Category Archives: BY PRICE FOR TWO

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, World Food

Let’s get Social at 732 … What? I can’t hear you!

732 Social

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

As soon as I read about 732 Social coming to East Market Street, I knew I was going to love it. It would be as urban as urban could get, chic and trendy yet “green” as grass, and it would spit in the face of the recession, boldly stepping out where a string of lovable but short-lived eateries have failed.

Here’s the scenario: Brothers Steven and Michael Ton of Basa join Chef Jayson Lewellyn, late of Jeff Ruby’s. They present quality fare – lots of small plates, and some large ones, too – that goes beyond mere fusion to blend the flavors of Europe, the Americas and Asia. They set it forth in the certifiably trendy Green Building, making adaptive reuse of well-worn barn wood and subtle tones, of course, to keep it close to the earth.

And, as the name suggests, they sought to build a consciously “social” environment, with tightly spaced tables and a community vibe that would encourage diners to converse with their neighbors and maybe even share bites or make new friends.
Continue reading Let’s get Social at 732 … What? I can’t hear you! →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Pacific Rim, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

Tiny Simply Thai packs ’em in

Shrimp Pad Thai at Simply Thai

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

Does size matter? Some of the Metro’s tiniest restaurants rank among its most cozy and attractive. From this assertion I do not exclude New Albany’s iconic Little Chef, a 10-seat diner so small that it once wore wheels; or, for that matter, the trendy, crowded, noisy and compact new 732 Social on East Market Street, about which we’ll be telling you more anon.

This week, though, we turn to another Lilliputian favorite, Simply Thai, housed in the freestanding building at the corner of Wallace and Wilmington avenues in St. Matthews.

Succeeding a short-lived barbecue joint and a forgettable Chinese fast-food eatery, Simply Thai crams about eight tables into a small space, with a couple more patio tables out front.
Continue reading Tiny Simply Thai packs ’em in →

$ Budget (under $30), Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, World Food

Ketchup, globalization and Pakistani fare

Mutton curry at Omar

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

The smiling gentleman forked a sizzling dish of bhaji in my direction. It sizzled gently, wafting wonderful aromas noseward: sweet, caramelized onion and an elusive mix of spices.

This is ethnic-foodie heaven: Omar Fast Food Restaurant, a new eatery featuring the fare of Pakistan, a South Asian nation that most of us have heretofore been more likely to encounter on the front page than on our dinner plate.

I took the plate hungrily.

“Ketchup?” the gent inquired, offering a fistful of red foil envelopes of Hunt’s finest.
Continue reading Ketchup, globalization and Pakistani fare →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Pacific Rim

Sake Blue is on a roll – lots of rolls

ecuador sushi roll
LEO photo by Ron Jasin.
LEO’s Eats with
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

Not so long ago – well, back in the early ’80s – the only place in town to get sushi was a downtown diner, where a Japanese woman came in on Thursdays to produce a special sushi lunch for a small but ardent corps of cognoscenti.

A generation or so later, more than 20 eats emporia provide Japanese fare across the metro area, most of them boasting good to excellent sushi bars. You can even buy sushi boxes at local grocery stores.

Just about everybody in town, or every sushi lover anyway, has a favorite, and a roster of top spots (Kansai, Sake Blue, Raw Sushi Lounge, Jarfi’s Bistro and Z’s Fusion) showed off their wares last month at the annual Sushi in the City gala. The all-you-can-eat event and competition at the Henry Clay was for the benefit of the Family Scholar House of Louisville.

New restaurants carried off top honors, with a judging panel rating the entry from Z’s Fusion as Sushi of the Year. The audience, however, followed another favorite, voting the “People’s Choice” award to the city’s newest Japanese restaurant, Sake Blue.
Continue reading Sake Blue is on a roll – lots of rolls →

$ Budget (under $30), Commentary, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, World Food

Fox vows to put J. Gumbo’s back on track

J Gumbo's Frankfort Ave. Location
After stumbling at the start, J. Gumbo’s is again hitting its stride.

Regular readers will recall observations I’ve written in the past about the original Clifton J. Gumbo’s retaining much of its character while some other links in the growing local chain didn’t show so well. This news release about Founder Billy Fox Jr. regaining control of the brand should read as good news for those who loved Gumbo’s, at its best, for quality and value.

During his twenty year career as a thoroughbred horse racing jockey, Billy Fox, Jr. learned a thing of two about taking it all in stride. So after his initial foray into franchising his J. Gumbo’s Down-Home Cajun Cookin’ restaurants didn’t proceed as smoothly as he had hoped, Billy didn’t panic or let failure whip him into a frenzy. Instead, he has confidently taken hold of the reins of his business again. “There’s a joke among the staff.” the Grand Coteau, La., native says, “that they’ve gotten me back in the saddle and the kitchen again.”
Continue reading Fox vows to put J. Gumbo’s back on track →

$ Budget (under $30), Pubs, Brew Pubs, GastroPubs, Southern Indiana

Roll out the barrel at Bank Street Brewhouse

steamed mussels, beer
Mussels and a brew at Bank Street Brewhouse

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes
With guest critic Kevin Gibson

Lovers of microbrewery beer now have another local mecca: The long-awaited Bank Street Brewhouse, an offshoot of New Albanian Brewing Company, opened its doors this month and is operating with a limited menu and limited seating in downtown New Albany.

If an early impression does justice to the end result, this brewpub will indeed have been worth the wait.

I visited during a recent evening when, in spite of the lightly publicized “soft opening,” the small pub was mostly full, thanks most likely to the fact that the weather was warm and there were plenty of New Albanian beers from which to choose.
Continue reading Roll out the barrel at Bank Street Brewhouse →

$ Budget (under $30), BY LOCATION, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, New and noteworthy, Pacific Rim

Peace and good eats at Zen Tea House

Avocado and tomato crispy rolls were a treat for the eyes and palate. LEO photo by Ron Jasin.
Avocado and tomato crispy rolls were a treat for the eyes and palate. LEO photo by Ron Jasin.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

If you’re accustomed to grabbing a cup of coffee and knocking it back without much serious thought, you might find an occasional switch to tea a transformative experience.

Particularly if you choose to savor said cup in the contemplative environment of Zen Tea House in Clifton. Owned by longtime local restaurateur Huong “CoCo” Tran, Zen Tea House completes a neat trio of unusual Asian eateries on Frankfort Avenue, two doors down from her Zen Garden vegetarian restaurant and next door to her nephews’ Basa Modern Vietnamese.

From a rock garden in the small front yard of this Clifton bungalow to the curved, black tea bar that sweeps through the front room, Zen Tea House breathes a quiet, relaxing Asian style. The space is calming and, yes, Zen-like.   Continue reading Peace and good eats at Zen Tea House →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, World Food

A magic carpet ride to Caspian Grill

Salmon at Caspian Grill

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

We’ve talked before about how Louisville’s Iranian-American community started in the 1970s with a crowd of students at the University of Louisville who decided to stay around when the Ayatollah Khomeini led the Iranian revolution and things went sour back home.

Iran’s loss has been Louisville’s gain, as a surprising number of these folks went into the restaurant business. Initially many of Louisville’s Iranians worked at the late, storied Casa Grisanti. They eventually ventured out to start restaurants of their own, and in more recent years have begun introducing us to their native cuisine. (The respected restaurateur Majid Ghavami, for instance, bridges this gap, now serving as both owner of Saffron’s, the city’s first Iranian restaurant, and general manager of Volare, one of our most popular Italian eateries.)

Now comes another Italian-to-Iranian translation, as the owners of Café Glace on Frankfort Avenue, a gelato shop, have opened Caspian Grill, an excellent Persian restaurant on Bardstown Road, in the quarters formerly occupied by Sweet Surrender.
Continue reading A magic carpet ride to Caspian Grill →

$ Budget (under $30), Bistros, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

Let’s line up for breakfast at Meridian Café

Meridian bagel

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com
(Meridian Café, Maido, Les Relais, Dem Bones)

Louisville has always been a breakfast-loving town, it seems, and citizens of Derby City have always had our morning favorites.

From Canary Cottage back in our grandparents’ time to the Baby Boomers’ favorite, Lynn’s Paradise Café, and on to such modern attractions as the lovably urban Toast on Market and Wild Eggs (which just opened a second shop in Westport Village), we’re accustomed to queuing up and waiting, happily and patiently, for weekend breakfast or brunch.

You might find me in line at any of those spots on any given weekend. But you’re even more likely to find me at my top breakfast favorite, Meridian Café in St. Matthews. I honestly cannot understand why Meridian, which always has a cozy crowd of regulars, hasn’t developed the kind of cult following that prompts supplicants to line up outside the door.
Continue reading Let’s line up for breakfast at Meridian Café →

$ Budget (under $30), Coffee Shops & Desserts, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, Seafood & Water's Edge, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, World Food

Recession-busting dining, cheap but fine

Fish tacos at Bazo's
Bazo’s, which recently moved to new quarters off Dupont Circle, serves one of the city’s best fish tacos. Photo by Robin Garr

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com
(Bazo’s, Caffe Classico, J. Gumbo’s, Stan’s)

OK, everybody listen up. I’ve told you this before, and chances are you’re going to hear it again: There’s a recession on.

Yes, a recession, and a lot of us are hurting. We’re cutting back on luxuries and hoping we won’t have to cut back on necessities.

For those of us who love food and drink and dining out, we’re whipsawed: It’s harder to justify dropping a pile of bucks on a big evening out, so fine dining may be one of the first indulgences to drop off the budget. But this decision puts a hurtin’ on Louisville’s local, independent restaurant community, the Louisville Originals and Keep Louisville Weirds that make our city an exceptional place to dine for its size.
Continue reading Recession-busting dining, cheap but fine →