Grind Burger Kitchen

No Longer In Business

Overview: The Grind Burger Kitchen is the brick and mortar establishment based on the successful Grind Burger food truck. It’s located near the beautiful Audubon Park neighborhood, but the building itself is a rather utilitarian establishment: painted cinder block and two glass block window sections up front. Inside, the space is sparsely decorated; the Grind Burger logo is painted on the front left wall, and a large chalkboard featuring the beer menu is on the right as you enter. In terms of seating, there’s about eight four person tables, and maybe as many two person tables; including the six seat bar, this place might hold fifty people. The bar seems to be made of reclaimed wood, and is fairly uneven in places. There are high chairs and boosters seats for kiddos, but no changing tables.

Service was friendly and personable; there isn’t table service, so you’ll need to order from the bar as you enter (menus can be found there as well). I didn’t really have any beer related questions outside of serving sizes available, so I can’t tell you what they do or don’t know about beer. The selection is small, but thoughtful: of the six beers on tap, four are from KY. A good number of the bottles and cans are as well. Lots of "summery" beers on right now, so I imagine that they’ll be into rotating by season, at least, and maybe more frequently (they do keep their beermenus page maintained with the latest offerings). Grind Burger opened this location on the strength of their food truck business, and their menu features mostly burgers, with some other sandwiches and salads. I thought my burger (the B&B) was fairly good; the fries were respectable and a nice portion. Value wise, I paid $11 for a burger without fries, and the separate fries were $3. If I felt like the burger was a "best in town" burger and fries, I would gladly pay that amount. Maybe I’m expecting too much, but I never took a bite and thought "wow, this is a fantastic burger!" The food certainly isn’t bad; I just don’t know if the price and quality match. All beers seem to be poured in a shaker glass, and they will pour you a smaller sample glass if requested.

PROS: Friendly service; solid seasonal minded selection with nice local choices. CONS: A little utilitarian in appearance; food may be a bit overpriced. OVERALL: A fine locals type place where a good meal and local beer can be had; yet, I wouldn’t go out of my way for a visit at this time. The parking situation here isn’t great; I can only imagine spots are gone quickly on busy nights. I’d recommend parking in the shopping center a little south of the restaurant on Preston Highway. If you do come in for a meal and the weather is nice, you should go for a walk in the Audubon Park neighborhood. One of the truly under appreciated areas of Louisville.