This is our preliminary list of as many Black-owned restaurants as we could find in Louisville. Please give them your support!
The list is compiled from our own records, bolstered by lists assembled by social-media friends. You should be able to quickly find more information by searching the restaurant names on Facebook or your favorite search engine; in coming days we’ll also work to provide links and additional information.
It’s been almost two months since Gov. Andy Beshear ordered Kentucky restaurants closed to sit-down dining in the face of the Covid-19 pandemic, and even with the partial reopening of restaurants at 33 percent indoor capacity (moving up to 50 percent on June 22), the restaurant scene looks very different than it did before the pandemic. Continue reading A moment of silence for restaurants closed by the pandemic→
I’ve never been tempted to sample fugu, the Japanese pufferfish whose internal organs are filled with poison so powerful that even a speck left in your sashimi by a careless chef can drop you dead after a few horrifying hours of pain. Plenty of Japanese gourmands will pay upwards of $200 for a fugu meal, but not me.
Why bring this up? Because the idea of sitting down for a meal at a local restaurant during this pandemic felt way too much like bellying up to a fugu bar. I needed to think it over before sitting down to something that’s sounds like fun but that could kill you.
And yet we did it anyway, settling in on the pretty, shady and very properly distanced patio at Selena’s at Willow Lake Tavern this week. We had a good meal and a good time, too, albeit against a backdrop of nervous unease perhaps similar to the emotions that fugu aficionados must feel. Continue reading We dine well at a proper distance on Selena’s patio→
Some people crave potato chips or chocolate. The other day I started craving Guinness stout. The more I thought about that dark, malty, bitter-chocolate beer with its creamy head so thick that you could float a farthing on it, the more I wanted a pint.
Jake and Elwood’s opened its Chicago-style pizzeria in Clifton at 11 a.m. Monday, March 16. Does that date sound familiar? Yep! That’s the day that Gov. Andy Beshear told all the state’s restaurants to put a halt to dining-in at 5 p.m.
“We are mandated to close for dine-in at 5 p.m. today,” the restaurant posted on its Facebook page less than two hours later. “CARRYOUT is available!!! We’re working on delivery. The blues will prevail!” Continue reading Jake and Elwood’s masters the Chicago pie→
It all started, as things so often do, on social media. I was browsing Instagram, tapping through a lot of the local restaurants that I follow, when a simple white-on-black text image caught my eye.
When the pandemic abruptly shut down all the restaurants in March, Dakshin Indian Restaurant’s owner Sanjay Taxak took many of the same steps as other local eateries: He started offering takeout service and curbside pickup, and he began offering his restaurant’s Indian fare delivered via Grubhub, Postmates, and Uber Eats.
But that wasn’t enough. Taxak was making and serving the food that he loves, but the situation left a hole in his heart. A lot of people were suffering. Furloughed, out of work, families would have a hard time feeding themselves. He couldn’t imagine his two children going hungry, and he didn’t want to think about it for anyone else. Continue reading Yes, there is such a thing as a free lunch, at Dakshin→
You’ve heard it before, and you’ll be hearing it again: This pandemic is rough on business. It’s especially rough on small businesses, like our favorite local restaurants in particular.
Even the careful reopening of some sit-down dining options next month isn’t likely to restore full cash flow or anything like it. As much as I love dining out, I know I’m going to be wary at first. How about you?
We’ve been talking a lot about finding ways to support our local restaurants during this time of pandemic and staying at home. We’ve ordered delivery, put on our masks and dashed in to grab takeout, and we’ve waited patiently in our cars for quick curbside delivery.
Does a margarita go with a pizza margherita? Maybe … but that’s not important right now. What’s important right now is that I’m craving pizza, and margherita is one of my favorites. Let’s make one! Continue reading Cook it at home: Pizza margherita!→
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