LEO/LHB: Eponymous pastry seals the deal at Danish Express

[Robin Garr]

LEO's Eats with Louisville HotBytes.com

You can, and probably do, call it a Danish pastry, but its roots lie in Vienna. Nevertheless, the Danes have made this rich and delicious pastry their own, and you'd be hard-pressed to find a better one in the Old Country than you can enjoy right here in Louisville at Danish Express.
This quaint St. Matthews storefront occupies a cozy space with big plate-glass windows that make up the entire front wall, facing east to bring in bright sunlight in the morning.

It's open from 8 a.m. until 2 p.m. daily (except Sunday), offering breakfast throughout and lunch at midday. The breakfast menu - including but not limited to the rich, oversize Danish - makes it one of the city's top spots to break a fast. At lunchtime, it's still a decent place for a quick meal, but facing much sterner competition, it's not quite as close to the front of the pack.

A dozen well-worn but sturdy round oak-top tables decorated with baskets of silk flowers fill a room with walls the color of cream of asparagus soup, with a section of bright cream of tomato beneath a chair rail along one wall. There's an odd blend of paintings of racehorses and food; one appetizing work features a cup of coffee and a doughnut. At the back of the room, a glass case houses the day's selection of Danish (get there early or your favorites may run out), along with an intriguing collection of cookies and bars.

The breakfast menu features Danish, of course, $2.50 each for your choice of cinnamon, cream cheese, apple, apricot, cherry, strawberry or blueberry. There's a selection of egg dishes and omelets, mostly in the range of $4.50 to $7.

We arrived at 9 a.m. and found our favorite cream-cheese Danish already 86'd, so we went with a cinnamon model and a table knife to split it. Half of one of these hulking pastries is plenty, anyway - you've got to know when to say when. Rich and tender, these babies must be an inch thick, loaded with cinnamon and sugar and finely chopped nuts.

... Danish Express accepts no credit cards. It's cash or check only. My advice: Hit a nearby ATM on your way in. -Robin Garr

Read the complete report in LEO and on LouisvilleHotBytes.com.

Danish Express
102 Cannons Lane
895-2863
Robin Garr's rating: 79 points

Where exactly is this place located?

[Robin Garr]

Where exactly is this place located?

Errrrrr ...

Danish Express
102 Cannons Lane
895-2863

That would be on Cannons Lane just south of Frankfort Avenue, between Crescent Hill and St. Matthews.

Yes, but where is that from the old Sears???

[Robin Garr]

Yes, but where is that from the old Sears???

Okay, come out of where the old Sears used to be. Turn right and go past where the old Original House of Pancakes was, and continue on past where you used to be able to see the old Three Little Pigs on a side street. Continue past where the old Vogue Theater used to be, and where Dolfinger's used to be, where Boston Fishmarket used to be, and as a matter of fact, the place where Danish Express itself used to be, and pretty soon you'll come up on where Danish Express is now.

I hope this has been helpful.

Love it!