If you have lived in Louisville for more than a year or so, you’re surely mourning at least one favorite eatery that isn’t with us any more.
A lot of us are mourning dozens! The restaurant business is a rough road, and success is far from guaranteed, with very narrow margins for profit. A 2005 study by Ohio State University concluded that 60% of new restaurants don’t make it past the first year, and 80% go under within five years.
What’s more, even some dining rooms that make it through those difficult early years and go on to what looks like success still eventually falter.
What happens? The owners grow old and want to retire. Hard economic times bring down restaurants that had thrived in a better economy; we can blame COVID for a squadron of losses. Or the tax man comes calling and the owner can’t answer.
Taken by a wave of nostalgia the other day, I randomly posted a challenge on several social-media platforms: “Tell us about your favorite restaurant that's no longer around, and why it was so special.”
The response surprised even me. I got back about 328 nominations. After I consolidated duplicates, I ended up with 140 gone-but-not-forgotten restaurants.
Let’s take a closer look at the top five. Then I’ll give you a peek at the entire list.
Most fondly remembered by our groups was Deitrich’s, which enjoyed a run of about 15 years in Crescent Hill before it closed in 2002. It took top spot with 14 mentions. Making beautiful use of the space, originally a turn-of-the-20th-century Masonic lodge that long housed the Crescent Theater, restaurateur Bim Deitrich revived it, first as Deitrich’s in the Crescent and later Deitrich’s Brasserie. With its spacious dining room sloping down the old theater aisles to an open kitchen on the stage, it offered international bistro/brasserie fare with stylish service and the personal touch that made Bim Dietrich a father figure on the local restaurant scene for 40 years.
Hasenour’s came in a close second with 13 mentions. Popular with several generations of Louisvillians since the 1930s, it came to an end as the Baby Boom was growing up, finally falling to the tax man’s axe in 1996. Even at the end, it remained a salute to the fine-dining standards of the ‘50s and ‘60s, a reliable place for steaks and chops, lobster tails and, of course, powerful cocktails.
Palermo Viejo, one of the spots that could have earned my own top vote, won 12 mentions. Louisville’s only Argentine restaurant, it was a favorite since it opened on Bardstown Road in 2001 until it closed just after Valentine’s Day 2015. “My family has sacrificed so that I can live my dream,” the owner and chef Francisco Elbl wrote in a farewell message. “I have come to a point where I feel they have sacrificed enough.” No more steaks a la parrillada with chimichurri. I still miss that place.
I’m sure no one will be surprised to know that Casa Grisanti made the top five with 10 mentions. When Vincenzo Gabriele came to town and converted it from a family Italian eatery into Louisville’s first high-end “Northern” Italian dining room. Bringing in white tablecloths, attentive service, and gasp-worthy pricing for its time, he gained a host of followers and made the restaurant an icon. By the time it closed in 1991, it had served as training ground and mentor for dozens of Louisville chefs and owners who’ve moved on to their own places, and that may be its greatest achievement.
Fifth place might surprise you, unless you’ve been around for a while: Lentini’s garnered seven mentions, tying with the short-lived but lovable Timothy’s on East Broadway. Don’t think about Lentini’s declining years but consider its history: This place, along with its Bardstown Road neighbors Calandrino’s and its predecessor Highland Italian, introduced the Baby Boom to pizza, and Lentini’s did it in the context of a fine sit-down restaurant.
Ah, memories. I’m sure you’ll find plenty more of your own on the rest of this list. If we left off one of your favorites, let us know!
Six mentions
Allo Spiedo Lilly's The Old HouseFive mentions
Lynn's Paradise Cafe Mamma Grisanti Red Pepper ChineseFour mentions
Baxter Station Cafe Metro Kunz's The Dutchman Hickory House Hoe Kow La Paloma New Orleans HouseThree mentions
The Atrium Blue Boar Club Grotto Colonnade De La Torres Harvest La Bodega Min's Cafe Primo Rib Tavern Shariat's Stan's Fish Sandwich Zephyr CoveTwo mentions
The Place Downstairs 732 Social Alameda Austin's Azalea Basa Bauer's Bill Boland's Bistro 1860 Chi-Chi's Chico's Clifton's Pizza Cunningham's (old downtown location) Eiderdown Ferrell's Ice Cream Parlor Fifth Quarter Hearthstone Tavern KT's L&N Wine Bar La Normandie Luau Room Mazzoni's Miller's Cafeteria Myra's Pasquale's Pine Room (original) Ray Parella's Sixth Avenue South Side Inn Tumbleweed (original) Winston'sOne mention
Afro-German Tearoom Anchorage Cafe Artesano Baja Bay Bistro New Albany The Blind Pig Boston Fish Market Browning's Butchertown Pizza Hall Cafe Beaujolais Cafe Kiliminjaro Calandrino's Canary Cottage Carolina Shrimp Co. Chick Inn Chilakiles Codispoti's Corbett's Cottage Inn Couvillion Eggroll Machine Embassy Supper Club Emperor of China Ferd Grisanti Fig Tree Flabby's Flagship at the Galt House Flakey Jake's Furlong's Garrett's Gavi's GD Ritzy Gibb's Gipper's H&S Bar & Grill Hall's Cafeteria Highland Italian House of Hunan Jim Porter's Joe Z's Pizza John E's Kim's Asian Grill L'Artiste La Coop La Peche Le Gallo Rosso Little Bit of Seoul Lum's Maido Masterson's Melrose Inn Mo'Flav Morrison's Cafeteria Ngon Appetit Othello's Papalino's Parisian Pantry Park Place Patron Por Que No Pryor's Ranch House Red Barn Remington's Sachicoma Sari Sari Sitar The Spire (Hyatt) Teek's New York Bar & Grill Third Avenue Cafe Toad Stool Inn Tommy Lancaster's Train Station Trattoria Mattei Victoria StationKeep Louisville interesting and support LEO Weekly by subscribing to our newsletter here. In return, you’ll receive news with an edge and the latest on where to eat, drink and hang out in Derby City.
