The Whirling Tiger live music ★ 4.2
$$Butchertown{'monday': 'closed', 'tuesday': 'closed', 'wednesday': '18:00-02:00', 'thursday': '18:00-02:00', 'friday': '18:00-02:00', 'saturday': '18:00-02:00', 'sunday': 'closed'}
The Whirling Tiger's back room runs as a renovated 300-capacity live-music venue with a state-of-the-art sound system, the Story Avenue spot for indie and electronic touring acts.
Tip: Walk-in for the front cocktail bar. Tickets through the venue site for shows.
8UP Elevated Drinkery and Kitchen ★ 4.2
$$$Downtown{'monday': '17:00-24:00', 'tuesday': '17:00-24:00', 'wednesday': '17:00-24:00', 'thursday': '17:00-24:00', 'friday': '17:00-02:00', 'saturday': '12:00-02:00', 'sunday': '12:00-24:00'}
8UP on West Chestnut in Louisville is downtown's rooftop drinkery, the all-glass Hilton Garden Inn-top bar with mint juleps, bourbon flights and skyline views of West Main Street.
Tip: Book the rooftop patio for Derby weekend; the bar runs walk-in most nights.
Rabbit Hole Distillery Rooftop ★ 4.4
$$$NuLu{'monday': '16:00-22:00', 'tuesday': '16:00-22:00', 'wednesday': '16:00-22:00', 'thursday': '16:00-22:00', 'friday': '16:00-23:00', 'saturday': '12:00-23:00', 'sunday': '12:00-21:00'}
Rabbit Hole Distillery's rooftop bar in Louisville's NuLu pours port-finished craft bourbon and rye from the top of the modern East Jefferson Street distillery, with downtown views.
Tip: Walk-in for the rooftop in warm months. Distillery tours run separately downstairs.
Pin + Proof ★ 4.5
$$$Downtown{'monday': 'closed', 'tuesday': 'closed', 'wednesday': '17:00-23:00', 'thursday': '17:00-23:00', 'friday': '17:00-01:00', 'saturday': '17:00-01:00', 'sunday': 'closed'}
Pin + Proof inside the Omni Louisville Hotel is a prohibition-era speakeasy with sleek wooden bowling lanes in a dimly lit cellar, hidden behind a photo mural of a woman shushing.
Tip: Find the entrance left of the Omni lobby. Book bowling lanes through OpenTable.
Down One Bourbon Bar ★ 4.3
$$$Downtown{'monday': '16:00-23:00', 'tuesday': '16:00-23:00', 'wednesday': '16:00-23:00', 'thursday': '16:00-24:00', 'friday': '16:00-01:00', 'saturday': '16:00-01:00', 'sunday': '16:00-23:00'}
Down One Bourbon Bar in the Galt House Hotel basement pours 100+ bourbons in a low-lit speakeasy-style room under West Main Street, a hidden hotel-attached drinking room.
Tip: Walk-in for the bar. The Old Fashioned class runs Saturday afternoons.
Big Bar ★ 4.5
$$Highlands{'monday': '16:00-02:00', 'tuesday': '16:00-02:00', 'wednesday': '16:00-02:00', 'thursday': '16:00-02:00', 'friday': '16:00-03:00', 'saturday': '14:00-03:00', 'sunday': '14:00-02:00'}
Big Bar on Bardstown Road in Louisville is the Highlands' welcoming gay bar, voted Best Bar in the Highlands by LEO Weekly, with karaoke on Wednesday and Sunday nights since 2012.
Tip: Walk-in. Wednesday karaoke is the loudest night; happy hour runs every weekday.