Category Archives: BY PRICE FOR TWO

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Commentary, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, QuickBytes

Burgers, dogs and cones, oh my!

Five Guys dog and burger

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes
(Five Guys, Home Run, Conez and Coneyz)
EDITOR’S NOTE: Conez and Coneys is now closed.
For all the talk of market indicators and the rebounding Dow and yada yada yada, you and I know there’s still a recession going on. And so, apparently, do a lot of Louisville’s restaurateurs.

I’ve reported recently on the ways some of the city’s top-tier eateries are responding to tightened consumer spending with menu-price reductions. Small-plates restaurants, always popular, are on the rise.

And, in a time when the economy and other things that go bump in the night look scary, many of us crave cheap, hearty and, yes, fatty comfort food. New spots that specialize in economical edibles such as hamburgers and hot dogs are springing up all over.
Continue reading Burgers, dogs and cones, oh my! →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Commentary, QuickBytes, South End

Ole Hickory Pit, old Western Kentucky tradition

Ribs at Ole Hickory Pit

Anybody want a little mutton? I can hear you going “Eeuuww!” all the way from here.

Once beloved by our English and Australian cousins, who had a lot of sheep around, mutton has all but died out in modern times. You’ll rarely if ever see it in the grocery store or on a restaurant menu. In an age of mild beef, chicken and pork, “the other white meat,” mutton has a bad reputation as strong, greasy and gamey meat.
Continue reading Ole Hickory Pit, old Western Kentucky tradition →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Commentary, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, White tablecloth, deluxe

Rivue brunch goes round and round

Chocolate spinner at Rivue

If you haven’t been up to the revolving top of the Galt House for a while, you may be surprised to see how much things have changed. Gone is the faux sailing ship look, with its blocks and tackles and green, purple and gold running lights.

Exit the elevators on the hotel’s 23rd floor now, and you step into a series of sleek rooms decorated in stark black and white. Light fixtures made from stacks of clear globes look like bubbles rising in champagne. But the real eye-catcher, as it has always been, is the lofty view of the Ohio River and the city all around.
Continue reading Rivue brunch goes round and round →

$ Budget (under $30), Commentary, Guest columnist, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, QuickBytes, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

Another reason to love El Tarasco

I love El Tarasco’s St. Matthew’s property. I go there for lunch several times a month with my friend and business associate Jerry, and we’re never let down — when it comes to quality Mexican at a great price, it’s hard to beat. The chicken tacos are ridiculously good.
Continue reading Another reason to love El Tarasco →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Commentary, New and noteworthy, Pacific Rim

Dragon King’s Daughter gives sushi a new twist

Italian picnic sushi

“I just can’t do sushi,” my Facebook friend Suzie in Arkansas posted. “It’s the redneck in me.”

Maybe. But even the most ardent sushi-hater could be rehabilitated at Dragon King’s Daughter, where Toki Masabuchi puts an international twist on the creative sushi delights that have built her a loyal following at Maido Essential Japanese in Clifton.
Continue reading Dragon King’s Daughter gives sushi a new twist →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Bistros, Commentary, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, LEO's Eats

Breakfast, tapas? Have it your way at North End

North End breakfast

Where is it written that eggs must be reserved for breakfast? In my culinary Day Timer, an omelet makes a splendid date for dinner. Scrambled eggs go down well anytime. And bacon! There’s no hour of the day or night when the thought of smoky, salty bacon won’t inspire a hunger pang.
Continue reading Breakfast, tapas? Have it your way at North End →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Commentary, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, QuickBytes, South End, Southern Indiana, World Food

Road trip ramble

Burger Boy
The new and improved Burger Boy. LEO photo by Ron Jasin

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes
(Burger Boy, A.J.’s Coffee ‘n’ Cream, Polly’s Freeze, Mike Linnig’s)

“Road trip!”

With the possible exception of “smog alert,” no two words say summer better.

For the inveterate foodie, no road trip would be complete without stopping to sample roadfood, a concept that the writers Jane and Michael Stern made famous, defining it as “memorable local eateries along the highways and back roads of America.”

With summer finally blazing at its peak, we’ve done some road time lately, visiting a few old friends on the highways around Louisville, and discovering a bright new face on a roadfood-style inner-city eatery that has lifted itself from a dive into an inviting diner. Let’s start there.
Continue reading Road trip ramble →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Commentary, Pacific Rim, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

Mikato brings Japanese flair to old Napa River space

Mikato

If you think of a Japanese restaurant, sushi may cross your mind, assuming you’re a reasonably adventurous diner. Not so adventurous? Then the fun of Japanese slice-and-dice chefs showing off their utensil-tossing techniques at hibachi tables may ring your gong.
Continue reading Mikato brings Japanese flair to old Napa River space →