ENTERTAINMENT

FOOD

ESSENTIALS

 

A lot of this stuff can also be found on the LiveinLou website.

NATURE and PARKS

·     Bernheim Arboretum and Research Forest 12,000 acres of nature geek heaven, just outside the city.

·     Daniel Boone National Forest A short drive away – Red River Gorge is the major highlight but there are many beautiful, less crowded spots throughout the forest.

·     The Falls of the Ohio The reason for Louisville’s existence and the city’s best natural landmark. Some of the best fossil hunting and bird watching in the country.

·     The Olmsted Park System The heart of Louisville’s park system, designed by the man himself. The parkways run through the entire city, and two parks – Cherokee and Iroquois – are true masterpieces. Also check out www.metroparks.org

 

ARTS

·     Visual:

o  Glassworks One of the coolest places in town. Live glass blowing demonstrations and a glass art museum.

o  First Friday Trolley Hop See Louisville’s art galleries all at once.

o  St James Court Art Show Major event in Old Louisville’s beautiful St. James Court.

·     Theater:

o  The Actors Theater Widely renowned theater, home to the Humana Festival. Tickets are half price if you get them at the last minute.

o  The Humana Festival of New American Plays Some of the country’s best plays debut at the Humana Festival each year.

·     Music:

o  Public Radio Partnership Louisville has three public radio stations: a talk station (89.3), a classical music station (90.5) and an all-other-music station (91.9) with everything from bluegrass to jazz to college rock.

o  The Louisville Orchestra A good institution that’s recently fallen on hard times.

o  The Kentucky Opera Yes, there really is one.

o  The Louisville Ballet Also seems unlikely, huh?

o  Uncle Pleasant’s A recently re-opened Louisville institution. Indie music type stuff. Good local bands.

o  The Rudyard Kipling Pretty much all kinds of music – folk, rock, indie... mostly local bands. Also has a bar and serves food.

o  Headliners The famous bands generally play here.

o  The Brown Theater Neat old theater, first opened in 1925. National acts often play here.

o  Kentucky Center For the Arts Another place to see national acts. Also an umbrella organization for a number of Louisville arts institutions.

o  ear X-tacy There are a lot of good independent record stores in Louisville, especially along Bardstown road in the Highlands. ear X-tacy is the largest and most well-established. Both new and used CDs. The website, with listening samples, is worth checking out for its own sake.

·     Movies:

o  Baxter Avenue Theaters Arts movie theater, in the Highlands

o  The Louisville Palace Theater 75 year old theater downtown, shows classic movies and has some performances (plays, musicals, comedy, etc)

o  Wild and Woolly Video All the videos you can never find anywhere else – specializes in foreign, horror, kung fu, documentaries, etc...

 

SPORTS

·     Churchill Downs http://www.kentuckyderby.com Presumably you’ve heard of this.

·     Louisville Slugger Museum You kind of have to go at least once.

·     The Louisville Bats Very popular, especially for a minor league team.

·     University of Louisville The big game in town. College basketball is a very big deal here.

·     Golf Courses People here really, really like golf.

 

SHOPPING

·     Antiques

o  A list of Louisville antique stores: (kind of hard to read) Louisville is antique heaven. The best are clustered around Frankfort Avenue, on Market Street near the Mayan Gypsy (see FOOD), and along Bardstown Road.

·     Window Shopping

o  Bardstown Road Lots of small clothing boutiques, record stores, and a brand new Indian Grocery. Home to wine shops, some shoe stores, and quite a few upscale consignment shops.

·     Malls

o  The Mall at St. Matthews Stores include Express, The Limited, Dillard’s, The Pottery Barn, Godiva, Williams-Sonoma, JC Penny’s, and Ann Taylor.

o  Oxmoor Center Down the street from Mall St. Matthews. Stores include Lazarus, Sears, Old Navy, Dick's Sporting Goods, The Sharper Image, and The Gap.

o  The Summit Looks like an outlet mall, but in fact it’s an upscale town-center-style development for wealthy suburbanites. Still, the shopping’s good. Stores include Banana Republic, Abercrombie and Fitch, J. Crew, Pier 1 Imports, Victoria’s Secret and Barnes and Noble.

 

BARS/CLUBS

·     The Magnolia Bar and Grill (The Mag Bar) Good people watching, three pool tables, the best juke box in town, and a vintage Galaga/Mrs. Pacman game to boot.

·     Connections An enormous gay bar and club. Half drag queens, half Midwestern tourists. Always makes for an interesting evening.

·     Air Devil’s Inn (no decent websites) A sketchy (lots of bikers) but worth-the-visit spot next to Bowman Field. Often features live music.

·     Left Field Lounge (no websites for this one either) Lots of frat boys and pool tables to spare.

·     Molly Malone’s A yuppyish but authentic Irish bar with pub quiz on Wednesdays. Fun Highlands hang-out spot. Nice outside seating area. Decent food at dinner time, but not quite as good as the Irish Rover.

 

ICE CREAM

·     Graeter’s The best ice cream ever, anywhere. Actually an import from Cincinnati. Try banana and raspberry chip.

·     Coldstone Creamery A far, far second to Graeter’s. Create your own ice cream flavor.

 

RESTAURANTS

·     Louisville restaurant reviews can be found at www.foodboyz.com

·     Expensive, but worth it:

o  Jack Fry’s Gourmet meat and potatoes. Unbelievable pork chops. Classic Kentucky atmosphere.

o  The Mayan Gypsy The most innovative food in town – even the lima beans are great.

o  Le Relais Excellent French food in a great location. Sit on the deck and watch the planes take off from Bowman Field, Louisville’s first airport.

·     Mid-Price:

o  The Irish Rover Slightly upscale pub fare. Fairly authentic Irish atmosphere.

o  Lemongrass Cafe One of the few good ethnic restaurants in Louisville – Vietnamese Pho is their specialty.

o  Ramsi’s Cafe on the World A good place if you can’t agree on where to go – good turkey burgers, many vegetarian options, and all kinds of ethnic food. The baked brie appetizer is quite good. Open late.

o  Lynn’s Paradise Cafe Classic Louisville breakfast place with fun decor. Very good biscuits and gravy. Vegetarian friendly. Expect a wait, especially for Sunday brunch.

o  The Bristol Bar and Grill A favorite of many locals. Makes a good Hot Brown.

·     Great Deals:

o  Papa John’s Hardly compares to Pepe’s, but it does originate in Louisville.

o  Check’s Review doesn’t do it justice. Great bratwurst and bean soup, and the only place in the world where you can still get a decent lunch for under $3. The neighborhood (Germantown) is also worth exploring.

o  Jay’s Cafeteria Classic lunch place attracts both the rich and powerful from downtown and the down and out from the west end. This means great people watching, along with a good meal.

o  Indi’s Fast Food (couldn’t find a decent link) Spicy fried chicken, a staple of the west end. Many locations.

o  The Dizzy Whiz Great chocolate milkshakes (definitely a must-try if you’re not from the midwest).

o  Genny’s Frickled (fried) pickles and enormous hamburgers. You generally leave feeling a little overstuffed.

 

COFFEE

·     Heine Brothers’ Coffee Very popular Louisville Coffee Shop, convenient to Graeter’s.

·     Highland Coffee Company Extremely popular with the large Louisville alterna-kid crowd. Nice little place, but avoid the parking lot, which is always a mess.

·     Old Louisville Coffee House Brand new, very pleasant coffee shop in, surprise, Old Louisville. Convenient to U of L. Serves Chicago’s Intelligentsia coffee.

 

GETTING AROUND

·     Cab Companies Good to know... especially if you don’t have a car when you get here.

·     TARC Louisville public transportation – just buses so far, although they keep talking about light rail.

·     How to buy a car (you’ll need one) Advice on how to buy a new or used car. Leo (the alternative weekly) also has occasional listings at www.leoweekly.com

·     Repair Shops In case you happen to have a Volvo (which you should), these guys are exceptional.

·     Driver’s License Places You’ll need a Kentucky license within 30 days of your arrival in Louisville. Make sure you bring a social security card if your number isn’t on your old license.

·     Vehicle Registration/License Plates Louisville’s taxes and registration fees are extremely low, so you’ll want to do this asap.

 

GOVERNMENT

·     Louisville Metro Government Website Reasonably useful. Don’t bother with the search function.

·     Libraries

o  Louisville has excellent libraries, especially the main branch downtown.

·     Greater Louisville, Inc The Metro Louisville chamber of commerce. Pretty decent website.

 

NEWSPAPERS

·     The Courier-Journal Formerly quite good, now half-decent Louisville daily. Sadly owned by Gannett.

·     The Louisville Eccentric Observer Louisville’s alternative weekly. Unfortunately, the most useful section is the music listings.

 

APARTMENT HUNTING

·     Some quick advice: -Look for places in the Highlands, Old Louisville, and Crescent Hill. The original Highlands, Butchertown, and Phoenix Hill are also worth a look. You’ll probably want to avoid the west end, unless you’re teaching in that area, since it’s rather far from most of the city’s attractions. Also avoid Brownsboro Rd area properties, which are overpriced. -Louisville is one of the few places in the world where you can get a nice apartment in a nice neighborhood for a good price. The best way to find an apartment in Louisville is to walk around the neighborhoods you like writing down numbers on “for rent” signs. This may take a while but is worth the trouble for a place you’ll have to live with for at least a year. -Look for a place that includes heating costs in the rent. Gas tends to be ridiculously expensive, especially for first floor apartments.

·     Craigslist is always a good source.

·     Courier-Journal Classifieds The Courier’s classifieds are getting worse and worse, but you might get lucky and find something under the apartments.com link. Old Louisville Classifieds

·     Old Louisville’s website A great overall website on Louisville’s most historic neighborhood. Also has a good, frequently added to apartment listing feature. You can place a “want apt ad” for free. Most listings are in Old Louisville, but occasional you’ll find some in the Highlands or elsewhere.

·     Bailey Properties has many properties in the Highlands and other nice areas.

·     The Mayflower Beautiful renovated 1925 apartment building with large, reasonably priced studios and 1-BRs in one of the snazzier parts of Old Louisville; pets allowed including dogs up to 30 lbs. If you ask nicely they’ll give you the student discount rate (even if you’re not technically a student...)

·     Peterson-Popham (no website, but their # is: (502) 584-4400, or try This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) Some of their properties are very nice, and their rent is usually quite low. No dogs, but they allow cats.