610 Magnolia
THE SOUTH
Best Restaurants in Louisville: Where to Eat Now, From Bourbon Rooms to Bold New Kitchens
By Jamie Dutton | Oct. 21, 2025
AUTHOR BIO: With family spread across the Midwest and a job that has her in airports regularly, Jamie Dutton finds herself across the center of the U.S. regularly. She’s partial to BPTs a Bell's.
I first came to Louisville on a girls’ weekend and, confession, I wasn’t a bourbon drinker. I ordered vodka cranberries while my friends compared notes on mash bills and ryes, and I nodded like someone who pretends to taste “oak.” Then a bartender slid over a Manhattan and said “trust me.” And I did.
That was the start of a conversion, first to cocktails with that underlying bourbon sweetness, to bourbon on the rocks, and now, my current Friday night drink of choice, two fingers neat, maybe with a drop of cold water.
Since that bourbon transformation, I’ve been back to Louisville for work enough times to know this isn’t just a whiskey town; it’s a great restaurant city. Chefs are cooking with a confidence that feels earned, bars care as much about ice as they do about spirits, and even the casual spots have a point of view. You can eat grand or simple, late or early, and never feel like you settled.
After years of research, here’s my carefully argued list of the best places to eat in Louisville right now.
610 Magnolia
610 W Magnolia Ave | Website | Instagram
There’s no getting around it—610 Magnolia is a special occasion restaurant. It’s also one of the few places in town where the chef’s tasting menu won’t bore you to tears by course three. Born in Brooklyn to Korean parents, Edward Lee still runs the show here, and the food—Southern by way of Seoul—hits that rare note of being both serious and fun. If you’ve never had a sorghum-glazed duck that made you want to text someone about it, here’s your shot.
Best for: A chef’s-tasting evening that always surprises
bar Vetti
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
This place has tackled a lot of dishes over the years—from from pancakes at brunch to burgers at lunch—but what chef Andrew Arvin McCabe’s kitchen has always done well is pasta. Expect al dente noodles dressed with whatever the kitchen is obsessed with that week—maybe anchovies, maybe pickled ramps. The concrete-and-brick aesthetic says casual, but the food says you’d better cancel your 2 p.m. meeting.
Best for: Handmade pasta, anchovy heat, and a “let’s-make-this-a-long-lunch” afternoon
Copper & Kings
ADDRESS | Website | Instagram
There’s a certain kind of person who hears “brandy distillery with a rooftop bar” and immediately rolls their eyes. And yet Copper & Kings nails it. You’re up in Butchertown, eating chicken thighs with a side of smoked-fried potatoes (because you can’t order the burger again) while overlooking the skyline, sipping something amber-colored and potent enough to convince you the elevator was worth it.
Best for: Rooftop cocktails over Butchertown and a snacky supper
Jack Fry's
1007 Bardstown Rd | Website | Instagram
Ah, Jack Fry’s — the place where old-world charm meets a modern appetite. This isn’t your grandmother’s living room, but it sure feels like it with its dark wood, jazz music, and a vibe that practically begs for a Sazerac. The shrimp and grits here is something that could make you believe in love again. But the real draw? Eavesdropping on the conversations of the city's who's who — if walls could talk, they’d probably ask for a lawyer.
Best for: Old-Louisville charm, jazz, and a Sazerac with shrimp and grits
La Bodeguita de Mima
725 E Market St | Website | Instagram
There’s more neon and rattan here than seems legal in a single dining room, but that’s sort of the point. This NuLu homage to midcentury Havana pulls zero punches: rum cocktails so sweet they come with their own hangover, ropa vieja with enough garlic to ruin a date, and live music that somehow doesn’t feel like a gimmick. It’s theatrical, chaotic, and—when you’re in the right mood—completely perfect.
Best for: Rum-soaked, neon-bright group nights with ropa vieja
M. Peppers
1306 Bardstown Rd | Website | Instagram
M. Peppers is what happens when Andrew McCabe, the chef behind Bar Vetti, decides to channel their inner Parisian and lands squarely in the Highlands. Inside the Bellwether Hotel, this modern French bistro serves up classics like escargot and steak frites without the usual pretension. It's the kind of place where you can sip a glass of Bordeaux at the bar on a Tuesday and feel like you've been transported to the Left Bank.
Best for: Classic bistro comfort—escargot, steak frites, a glass of Bordeaux
Mayan Café
813 E Market St | Website | Instagram
You come to The Mayan Café expecting heritage, and yes, you’ll get that—chef Bruce Ucán has been serving up Yucatán-inspired dishes here long before Louisville knew what to do with a chayote. But this isn’t some museum of ancient recipes. Ucán is still evolving: tamales are filled with bison instead of pork, lima beans get their own moment in a velvety stew, and the cochinita pibil arrives so tender you could eat it with a spoon, though the handmade tortillas make a better vehicle. Located in NuLu, this place has become the old guard by never acting like it.
Best for: Yucatán flavors, thoughtful veg, and handmade tortillas
MeeshMeesh
636 E Market St | Website | Instagram
Chef Noam Bilitzer doesn’t make a big deal of his James Beard nod, which is probably why MeeshMeesh still feels like a neighborhood spot—if your neighborhood is into harissa-grilled shrimp and whole-roasted branzino. The space has a cozy-hang-on-a-Friday vibe, and the menu reads like the Middle-Eastern bistro you need close to home.
Best for: Mezze, labneh, and a mellow NuLu date night
Naïve
$$$$$ | MAP | WEBSITE | INSTAGRAM
Naive has new owners and a new point of view: Latin-inspired plates in Butchertown with a patio that fills as fast as the cocktail list. The menu reads like a lineup for a vacation menu: tuna taco ceviche with citrus, mango salsa and avocado, confit half chicken with mole and arbol crema, and a double smashburger with aji burger sauce and served with yuca fries. It’s bright, seasonal, and surprisingly satisfying, the kind of place where a “quick bite” quietly becomes dinner.
Best for: Best for: Latin-inspired small plates, patio cocktails, and a ceviche-to-seared hanger steak kind of night
Nami
835 E. Main Street | Website | Instagram
In Butchertown, chef Edward Lee’s Nami is a modern Korean steakhouse that’s earned a spot on USA Today’s Best Restaurants list. The menu features dishes like galbi short ribs and Korean-style fried chicken in a sweet-tangy sauce, blending Lee’s Korean heritage with Southern influences. The sleek, minimalist design complements the innovative cuisine, making it a standout in Louisville’s dining scene.
Best for: A celebratory steak night with a Korean edge
Proof on Main
702 W Main St | Website | Instagram
Inside the 21c Museum Hotel, Proof on Main is that rare place where you can argue with someone over contemporary art while shoveling bison burger into your face. The menu is a mix of Kentucky staples and more daring fare, like this carpaccio with sourdough crostini. Bonus points for the rotating art installations that are thought-provoking after a few cocktails.
Best for: Bison burgers after roaming the galleries at 21c
Red Hog
2622 Frankfort Ave | Website | Instagram
Red Hog is what happens when butchers decide they want to open a restaurant. It’s part whole-animal workshop, part wine bar, and it smells like someone just pulled a ham hock out of the oven—which they probably did. You come for the porchetta sandwich and stay because your tablemate ordered the wood-fired sausage pie, and now you’re eating that too.
Best for: Charcuterie boards, porchetta, and good wine without fuss
Seviche, A Latin Restaurant
1538 Stevens Ave | Website | Instagram
Chef Anthony Lamas has managed to do the unthinkable: make ceviche a must-have in a city better known for its hot browns. Seviche is where Latin flavors meet Southern sensibilities — think pan-seared foie gras with a hint of jalapeño. You’ll be so busy drooling over the menu you won’t even mind that they spell "ceviche" with an "s." Here, even the cocktails are in on the fusion, blending bourbon with a twist of Latin flair.
Best for: Seafood-forward date night with Latin-Southern swagger
Toasty’s Tavern
1258 S Shelby St | Website | Instagram
Toasty’s is what happens when someone takes grilled cheese seriously enough to open a bar about it. It’s small, loud, and proud of its cheap beer selection. The sandwiches come gooey and unapologetic—way better versions of the burgers and dogs and sandwiches you’ve tried so many times elsewhere.
Best for: Grilled-cheese cravings, cheap beer, and loud friends
Volare Italian Ristorante
2300 Frankfort Ave | Website | Instagram
Volare is where you go when your aunt from out of town demands “real Italian,” by which she means tuxedoed servers and shrimp scampi. But give it some credit. The pastas are made in-house, the dining room is slick in that old-money Louisville kind of way, and when the jazz trio kicks in around 8, you forget this place has been here since Bush was president.
Best for: Red-sauce nostalgia and tuxedo-service family dinners
Wheated
1553 Bardstown Rd | Website | Instagram
There are plenty of places in Louisville doing pizza now, but Wheated might be the only one that looks like it belongs in a borough. Chef John Doyle’s sourdough crust is more than just the usual buzzword—it’s tangy, blistered, and better than it needs to be. If you’re lucky enough to snag the booth by the window, you’ll be watching Highlanders walk their dogs while eating one of the best pies in the city.
Best for: Sourdough pies and a low-key Highlands pizza night
The Silver Dollar
1761 Frankfort Ave | Website | Instagram
Housed in a former fire station, The Silver Dollar takes its whiskey and bar food seriously. This is where you go when you want to feel like a cowboy without actually having to do any cattle wrangling. The ribs are sticky and tender, the burger a classic, but the cornbread with sorghum butter is what will have you asking for the recipe like an out-of-town cousin at Thanksgiving. And if you’re not into bourbon, well, you’re probably in the wrong city, but the craft beer selection here will do you just fine.
Best for: Kicked-up bar food washed down with a deep whiskey collection and honky-tonk energy
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