Naive Kitchen + Bar is a latin-inspired vegan restaurant in Butchertown, Louisville.
Naive Kitchen in Louisville cooks vegetable-forward Latin plates from a Butchertown corner on East Washington Street, the neighbourhood's vegan-friendly room.
Signature dishes: Vegetable-forward plates, Latin-inspired bowls
Must order: The seasonal grain bowl, plus a margarita with house chile salt.
Tip: Book on OpenTable. The bar runs a separate cocktail list with mocktail-forward options.
Address: 1001 East Washington Street, Louisville, KY 40206
Game Restaurant in Louisville grills exotic-meat burgers from antelope to yak inside a lodge-themed Lexington Road dining room near Butchertown.
Signature: Venison burger, Wild boar burger
Order: The venison patty with Gorgonzola and mint pesto on a pretzel bun.
Tip: Closed Sundays. The patio is dog-friendly with the full menu.
Game Restaurant in Louisville grills exotic-meat burgers from antelope to yak inside a lodge-themed Lexington Road dining room near Butchertown.
Signature: Venison burger, Wild boar burger
Order: The venison patty with Gorgonzola and mint pesto on a pretzel bun.
Tip: Closed Sundays. The patio is dog-friendly with the full menu.
Hammerheads in Louisville packs forty seats into a Germantown basement on Swan Street, running smoked lamb ribs and pork sliders out of an open kitchen.
Signature: Lamb ribs, Smoked sliders
Order: The lamb ribs and a pork-belly slider, plus a local draft.
Tip: No reservations. Get there before 18:00 or expect a 45-minute wait on weekends.
Doc Crow's on West Main in Louisville smokes brisket and shucks oysters on Whiskey Row, pairing both with a bourbon library of more than 2,700 expressions.
Signature: Smoked brisket, Raw oysters
Order: Smoked brisket with two sides, plus a flight of three Kentucky bourbons.
Tip: Book on OpenTable for dinner. Lunch runs walk-in until 14:00.
J. Graham's Cafe in the Brown Hotel serves Louisville's original Hot Brown, the open-faced turkey-and-Mornay sandwich invented here in 1926.
Signature: Hot Brown, Bourbon flights
Order: The Hot Brown, served the way Fred Schmidt wrote it in 1926.
Tip: Walk-in for lunch. Book the Lobby Bar through the hotel for an evening Hot Brown and bourbon.
Feast BBQ on East Market in Louisville runs a counter-service NuLu pit, slicing brisket and pulled pork until the smoker runs out for the day.
Signature: Smoked brisket, Pulled pork
Order: A brisket plate with two sides and a side of pickles.
Tip: Get there before 14:00 on weekends. The brisket sells out fastest.
Wick's Pizza on Baxter Avenue in Louisville has poured pints and pulled pizzas out of its Highlands corner since 1995, the neighbourhood's busiest game-day room.
Signature: The Big Wick pizza, Stromboli
Order: The Big Wick pizza with sausage, pepperoni and mushroom.
Tip: Walk-in only on weekends. Order at the bar and a runner brings the pizza out.
