Vincenzo's top Italian in Louisville mag's Best

[Robin Garr]

Louisville magazine doesn't give you any love if you don't advertise with them. This is what I've been told when it comes to judging this best of Louisville thing.

In fairness, although the process is subject to ballot-stuffing, I'm convinced that the magazine's editors run it fairly: They honestly give the awards to the spots that win the most votes.

In an ideal world, I'd like to see them give it a name that more accurately reflects the system: "Reader's Choice Awards" or something like that.

I find it laughable that Panera Bread is considered healthy food. With the exception of a few low-fat items (which still have lots of sodium), the majority of the food there is loaded with fat & calories.
I will admit that I love the low-fat black bean soup, but haven't had it in ages.

I find it laughable that Panera Bread is considered healthy food. With the exception of a few low-fat items (which still have lots of sodium), the majority of the food there is loaded with fat & calories.
I will admit that I love the low-fat black bean soup, but haven't had it in ages.

Their menu, as a whole, is not "healthy," but compared to a lot of restaurants in the East end, they do have a sizable portion of menu to choose from for healthier fare. Lots of high-cal high-fat sandwiches, but there are also a decent number that aren't, not to mention soups, salads, fruit, etc. It's the only "chain" store represented (unless you count Whole Foods) and, as far as chain stores go, it ain't bad.

Indeed, the category is for places to get healthy food... not the places that have all or even mostly, healthy food. There are a lot of flaws with the Best of Louisville awards, but this isn't really one of them.

I think a turkey sandwich is healthy. Not good, but healthy.

These "best of" things, to me, put an emphasis on the fact that the well versed foodie/fooder, are in the minority. You can't expect everyone who decided to even care about taking the Louisville magazines best of Louisville to be objective and considerate. The demographics of the readership dictate the winners. Velocity and the LEO will show you different places. Usually they are places around Bardstown Rd. ...demographics. Certainly not indicative of Louisville's best.

These "best of" things, to me, put an emphasis on the fact that the well versed foodie/fooder, are in the minority. You can't expect everyone who decided to even care about taking the Louisville magazines best of Louisville to be objective and considerate. The demographics of the readership dictate the winners. Velocity and the LEO will show you different places. Usually they are places around Bardstown Rd. ...demographics. Certainly not indicative of Louisville's best.

I stumbled across this info on Louisville Magazine's website this morning... thought it was interesting and might explain some of the winners...

"Another survey, conducted in 2005 by MediaMark Research Inc., noted the following demographic characteristics of Louisville Magazine subscribers:

• 92% have attended or graduated from college (42% have post-graduate education).
• 92% are home owners.
• 66% are female; 34% are male.
• $147,500 average household income.
• $820,000 average net worth.
• 22% are members of a board of directors or trustees.

I find it laughable that Panera Bread is considered healthy food. With the exception of a few low-fat items (which still have lots of sodium), the majority of the food there is loaded with fat & calories.
I will admit that I love the low-fat black bean soup, but haven't had it in ages.

I second that. I used to think I was making a healthy choice until I scoped out their online nutritional info. HALF of a Bacon Turkey Bravo has 370 calories, and 13 g of fat. For HALF of a sandwich. I used to eat the entire sandwich. AND chips. Ugh. Health food, indeed.

I stumbled across this info on Louisville Magazine's website this morning... thought it was interesting and might explain some of the winners...

"Another survey, conducted in 2005 by MediaMark Research Inc., noted the following demographic characteristics of Louisville Magazine subscribers:

• 92% have attended or graduated from college (42% have post-graduate education).
• 92% are home owners.
• 66% are female; 34% are male.
• $147,500 average household income.
• $820,000 average net worth.
• 22% are members of a board of directors or trustees.

How does that explain it? Those stats say the readership is reasonably well educated, generally well paid, a good portion of whom are executives. If anything I'd expect such a crowd to give MUCH better results than the list contains...

Remember statistically it's still about the sheer number of people who frequent your establishment, and that's over many years. As an extreme example: Kroger scored over Whole Foods and Doll's for best Salad Bar. How can that be????????

Well there are upteem Krogers in Louisville with many,many customers and only one Whole Foods and one Doll's. So Krogers multiple locations have far more customers than the other two, and they get votes from all over town- Doll's only pulls from a specific part of town, many of the voters would never have been there (even if they are well-educated) . So even if 1 in 10 Kroger shoppers thinks the have the best salad bar, and 8 in 10 Doll's shoppers, Kroger still gets the most votes, and it therefore declared "best".

Deb

The best way for us to recognize those that truly deserve it is to frequent those establishments. As for the votes, the readers of Louisville magazine are just posting what they know. We need to help get the word out that Papa Johns is not really pizza. National chains are trying to take over the world and fortunately in Louisville we still have more independent restaurants than most cities. God bless the independents! Tell your friends, all of them how lucky we are and take them to YOUR favorite places to dine. Don't settle for a chain.