Category Archives: LEO’s Eats

$ Budget (under $30), BY LOCATION, Eats Tweets, Hurstbourne, Middletown, Jeffersontown, Italian (and Pizza), LEO's Eats, QuickBytes, underSlideshowEntries, Voice-Tribune review

Red Checks and Brooklyn Pie at Old School NY Pizza

Has Louisville reached the saturation point for pizza? Some of my foodie friends are aghast at the seemingly endless march of pizzerias that keep arriving in town. The Baxter Avenue/Bardstown Road and St. Matthews strips are particularly pizza-rich environments, but they’re everywhere – even, in today’s excursion, the far East End. Continue reading Red Checks and Brooklyn Pie at Old School NY Pizza →

$$$$ Luxury ($80 and up), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, LEO's Eats, Pacific Rim, underSlideshowEntries, World Food

Asiatique does fusion even when fusion isn’t a thing

Hey, when did fusion cuisine stop being a thing? It seems like only yesterday – well, OK, maybe it was the ’80s and ’90s – when top chefs had everyone oohing and aahing over such multicultural goodies as Wolfie Puck’s smoked salmon and caviar pizza at Beverly Hills’ Ma Maison or Jean-Georges Vongerichten’s pricey Thai-French mash-ups at his almost-eponymous Vong restaurant in New York City. Continue reading Asiatique does fusion even when fusion isn’t a thing →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, LEO's Eats, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, New and noteworthy, QuickBytes, underSlideshowEntries

The ‘ritas are the wildest thing at Wild Rita’s

So, just how wild are the ‘ritas at Wild Rita’s?

Well, this new spot just east of downtown, within the noise penumbra and particulates shadow of the Great Bridge Boondoggle, offers 10, count ’em 10, variations on the margarita, not to mention tequila cocktails, tequila tastings and nearly 100 fine tequilas by the bottle or drink. It would take more effort than I’m willing to expend to answer this question definitively. Continue reading The ‘ritas are the wildest thing at Wild Rita’s →

$$$ Upscale ( $50 - $80), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, LEO's Eats, underSlideshowEntries, Vegetarian/Vegan, World Food

No meat, no booze, no matter at Roots

Roots, with its next-door companion Heart & Soy, is coming up on its third anniversary this summer, and both spots appear to be going strong, filled with happy diners nightly.

So how does that work, when neither upscale Roots nor street-food Heart & Soy offer so much as a bite of meat or a sip of booze? I think it has something to do with what restaurateur Huong “Coco” Tran calls Roots’ “mindful, compassionate cooking,” a plant-based cuisine so good that even the most obligate carnivore can chow down without even missing animal flesh. Continue reading No meat, no booze, no matter at Roots →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, LEO's Eats, New and noteworthy, QuickBytes, underSlideshowEntries, World Food

Andalous takes us on a tasty trip to Morocco

Quick! Where’s Morocco? Can you point to it on a map? Tell us something about its history! What do you know about its culture and cuisine?

Stumped? Sorry! But if you’re not comfortable with these questions, don’t feel too bad. You’re hardly alone in the geographical illiteracy that researchers say afflicts a majority of Americans, particularly the younger set. Continue reading Andalous takes us on a tasty trip to Morocco →

$$$$ Luxury ($80 and up), Bistros, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, LEO's Eats, underSlideshowEntries

It’s an eatery! It’s an art show! It’s Proof on Main!

What the Flock?! No, that’s not a question. It’s a title, the moniker artist Johnston Foster bestowed on the “site-specific installation” (you or I might call it a “sculpture show”) that, since 2012, has filled the overhead space in Proof on Main with a squadron of exploding seagulls.

Let’s face it, Proof on Main is that kind of place. It’s housed in the trendy confines of Louisville’s much applauded 21c Museum Hotel, which includes the word “museum” in its name with good reason: The place is loaded with wacky yet meaningful art that incorporates everything from its signature red penguins to the giant golden replica of Michelangelo’s “David” out front to, well, exploding gulls. Continue reading It’s an eatery! It’s an art show! It’s Proof on Main! →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), LEO's Eats, Pacific Rim, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs, underSlideshowEntries

NamNam’s chicken soup feeds the soul

“Hack-hack! Ker-CHOO! Cough! Snort!” Aw, kee-rap! Mary’s got a cold, and it sounds like a monster. This can’t be good. Not only do I wish no ill on my dear bride, but also let’s face it: When Momma’s not happy, ain’t nobody happy.

What to do? What to do? I know! Chicken noodle soup!
Continue reading NamNam’s chicken soup feeds the soul →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Frankfort Ave., Clifton, Crescent Hill, LEO's Eats, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, underSlideshowEntries

Can Riviera Maya exorcise a haunted venue?

This may seem a topic better suited for Halloween than the dead of icy winter coming up on Fat Tuesday, but hey, let’s talk about “haunted” restaurant locations. Local foodies quickly learn about these venues that seem to labor under a curse, housing one short-lived restaurant failure after another. Continue reading Can Riviera Maya exorcise a haunted venue? →

$ Budget (under $30), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, LEO's Eats, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, New and noteworthy, QuickBytes, underSlideshowEntries

We wrestle and win at El Taco Luchador

Okay, Taco Luchador, we get the “taco” part. But what the heck is a “luchador”?

Simple, señoras y señores! The luchador is a skilled artisan, a practitioner of lucha libre (“free fight”), the manly art of self-defense. In other words, luchadores are Mexican pro wrestlers. But trust me on this, lucha libre makes the overweight, steroid-pumped thespians of the WWE look like a bunch of slow-moving sissies. Continue reading We wrestle and win at El Taco Luchador →