Category Archives: BY PRICE FOR TWO

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Bistros, Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill

Meeting John Barleycorn at Bourbons Bistro

Bourbons Bistro
Chef Michael Crouch of Bourbons Bistro offers thoughtful, creative dishes that may be rooted in down-home Ohio Valley flavors but travel around the world for inspiration. Photo by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com

We did an odd thing at Bourbons Bistro the other night. You might expect a place named after Kentucky’s native nectar to feature steak, potatoes and red wine, but we ended up with a delicious selection of seafood and vegetarian dishes.

That’s the delicious secret (although it’s not much of a secret) at Bourbons Bistro: Bourbon has outgrown its reputation as the potent, old-style liquor that your Old Grand-dad used to sip and has moved into the modern era. Bourbons Bistro, arguably bourbon whiskey’s No. 1 temple in the metro, provides fare to match, with Chef Michael Crouch turning out thoughtful, creative dishes that may be rooted in down-home Ohio Valley flavors but travel around the world for inspiration.
Continue reading Meeting John Barleycorn at Bourbons Bistro →

$ Budget (under $30), Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, Pubs, Brew Pubs, GastroPubs, QuickBytes, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

We Tappa Keg at BJ’s & The BBC Tap Room

BJ's
BJ’s: a 30-year-old Southern California chain, has expanded to Louisville with the launch of a large and very well capitalized brewhouse at Oxmoor Center. Photos by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes.com
(BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse; BBC Tap Room)

Inquire about the American Pale Ale (aka “APA”) at Louisville’s BBC Tap Room, and you’ll get a virtual education in this classic American beer style: Made with Special Pale, Caramunich, Flaked Barley, and Special B malts and bittered with Centennial and Willamette hops, it’s a rich, copper colored ale with a full-bodied bitter hops flavor supported by generous amounts of malt.

Ask the same question about the APA at the new BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse in Oxmoor, and you may hear something like what a friendly server told me: “It’s a light beer. Well, one of our lighter beers.” She paused, then grinned conspiratorially. “They train us not to tell people it’s ‘bitter’.”
Continue reading We Tappa Keg at BJ’s & The BBC Tap Room →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, QuickBytes, Southern Indiana

Simple comfort

Ann’s by the River

Ann’s by the River in Jeffersonville lives up to its tag line: “Home-cooked food like Grandma used to prepare for Sunday dinner.” LEO photos by Ben Schneider.

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes
With guest writer Kevin Gibson

Winter is dragging its feet as it slouches on into springtime, and the closing years of the Bush economy are scaring us all as they slouch toward the dustbin of history. We’ve seen some sad restaurant closings (worst case: The lamentable loss of The Jazz Factory), and we fear that other Louisville Originals and Louisville original restaurants and nightspots might not be doing as well as we could wish.

As Derby season nears and brings smiles back to the metro landscape, we’ll be coming forth with some strong buy recommendations for local dining – and supporting the local businesses that provide it.

Today, let’s talk comfort … affordable comfort … Continue reading Simple comfort →

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

Wrapping it up in The Grape Leaf

LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes

Back over on the Louisville side, we were feeling the need for a little affordable comfort, too. I keep talking about hitting The Grape Leaf, a popular Clifton spot, for dinner, but until I get around to that, lunch seemed like a mighty good idea. Grape Leaf is generally crowded at noon, and service is sociable, friendly but not particularly quick. No matter, if you’re not in a hurry. The Middle Eastern food is worth the wait.
Continue reading Wrapping it up in The Grape Leaf →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown

Old Louisville burger hop

Ollie's
The only remaining location of a once thriving chain, Ollie’s Trolley is always crowded come lunchtime. LEO Photo by Ben Schneider.

LEO’s Eats with guest writer Dan Thomas
(Ollie’s Trolley; Dizzy Whizz; Granville Inn, and Wagner’s Pharmacy)

The humble burger: It’s a mainstay of the American diet. Most people appreciate a great burger. So where can you go to get something better than the normal fast food offerings from Rally McHardee King and the rest of their brethren? What are the “destination” places that we will go out of our way to, just to get a burger fix we can’t get anywhere else?

Louisville does have independent burger joints still hanging on and doing what they do best. Several are located in and around Old Louisville. What makes these places so good? How do they compare with each other?
Continue reading Old Louisville burger hop →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, World Food

Puck chain brings a taste of California downtown

Photo of Wolfgang Puck Express from outside
Photos by Robin Garr.

(Wolfgang Puck Express, Voice-Tribune, Mar. 13, 2008)

Wolfgang Puck, the smiling, round-faced Austrian-turned-Californian with the Schwarzenegger accent, has finally arrived in Louisville.

Or perhaps it’s more accurate to say that Puck’s fast-casual dining chain has arrived: The 80th unit of his Wolfgang Puck Express opened recently in the Kentucky International Convention Center, but you’re no more likely to find Puck building pizzas here than you are to run into Col. Harland Sanders frying chicken at your neighborhood KFC.
Continue reading Puck chain brings a taste of California downtown →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Bistros

Incredible Dave’s: Flawed Inspiration

Photo in Incredible Dave's
Chuck E. Cheese on steroids: If you’re unfamiliar with the Incredible Dave’s concept, imagine a Chuck E. Cheese on steroids, and with a bar. While the concept carries a touch of inspired brilliance, in practice there are flaws. Photo by Nicole Pullen.

Leo EATS with guest columnist Kevin Gibson.

Incredible Dave’s is a fantastic world of sound and color; the kind of place that makes children’s eyes nearly pop out of their heads when they walk in.

“Oh … my … gosh,” one girl, who looked about 7, said recently upon entering with her younger brother and parents.

My girlfriend Jen and I went to Incredible Dave’s, which opened last month on Westport Road in the site of a former Kroger store, on a recent Saturday around 4 p.m. We had hoped to beat the dinner rush, but the place was packed. Packed. For an establishment that had been open only a few weeks at that point, it was quite impressive to see.

If you’re unfamiliar with the restaurant’s concept, imagine a Chuck E. Cheese on steroids, and with a bar. Incredible Dave’s is kind of a Dave & Buster’s that caters to families, giving the adults a chance to dine, enjoy an adult beverage or two and watch the ballgame on big screens while the kids blow their minds on arcade games, bowling, Xbox and Wii lounges, and plenty more.

Continue reading Incredible Dave’s: Flawed Inspiration →

$ Budget (under $30), Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Italian (and Pizza)

The Boombozz theory of evolution

Boombozz
The most recent addition to the Tony Boombozz empire is the brand-new upscale casual Boombozz Bistro in Jeffersontown with an expanded menu and table service. The walls are bright and bold, the colors of tomato sauce and mozzarella, artichoke and sun-dried tomato. Photos by Robin Garr.

LEO’s Eats with Louisville HotBytes

Like a primordial anchovy creeping out of the sea and beholding bigger and better things on shore, the first Tony Boombozz pizzeria burst into view just a decade ago as a tiny but portentous creature.

Louisville’s pizza lovers looked upon it and saw that it was good. So it wasn’t long before the small pizzeria moved into larger quarters on Frankfort Avenue, then spawned a second location on Bardstown Road, cannily providing artisan pizzas on both of the city’s primary restaurant rows.

Now there are four, with the addition of a fast-casual dining room in Springhurst, and, out past Jeffersontown in the distant ‘burbs, the subject of today’s sermon: a brand-new upscale casual Boombozz Bistro with an expanded menu and table service. (Coming later this year, an expanded Bardstown Road operation and tap room with 30, count ’em, 30 draught microbrews.)
Continue reading The Boombozz theory of evolution →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Bistros, Southern Indiana

Four people drove up the hill …

RockWall
Long known for its lovely setting tucked into an old rock quarry on the Floyds Knobs hills high above Louisville, RockWall has kicked things up a notch or two under Chef Alex Bomba, who arrived last summer. Photo courtesy of Guy Sillings/RockWall Bistro.

LEO’s Eats with Louisville HotBytes

So the other night, four people drove up a hill in Southern Indiana to enjoy a classy evening of fine Indiana wine and upscale cuisine.

What’s the punch line? Get ready for it …

OK, there isn’t any punch line. This is no joke. It’s no surprise to find a touch of comfortable class at RockWall Bistro. Long known for its lovely setting tucked into an old rock quarry on the Floyds Knobs hills high above Louisville, RockWall has kicked things up a notch or two under Chef Alex Bomba, who arrived last summer.
Continue reading Four people drove up the hill … →