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Robin Garr

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Faces wins with creative food and drink

by Robin Garr » Wed Jul 28, 2021 8:56 am

Faces wins with creative food and drink

Honey dip chicken comes encased in a crunchy breaded and fried cloak that is a thing of beauty.
Image

When Chef Eric Morris opens a restaurant, I pay attention. I loved his Hull and Highwater and Gospel Bird eateries in New Albany, and I loved his citizen journalism and photography during the Breonna Taylor demonstrations (#SayHerName), although that’s another story.

So when Morris opened his eclectic new spot Faces Bar/Bistro in Louisville’s Highlands last year, I was eager to check it out.

But why did it take me more than a year to get there? Blame Covid-19. Morris planned to open in March 2020, but the pandemic shoved that back to early June with takeout and limited seating. Then the menu seemed to change every couple of weeks as Morris sought the perfect bill of fare. Then, earlier this month, a menu that looked like the real thing, incorporating a concise mix of old favorites and … pizza!

Yep, Faces is a pizzeria now, and more. We dropped in for lunch on a Saturday and found everything just as good as I had hoped, and the brick-and-wood setting with imposing semicircular bar fitting the eclectic mood of the Bardstown/Baxter food-and-drink strip. Suiting the restaurant’s name, the walls are decorated with pictures of, yes, faces, from a youthful Muhammad Ali to a wild-haired Einstein face brightened with colorful pastel squares.

Morris’ latest and maybe semi-permanent menu offers plenty of pizza, but that’s not all. ...

Faces Bar/Bistro
1604 Bardstown Road
742-6403
http://facesbarbistro.com
https://facebook.com/Faceshighlands
https://instagram.com/faces_bar_bistro

Noise Level: I assume this Bardstown Road bar and bistro will ramp up the noise during busy evenings. For lunch with only a few tables occupied, though, conversation was easy even with pop music at moderate volume in the background. Sound levels averaged 71dB, the level of normal conversation.

Accessibility: The restaurant appears to be accessible to wheelchair users.

Read the complete article on LouisvilleHotBytes,
http://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/faces ... food-drink

You'll also find this review in LEO Weekly's Food & Drink section today.
http://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/
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Jason R

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Re: Faces wins with creative food and drink

by Jason R » Sat Aug 07, 2021 7:03 pm

Wife and I stopped in 2 or 3 weekends ago for an early Saturday dinner and had far less pleasant experience. I started with a beer, which arrived warm-ish (this was a kolsch, and should have been cold). The fried pickles were pretty good, but it went downhill from there. The new menu caught us a bit off guard - I was expecting the exciting rotation of items (like the house-made pastrami) but was disappointed to see just a few (fairly uninspired) sandwiches and a whole page of pizza options. This town needs another pizza joint like a hole in the head. They had a good thing going, and I'm afraid this will not end well.

We didn't want pizza so chose from the few other options. I opted for the meatball sandwich, which boasted house-made sausage but tasted like JTM. Wife got one of the chicken options (Honey Dip, I think), and there was nothing special about it. I tasted it and recall thinking the flavor combination was not great.

Lastly, the service was...odd. Rather than asking if we needed anything, our server constantly asked "Is everything awesome?" or "Are we loving everything?" It was rather odd. We went next door to Uptown Cafe for dessert, which was the highlight of the evening.

Normally, I'd give a place a 2nd try, but there's really nothing else on the menu that would lure me back for another attempt.
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Robin Garr

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Re: Faces wins with creative food and drink

by Robin Garr » Sun Aug 08, 2021 9:22 am

Yuk. I'm really sorry to hear that, Jason. I was a little sad about the menu change, and our service was helpful but not speedy, but to be honest, I think the new/old/new pandemic is hitting local eateries pretty hard. My experience wasn't like yours, though, or I would have either said so or not written about it. :(
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SilvioM

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Re: Faces wins with creative food and drink

by SilvioM » Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:14 pm

I have been a few times and had better experiences than Jason (though the "is everything awesome" would probably deter me from returning as well :roll: ). Not sure what was up with the beer, as mine was cold, and I do like the menu changes and a generous slice of pizza and side salad for $9 is a good deal to me -- missed the area slice options since North End Slice closed.

I will say that, for me, the pandemic reasons for poor service are starting to wear thin. If a place is clearly busy, that is one thing. But if a place isn't and the server doesn't ask about my food, walks past an empty water glass four times without asking for a refill, doesn't give me a napkin/flatware, or is even remotely friendly (all of which I've experienced), then effective training isn't taking place, and that is a problem. There are too many good places in town for a person to have an experience like the one above and simply opt to not return.
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Robin Garr

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Re: Faces wins with creative food and drink

by Robin Garr » Sun Aug 08, 2021 12:23 pm

Silvio, I don't disagree! I try to discern whether I'm suffering from a short staff or a lazy server before I say anything about it! :twisted: But I've eaten at more places than I like to see lately where there's either only one server working an entire restaurant, of hints that there are only one or two people in the kitchen. So you're right, it's not a good excuse, but only provided it's not true.
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Carla G

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Re: Faces wins with creative food and drink

by Carla G » Sun Aug 08, 2021 8:27 pm

This is how the “herd” is thinned out.
"She did not so much cook as assassinate food." - Storm Jameson
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JustinHammond

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Re: Faces wins with creative food and drink

by JustinHammond » Wed Dec 29, 2021 11:07 am

"The idea is to eat well and not die from it-for the simple reason that that would be the end of your eating." - Jim Harrison

https://www.facebook.com/Louisville-Eat ... 129849554/
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Robin Garr

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Re: Faces wins with creative food and drink

by Robin Garr » Wed Dec 29, 2021 11:20 am

Beat me to it. :) See above for my thoughts ...

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