Coming to the Highlands: M. Peppers, Yi Omakase, HaiFry

Three new places are in the works for a relatively short stretch of Bardstown Road in the Highlands.

M. Peppers plans to open at 1300 Bardstown Road, in the Bellwether Hotel. I assume it will be taking over the old Nostalgic restaurant space. I don’t know what kind of restaurant it is, but Ryan Rogers (of Bar Vetti, Feast and Royals) is involved.

Yi Omakase, a sushi restaurant, will be opening at 1331 Bardstown as part of Untouchable Louisville, a mobster-themed Airbnb business. The restaurant is owned by the same person who owns Hokkaido Ramen and Sushi, which opened about a year ago in Colonial Gardens.

HaiFry is planned at 1126 Bardstown Road, where Dragon King’s Daughter operated before it moved a couple years ago. It’s apparently either a bar or a restaurant, because it’s applying for a liquor license. It’s owned by Toki Masubuchi, who also owns Dragon King’s Daughter and Kaiju.

[Robin Garr]

Excellent! Thanks as always for the scouting report, Rich.

The Highlands was in a decline a few yrs back due to growth in Nulu, the suburbs, and across the river. It was losing its panache as is the case in many similar places. The pandemic and social unrest provided body punches and a strong uppercut.

But, as in similar places, it has been in the process of reinventing itself. Its ideal location between downtown, parks, creative residents, and the pivot towards small hotels and airbnbs has assured its continual role of representing, at least in my view, what Louisville cool and keep it weird is all about! It is the main artery or spine from which coolness branches outward-- the sine qua non!

[Robin Garr]

I grew up in that neighborhood and love the way that there's always something new and yet so many of the landmarks I remember from the Jurassic era are still there to inspire memories. Even if I turned my face to Crescent Hill around the end of the last century, there's still always a place in my heart for the Highlands. I'm glad to see this.