Louisville's "50 Best Restaurants"

After reading the post "Worlds 50 Best Restaurants" (posted here last week) I got to wondering (pondering if you will) what are Louisville's 50 Favorite Restaurants ? So I posted a little note/poll on my Facebook page asking people to identify their THREE favorite Louisville restaurants. Despite some people being directionally challenged (the instructions were to identify THREE restaurants...not four, not five) and (I'm speculating) the inevitable "ballot stuffing" common in virtually every "peoples choice" poll, the results are (so far) interesting.

Over 100 restaurants received votes as "favorites"

Seviche, Havana Rumba, 732 Social, Jack Fry's, Blind Pig and Mojitos are the restaurants receiving the most "votes".

Their are at least two restaurants who I thought would make the list that didn't get a single vote....There are also several restaurants that I thought would get a LOT of votes that didn't.

Out of 100 restaurants identified, only around 6 could be identified as "chains" (of varying size and scope).

ANYWAY...if you want to check it out, someone should be able to post al ink of some kind. Otherwise you might be able to check it out by "searching" Facebook for "50 Best Restaurants in Louisville".

I think part of the reason some of the restaurants didn't get as many votes (or any votes) as one might expect is because of the limited sample size and the fact that people can only vote for 3 restaurants. Over time with more votes cast I think the sampling would change quite a bit.

Just wondering what restaurants were you surprised didn't get any votes or a limited number of votes?

I

Just wondering what restaurants were you surprised didn't get any votes or a limited number of votes?

That's part of the "fun" Mark...it's definitely non-scientific. Pruese the results and see if you can come up with any that didn't get mentioned. I will say this however..."Rooties" got at least ONE vote (wasn't mine)

A couple I noticed that were missing were Pat's Steakhouse, Stony River Steakhouse, Lynn's and Home Run Burgers (much better than WW Cousins in my opinion). There obviously are many more other people would mention but even these are ones and I like eating at occasionally but don't consider them to be in the top 50.

Glad to see Applebee's made the list - I was worried for a bit.

Informal polling aside, I suppose what impressed me was to take a gander down the list and look at the variety of really good independent places we do have around here. Acknowledging again that this is nothing more than unscientific polling, here's a list of the places that received at least one vote as "favorites" (many received 15-20 votes and some as many as 50 or 60 votes)

Selena's at Willow Lake Tavern
Seviche, A Latin Restaurant
732 Social
Mojitos
Le Relais
Corbett's
Majid's
Shady Lane Cafe
Coals Artisan Pizza
Havana Rumba Cuban Restaurant
Jack Fry's
Ramsi's Cafe on the World
Palermo Viejo
The Irish Rover
Basa
610 Magnolia
Dakshin South Indian Restaurant
Varanese
Hammerheads
Volare
Equus
The Oak Room
Captain's Quarters Riverside Grille
60 West Bistro & Martini Bar
Vietnam Kitchen
The Blind Pig
The Mayan Cafe
Mike Linnig's Restaurant
The Bristol
Cafe Lou Lou
El Mundo
Proof on main
Sapporo Japanese Grill and Sushi
Toast on Market
North End Cafe
Lilly's
Hillbilly Tea
Jeff Ruby's Louisville LLC
Zen Garden
Z's Oyster Bar and Steakhouse Louisville
Come Back Inn
Le Gallo Rosso
Uptown Cafe
Za's Pizza Pub
Cafe' 360
Zanzabar
Bourbons Bistro
Queen of Sheba
John E's
Wild Eggs
Ruth's Chris Steak House Louisville
Texas Roadhouse
Lily's
L & N Wine Bar and Bistro
Mozz - Mozzarella Bar & Enoteca
Oishii Sushi
Kashmir
Avalon
DiOrio's Pizza & Pub
Martini's
Eiderdown
The Zeppelin Cafe
Double Dragon
Shalimar
Zaytun Gyros
Maido
W W Cousins Restaurant
Sake Blue Japanese Bistro
Baxter Station
Wild Ginger Sushi Bistro
Maido Essential Japanese
Eddie Merlot's
Z's Fusion
Indi's
Caffe Classico
El Nopal
Bistro 301
The Back Door
Westport General Store
California Pizza Company
Hungry Pelican
The English Grill (Brown Hotel)
Mimi's
Bonefish Grill
Morton's The Steakhouse-Louisville
Mozz
Bombay Grill (Louisville)
Shenanigan Pub
BBC on 4th
Amici's
El Torazo
Highland Morning
Cumberland Brews
Doc Crow's
RiVue
The Fishery
Apple Bees
CW Goodnight's
Blackstone Grille
Rootie's Sports Bar & Grill

No Ollie's Trolley?

Off the top of my head, I would say the best dinner I've had was at 610 Magnolia. I've only been once but my husband and I were invited there by a friend of the chef to sit at the chef's table. It was a delicious and fun treat to have the chef pick out our meal and serve us. It was delicious and a great memory. There are a lot of great independent restaurants in Louisville. I just need to find restaurant coupons to save some money.

Off the top of my head, I would say the best dinner I've had was at 610 Magnolia. I've only been once but my husband and I were invited there by a friend of the chef to sit at the chef's table. It was a delicious and fun treat to have the chef pick out our meal and serve us. It was delicious and a great memory. There are a lot of great independent restaurants in Louisville.

We love 610 but I wasn't aware there was a chefs table. Do you happen to know if it's by invitation only or is it bookable by the public?

We love 610 but I wasn't aware there was a chefs table. Do you happen to know if it's by invitation only or is it bookable by the public?

I don't think there is an official chef's table. One of my friends was good friends with the chef whose first name was Edward I believe. She invited us and another couple to have dinner with the chef.