Category Archives: BY PRICE FOR TWO

$ Budget (under $30), Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, underSlideshowEntries, World Food

Taco Punk un-punk’d

A brief social media hurricane surrounded Taco Punk recently after the unofficial campus newspaper, The Louisville Cardinal, ran a sharply critical review that, among other things, found the hip NuLu hangout guilty of such high crimes as allowing a pricey Porsche to park out front, fostering gentrification and, it seemed, being imperialist 1-percenter piglets. In my Feb. 22 review, I had found it guilty of only misdemeanors: slacker service and fragile tortillas.

In the aftermath of the imperfect media storm, I decided to give them another shot, and I’m pleased to report that both issues are now well under control. Service was quick, competent and smiling, and my fresh corn tortilla was solid enough to bear its load of black beans, cheese and salsa with savoir faire. Let’s raise that rating to a thumbs-up 88. (Taco Punk, 736 E. Market St., 584-8226, tacopunk.com.)

$ Budget (under $30), Bistros, Outside the city, underSlideshowEntries

Farm-to-table dining hiding in plain sight at Anchorage Café

“Farm-to-table,” the buzz term for restaurants that seek out and celebrate the health and humane stewardship of local produce, meat and poultry, is one of the hottest trends on the local culinary scene. From Mozz on down to Toast, Harvest, Wiltshire, Garage Bar, La Coop, Taco Punk, Decca, Mayan Cafe and Rye, you needn’t walk any farther than you can throw a Weisenberger Mill grits cake to find farm-to-table cuisine in trendy NuLu.

But one of the best of the genre, surprisingly, is almost hidden out in the leafy environs of suburban Anchorage, where Anchorage Café assembles an impressive collection of locavore small plates. Continue reading Farm-to-table dining hiding in plain sight at Anchorage Café →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Bistros, Southern Indiana, underSlideshowEntries

Let’s say “bonjour” to Louis Le Français

I know this may seem an odd thing to say about an eatery in New Albany, but it’s true: A visit to Louis Le Français comes surprisingly close to dining in France.

How authentic is it? Here’s how: I decided to give my limited language skills a workout by ordering a dish in French. Continue reading Let’s say “bonjour” to Louis Le Français →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), LEO's Eats, New and noteworthy, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, underSlideshowEntries, White tablecloth, deluxe

Dress up and dine well at Henry’s Place

Want to go someplace classy for dinner and you don’t mind dressing up a bit to enjoy it? Consider Henry’s Place, which arrived last month with a “business casual” dress code in tow.

“We hope the ladies will want to dress up a bit and that the gentlemen will occasionally throw on that blue blazer that’s always handy,” advises its website. Shorts, T-shirts, ball caps, torn blue jeans and flip-flops are on the no-no list: “We would really like it if you saved your blue jeans for the more casual dining spots,” the dress code rules state, warning would-be style offenders, “Patrons who are not suitably attired will be offered space in the bar area, if available.”
Continue reading Dress up and dine well at Henry’s Place →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Bistros, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, New and noteworthy, underSlideshowEntries

Decca earns its place in the NuLu scene

It’s hard to believe that Decca opened its doors only about three months ago. This long-awaited arrival on the NuLu scene came in with a sense of excitement, occasioned both by its setting in one of the 1870s brick buildings that long had housed Wayside Christian Mission and by the San Francisco culinary heritage of its founding team. Continue reading Decca earns its place in the NuLu scene →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, LEO's Eats, New and noteworthy, underSlideshowEntries, White tablecloth, deluxe

Elegance is made easy at St. Charles Exchange

What could be more elegant than the classy confines of a turn-of-the-century hotel bar? Turn of the last century, I mean – a scene more familiar through classic cinema than personal experience. I’m not that old!

Take Louisville’s new St. Charles Exchange, for example. Pull open the tall, heavy doors, and it’s like stepping back into another era – you suddenly hear the clop of horse hooves and the creak of buggy wheels replacing the drone of traffic on Seventh Street.
Continue reading Elegance is made easy at St. Charles Exchange →

$ Budget (under $30), Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, Pubs, Brew Pubs, GastroPubs, underSlideshowEntries

Against the Grain stands out on brewpub scene

Even in a region singularly blessed with strong local microbreweries and brewpubs, Against the Grain stands out in its relatively short life (it opened last October) as an operation seriously dedicated to the production and enjoyment of excellent beer. Continue reading Against the Grain stands out on brewpub scene →

$ Budget (under $30), Breakfast and lunch spots, sandwich spots, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, underSlideshowEntries, World Food

Brownsboro Diet at SuperChef’s Breakfast and Chicago Gyros

(SuperChefs is now at 307 Wallace Avenue in St. Matthews, 896-8008; facebook.com/SuperChefsBreakfast on Facebook.)

You’ve heard of the South Beach diet. You might have tried the low-carb Atkins diet. Wannabe cave persons swear by the Paleo diet, and the wealthy are all about the Hamptons diet. There’s a trendy diet plan for just about everyone who wants to shed a few pounds in this age of high-fructose corn syrup and super-sized meals. And now, let’s put our hands together for the Brownsboro Road diet!
Continue reading Brownsboro Diet at SuperChef’s Breakfast and Chicago Gyros →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, LEO's Eats, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, New and noteworthy, underSlideshowEntries

Great Guac, great Mole, and more at Guaca Mole

Some guacamole walked into a bar, and the bartender said, “Hey! There’s a restaurant named after you.” “What? There’s a restaurant named Wilbur?”

Well, no. And my career as a stand-up comedian should probably end right there. After all, guacamole is nothing to joke about, or at least not much. And if you think guacamole is just some boring green stuff that you use as a dip at cheap Mexican restaurants, you might want to re-think that, too.
Continue reading Great Guac, great Mole, and more at Guaca Mole →