Category Archives: Coffee Shops & Desserts

$ Budget (under $30), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Coffee Shops & Desserts, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

Ice cream for Christmas because why not?

Tell me about favorite desserts and sweet treats for the holidays: What have you got? If you celebrated Hanukkah in your household, you’ve enjoyed such deliciousness as hamentaschen, jelly donuts, and all manner of fried sweets. Christmas brings a wealth of sugary delights, from gingerbread cookies and Yule log cakes to the ubiquitous fruitcake and whatever the hell sugar plums are.

But wait! Where’s the ice cream? Yes, knocking back a pint of frozen cream can bring down your core temperature, but inside a warm and cozy house, in front of a fireplace, ice cream can be a festive treat. Continue reading Ice cream for Christmas because why not? →

$ Budget (under $30), Coffee Shops & Desserts, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, LEO's Eats, QuickBytes

Ehrler’s is back, and it’s good

Nothing goes much better to rid your palate of the sad and mournful taste of raw kale than a scoop of delicious, creamy ice cream, and the serious shot of bourbon in Ehrler’s bourbon pecan fudge ($3.60 for a kiddie cup big enough for two kiddies) did the trick for me. Continue reading Ehrler’s is back, and it’s good →

$ Budget (under $30), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Coffee Shops & Desserts, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, QuickBytes, Southern Indiana, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, underSlideshowEntries, Voice-Tribune review

Comfy Cow growing into a herd

“I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream.” Once a popular ditty of the “Roaring Twenties,” this folk wisdom has grown into a simple truth.

Who doesn’t like ice cream? As Mary’s father used to say, even after an ample meal, “There is always room for ice cream.” And with Spring belatedly breaking after one of the most relentless Winters in recent memory, the signs of the season include, in addition to green buds, bright flowers and insane allergy-pollen levels, long lines of hungry supplicants forming around just about every ice-cream shop in town. Even the perennial ice cream trucks have brought their clangy rendition of “Camptown Races” back to the streets of our fair city. Continue reading Comfy Cow growing into a herd →

$ Budget (under $30), Coffee Shops & Desserts, QuickBytes, Southern Indiana, underSlideshowEntries, Voice-Tribune review, World Food

Road food road trip in Southern Indiana!

I know this is hard to believe, but a couple of generations back, when our parents and even our grandparents were young, a road trip took some planning. There were no Interstate highways and nothing like McDonald’s, Wendy’s or Burger King. What was a hungry traveler to do in those days of winding two-lane highways and no familiar burger logos glowing in the distance? As it happens, though it may have taken longer to get to your destination, but our forbears arguably enjoyed a finer, tastier and better quality of road food in those days gone by.
Continue reading Road food road trip in Southern Indiana! →

$ Budget (under $30), Coffee Shops & Desserts, QuickBytes, underSlideshowEntries, Voice-Tribune review

’tis the season for the perfect peach (ice cream)

What’s my favorite season? Don’t ask me to choose between summer, winter, spring or fall. Baseball, football, basketball, it doesn’t matter much to me. But talk about fresh peach season, and you’ve grabbed my attention in a serious way. Continue reading ’tis the season for the perfect peach (ice cream) →

$ Budget (under $30), Coffee Shops & Desserts, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill

Clifton awash in ice cream

Within one remarkable week in October, two familiar old Clifton buildings on opposite sides of Frankfort Avenue have turned into ice cream shops. Last week, Homemade Ice Cream and Pie Kitchen opened its ninth branch, a café-style shop featuring wine and beer and, of course, ice cream, in the old Longshot Tavern (2232 Frankfort Ave., 409-6111, www.piekitchen.com).

A week earlier, Mayor Greg Fischer cut the ribbon to open Comfy Cow’s third branch on the site of the old Genny’s Diner and in the beautifully restored Queen Anne house next door. You know, the one the guy from Genny’s had declared unsalvageable. (It’s at 2221 Frankfort Ave., 409-4616, thecomfycow.com.)

Of course I had to try a tasting: $2.76 for a single scoop at the Pie Kitchen, $3.15 at the Cow. Frankly, they both smelled and tasted very good, with a fresh, clean chocolate scent and pure flavor. I gave the Comfy Cow the nod based on superior texture and flavor, but it was a close race. Pay your money and take your choice.

$ Budget (under $30), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Coffee Shops & Desserts, Commentary, Germantown, Southern Indiana, underSlideshowEntries

In search of the city’s best doughnuts

Donuts at Nord's

Who doesn’t like doughnuts? There’s something comforting about these fried spheres of goodness with a hole in the middle, and most doughnut lovers have strong opinions on the subject.

Louisville boasts many local bakeries and doughnut joints. But not all doughnuts (or, if you prefer, “donuts”) are created equal, so I set out to try a random sample of five locals to see how they compared.
Continue reading In search of the city’s best doughnuts →

$ Budget (under $30), Coffee Shops & Desserts, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill

Hot breakfast at Heine’s?

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes

Just out the pike from the Clifton J. Gumbo’s, the classic Crescent Hill storefront that houses the Frankfort Avenue branch of Heine Brothers Coffee has long been an appealing place to grab coffee, tea or espresso and a pastry or dessert.

Not long ago, the addition of a breakfast panini made Heine’s a reasonable option when you’re in the mood for a quick, hot breakfast.
Continue reading Hot breakfast at Heine’s? →

$ Budget (under $30), Coffee Shops & Desserts, Commentary, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill

No animals were harmed in making this chili dog

chili dog
Vegan chili dog. Photo: Robin Garr

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes

Speaking of creative eateries, Conez & Coneyz may be one of the smallest dining venues on Frankfort Avenue, but it’s also one of the most eager to please.

When the owners chose to set up a hot-dog stand last year near the epicenter of an urban neighborhood rich in recovering hippies and seminary students (occasionally both embodied in the same person), they weren’t all that surprised to hear an instant demand for a vegetarian dawg.

Ultimately, they sourced two dogs that weren’t merely vegetarian but vegan: a Loma Linda brand item that turns to textured vegetable prote for almost-sausage flavor; and a Vegi-Dog made by Cedar Lake that’s all-grain protein. One chilly afternoon, I tried the Loma Linda as a chilidog, topped with vegetarian chili and chopped onions.
Continue reading No animals were harmed in making this chili dog →