Category Archives: QuickBytes

Short, conversational mini-reviews that report on new sightings, updates on previously reviewed restaurants or other restaurant reports that may not fit the full-scale review format.

$ Budget (under $30), Commentary, QuickBytes, Seafood & Water's Edge, St. Matthews, Westport Village, and environs

Moby Dick’s drive-through satisfies fishy crave

We had been getting along pretty well without dining out since the pandemic got real last month, but someone in this house has been feeling a serious crave for that Louisville tradition, fried fish on rye.

Sounds reasonable. Let’s get some fish! But where?

As it turns out, quite a few local favorites are offering this local fave for takeout or curb service: The Fish House, Chik’n & Mi, Four Pegs, Hooked on Frankfort, Royals Hot Chicken, Joellas. I’m sure there are plenty more, but I already had my mind set on a favorite: Moby Dick. Continue reading Moby Dick’s drive-through satisfies fishy crave →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Breakfast and lunch spots, sandwich spots, Commentary, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, LEO's Eats, QuickBytes, Soul Food

Shirley Mae’s puts the soul in soul food

Some say that the art of soul, in music or in food, can never be mastered by white folks, and I can buy this hypothesis: Lacking a history of slavery and oppression, we just don’t have the tools born of heritage. But we can certainly enjoy soul, and honor it, whether we’re listening to Aretha or dining at someplace like Shirley Mae’s. Continue reading Shirley Mae’s puts the soul in soul food →

$ Budget (under $30), Coffee Shops & Desserts, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, LEO's Eats, QuickBytes

Ehrler’s is back, and it’s good

Nothing goes much better to rid your palate of the sad and mournful taste of raw kale than a scoop of delicious, creamy ice cream, and the serious shot of bourbon in Ehrler’s bourbon pecan fudge ($3.60 for a kiddie cup big enough for two kiddies) did the trick for me. Continue reading Ehrler’s is back, and it’s good →

$ Budget (under $30), Commentary, LEO's Eats, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, QuickBytes, Southern Indiana, Taquerias

La Lupita stands out in Clarksville

Can a dining decision be political? You bet! When nightly news shows horrifying images of immigrant parents ripped from their families while partisans shout for a border wall, it’s time to call B.S. The best way I know to do that is to take my dining business to local restaurants run by Latino neighbors, such as the spectacularly good La Lupita in Clarksville.

And while I’m there, happily noshing, I want to thank the owners and servers and tell them I’m glad they’re here: “Me gusta que tu eres mi vecina,” I’ll say in fractured Spanglish, reaching out with a few words in their language. “I’m happy that you are my neighbor.”

Continue reading La Lupita stands out in Clarksville →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), Camp Taylor/Zoo, Commentary, LEO's Eats, New and noteworthy, QuickBytes, World Food

Øskar’s offers a delightful taste of Scandinavia

How is Øskar’s Slider Bar delightfully different from just about every other eatery in town? Uff da! Its light, amusing Scandinavian vibe sets it geographically and culturally apart from all the local restaurants that fake a drawl while frying chicken and simmering grits. Continue reading Øskar’s offers a delightful taste of Scandinavia →

$ Budget (under $30), BBQ, Burgers & Down-Home, Downtown, NuLu and Butchertown, LEO's Eats, QuickBytes

Cozy lunches at Old Louisville Tavern and bar Vetti warm our icy bones

Well, 2018 sure came in with a “Brrrr!” The temperature didn’t rise above freezing for a week, and relief took its sweet time coming. When the air makes my face hurt, my instinct is to keep the doors shut and hole up at home with the thermostat cranked up to high.

When hunger and cabin fever set in, though, and the urge to get out in the world becomes irresistible, I can hardly think of a better cold-weather destination than the friendly confines of a cozy bar and grill that takes its commitment to good food as seriously as its beverages. Continue reading Cozy lunches at Old Louisville Tavern and bar Vetti warm our icy bones →

$ Budget (under $30), Baxter, Bardstown, Highlands, Commentary, LEO's Eats, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, QuickBytes

All aboard on Mi Sueño Cuban Express

For a few brief, joyous moments of federal sanity last year, it seemed we were going to be friends with Cuba again. Thanks, Obama! But now the new boss has taken Cuba off the table for now. Thanks a lot, Donnie.

But if we can’t easily go to Cuba, it seems that Cuba is coming to Louisville. Cuban immigration to Louisville accelerated so fast in the past decade that the local diaspora has attracted national media attention. Continue reading All aboard on Mi Sueño Cuban Express →

$ Budget (under $30), LEO's Eats, QuickBytes, Soul Food, South End, World Food

Caribbean Cafe delivers a happy taste of Haiti

As autumn marches toward winter and colder weather wraps the region in its frigid embrace, thoughts of the sunny Caribbean dance in our heads like visions of sugar-plums and other happy things.

Mention the Caribbean, and chances are you’ll think of white-sand beaches, cruise ships, sun-tans, strong drinks served in coconut shells, and balmy relaxation. Tourism, after all, is the No. 1 economic driver for the region, according to the Caribbean Tourism Organization, and the people of the 700 islands that make up the Caribbean archipelago are working to recover from the damage dealt by Hurricanes Irma and Maria this summer as quickly as they can. For Puerto Rico, Barbuda and a few others, sadly, that’s going to take a very long time.

While we wait, here’s good news: Caribbean restaurants are blossoming in the metro. Continue reading Caribbean Cafe delivers a happy taste of Haiti →

$$ Modest ($30-$50), LEO's Eats, QuickBytes, South End, World Food

Delicious food and an idea for world peace at Jerusalem Kitchen

I don’t know anybody who thinks that the world is in great shape nowadays, and all the saber-rattling going on over Iran and North Korea is just the beginning. Things haven’t changed much since the 1960s, when the Kingston Trio famously sang in The Merry Minuet, “The whole world is festering with unhappy souls. The French hate the Germans. The Germans hate the Poles. Italians hate Yugoslavs. South Africans hate the Dutch … and I don’t like anybody very much!”

And that’s before we even start talking about the tensions that tear at Southwest Asia, that region of seemingly never-ending wars: Iraq and Syria and Lebanon and Israel and Palestine, oh my!

Will the world ever know peace in our time? I’ve got my doubts. But, my imagination fired with a delicious, filling meal at Jerusalem Kitchen, I’ve got an idea: What if we all tried just a little harder to get to know our neighbors through food? Continue reading Delicious food and an idea for world peace at Jerusalem Kitchen →

$ Budget (under $30), Hikes Point, LEO's Eats, Mexican, Cuban, Caribbean, QuickBytes

Bodega mi Sueño — worlds of delicious I

Well, here we are again, another week that finds me torn between two new spots that feature cheap, delicious world cuisine: Bodega mi Sueño in West Buechel dishes out mouth-watering Cuban fare in oversize portions in the casual setting of a traditional bodega. Ngon Appétit in Clifton Heights offers a short but tasty list of Vietnamese fare with a hint of the French accent that a colonial empire left behind.

Let’s go to both! Continue reading Bodega mi Sueño — worlds of delicious I →