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Mimi's occupies the renovated former quarters of Don Pablo's on Hurstbourne. Photo by Robin Garr</td></tr></table>
(<b><i>Voice-Tribune</i>, March 8, 2007</b>)
When it comes to dining out, I'm usually inclined to look for a well-run locally owned and operated eatery, where the chances are that the person who has to meet the payroll is the same individual who cooks your dinner or greets you at the door.
In the practical reality of today's corporate world, however, franchise and chain restaurants abound; in the suburbs, it's fair to say that chain eateries significantly outnumber the locals. Drive the length of Hurstbourne, for instance, and once you're past Tony Boombozz, the elegant Limestone and the Bristol, you've pretty much exhausted your independent-owner options.
But let's face it: Bean counters and quarterly balance sheets to the contrary notwithstanding, the chains must be doing something right, as these eateries generally pack in crowds of seemingly happy customers. When P.F. Chang's and Cheesecake Factory opened in the East End the year before last, the hungry hordes quickly lined up to endure a two-hour wait. Now another recent Hurstbourne Parkway arrival appears to be doing a land-office business.
Mimi's Café is the first Louisville outpost of a chain of more than 100 units. It started as a family restaurant in Anaheim, Calif., in 1978, and is now a property of Bob Evans Farms, Inc. Open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, it occupies the renovated quarters that formerly housed Don Pablo's.
It looks welcoming and cozy, sort of like a cleaned-up <i>fin de siecle</i> Paris by way of Disney's Epcot, not that there's anything wrong with that.
Full report on LouisvilleHotBytes.
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