All Night Dining

This past Sunday at the *fabulous* offline Christmas party there was a discussion amongst some of the attendees about a diner or lack of a good diner in Louisville. An allnight place to eat. Yeah, Barbra Lee's is there, and Twig and Leaf on weekends, and someplaces are open till maybe one or two in the morning. And then, up pops this article http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-12-18-late-night-dining_N.htm in USAToday.

As aptly described in the article, something besides greasey omlets and fruited stacks of pancakes. A place where you can get something really good at 4 AM. As mentioned by a regular customer at an Atlanta all nighter, "But Waters says that during her last before-dawn visit, she and her boyfriend shared escargot, oysters and French onion soup. Maybe those aren't things you'd normally order at that hour, but it was so good." Now, I could go for that.

I am convinced there is a gaping hole in the dining selections in Louisville, for all the greatness we have, we don't really have a good, downtown, 24 hour diner. I have always thought the corner of 4th and M. Ali would be a perfect place. You could get breakfast business from downtown workers, lunch, early evening diners, and then serve the workers from Fourth Street Abrams...errr Live.

Am I way off base? Is there a potential here for this? Where do you go at 2 am?

Richard

I go home!

I love the idea, but I am not sure Louisville is ready for the concept/could provide sufficient clientèle to justify. The night life in Louisville seems to be dominated by your old O'Malley's corner-style crew made mostly up of Budweiser and Burger pallets. The key would be finding a menu that would make people want to stay up and go out that late. Menu and atmosphere would be more important, I think, than even location, because a concept like this has to be a draw; you are going to have to bring people to it no matter what.

you are right there are virtually NO options for fine(r) dining past midnight in Louisville, but I fear there may be a reason for that.

[Robin Garr]

you are right there are virtually NO options for fine(r) dining past midnight in Louisville, but I fear there may be a reason for that.

Downstairs at Asiatique? Aren't they still serving late? Diamante was quite a loss in this regard.

I think this is the type of place you're talking about: Stax Omega or at least I think it is. They used to be open 24 hours a day but recently shortened their hours due to the economy. They are now only open until 3:00 AM on Friday and Saturday and midnight the rest of the week. They are in Greenville, South Carolina which is much smaller than Louisville. When we lived there they were always crowded no matter what time of day it was. People ate anything from a coffee and bagel to a full meal there, especially on weekends it was a great place to eat and read the newspaper.

It's certainly a kind of place that I think would do well here, an independently owned family business that serves great food in a comfortable atmosphere. Actually the family owns five restaurants in Greenville, starting on the low end with Stax's Original (a greasy spoon in the old part of town) up to Stax's Peppermill (one of the finest restaurants in town).

I think the closest we would have to that is at the Bristol in the Highlands.
Hours copied from their website:
Monday - Thursday 11:00 AM - 1:00 AM
Friday - Saturday 11:00 AM - 2:00 AM
Sunday Brunch 10:00 AM - 3:00 PM, dinner 3:00 PM - 12:00 AM

you are right there are virtually NO options for fine(r) dining past midnight in Louisville, but I fear there may be a reason for that.

Downstairs at Asiatique? Aren't they still serving late? Diamante was quite a loss in this regard.

Asiatique is still open late Thursday, Friday , and Saturday serving small plates until at least 1:15am. We are trying to re-establish our late-night crowd will be happy to take care of anyone in the service industry, not to exclude any others.

Cafe 360. I know alot of industry people that go there late late night.

i have known for years that there is a niche for a quality, upscale-casual eatery, here in town, with good service, beverage program, and fresh/clean food.
it is a project that ive been putting together (in my lab, of course) for quite some time.

all i have to do is trip over a giant box of money and its go-time.

This past Sunday at the *fabulous* offline Christmas party there was a discussion amongst some of the attendees about a diner or lack of a good diner in Louisville. An allnight place to eat. Yeah, Barbra Lee's is there, and Twig and Leaf on weekends, and someplaces are open till maybe one or two in the morning. And then, up pops this article http://www.usatoday.com/travel/destinations/2008-12-18-late-night-dining_N.htm in USAToday.

As aptly described in the article, something besides greasey omlets and fruited stacks of pancakes. A place where you can get something really good at 4 AM. As mentioned by a regular customer at an Atlanta all nighter, "But Waters says that during her last before-dawn visit, she and her boyfriend shared escargot, oysters and French onion soup. Maybe those aren't things you'd normally order at that hour, but it was so good." Now, I could go for that.

I am convinced there is a gaping hole in the dining selections in Louisville, for all the greatness we have, we don't really have a good, downtown, 24 hour diner. I have always thought the corner of 4th and M. Ali would be a perfect place. You could get breakfast business from downtown workers, lunch, early evening diners, and then serve the workers from Fourth Street Abrams...errr Live.

Am I way off base? Is there a potential here for this? Where do you go at 2 am?

Richard

I live downtown, please open it, id support you twice a week.

Heres what we have for no chain late night
Bristol and ramsis, which are each usually around 1 am and I think 2 am on weekends.
cafe 360 24/7 nearly 365
karma cafe (actually may be what you all are looking for I never seen it mention it here, there food is as good as dittos next door and cheaper, with a very alt/punk vibe) open til about 5 AM
spinellis (5 am toward sthe end of the week)
Junaitas burger boy (the dirty dirty goodness open even Christmas at 4 am for all us heathens)
Twig and leaf (weekends)
barbara Lee's (dirty goodness)

several peoplle have tried late night food downtown and failed, zaps hot dogs was open til 5 am on weekends and that didnt last. Riteway II barbeque at 3rd and chestnut was open til midnite with great barbeque, and also went out of business along with all the retail in the Henry Clay except Road to Morocco (please support him, hes on his last leg I fear) Even jimmy Johns (chain) tried opening late when they first came downtown and that didnt last at all.

It seems if you are not right on fourth street live, you have no chance late night downtown. I think the corner of 4th and ali or 4th and liberty are prime for it. there is tons of vacant retail space on all those corners. a little known available retail parcel is the ground floor of the chase bldg across from the hyatt on fourth. I think that corner opposite borders would be great for an affordable, stylish cafe along the lines of ramsis, or maybe even more downtown sleek but cheap, something that gets office folk for sandwiches during the day, downtown residents and tourists thru the dreaded downtown 5-8 pm hours weekdays, and the ravenous bar hoppers late weekend nights, and special event nights like wed in the summer. for cheaper retail space, there is a vacancy near 3rd street dive that could probably build a following and is closer to surface parking. id rather see a local place do it, because if not, ill guarantee you itlle end up being a steak and shake like they have in downtown Indy, as downtown continues to grow, despite its trip ups.