YEl Mundo's butcher steak gives old-fashioned steak and eggs a warm Mexican flavor that takes them to the next level with a coffee-chile rub, a free-range fried egg, spicy salsas and next-level fries.
I felt pretty sad last month when I read El Mundo’s social-media post announcing management’s decision to “put the original, quirky, tiny Frankfort Avenue location on pause until the Spring.”
The good news was that El Mundo’s newer, larger Highlands shop, which opened during the Covid-19 pandemic, remains open. It has expanded service to seven days a week, and recently launched an impressive Saturday, Sunday, and Monday brunch.
Still, even if management says the Frankfort Avenue spot is not dead but only sleeping, undergoing restructuring toward a spring reopening, the shuttering felt like a jolt.
I had literally followed El Mundo since the very start. It opened in 1995, just a year after we had moved back to Louisville from a few years in New York City and just a few blocks from our Crescent Hill abode.
I enjoyed its funky and yes, tiny and quirky quarters, and I was impressed by its creative approach to Mexican cuisine in a bill of fare that reminded me a lot of Chef Rick Bayless’ Frontera Grill in Chicago. I would get back for follow-up reviews every few years, finding its quality and style lovably consistent over time. And I rushed over, mask firmly attached, to pick up takeouts at the new Bardstown Road shop in August 2020.
So when I heard about the new weekend-plus-Monday brunch, what do you think I was going to do? Yep! We rolled up to the Highlands operation, with its convenient parking out back, just as soon as I could. ...
Read my full review on LouisvilleHotBytes:
https://www.louisvillehotbytes.com/el-mundo-brunch
You'll also find this review in LEO Weekly's Food & Drink section this week:
http://www.leoweekly.com/category/food-drink/
Brunch at El Mundo
1767 Bardstown Road
384-5633
https://502elmundo.com
https://facebook.com/502elmundo
https://instagram.com/502elmundo
Noise Level: Our relatively small room, one of several in the restaurant, filled up quickly for Saturday brunch hour, but a corner booth with a high back kept us in an easy conversational bubble.
Accessibility: The renovated century-old building covers several floors linked by wheelchair-inaccessible stairs. But the entrance, bar, restroom, and main-floor tables appear accessible to wheelchair users.