North End Cafe (Highlands)

No Longer In Business

Overview: This is the Bardstown Rd. cousin of the original Frankfort Ave. location. The restaurant is not mega large, but is a pretty good size. If you enter from Bardstown Rd. (there’s a back door in the patio area), you’ll see the first area of seating and the bar area. They are now printing their draft and bottle list, which most places in Louisville don’t manage to do yet. To the right, before the bar, is an entrance to the lower two tiers of the restaurant, and more seating. The feel of the place overall is pretty clean, but not overly contemporary. Service is always friendly, and knowledgeable about the beer on tap. The beer selection always includes 1-2 locals on tap (ABW, ATG usually) and a rotating selection otherwise, priced from about 4-7 dollars a pour (16 oz. tumbler, or maybe a wine glass). The food here is the star; one of the consistently best breakfast menus in the city and a nice variety of other options, including vegetarian, vegan and gluten free. I usually ask my server for a suggestion, and never feel disappointed with my meal. They also do a good deal of their own curing and source many ingredients from local farms. Food and drink prices are about average, but there are some good values as well. PROS: Good service, solid rotating beer selection, very good food. CONS: Glassware used has improved, but would like to see more broadly implemented; would like to see a little more rotation on the bottle list. OVERALL: A worthy stop if you’re looking for a nice meal in Louisville; located right next to our newest brewery; Great Flood. I’ve included driving and parking instructions on the Great Flood rating that are applicable here. You can also order North End as takeout if you are visiting Great Flood.

Update 12/27/2014: Raising selection up a couple of notches; I feel like they have a solid lineup of beers to choose from, but do a good job finding about 3-4 interesting beers to bring in as well each time I visit. They are doing a better job on appropriate glassware.