more.

Continue reading Incredible Dave’s: Flawed Inspiration →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Bistros, Southern Indiana

Four people drove up the hill …

RockWall
Long known for its lovely setting tucked into an old rock quarry on the Floyds Knobs hills high above Louisville, RockWall has kicked things up a notch or two under Chef Alex Bomba, who arrived last summer. Photo courtesy of Guy Sillings/RockWall Bistro.

LEO’s Eats with Louisville HotBytes

So the other night, four people drove up a hill in Southern Indiana to enjoy a classy evening of fine Indiana wine and upscale cuisine.

What’s the punch line? Get ready for it …

OK, there isn’t any punch line. This is no joke. It’s no surprise to find a touch of comfortable class at RockWall Bistro. Long known for its lovely setting tucked into an old rock quarry on the Floyds Knobs hills high above Louisville, RockWall has kicked things up a notch or two under Chef Alex Bomba, who arrived last summer.
Continue reading Four people drove up the hill … →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Bistros, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

60 West Bistro & Martini Bar

BBC
The 5-year-old Cafe Emilie reinvented itself with a new name and image as 60 West Bistro and Martini Bar.

Cafe Emilie, the comfortable eatery in the Burdorf Center (the former Bacon’s department store in St. Matthews) has won quite a few fans – including me – since it started out as a simple lunch spot just over five years ago. We’ve watched it mature into a cozy neighborhood bistro and bar through a couple of chef and staff changes, and it has earned its popularity the old-fashioned way.
Continue reading 60 West Bistro & Martini Bar →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Bistros

Eat the veggies first at Club Grotto

Club Grotto
Club Grotto head chef Mike Driskell doesn’t give the humble vegetable short shrift. And you don’t even have to be a vegetarian to appreciate their trademark all-vegetable dinner course, the aptly named “Vegetable Orgy.” LEO Photo by Nicole Pullen.

LEO’s Eats with Louisville HotBytes
(Club Grotto; Old Town wine totes)

Eat your vegetables!

This exhortation, so often directed at children, for many of us leaves lingering psychic echoes that ring down the years into adulthood. Veggies? Who needs them? Real men eat meat and potatoes … don’t they?

I count myself among the willing but vaguely reluctant vegetable eaters: I’ll force down a portion, knowing that I should, but rarely get the same kind of excitement out of it that I naturally derive from a great steak, shellfish or even a cheese or pasta dish.

Frankly, I think some of Louisville’s top chefs share this aversion. Too often, even at the city’s finest restaurants, I’ll get a great meal with a careless blob of reheated frozen veggies right out of the bag, tossed on the side of my dinner plate as an obvious afterthought.

This doesn’t happen at Club Grotto. Continue reading Eat the veggies first at Club Grotto →

$ Budget (under $30), Bistros, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown

Let’s do Lunch Today at The Café

Lunch Today
Lunch Today lures a lunch crowd to modern shopping center space in Jeffersonville’s Water Tower Square. The soup-and-sandwich combo is the way to go – pictured here is a grilled turkey panini and potato soup. LEO Photo by Nicole Pullen.

LEO’s Eats with Louisville HotBytes
(The Café; Lunch Today)

It’s been almost a week since Thanksgiving Day, and chances are most of us have eaten up the leftovers by now, or discreetly discarded the congealed remains. It may still be a little too soon to think about settling down to another expansive repast, though, so this week let’s do lunch.

In fact, let’s do two!

The Café, formerly known as the Café at the Louisville Antique Mall, has reopened in new quarters after losing its locational clause as a result of a move: The historic red-brick factory on Goss Avenue that housed the antique mall (and the Café) is going condo, prompting its long-time tenants to move. The Café now turns up in bright, sunny quarters in an attractively restored old warehouse building next door to Louisville Stoneware east of downtown.

Lunch Today, a pleasant shopping center spot in Indiana just minutes across the Ohio from downtown Louisville, lures a lunch crowd to modern shopping center space in Water Tower Square, an office park and shopping complex built around the 19th century American Car and Foundry Co.
Continue reading Let’s do Lunch Today at The Café →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Bistros, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

True grits and more at 211 Clover

Shrimp and grits
211 Clover offers a fancy version of shrimp and grits, a Southern specialty. LEO Photo by Nicole Pullen.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Brunch at 211 Clover Lane)BZZZZT! Sorry, Bubba. This hearty Southern comfort food comes to us direct from South Carolina’s Low Country around Charleston. Continue reading True grits and more at 211 Clover →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Bistros, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

Always popular Rick’s

Rick's

(Rick’s Ferrari Grille, Voice-Tribune, Oct. 11, 2007)

According to long-established wisdom, one good way to detect an excellent Chinese restaurant is to look for the places where Chinese people eat. In much the same way, a happy, diverse mosaic of American diners generally signals an excellent American restaurant.

And so it is with Rick’s Ferrari Grille, an established St. Matthews tradition that rarely fails to attract a crowd.

After a series of moves over the years, restaurateur Rick Dissell has been back in his original Chenoweth Square location for 2 1/2 years now, and it looks like he’s back to stay. Continue reading Always popular Rick’s →

$ Budget (under $30), Bistros, Coffee Shops & Desserts, Southern Indiana

Things are looking bright on the Sunny Side

Speakeasy
The Speakeasy in New Albany was modeled after Ronnie Scott’s Jazz Club in London. The idea originated from proprietors and local musicians Lori (pictured above) and Brad Tharp. Photo by Nicole Pullen.

LEO’s Eat ‘n’ Blog with Louisville HotBytes
(Treet’s Bakery Cafe, Speakeasy, Connor’s Place)

With three interesting new restaurants recently joining Bistro New Albany, Federal Hill, La Rosita and others in historic downtown New Albany, Louisville’s Sunny Side is looking mighty bright these days.

I’ve been eager to get over and check it out, but the scare stories about miles-long traffic backups during the recent I-64 construction had me so nervous that I wimped out and asked a Hoosier buddy, GREG GAPSIS, to pick up his knife and fork and tell us what’s going on over there.
Continue reading Things are looking bright on the Sunny Side →