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Soul foodNulu
Lou Lou on Market in Louisville moved into the former Decca space, a New Orleans-rooted NuLu kitchen running shrimp and grits and Bananas Foster.
OrderThe shrimp and grits, the kitchen's loudest plate.
TipPatio seats are first-come on weekends. Book the dining room on OpenTable for Friday and Saturday.
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ItalianNulu
bar Vetti in Louisville pours Italian wines and pulls house-made pasta from the AC Hotel corner of East Market and Shelby Street in NuLu. Priced at $$$.
OrderWhatever pasta is on the daily list, plus the Caesar salad for the table.
TipBook on Resy. Bar seats and the patio take walk-ins early in the evening.
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SteakhouseSaint Matthews
Le Moo in Louisville runs Lexington Road's theatrical steakhouse: a black-walled dining room, dry-aged cuts and a caviar service that arrives on a silver.
OrderA bone-in ribeye and the caviar service to start.
TipReserve on OpenTable for the dining room. The bar pours a sharp bourbon list with the full menu.
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Modern EuropeanOld Louisville
Buck's Restaurant in Louisville has poured Old Louisville's continental dinner since 1992, set inside the historic Mayflower building on West Ormsby.
OrderThe crab cakes and the bacon-wrapped shrimp, two long-running classics.
TipClosed Sundays. Best for a special-occasion dinner with a view of the room's vintage piano bar.
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ItalianFrankfort Avenue
Volare in Louisville pours seasonal Italian dinners with house-made pasta on Frankfort Avenue, three years running the Louisville Magazine readers' best.
OrderThe sea bass piccata, the kitchen's most-ordered plate.
TipBook the dining room online. The bar opens at 16:30 and pours a sharp aperitivo list.
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Wood-fired Pizza, AmericanNulu
Garage Bar on East Market in Louisville turned a former auto-service shop into a wood-fired pizza pub with a courtyard ping-pong table and a Kentucky bourbon.
OrderThe wood-fired pork-meatball pizza, with a Kentucky bourbon old fashioned.
TipKitchen serves until late on weekends. The patio fills first on warm nights.