Frisch's in Fern Creek

The word going around on the Nextdoor app is that the Frisch's in Fern Creek is closing today with the Fern Valley location closing shortly. Although the coronavirus likely sped things up I'm guessing that they were in trouble well before that; the Hikes Lane location closed months ago. I live less than a mile from the Fern Creek location but if I sat down and made a list of restaurants to visit Frisch's would never occur to me.

I live less than a mile from the Fern Creek location but if I sat down and made a list of restaurants to visit Frisch's would never occur to me.

Have to admit the same despite growing up eating it with my grandparents. As I got older it became one of those appease-everyone places that a carload of people could shrug and say, "sure," about. Just like local Steak 'n Shakes before it, Frisch's has that old-school casual dining approach that fast casuals have supplanted.

Even before the pandemic I thought these types of full-service chains were going to start dying off. Their large dining rooms and expansive menus--and the large staff needed to hold it all together--are every bit as risky as they are beneficial. But you can bet that headquarters wouldn't dream of rolling out blueprints to halve either.

In an age of aggressive online reviews, big brands are bigger targets for consumer's to voice their malcontent. Failing to assuage that malcontent makes you a punchline on social media at best and an afterthought at worst.

here's a (rather lengthy) post that I put up a few months back re: the Shelbyville Rd Frisch's. I can't tell you how it hurts to see these places go. They were our "go-to"'s in the '50's/60's
viewtopic.php?f=1&t=25534&p=187734#p187734

They were an easy “go to” when you had kids in tow as well.

Dude, that breakfast bar is still a destination eat for us when we get the hankering. We spent a lot of nights hitting the Frisch's drive thru on the way home from Louisville Downs when my dad was racing horses there. Would hate to lose them.

Spent some time reading over the Governor's mandates for restaurant re-openings. Among the rules is a requirement that employees have to serve from the salad bar rather than allowing guests to do so themselves.

My first thought was, "damn, Frisch's is about to get a lot fancier."

[Robin Garr]

I do love a Frisch's Big Boy platter on Sundays. Or anytime really.

I noticed the sign in front of the Fern Creek Frisch's said something like "It's been our pleasure serving you." I guessed that meant they were closed as it was between 2-3 pm and the lights were out. The Frisch's at I-65 and Fern Valley was "temporarily" closed for the virus a while back, so I guess they're following the Steak n Shake playbook.

I can't say I'll miss them. I'd hit the breakfast bar maybe twice a year, but otherwise the food was unremarkable. Best I can say is that it was cheap. Steak n Shake had been a train wreck service-wise for years.

Shoney's is still giving it a go at Fern Valley, and it's the only one left in Louisville. I have no idea how they're going to make it considering the big draw was the breakfast buffet. I've heard some Golden Corrals are going to close altogether rather than try to adapt to a new service model, but I don't know what the local GCs are planning on doing. I'd also hate to see a couple Chinese buffets go out because occasionally I just want that ability to browse food rather than order off a menu.

I'd love to see a local take over one of these locations. I keep trying to convince the guy that owns Yummy Pollo to expand a little bit (not too much as that's usually when things go awry, but Carali's seems to be doing okay). Fern Creek just seems to be the place where developments go to die.

Fern Creek just seems to be the place where developments go to die.

Fern Creek South of the Gene Snyder is doing well. They are actually finally working in earnest on Southpointe Commons and the Panera exterior is fully framed.

All of the restaurants have remained open and its even hard to get food on the weekends without quite a wait. I attribute much of that to the growing population along Bardstown Rd south of Glenmary into Mt Washington. Fern Creek is their closest culinary oasis--Aspen Creek, Sicilian Pizza, Sala Thai, Misawa Japanese, Fiesta Time Amigos, Sea Fresh Seafood, Outback Staekhouse. That is just south of the Snyder in the Glenmary area. There are many more further up such as Sake Blue, Marks Feed Store, etc.

I keep trying to convince the guy that owns Yummy Pollo to expand a little bit (not too much as that's usually when things go awry, but Carali's seems to be doing okay).

When I worked across the street, I'd see Faisal every week. He knows my name, my wife's name, and my baby's name, and he asks about them every time I make the trip out to pick up a to-go chicken and some chickpeas. If anyone can expand and not sacrifice quality, I'd bet on him. He's one of the legit nicest people in the food scene. Definitely much nicer than Robin!

[Robin Garr]

Definitely much nicer than Robin!

Hell, EVERYONE is nicer than Robin!