LEO's Eats with Louisville HotBytes.com, with correspondent Kevin Gibson
It's no secret that Louisville has an excellent fine-dining scene, especially for a city its size. Still, sometimes you just want to kick back with a good sandwich and a beer.
Enter <b>Big Al's Beeritaville</b> in Clifton. With a cozy bar, front patio with tables and an outdoor beer garden complete with a horseshoe pit and cornhole, it's a fun, laid-back place to spend a Saturday afternoon or a weeknight happy hour. LEO Weekly's own Bar Belle, Sara Havens, wrote earlier this year that the bar at the newly made-over Mac's is "like hanging out in a friend's basement," which pretty much says it all.
The story behind the name resonates: Big Al's is owned by Mike and Loraine Sachse. Mike's brother Al, who was born with Down syndrome and who used to bartend at Rush Inn just down the street, had always wanted to own a bar. When Al died last year at 51, the Sachses decided to buy Mac's and remodel it in his honor. Thus the name, and thus the fun: A photo of Al, grinning ear to ear, hangs in the bar.
My friend Julia and I had dinner there recently and weren't disappointed.
Read the complete report in LEO and on LouisvilleHotBytes.
Big Al's Beeritaville
1715 Mellwood Ave.
893-4487
Rating: 81 points