Category Archives: BY LOCATION

For a good country-fried steak, go to Goose Creek Diner

country fried steak
Country fried steak at Goose Creek Diner

I wouldn’t want to say that my food preferences are those of a city boy, but let’s put it this way: In years of dining at my parents’ table, I never realized grits were served with breakfast until I ran into this odd practice elsewhere. And I was a fully grown adult before my first encounter with country-fried steak.
Continue reading For a good country-fried steak, go to Goose Creek Diner

At Cluckers, it’s all about chicken — and the sauces

My friend Joe’s face flushed to a deep crimson, and his eyes welled with moisture.

“I can’t even describe how my mouth feels right now,” Joe said after devouring 10 Cluckin’ Inferno Wings at Cluckers, a new chicken-centric bar and grill in New Albany. He later added: “I’m hurting.”
Continue reading At Cluckers, it’s all about chicken — and the sauces

Double down in Germantown at Eiderdown

Country Ham, fried egg on pugliesi
Eiderdown’s Kentucky Country Ham Sandwich. LEO photo by Ron Jasin.
Edelweiss, Edelweiss,
Every morning you greet me …

No, wait, dammit! Rewind! I meant “Eiderdown,” sorry. Edelweiss is an Alpine flower, small and white. Eiderdown is soft, warm down from the breast feathers of the female eider duck, which famously plucks down from her chest to line her nest and keep her eggs and infant duckies safe and warm.
Continue reading Double down in Germantown at Eiderdown

Rootie’s wings are the real deal. Really.

Rootie’s Sports Bar on Westport Road doesn’t look like anything special — just another sports bar, with lots of TVs and a few pool tables.
But owner Marty Stein knows a thing or two about the classic Buffalo wing. He and the original Rootie’s location hail from Buffalo. He’s been making Buffalo wings for more than 30 years, having bounced from upstate New York to South Florida and now to Louisville, with stops on “The Today Show” and “Regis and Kathie Lee” along the way.
Continue reading Rootie’s wings are the real deal. Really.

Surfin’ the bacon bubble at The Blind Pig

Sandwich
The Blind Pig's Ivory Bacon sandwich. PHOTO: Ron Jasin

The chattering classes in the urban centers are badmouthing bacon, and I don’t want to hear it.
“We are in the midst of a bacon bubble,” The Wall Street Journal reported earlier this month, and The Atlantic gleefully passed it on. “A growing number of chefs … say it’s about to pop,” snorted Journal reporter Katy McLaughlin. “Bacon had a good run, but now it has gone flabby — used too much and too often, it’s lost its novelty and coated fine dining with a ubiquitous veneer of porky grease.”
Harrumph. I’m callin’ bacon fat.
Bacon, like pizza and barbecue, is one of nature’s finest foods. Continue reading Surfin’ the bacon bubble at The Blind Pig

Naked Pizza strips down to the essentials

pizza with olives
Mediterranean Pizza from Naked Pizza
Voice-Tribune review by LouisvilleHotBytes

What’s a Naked pizza? Just about everyone does a double-take when they first hear the name of this popular new takeout eatery in St. Matthews.

So let’s get a couple of things straight: First, the pizzas here are not served, er, bare. They’re fully clothed with sauce, cheese and delectable toppings. What’s more, you don’t have to be naked to go there. In fact, public nudity is just as strictly discouraged within these quarters as it is everywhere else in St. Matthews.

So what’s this Naked thing? Frankly, it’s hard to tell. I’ve perused this new but fast-growing franchise chain’s Website carefully, but they don’t spell it out. Continue reading Naked Pizza strips down to the essentials

Mr. Pollo Restaurant offers a simple and safe taste of Peru

grilled chicken and fries
Mr. Pollo's chicken (photo: Ron Jasin)
LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes

Ahh, the cuisines of Peru. Some of my most memorable food experiences occurred in this hospitable South American land.
Like the time we stayed over in Cuzco, high in the Andes, after a trip to Machu Picchu. Bored by our hotel’s American-style dining room, we went in search of something more authentic: pollo a la brasa — charcoal-roasted chicken, that is, modern Peru’s people’s fare. We soon found a cozy spot with a sign that read, simply, “Pollo” (“Chicken”).
Continue reading Mr. Pollo Restaurant offers a simple and safe taste of Peru

Breakfast gets even better at Meridian Cafe

pita stuffed with lox

I like breakfast. Eggs, bacon or ham, French toast or pancakes, hash browns, whatever, it’s all good to me. I can eat breakfast in the morning, I can eat it for lunch. I’ll even consider eating breakfast for dinner, or an omelet anyway.
Continue reading Breakfast gets even better at Meridian Cafe

Boomin’ Cuban comes to New Albany: Meet Habana Blues Cuban Tapas Restaurant

lamb chops on plate

A few weeks ago, reporting from El Rumbon, the Cuban street-food trailer near Oxmoor, I uttered this simple forecast: “Cuban food is starting to look like the next big thing on the Louisville culinary scene.”
Continue reading Boomin’ Cuban comes to New Albany: Meet Habana Blues Cuban Tapas Restaurant