Louisville Recs?

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I searched around and can't find any recent threads about Louisville.

My wife, daughter and I will be in town for 3 nights next month. And I really don't have many ideas about where to stay or where to go. Good beer places? Bourbon? Food? Family fun? Anything helps.

NRCards? Snarf? Anyone?

Thanks!
holy grale is a cool old school spot with a pretty wild tap list a lot of the time and would probably be my top beer recommendation. we also had a really great meal at milkwood and a great brunch at lydia house. if the horses are running at churchill downs i'd definitely go (though i don't think they do in october). monnik brewing was a small spot but the beer and food were pretty great. we airbnb'd a small place in old louisville when we were last there but before that stayed with my SIL so don't have a ton of hotel recs.
 
Holy Grale for sure...down the street from Hopcat. I also really enjoyed Garage Bar which had a nice bourbon selection and helpful bartenders(since I don't know much about the stuff).

Con Huevos looked great for breakfast, but the wait was too long so we hit The Silver Dollar, which had a great booze selection.
 
I searched around and can't find any recent threads about Louisville.

My wife, daughter and I will be in town for 3 nights next month. And I really don't have many ideas about where to stay or where to go. Good beer places? Bourbon? Food? Family fun? Anything helps.

NRCards? Snarf? Anyone?

Thanks!

Places to stay:
If you go the AirBnB route look for places in the following neighborhoods—Nulu, The Highlands, Downtown, Frankfort Ave/Clifton, Butchertown and Germantown. Pretty much all the best restaurants, bars, shopping, etc. in town are located in these neighborhoods.

Hotels: 21C, AC Hotel in Nulu, The Seelbach, The Brown Hotel, The Omni or Aloft on Main

Beer:
The Holy Grale—My favorite beer bar on earth that also happens to have incredibly great food. The burger is a religious experience (no pun intended). The owners have a great relationship with Shelton and many of the best European and US brewers so the tap/bottle list is always great. One of the Zwanze sites every year.
Monnik—Local brewpub in hip neighborhood that does a broad range of styles really well and the food is great too.
Gravely—Newer brewery in town with IMO the best/nicest taproom in town. Great lagers/Pilsners, rooftop deck with a view of the city and their own dedicated food truck serving up awesome upscale Mexican food.
Mile Wide-Another new brewery in town that’s a favorite for their NE IPA’s, but they do a lot of other styles very well too.
Sergio’s—Hard to describe without actually going. Complete hole in the wall that has one of the most insane beer selections of all time. Cash only.
Louisville Beer Store—Favorite bottles shop in town from the same owners as the Holy Grale. Have 6 taps that are usually great and all bottles can be drank on site with a $1 upcharge. Great back patio that’s usually not crowded.

Bourbon:
The Silver Dollar—Probably my favorite bar in town, honky tonk with an insane bourbon list.
Proof on Main—Bar in the 21C hotel that also acts as an art museum. Cocktails and bourbon list are both great.
Harvest—Moreso known for its awesome food, also has a great bourbon list and the prices for rarer pours are usually very reasonable.
Haymarket Whiskey Bar—Dive bar on Main St that’s regularly on the best bourbon bars in the country lists.
Feast BBQ—Killer BBQ and bourbon

Food (Some overlap from above):
Hammerheads
Holy Grale/Gralehaus (their sister breakfast spot)
Silver Dollar
Royal’s
Bar Vetti
Couvillion
Butchertown Grocery
Feast BBQ
Lupo
Jack Fry’s
Chik’n & Mi
Harvest
Grind Burger Kitchen
El Mundo
Red Hog Butcher

Sorry for the novel but there’s a lot of great stuff in Louisville so figured I’d share as much as possible :D
 
Places to stay:
If you go the AirBnB route look for places in the following neighborhoods—Nulu, The Highlands, Downtown, Frankfort Ave/Clifton, Butchertown and Germantown. Pretty much all the best restaurants, bars, shopping, etc. in town are located in these neighborhoods.

Hotels: 21C, AC Hotel in Nulu, The Seelbach, The Brown Hotel, The Omni or Aloft on Main

Beer:
The Holy Grale—My favorite beer bar on earth that also happens to have incredibly great food. The burger is a religious experience (no pun intended). The owners have a great relationship with Shelton and many of the best European and US brewers so the tap/bottle list is always great. One of the Zwanze sites every year.
Monnik—Local brewpub in hip neighborhood that does a broad range of styles really well and the food is great too.
Gravely—Newer brewery in town with IMO the best/nicest taproom in town. Great lagers/Pilsners, rooftop deck with a view of the city and their own dedicated food truck serving up awesome upscale Mexican food.
Mile Wide-Another new brewery in town that’s a favorite for their NE IPA’s, but they do a lot of other styles very well too.
Sergio’s—Hard to describe without actually going. Complete hole in the wall that has one of the most insane beer selections of all time. Cash only.
Louisville Beer Store—Favorite bottles shop in town from the same owners as the Holy Grale. Have 6 taps that are usually great and all bottles can be drank on site with a $1 upcharge. Great back patio that’s usually not crowded.

Bourbon:
The Silver Dollar—Probably my favorite bar in town, honky tonk with an insane bourbon list.
Proof on Main—Bar in the 21C hotel that also acts as an art museum. Cocktails and bourbon list are both great.
Harvest—Moreso known for its awesome food, also has a great bourbon list and the prices for rarer pours are usually very reasonable.
Haymarket Whiskey Bar—Dive bar on Main St that’s regularly on the best bourbon bars in the country lists.
Feast BBQ—Killer BBQ and bourbon

Food (Some overlap from above):
Hammerheads
Holy Grale/Gralehaus (their sister breakfast spot)
Silver Dollar
Royal’s
Bar Vetti
Couvillion
Butchertown Grocery
Feast BBQ
Lupo
Jack Fry’s
Chik’n & Mi
Harvest
Grind Burger Kitchen
El Mundo
Red Hog Butcher

Sorry for the novel but there’s a lot of great stuff in Louisville so figured I’d share as much as possible :D
Nailed it^^^

Another +1 for Holy Grale/Gralehaus and Sergio's
 
Places to stay:
If you go the AirBnB route look for places in the following neighborhoods—Nulu, The Highlands, Downtown, Frankfort Ave/Clifton, Butchertown and Germantown. Pretty much all the best restaurants, bars, shopping, etc. in town are located in these neighborhoods.

Hotels: 21C, AC Hotel in Nulu, The Seelbach, The Brown Hotel, The Omni or Aloft on Main

Beer:
The Holy Grale—My favorite beer bar on earth that also happens to have incredibly great food. The burger is a religious experience (no pun intended). The owners have a great relationship with Shelton and many of the best European and US brewers so the tap/bottle list is always great. One of the Zwanze sites every year.
Monnik—Local brewpub in hip neighborhood that does a broad range of styles really well and the food is great too.
Gravely—Newer brewery in town with IMO the best/nicest taproom in town. Great lagers/Pilsners, rooftop deck with a view of the city and their own dedicated food truck serving up awesome upscale Mexican food.
Mile Wide-Another new brewery in town that’s a favorite for their NE IPA’s, but they do a lot of other styles very well too.
Sergio’s—Hard to describe without actually going. Complete hole in the wall that has one of the most insane beer selections of all time. Cash only.
Louisville Beer Store—Favorite bottles shop in town from the same owners as the Holy Grale. Have 6 taps that are usually great and all bottles can be drank on site with a $1 upcharge. Great back patio that’s usually not crowded.

Bourbon:
The Silver Dollar—Probably my favorite bar in town, honky tonk with an insane bourbon list.
Proof on Main—Bar in the 21C hotel that also acts as an art museum. Cocktails and bourbon list are both great.
Harvest—Moreso known for its awesome food, also has a great bourbon list and the prices for rarer pours are usually very reasonable.
Haymarket Whiskey Bar—Dive bar on Main St that’s regularly on the best bourbon bars in the country lists.
Feast BBQ—Killer BBQ and bourbon

Food (Some overlap from above):
Hammerheads
Holy Grale/Gralehaus (their sister breakfast spot)
Silver Dollar
Royal’s
Bar Vetti
Couvillion
Butchertown Grocery
Feast BBQ
Lupo
Jack Fry’s
Chik’n & Mi
Harvest
Grind Burger Kitchen
El Mundo
Red Hog Butcher

Sorry for the novel but there’s a lot of great stuff in Louisville so figured I’d share as much as possible :D

Thanks so much!
 
Holy Grale was as good as everyone said. Perfect beer bar. So much great stuff. Blew through all 3 Tilquins with a cedar Scratch. Jester King & Taras Boulba draft.

Best cocktail I had was 3rd floor bar at Evan Williams experience. Everything scratch made.

Silver Dollar and Doc Crows best food. Art edibles great bourbon chocolate. Blackbeard’s great coffee. Against the Grain beer is such garbage.

Excellent trip. Thanks for the suggestions.
 
Anyone know of any Instagram profiles of local stores to follow in Louisville?

We just moved here a few weeks ago and I'm spoiled by what I'm used to from Chicago. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
 
Anyone know of any Instagram profiles of local stores to follow in Louisville?

We just moved here a few weeks ago and I'm spoiled by what I'm used to from Chicago. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!
Don’t go to Sergios. Ever. It’s incredible the amount of black mold freely growing on bottles throughout his coolers.

That said if you do then you ask him to take you to the cooler outside the parking lot with all the Cantillon.
 
Any suggestions on bottle shops for bourbon? My older brother just asked me to "grab something great you can't get in California."
 
Don’t go to Sergios. Ever. It’s incredible the amount of black mold freely growing on bottles throughout his coolers.

That said if you do then you ask him to take you to the cooler outside the parking lot with all the Cantillon.

I heard Sergio's was a good place to go... however now I'm re-thinking it.

Any suggestions on bottle shops for bourbon? My older brother just asked me to "grab something great you can't get in California."

I was doing some snooping on Instagram to try and answer my own question and it seems that Westport Whiskey and Wine has a good selection of single barrels and other stuff that might be more regional.
 
I was doing some snooping on Instagram to try and answer my own question and it seems that Westport Whiskey and Wine has a good selection of single barrels and other stuff that might be more regional.

That Westport shop looks good, but it also looks like a bit of a journey from downtown.
 
Just wanted to give a shout out to this thread. On my first business trip ever for the Tailspin Ale Fest thing, hit up gralehaus for breakfast and got some Bearded Iris (and maybe some lager), about to try to sling some yeast to Monnik, then gonna burn my insides with some hot chicken at some point.

Glad all the day drinking I did in college prepared me for something.
 
Places to stay:
If you go the AirBnB route look for places in the following neighborhoods—Nulu, The Highlands, Downtown, Frankfort Ave/Clifton, Butchertown and Germantown. Pretty much all the best restaurants, bars, shopping, etc. in town are located in these neighborhoods.

Hotels: 21C, AC Hotel in Nulu, The Seelbach, The Brown Hotel, The Omni or Aloft on Main

Beer:
The Holy Grale—My favorite beer bar on earth that also happens to have incredibly great food. The burger is a religious experience (no pun intended). The owners have a great relationship with Shelton and many of the best European and US brewers so the tap/bottle list is always great. One of the Zwanze sites every year.
Monnik—Local brewpub in hip neighborhood that does a broad range of styles really well and the food is great too.
Gravely—Newer brewery in town with IMO the best/nicest taproom in town. Great lagers/Pilsners, rooftop deck with a view of the city and their own dedicated food truck serving up awesome upscale Mexican food.
Mile Wide-Another new brewery in town that’s a favorite for their NE IPA’s, but they do a lot of other styles very well too.
Sergio’s—Hard to describe without actually going. Complete hole in the wall that has one of the most insane beer selections of all time. Cash only.
Louisville Beer Store—Favorite bottles shop in town from the same owners as the Holy Grale. Have 6 taps that are usually great and all bottles can be drank on site with a $1 upcharge. Great back patio that’s usually not crowded.

Bourbon:
The Silver Dollar—Probably my favorite bar in town, honky tonk with an insane bourbon list.
Proof on Main—Bar in the 21C hotel that also acts as an art museum. Cocktails and bourbon list are both great.
Harvest—Moreso known for its awesome food, also has a great bourbon list and the prices for rarer pours are usually very reasonable.
Haymarket Whiskey Bar—Dive bar on Main St that’s regularly on the best bourbon bars in the country lists.
Feast BBQ—Killer BBQ and bourbon

Food (Some overlap from above):
Hammerheads
Holy Grale/Gralehaus (their sister breakfast spot)
Silver Dollar
Royal’s
Bar Vetti
Couvillion
Butchertown Grocery
Feast BBQ
Lupo
Jack Fry’s
Chik’n & Mi
Harvest
Grind Burger Kitchen
El Mundo
Red Hog Butcher

Sorry for the novel but there’s a lot of great stuff in Louisville so figured I’d share as much as possible :D

Quoted for awesomeness. Wife, myself and the kids (6 and 3) booked a long weekend for spring break and the end of March (27 to 31).

I made a google map of these things plus a couple of more touristy things. Happy to share if any wants it.

Anything else someone wants to add? jvanaus - your kid must be 2 by now. Any kid friendly recs?

Anyone want anything from Wisconsin?
 
Thanks for the suggestions in here, really helped round out our insane Bourbon Trail run.

Will be in the area in two weeks if anyone wants to meet-up.
 
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