Louisville Recs., Thunder Over Louisville

So I'm going for the 7th straight year to Thunder Over Louisville. http://www.thunderoverlouisville.org/

I know I must be missing some spots for good food. Please anyone, help me out. I need good places for food while in Louisville. Anyone interested in this event...check out the link. Truly an amazing experience.

Only one meal, but my family and I really enjoyed Proof on Main.

I'd highly recommend a trip to Lynn's Paradise Cafe:

http://www.lynnsparadisecafe.com/

The website gives a pretty good feel for the kitschy decor; the food is quite good, as well. My only regret is that we never made it there for breakfast, which it's supposed to be famous for.

Lynn's Paradise Cafe
984 Barret Ave.
Louisville, KY
(502) 583-3447

Monday-Friday 7:00am-10:00pm
Saturday-Sunday 8:00am-10:00pm

Off-topic, Louisville is also home of one of my favorite record stores in the world, ear X-tacy (http://www.earx-tacy.com).

Louisville is one of my favorite places - I tend to be there a lot on business. Here are my recommendations:

Mayan Cafe. I've actually not been here yet but it is the reincarnation of the fabulous Mayan Gypsy. Yucatecan & Central American dishes. Same chef so I have to assume it's going to be great. I'll try it on my next trip.

De la Torre's. Spanish. Although there are tapas, the main courses are excellent. My favorite is the paella which is outrageous in whatever form they are offering it.

Viet Nam Kitchen. A cut above a hole in the wall. Located in a non-descript strip center (of course.) Some of the usual Vietnamese fare plus many I had never experienced.

Flabby's Schnitzelburg. In Germantown. Sounds like a cliche chain but this place has been around forever and is a local tavern-saloon. They have a great pork schnitzel sandwich and are "famous" for their rolled oysters which are deep fried breaded oysters. Not a great choice for anyone with a pacemaker.

Mayan Café
813 E. Market St.

De la Torre's
1606 Bardstown Road

Flabby's Schnitzelburg
1101 Lydia St.

Vietnam Kitchen
5339 Mitscher Ave.

I've always like the pizza at Za's, plus they have some really nice beers on tap.

Then a couple blocks east on Bardstown Rd. is a really homey hole in the wall for Bosnian food.

You could hit both these places in one fell swoop!

Geo

Za's Pizza: http://www.zaspizza.com/main.html

Rufad's Kebaps: http://www.iglou.com/restaurants/rufad.shtml

I know its not for everyone but the Magnolia Bar and Grill (which has no grill and serves no food but chips) is one of my favorite bars anywhere. A little punk rock, a little working man's, a little professional person's happy hour, a little U of L student, a little gay/lesbian. But not to much of any of those. Very friendly. Very cheap. On the Corner of Magnolia and 2nd Street in Old Lousiville.

I just stumbled upon this BBQ place called Jucy's just outside of Louisville. Has anyone been there? I'm thinking of heading there right from the airport. Is it worth it??
www.jucysbar-b-q.com

Andy's Better Brother wrote:Vietnam Kitchen. A cut above a hole in the wall. Located in a non-descript strip center (of course.) Some of the usual Vietnamese fare plus many I had never experienced.

I second the Vietnam Kitchen recommendation (closed Wednesdays). Louisville has a large Vietnamese population with many Viet restaurants, but VK is the best.

For good Chinese (Cantonese style), check out Oriental House on Shelbyville Rd (East end of town). It's located in a run-down building and was apparently one of the first Chinese restaurants in Kentucky, but has a roast duck and Beef Chow Fun that stacks up to any big city.

On our way back from Mammoth Cave (OT - the only thing worth eating at the Mammoth Cave National Park's restaurant is the country ham, either the sandwich or the dinner plate, the rest of the food, even things like hot dogs, is beyond abysmal) we stopped by Louisville to visit a relative, and asked her to take us to the most "Louisville" place she could think of. We wound up at Lynn's Paradise Cafe, whose kitsch begins at the furthest reaches of the parking lot (sorry for the cell phone pictures:)



And into the little store, which houses a vast collection of mostly food-related items that might well be featured on Unitasker Wednesday:

(I didn't get a shot, but my fave was the Gin and TiTonic ice cube tray: ice cube molds shaped like cruise ships and icebergs.)

Blurry interior shot, yes, that's a tree - and they're currently having their annual ugly lamp contest, so the majority of the lamps are on display at the State Fair.


I know none of you care about this stuff, but it's good to know if you have kids; this is a great spot for them, and the staff is friendly, even if there's a line out the door because "it was on Oprah." So, we ordered: I had the Hot Brown, the spouse had a scramble off the specials menu with eggs, red peppers, ham, onions and cheese served with fried green tomatoes, the aunt had black raspberry stuffed french toast, and Sparky had a half-order (more like a half-loaf) of cinnamon french toast. All was excellent; we knew we were on the right track when the Hot Brown came in a soup bowl - nice chunks of turkey floating in nice goopy sauce, with some zip from the cheese and tomato (I'd have liked some more substantive bread and maybe a riper tomato, but these are quibbles; I enjoyed it very much.) The brick-like item you might see through the forest of toys and cups on the table on the spouse's plate is a brick-o-biscuit, a very good one.



We cleaned our plates (Sparky had to help with the last few bites of turkey) and then, deciding this punishment wasn't enough, opted for a slice of (yes you can call it) Derby Pie, which is surprisingly light despite its dense appearance and really lives up to the hype - and a Derby Pie milkshake - yes, a milkshake with pie crumbled into it.



Definitely worth a stop, if you don't mind a bit of Hot Doug's style celebrity in your restaurant. At least all the kitsch didn't make it violate the Mike G. rule; it's a nice, homey diner with homemade food.

Lynn's Paradise Cafe
http://www.lynnsparadisecafe.com
984 Barret Ave
Louisville, KY 40204
(502) 583-3447

i will be heading for the durby in a couple of weeks any new place's to check out