The more Jack Fry's changes, the more it stays the same LEO's Eats with Robin GarrJack Fry's! The very name of this Highlands landmark makes many of us smile. Fry's feels like an enduring landmark, a piece of Louisville culinary history that always stays the same. Which is kind of funny when you consider that it has changed both owner and chef since my last review.
As it happens, this ship of foods has stayed its stately course through the recent changes: When owner Susan Seiller moved on in 2008, she passed the reins on to Stephanie J. Meeks, who had worked her way up from host to manager over a dozen years and knew the place inside out.
When longtime Chef Shawn Ward (who kindled Louisville's affection for Low Country Carolina shrimp and grits back in the '90s) moved to join the all-star team that's re-making The Brewery this past April, he simply turned over the toque to McClain Brown, who'd been working at Ward's side for six years and was executive sous since 2012.
Indeed, the more things change, the more they change the same.
But look back a lot further in time, and while Jack Fry's may still look much as it did in the 1930s, we can't credibly claim that it has stayed the same. Back in our parents' time, or maybe our grandparents' time; back when Hunter S. Thompson and Sue Grafton were growing up in the neighborhood, it was a different place, and Jack Fry's was a very different kind of neighborhood saloon.
The original Jack Fry, the namesake and owner, started a neighborhood tavern upon the repeal of Prohibition in 1933. If I had to guess, I'd suspect that it might have had a more shadowy existence before Repeal, as Mr. Fry, by all accounts, was only loosely guided by the strictures of the law. A huge fan of the ponies, the prize fights and the bottle, Jack was purportedly the man to see if you wanted to get down a bet or acquire a six-pack without proper ID.
But that was then, and this is now. The neighborhood, having slipped some from its original status as one of Louisville's finest 19th century suburbs, was re-gentrifying by the time Jack retired in 1972. After some years as Por Que No Mexican, new owners restored Mr. Fry's moniker in 1982.
They sought to retain its classic urban tavern vibe, a commitment that remains unchanged to this day in its dusky walls and old Louisville photos. But you sure can't get down a bet or buy an illicit six-pack here any more.
Old Jack Fry would probably be saddened to know of this, and I expect he'd be horrified to know that for dinner for two can easily take you north of 100 smackers now, with entrees alone ranging from the $20s through the upper $30s. (The lunch menu is lighter on the wallet, although it's hardly cheap eats at $9 to $16.)
Nevertheless, the food, the mood and the style, not to mention its worthy bar and thoughtful adult beverage options, make it all worthwhile. It's one of the city's top spots, and it seems likely to stay that way. ...
Read the full review on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/the-m ... s-the-sameJack Fry's1007 Bardstown Road
452-9244
http://jackfrys.comRobin Garr's rating: 91 points