LEO’s Eats with LouisvilleHotBytes
Eve Lee
Bardstown Road. Bard’s Town. The Bard. Bill Shakespeare! It’s surprising no one has seized the opportunity to pun upon the name of the Highlands’ main corridor until now.

With the Bard above the door and the promise of grand entertainment within, expectations run high for this new establishment at the corner of Speed Avenue.

“Curst be he who moves my bones,” warns the tombstone of Billy Shakes, and forsooth, the bones of previous occupants Big Dave’s, Judge Roy Bean’s and others back to Fat Cats remain perceptible here. However, owners Doug Schutte, Jon DeSalvo and Scot Atkinson have put a new, solid flesh on those bones. Their bottom-up renovation delivers an urbane, artsy feel that is laid-back and accessibly upscale. Local art will rotate in like scene changes. A performance space will open upstairs this month, offering live theater and more.

A recent soft opening introduced the venue and the cuisine of Joseph Gadansky (formerly of Café Metro). The atmosphere was convivial, albeit a bit loud, as a jazz quartet played in a lounge adjacent to the dining room. The food, a solid, moderately priced menu of sandwiches, pastas, steaks and appetizers, will bring people back.
Pasta Diablo ($12.99) came with a salad of local produce that I didn’t want to end. The pasta was not spicy, despite the name. Its pink sauce was lighter and more appealing than a heavy cream sauce, with tender and plentiful chicken pieces throughout. The Tabard Inn ($8.99), a tender and juicy chicken sandwich, included abundant toppings on a ?fresh bun.
The bar featured eight draft beers and scores of bottled beers, wines and spirits, many of them local. We’ll be back for dessert — for the next performance, as it were.

The Bard’s Town
1801 Bardstown Road
?817-1906
www.thebardstown.com