CJ: 3 1/2 stars for Finn's Southern Kitchen

[Robin Garr]

The CJ went to Finn's and gave it 3 1/2 stars. They also got into whether Louisville is a Southern city. (They vote yes.)

Have any of you been to Finn's yet? What do you think?
http://www.courier-journal.com/story/en ... /84287692/

That place sounds really good, and reasonable too!

Just a correction though, it appears they are open for dinner on Tues. and Wed., unlike the review indicates.

I had the fried chicken sandwich and liked it. We plan to try dinner and brunch sometime soon.

We went last night. Good meal, charming place. They're still working out a few kinks in the system, but not in a Doc's Cantina kind of way. We had black eyed pea veggie burger, slaw and a meal-sized kale/quinoa salad with tuna... plus we shared mac-n-cheese and fries with a toddler. Everything was good, although something - probably the burger - had waaaay too much garlic. Waiter didn't seem know much about the bar's offerings just yet, but was friendly and helpful. We'll be back!

[Robin Garr]

We went last night.

Did the CJ review seem to be having much impact on the crowd? Not snarking, just honestly curious.

Did the CJ review seem to be having much impact on the crowd? Not snarking, just honestly curious.

We were there a bit early, maybe from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., but the crowd seemed pretty light, especially in the context of her comment about tables filling up quickly. The room we were in had about six tables... when we arrived, we had the room to ourselves, and one other table filled up while we were there. The rest of the restaurant looked about the same - more open tables than full ones.

Do they have a parking lot? All those years spent living in the Highlands, but I know next to nothing about Germantown. This place sounds worth a visit but I have a hard time getting friends to go somewhere that lacks parking.

I will happily visit any restaurant that has Steve Clements attached to it.
Having said that, am I the only one that thinks $6 for 3 deviled eggs a bit steep? Maybe it's because I am thinking egg halves.

It has a parking lot. Not totally sure if it is shared with the condo lot or what. But it wasn't marked as not being for restaurant patrons so we parked there.

[Robin Garr]

I will happily visit any restaurant that has Steve Clements attached to it.
Having said that, am I the only one that thinks $6 for 3 deviled eggs a bit steep? Maybe it's because I am thinking egg halves.

I just can't see the problem there, Carla. If we start looking at the grocery price of ingredients, then everything in a restaurant looks over-priced. But that way lies insanity. Thinking about the effort that goes into making the dish, staffing the restaurant, paying the rent ... I'd rather look at it and say, "a tasty appetizer for 6 bucks? Seems fair to me!"

I went last night. It was crowded, and very very loud, but the food and service were excellent.

I could have happily ordered the entire menu, but I went with fried chicken. I am rather picky about fried chicken, and I would be quite happy to name this Louisville's best. It doesn't hurt that they use runners to get it out of the kitchen while it is still sizzling. Greens were the best I've had since Miller's closed and the biscuits were tender but not crumbly.

Two other things: They are on Open Table, and, despite the crowd, our table was ready when we arrived. Also, the parking lot is huge and convenient.

I will happily visit any restaurant that has Steve Clements attached to it.
Having said that, am I the only one that thinks $6 for 3 deviled eggs a bit steep? Maybe it's because I am thinking egg halves.

I just can't see the problem there, Carla. If we start looking at the grocery price of ingredients, then everything in a restaurant looks over-priced. But that way lies insanity. Thinking about the effort that goes into making the dish, staffing the restaurant, paying the rent ... I'd rather look at it and say, "a tasty appetizer for 6 bucks? Seems fair to me!"

Well, yes, $6 for a good appetizer is a very fair price and deviled eggs are labor intensive. (Just peeling the darn things can be maddening.) Perhaps my reaction was a bit knee-jerk at that. Still, for some reason, that price strikes me as a bit dear.

[Robin Garr]

Well, yes, $6 for a good appetizer is a very fair price and deviled eggs are labor intensive. (Just peeling the darn things can be maddening.) Perhaps my reaction was a bit knee-jerk at that. Still, for some reason, that price strikes me as a bit dear.

I know. I remember being dumfounded by the $14 grilled cheez and tomato soup and $15 hamburger for lunch at Butchertown Grocery.

I'll throw my hat into the Louisville is a midwestern city. Not the south. A few reasons: the landscape (zero red clay and cudzu), cuisine (a decent biscuit is almost impossible to find and biscuits are not an embedded part of the culture like they are in the south and sweet tea should be everywhere like water), also when I moved here in '87 people called cokes "pop" (and still do) and I had no idea what they were talking about. If you're from the south everything is a coke. But it's mainly the landscape. No pine trees, no red clay, no cudzu.. Louisville has always been more Cincinnati/Indianapolis than Nashville/Atlanta to me.

[Robin Garr]

I'll throw my hat into the Louisville is a midwestern city. Not the south. A few reasons: the landscape (zero red clay and cudzu), cuisine (a decent biscuit is almost impossible to find and biscuits are not an embedded part of the culture like they are in the south and sweet tea should be everywhere like water), also when I moved here in '87 people called cokes "pop" (and still do) and I had no idea what they were talking about. If you're from the south everything is a coke. But it's mainly the landscape. No pine trees, no red clay, no cudzu.. Louisville has always been more Cincinnati/Indianapolis than Nashville/Atlanta to me.

Absolutely. Also St. Louis to some extent. I'd have said Cincy/Louisville/StL more than Indy, really, because of the riverboat culture and the original migration coming down the river from the Northeast.

As a deeply rooted local, though, I have to testify that I've never heard Coke called "pop." It's "soft drink," and that, I believe, is another Ohio Valley thing.

The Appalachian diaspora and, in general, farm-to-city migration has added an overlay of South (or maybe more generic "country"), but it's not our roots.