Eddiie Merlot's Steakhouse-Another Louisville Ramada

I recall that very thing happening to us at Jack's.

Exactically!

I personally like the decor of most Louisville Restaurants. They're not trying to be something or someplace they aren't. They just have a comfortable, customer friendly atmosphere with good food instead of something overdone to impress. If you look at some of the favorites of people on this forum (Jack Fry's, Westport general store, etc.) they certainly are not anything fancy, they just have great food! In my opinion as long as a restaurant is clean and neat the decor itself is secondary.

As for the other part of the discussion about Louisville's economic/social system I like many others am tired of hearing where did you go to school referring to high school. I do get a laugh however when I tell them where I went (which was in upstate New York) and seeing the look they give me. Despite is this I think in general the Louisville community is very open to accepting people new to the area. Of course the Hotbytes community is even more so because of our common interest in food. The Louisville scene is certainly much more open than I found my moved to South Carolina or when I lived in France. I won't even go into the image of Americans and more specifically New Yorkers in some of the other places I have visited!

And just for Steve, I do think we can get a good pizza (not as good as New York) and very good craft beers here in Louisville!

Where did you go to high school?

On occasion, this forum feels like we've never left.

I hate that question because, honestly, I don't care where the other person went to high school. I don't care if we might know the same Jim Bob character. I don't care that this person might have taken German class with my sister's date to the freshman homecoming dance. Let's talk about something interesting. I'm still waiting for a single - SINGLE - conversation relating to high school to be interesting.

Next time someone asks me where I went to high school I'm just going to assume this person's life has not been interesting from when he/she was 18 until the age he/she is now.

I had the "normal" high school experience. With that said, unless it's my future kids asking, I'd be perfectly content not talking about high school to a stranger again in my life.

I've seriously never had one person ask me about my high school here and I have lived in here forever. I think maybe this might be an older generation thing?

Regardless, there is a way to say things without being insulting even if you find something, personally, repugnant. I like Eddie Merlot's. It's in my building where I run my business and it's going to be a fantastic addition for me to meet clients and unwind for a nice cocktail and snack after work.

A close friend and coworker is from upstate New York. A customer told her, out of the blue, that he could "tell by her face she wasn't from around here."

She is now known at work as "Yankee Face". From us, it's a term of endearment.

When I lived out West and people asked where I went to school, I'd assume they meant college, so I'd reply "The University of Louisville, the Harvard of the South" and they'd usually be very impressed.

Can't read my; can't read my; no, he can't read my Yankee faceeeeeee.

I apologize for this joke in advance.

[Robin Garr]

By the way Robin, I thought you claim yourself as a "New Yorker", now your a Louisville boy?
Which is it?

Heather, I think I say "sometimes New Yorker."

I am definitely a Louisville boy. born and raised here but always a city boy, Highlands or Crescent Hill, mostly inside the Watterson. But I spent summers in NYC as a teen-ager, and then Mary and I lived in Queens from 1990-1994, so we know the city well.

[Robin Garr]

I've seriously never had one person ask me about my high school here and I have lived in here forever. I think maybe this might be an older generation thing?

No, says the graying Baby Boomer ...

I have been told, by many people in Louisville, that when people questioned where you went to school they mean high school and not college. Could it be that the famous rivalry between Saint X and Trinity have created this preoccupation with high school? It seems to be more of a sports thing over socioeconomics. Many people told us to be careful not to appear to be catering to one high school over another for fear you would turn off a good segment of the population. I still remember the look of horror, on the face of a salesperson, when my son tried to purchase a Cardinal tee shirt and University of Kentucky gym shorts;)

So, what's the point? Does Eddie Merlot's suck or is Phil Gissen an @$$#%/e? Why is this even a question? I went to high school where I went to high school. Pretention is pretention, whether it's local or global. Attempting to create an elitist view of the local dining scene by voicing slanted opinions of a non-local restaurant is laughable. As far as I know, all reviews of this restaurant have been positive so far. I'm just not sure what part of this discussion Phil wants to be most wrong about.

I don't know if it's even worth chiming in, now that the person in question has declared his intention to leave the site.

I've lived here almost 8 years. I lived in Nelson County up until that point (except when I was attending university in Bowling Green & Morehead). I consider myself fairly well traveled, and I am practically a tax-paying resident of Nashville TN and the area surrounding Detroit MI considering how much time I've spent in both places.

My opinion on the "school" issue is that it is a conversational gambit, one that in most cases would be considered "safe." When people meet for the first time, we sometimes struggle for a place upon which we can "hinge" the tentative acquaintance. These days it seems we are all too concerned with political correctness, so asking about political affiliation or how much money one makes, or about one's ethnic heritage is taboo; asking where someone went to school (be it high school or university) is relatively safe (except apparently around Phil). I would never take offense at the question, and I normally would not automatically assume that I am being judged based on where I went to school. I've never felt judged.

We humans want to form connections, and one way to form connections is through shared experiences. School and mutually known acquaintances is one such way of sharing experiences. It makes no difference where one has lived in the past.

It's simply human psychology. It's not some secretive, elitist conspiracy to lock out newcomers.

Having grown up in the country, I developed a sixth sense in recognizing pretentious individuals. As we say out there, "That boy's gettin' above his raisin'." Humility and empathy reap much more success than a sense of superiority. We Kentuckians do not take kindly to outsiders spouting off about what we're doing wrong. We're much more likely to listen when we're first told what we're doing right and then asked, "What can I do to help?". Once the newcomer actually demonstrates consideration and a willingness to help, usually he or she is embraced.

I'm sorry that Phil has decided to leave the forum-- I enjoy reading his posts, and the reactions. I am a native Louisvillian, and am embarrassed every time a business meeting turns to "where did you go to high school?" But, as several people have pointed out, it is more of a who do we know in common ice breaker. My first husband was an upstate ny attorney, and kept asking me would he ever go to a meeting where st x/trinity wouldn't be discussed? He just didn't get it (probably still doesn't).
Most all of us are just half a step away from each other, not 6 degrees. As I have learned from spending a lot of time in Charlotte the past 6 months, it can be hard to make new friends in a new city-- and hope that Phil & his wife do make some good friends in Louisville. There are so many great things about Louisville, but it is a far from perfect city. Not always the easiest place to do business-- but that is another thread...
I am always happy when i meet a fellow forumite in person, and appreciate that this avenue has given me a chance to meet some new friends.
I'd love to invite Phil to our restaurant as my guest, though I know the decor is boring, the beer is very good!

I hate that question because, honestly, I don't care where the other person went to high school. I'm still waiting for a single - SINGLE - conversation relating to high school to be interesting.

This one time, at band camp...

Having grown up in the country, I developed a sixth sense in recognizing pretentious individuals. As we say out there, "That boy's gettin' above his raisin'."

I spent my first 18 years in Eastern Kentucky, you'll frequently hear "You ain't from 'round here. Are ya." Now that I've lost the accent, I get the question.