Southern Living's list of Louisville's best restaurants

As part of an article on Louisville and the Derby, Southern Living magazine has published a list of their 20 best restaurants in Louisville. Here's a link to the article: Southern Living Article

It doesn't state when the restaurants were reviewed but several on the list are closed so it can't be A real recent. The list certainly contains several restaurants we would expect to be on it like Equus, Jack Fry's, The Oakroom, etc. But it also contains several that I wouldn't expect to be on it such as J Gumbo's and Cafe Bristol in the speed museum.

It's certainly is interesting to see how out of towners view the Louisville restaurant scene!

Seems for the most part a poorly researched article with very little imagination. Icons maybe, but best places to eat? Come on. Not all of them of course!! No flaming please. Just a strange list.

Seventeen out of the 20 are still in business, so they've got that going for them. Which is nice.

[Robin Garr]

Seems for the most part a poorly researched article with very little imagination. Icons maybe, but best places to eat? Come on. Not all of them of course!! No flaming please. Just a strange list.

They didn't even spell "Genny's" right. No byline on the article, either, as far as I can see. I wonder if it was done by a clueless mag staffer who doesn't live here, or a less-than-competent local free-lancer.

If it helps to show how dated the information is in the article...

3 | Asiatique
The menu changes seasonally, but try the wok-seared salmon if it's available. Asiatique's Pacific fusion cuisine also features unique desserts such as Bosc pear beignets or lemon grass panna cotta.



Those items were on one of my earliest dessert menus at Asiatique... in oh, around 2004.


Actually, upon closer examination... if you look Robin, you mention both desserts in your last review of Asiatique, (one of which was a spcecial that week)... I'm thinking they did very little hands-on reviewing (if you catch my drift).

While honored with being #12 on the list, I do agree that the article seems a bit out of date. The review listed is for our home store on Frankfort Ave., but one would think it might mention that we have other locations (and have had them since 2006...)

This article was updated when Genny's last cleaned their fish tank.

You lost me at Bristol. It's been updated since they have Napa's new location correct. However, any best of list that doesn't include Seviche is ridiculous.

[Robin Garr]

Actually, upon closer examination... if you look Robin, you mention both desserts in your last review of Asiatique, (one of which was a spcecial that week)... I'm thinking they did very little hands-on reviewing (if you catch my drift).

Hmm ... those were awesome desserts. I wonder who made them.

Good point, though! If the "reporter" Googled Louisville food reviews for information but couldn't be bothered to contact LHB (or, presumably, the competition) for local advice, he or she just wasn't doing the job.

Sloppy research....makes one question the veracity of their other articles.

Not that I am defending the list, but to be fair it looks as though the goal was to provide a mix of places specializing in different types of fare. You have a burger joint, good breakfast spot, coffee shop, cafe, fine dining, etc. I would have a hard time arguing that Genny's or Kaelins (when in business) were not two of the top burger joints in town. The same can be said about Heine Bros. coffee, or Equus, Oakroom, and Jack Fry's for a fine dining experience. The list is clearly not geared toward locals, but rather to an out of town crowd who may have different needs at different times during their visit. It is also clearly not intended to be an end all be all list of the top 20 restaurants in town based on certain parameters. It would have been more appropriately titled something like "20 of our top Louisville dining picks". All of that being said, the article is clearly dated and poorly researched which is indefensible for a national magazine.

Will, that's when I thought too originally an I purposely went back to check the title of the article. It clearly states that it's the 20 Best restaurants in Louisville. Any one who came here believing that would certainly miss out on many of our best restaurants, as well as going to some that wouldn't make the list by any definition! It really makes Louisville look like it has a much weaker dining scene than it is.

No Seviche. No Corbett's. This article is horrible. Half the restaurants do not even belong on this list.