La Rosita on Market/ Louisville

Noticed this place was closed and a sign posting it was up for lease. No surprise I guess.

We saw that Saturday as we drove by. Very sorry but not terribly surprised. Guess we'll get our La Rosita fix in NA!!!

I don't work around there, but it felt like a tough location passing by.

I ran into the owner several weeks ago and he let me know about that this was coming. A combination of high rent/utilities, as well as traffic issues with the current bridge construction in the area, and the fears of what construction on the new downtown bridge were going to business brought about this decision. It sounded like Israel was going back to focus on the downtown New Albany operation again.

That stretch on Market between Nulu and downtown proper is tough. Not a lot of density, not a lot of businesses within a block or two to feed the lunch crowd, and by the time someone jumps on the trolley and gets that far, they might as well stay on and get to one of the more interesting places in Nulu.

Hopefully the new Nucleus tower going up on the Haymarket block will help push things in a better direction and help downtown and NuLu integrate better.

Sad. I loved that location. Great food too.

Us too. We went several times.

Drove by there today and saw the For Lease sign. Bummed, this was one of my favorite places, and I never had a bad meal there.

The service issues they had were so bad near the beginning that I think a lot of folks wrote it off. I know I had to have my lunch brought back to the office since I had a conference call beginning 90 minutes after being seated--never saw anything but chips while I was there. I really wanted them to do well.

Meanwhile back in New Albany, the facade was being pressure-washed yesterday, and a sign's on the door to the effect that Israel's back.

I'm looking forward to a Renaissance at the La Rosita on Pearl. Can't wait.

The service issues they had were so bad near the beginning that I think a lot of folks wrote it off. I know I had to have my lunch brought back to the office since I had a conference call beginning 90 minutes after being seated--never saw anything but chips while I was there. I really wanted them to do well.

+1

We tried several times and kept being told about problems with the beer/liquor license, which would "be fixed by the end of the month." After 3 months of not being fixed, we gave up. Same for several other people I know. IMHO, they got off to such a bad start, they could never recover.

Meanwhile back in New Albany, the facade was being pressure-washed yesterday, and a sign's on the door to the effect that Israel's back.

I'm looking forward to a Renaissance at the La Rosita on Pearl. Can't wait.

That is good news indeed. I did not try the Louisville location but the last couple of trips to downtown New Albany were underwhelming to say the least. I drive by the former Grant Line location daily wishing that they were still there.

I am sorry to hear they are going, but I'll be quite honest - in the handful of times I went there, I was not thrilled with the service or food. (How are carnitas both fatty and extremely dry at the same time!?!?!) I will continue to patronize them in their NA location, however, because it is great there.

I only went a handful of times as well, but unlike everyone else, I never had a bad experience. Food was always on point, and if the service wasn't perfect, it was still just fine. However, the last time I went, the service was so great (esp. because we were in a hurry to go to the Georgetown Drive-In), I tipped nearly 40%.

Chef Israel is back on duty in New Albany. He's hard at it, having done a needed deep cleaning inside and out, and the food's been great the last two times we went. He's working on getting the bar area back in fighting trim, and on Sunday, the soft drink station crashed. It's probably repaired by now, but all these factors are indicative of the work needed overall. Truth be told, consistency of service remains an issue, and it will take a while to fix, but Israel's hiring servers, and this will improve. I'm confident we're going to see the Rosita's flair re-emerge as time passes. I'm a fan, pure and simple, and wishing Israel the best.