Category Archives: Commentary

Robin Garr’s musings about food and restaurant matters that don’t fit neatly into the “review” category.

Commentary

Another year, lots more great dishes

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

When The New York Times recently listed its 50 favorite restaurants around the nation for 2022, I was a little sad to notice that they didn’t even give Louisville a mention. Our neighbors in Nashville got two top-table mentions, but we were left with our hands empty, standing by the road in the gathering darkness, softly sniffling.

But the lack of big-city appreciation does not signify that there’s nothing good here. Our restaurants may not have impressed The New York Times, but quite a few specific dishes from places I’ve reviewed this year sure impressed me. Let’s do a quick review. If you like the sound of these delights, you may still be able to get most of them, either currently or when they come back into seasonal rotation.

First, though, what exactly does it take for a dish to impress me? Continue reading Another year, lots more great dishes →

Commentary

Listen up, Santa! Put this on your restaurant list!

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

Here’s a funny thing about Louisville and all of us who love our city’s vibrant restaurant scene: We love things the way they are … and we complain about all the ways it could be better.

“We need a Greek restaurant,” we yell. “And a French sidewalk cafe! And where is our real Jewish-style deli!?”

The chant goes on, and to be honest, there’s probably more justification for our wailing than ever. As we go into the third year of the Covid-19 pandemic, the losses to our scene have been brutal. Continue reading Listen up, Santa! Put this on your restaurant list! →

Commentary

Can pizza be (gasp) bad for us? Yes and no.

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

We dived into Louisville Pizza Week with abandon and enjoyed more than a dozen tasty pies at local pizzerias. Then it was Thanksgiving, and we loaded up on turkey and all the traditional trimmings. So how are you feeling right now, Bubba?

What’s more, the holidays, that lazy, hazy time of good things to eat in joyous excess, are full upon us for the next few weeks.

So here’s the question: Is it even possible to eat well, dine out often – including plenty of pizza – and maintain our health and reasonable weight? Continue reading Can pizza be (gasp) bad for us? Yes and no. →

Commentary

We sample some old favorites that never go wrong

Looking for a nice, casual place where we could settle in with our laptops and get some work done over lunch, my friends Amy and Susan and I found our way to Heart and Soy.

I was expecting good cheap eats. I was delighted to find something more: A delicious old favorite that tickled my taste buds with memories of times past: Quang’s traditional yellow noodles ($11.50).

Why the nostalgia? Continue reading We sample some old favorites that never go wrong →

Commentary

Oriental House returns, just as good as ever

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

When Oriental House posted the news of its reopening on social media earlier this month, it made me so happy that I wanted to “Like” it twice!

“We just want to thank everybody for the patience, love, and support throughout this journey,” the owners wrote. “This will be our first time opening our dining rooms to the public since the pandemic, so please continue to stay patient with us! Takeout will still be available as well.”

This was huge for me. I’ve been a fan of Chinese cuisine since, well, most of my life. Continue reading Oriental House returns, just as good as ever →

Commentary

As winter nears, restaurant stress is about more than Covid

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

Here comes another winter, the third since the global pandemic started early in 2020, and – talking mostly about the restaurant, food and drink scene here – where in the heck are we?

For a lot of us, things are feeling pretty good. Sure, quite a few of us have at least one Covid encounter for ourselves or a friend or loved one to spin tales about, But things are looking better now, right? Continue reading As winter nears, restaurant stress is about more than Covid →

Commentary

Best restaurant eats when you’re bouncing back from Covid

These three short features published in LEO Weekly today are my contribution to LEO’s 2022 Best in Louisville Staffpicks in LEO’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards. Be sure to check them out at the links!

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

Why, yes, I did get Covid last month, after 2 1/2 years of artfully avoiding the pandemic. And no, I am not recommending this to you as one of Louisville’s best things to do in 2022.

But Covid did teach me some useful things about eating. I didn’t have a lot of appetite while recovering, but a man’s got to eat, so I treated myself to local restaurant fare to fascinate my appetite. In this and the following two reports, I’d like to share with you my nominees for the best breakfast, lunch, and dinner (for me), when recovering from Covid. Continue reading Best restaurant eats when you’re bouncing back from Covid →

Commentary

Dining trends come and sometimes go

By Robin Garr
LouisvilleHotBytes.com

How can you tell when a trend has run its course? Yogi Berra had the right idea with his memorable observation, “Nobody goes there any more. It’s too crowded.”

Restaurant and culinary trends are sort of like that, too. A great new concept takes hold, catches fire, and before long everyone is doing it, some in slavish imitation, others adding their own riffs. And then everyone tires of the idea and we move on.

Except when we don’t. Continue reading Dining trends come and sometimes go →