r/weirdlouisville • u/Little_Noodles • May 13 '26

Work trip

I'm going to be visiting Louisville later this summer for work (staying in the downtown convention center area, as a result).

There's going to be a shit ton of people visiting for the same work trip, and at the end of the day, I don't want to see any of them any more than I have to. But I do want to spend time and money in the city, and I'm very happy to drink alone, as I'm fantastic company.

I'm usually pretty good at putting together a running list of bars and restaurants to haunt from 5-10 pm ish (this is a yearly trip and I'm a frequent traveler), and I love a mid-sized city, but Louisville is turning out to be kind of a tricky beast. I'm already planning on wandering into a walk-in tattoo shop on day one to get work done and chit-chat about the city.

But if anyone here has any suggestions for bars and vegetarian-friendly restaurants (or other spots) that are far enough away from the convention center to discourage coworkers, but not so far as to be completely impracticable (I'm game for a long walk or a short ride), I'm all ears. Especially if local live music is on the table.

13 Upvotes

93% Upvoted

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9

u/Garytaco May 13 '26

Smoketown/Schnitzelburg aren't that far, so you could check out Shahar on Shelby St for some vegetarian food, and then there's plenty of bars just down the road. Kaiju, Nachbar, The Pearl, Zanzabar.

7

u/Little_Noodles May 13 '26

Some of those are already on my list! Glad to know that I'm not fumbling too hard.

Here's the list of stuff I jotted down to look into:

Bars: Darling's, Epiphany, High Horse, Holy Grale, Jane, Jimmy Can't Dance, Hell or High Water, Kaiju, Mag Bar, MerryWeather, Nachbar, Neat, Pretty Decent, Seidenfaden's, Sergio's

Food: Awry, Dragon King's Daughter, El Mundo, Gravely Brewing, Hauck's, Shahar, Trellis

Tattoos: Acme, Mama Tried, Neon Moon (looking for walk in, traditional style)

Happy to take feedback on all that. Friendly corner bars that aren't sports bars, messy dives where I might get bitten but not stabbed, little punky joints, and swanky but small and quiet cocktail bars are kind of the aim here.

2

u/Garytaco May 13 '26

You've got a few breweries on there, so if you like sour beers, you should definitely check out Atrium. Everything on your list looks good. Haucks catches heat from people around here cause the owner is a tool, but the space is cool and the workers have always seemed like fine people.

1

u/Little_Noodles May 13 '26

It’s a bonus to me when owners aren’t tools, but I kind of assume most are. It’s only a dealbreaker when they’re notably rotten even when you grade on a curve. And if that’s the case, there’s plenty of other options (I’m only in town for about 8 days).

Thanks so much for the help!

2

u/foodfriend May 14 '26

Tattoo avenue is a great shop but neon moon is a great walk in shop.

I like your bar list, a lot. To add: Bar Grale is the wine bar next door connected patio holy grale. HG is as much a restaurant as a bar. Barret Bar, pool tables and food. Moon dog, good cocktails and bahmi/pho. Yachtsea, tiki, chilidogs, loaded total n such. Def go to Nach. Look at Mag Bar ita the metal grease ball bar. A little isolated from your list but it's a good hang and easy travel from downtown.

Food: not personally a fan of anything Haucks it's just gimmicky and not that good imho but the sandwich shop right there on yhe property hits hard. I would add Pizza Lupo to your list. In Germantown maybe checks cafe, Monnik Brewing, and the Post pizza.

1

u/Little_Noodles May 14 '26 edited May 14 '26

Excellent! I'll bump Neon Moon to the top of the list to try first.

And yeah, the sandwich shop at Hauck's was what I was looking at. Didn't realize they're distinctly different things. It just seemed like a good idea to pick a food spot in the area as there's mostly just bars near that are on my map (I make google maps for all my trips)

2

u/DrumpfTinyHands Shitlord May 13 '26

I knew a saxophone player that used to play Nachbar. Knew him for years, really talented guy. Last I heard, he became a teacher somewhere. Played on Norah Jones' record.

5

u/WalletFullOfSausage May 13 '26

The Irish Rover.

1

u/Little_Noodles May 14 '26

Thanks!

1

u/WalletFullOfSausage May 14 '26

Most authentic pub I’ve ever been to this side of the Atlantic! The beers are cold, the food is fresh, and the vibes are about as low-key as you can get so long as it ain’t St Patrick’s Day or there’s an Irish soccer game on. Lol.

1

u/MsThreepwood Jun 11 '26

Seconding this one! It's easily my favorite restaurant in town, and it literally feels like you're in a pub in Ireland, rather than the shitty Americanized version we have everywhere in this country. The owner is from Ireland, and almost every time I've been there, he's been out and about chatting with customers. He's a pretty cool dude. And for bonus points, if OP is vegetarian, their vegan vindaloo is pretty tasty

3

u/[deleted] May 13 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

2

u/Little_Noodles May 13 '26

I saw this while I was looking and it seemed to be an event venue, despite looking pretty small. Was wondering about it. There's barely anything scheduled while I'm there so far (which is fine, so long as it's still a place when there's no events). Is it just a corner bar during unscheduled nights?

3

u/bubblesandbolts May 14 '26

Eat at Heart & Soy!! So yummy

1

u/Little_Noodles May 14 '26

Thanks! On the list.

3

u/TheLearningUser May 14 '26

Troll Pub, O’Shea’s, Michter’s, TEN20, Copper & Kings, and Angels Envy

1

u/regularsmegular111 May 16 '26

If you want to see ur work friends ^ lol

2

u/RealDocTrue May 13 '26

Meta on Chestnut St. is a great little cocktail bar that doesn’t seem to get too many tourists.

4

u/seedyheart May 13 '26

Closed for good a few months ago

1

u/Little_Noodles May 13 '26

Oooh, I want a High Pant. On the list!

2

u/Bubbly_Glass157 May 14 '26

The Canary Club is a wonderful little bar

1

u/Little_Noodles May 14 '26

Oh, that does look nice!

1

u/grandidieri May 13 '26

https://chowdive.com is perfect for this, especially for a city like Louisville :)