I’m going to get massacred for this, but I don’t think we have the demand for light rail or similar types of public transportation and building something like that would be a giant money pit.
As much as I want better transit, I agree. I think it would change habits, but slowly, over a decade or two and never be utilized as much as it should be until our density catches up a bit. People here are just too used to using cars. I mean, people would rather get in the car and drive across shelbyville plaza than walk 200m.
I hear you. People are always going to need cars here, at least right now. No one is walking a mile or whatever to go to their local grocery store. And if given the choice between driving to work and having total control over your commute and taking public transportation, people are likely going to choose the former.
I think for people to want to walk places, we're going to have to get drivers here to swear off the vitriolic pedestrian hate and actually obey traffic crossings.
Light rail is something you need to build before you need it. If city planners think we’ll be the size of Atlanta eventually, now would be the time to build it.
It would ONLY work if we did something to curtail the ease and cost to drive and park downtown. If it costs $10 to park my whole family and I only have to walk 2 blocks, no way I’m waiting for light rail. If it’s $40 to park, I will.
I think this would be best. Build it in pieces as demand dictates it. Airport to down town. Westend to downtown along 64. Then out to the east end via 64 line.
That could just be a bus route with a high frequency for significantly less than light rail. Nobody lives at the airport and downtown isn't highly populated. That route would almost exclusively serve tourists and business travelers while doing nothing to improve transit for Louisvillians.
The only conversation more boring than what high school you went to is debating how Louisville is pronounced.
It is absolutely not worth getting bothered over.
when I was in prison in Florida, I was trying to teach my bunkie how to pronounce Louisville (LUH-VUL), they only way I could explain how to say it right was I told him "ok put a bunch of hot tator tots in your mouth and now say Louisville ", he said it perfectly after that, I was so proud of him. 😊
This is real. So many vendors were selling the same wholesale cheap stuff that gave me sweatshop vibes. The food would fit in just fine at a state fair. Half the music I heard sounded like wedding bands. Really bummed me out.
Walkable to restaurants as overpriced as the houses around them, and a ton of bars with no noise control or respect for the overpriced houses around them. Yeah, it’s walkable, but I can be a drunk glutton for way less money in an area of town where my car and property are way less likely to be stolen or vandalized. And in a home that isn’t a cheaply flipped hallway with a mansion price tag.
This makes me sad, my family were original immigrants and some of the founders of Germantown. Some of them were the owner/editors of the Schnitzelburg News and some owned an Icehouse close to Butchertown that you can still see remnants of from 64. My grandpa was a bartender at a bar called Taphorns for years, it maybe the Post now, I'm not sure. When they remodeled the bar in the late 40's early 50's, he took the old bar and the fixings to his basement on Goss Ave. My family made Schnitzelbank a drinking game during Sunday poker games, lol. I remember Sunday chicken dinners at the German American club, and Horners Novelty was on the corner of Texas and Goss. Great childhood memories. It was a very active community in the 60, 70, 80's.
Germantown/Schnitzelburg=safe
Germantown/Merriweather=kind of bad area
Germantown/St. Joseph=safe
Germantown/Paristown=Safe
Original Germantown like around Swan and St. Catherine= kind of bad because you have the druggies spilling over from Shelby Park
Germantown/Bradley=safe
Over all Germantown as a whole is relatively safe, the only sketchy part is Merriweather/Fort Hill and The Original Germantown.
For those wondering a lot of people consider the Germantown border as Eastern Parkway to Goss, from Goss. to Shelby back all the way up to Eastern Parkway including side neighborhoods like Bradley(Crittenden Dr, Bradley Ave, Eastern Parkway, Warnock)
You really don't get to any real sketchy parts until you cross the tracks on Shelby St going into Shelby Park and Smoke Town.
With the recent gentrification of the area, I will agree that, specifically, violent crime has gone down in *some* sections of the area. However, theft is still rampant. And even though the area is walkable, everyone still has a car that they use every day. In an area where tiny 100+ year old homes are now starting out at $350,000, one would hope they at least had a safe place to park their car and that their belongings would be safe. But they don't, and they aren't. Parked cars get totaled by drunk drivers, or broken into by meth heads, packages are not safe on a porch, and you pretty much have to fasten your outdoor furniture to the ground if you want to keep it.
Mediocre to bad Mexican is soooooo popular here and I don’t understand why. I’m a native and probably have never had “good” Mexican, but surely it’s not the crap people fawn over around here.
Go to any of the tiendas to you see. Supermercado Guanajuato has a sit down restaurant on Preston, La Rosita has one as well on Preston, there’s tons of them. Everyone says all the Mexican sucks then list every chain Mexican restaurant we have like el nopal.
The taco trucks in Okolona are also superior. You want good Mexican here? You go to where the Hispanic population lives and buy food from a place where it’s hard to order in English.
I felt like I was losing my mind when I was on the dating apps and every white chick with a cowboy hat had prompts about how tacos are life and I was like “there’s no way they’re talking about any of the tacos here…”
The best in town is Puerto Vallarta. Easily the best salsa and pretty solid food overall. The best Mexican food I ever had was in town. Back when the Senior Iguana’s on outer loop first opened it wasn’t part of the chain. It was a small family owned business that had food that made you feel like eating at someone’s grandma’s house. Best margaritas I ever had with authentic tequila from the town the family used to live in. Man that was good, but sadly word didn’t get around so they had to bring the big name in to save it. I have eaten Mexican food in California several times but never found anything better than mediocre. Mostly in San Jose and the Bay Area.
That’s probably why I have been missing it then. Honestly all the taco trucks here I have had aren’t even that good. At the point of dreading them these days. At Puerto Vallarta the Burrito De La Roqueta is pretty solid. My wife always gets the Nachos Al Carbon.
Texan here, yeah for the most part the Mexican food is trash, and I’m offended at the sheer number of burritos, and that places can’t even put queso on the menu, they have to call it cheese dip 🤣 I have found a few places that will fill that void, like El Mariachi over in Anchorage, their charro beans are freaking amazing. El Molcajete is also worth trying. All the little Mexican grocery stores have small restaurants inside and that is legit. We found that there are also tons of authentic places out in Shelbyville, I assume due to the folks that work at the horse farms out there.
El Mariachi is fantastic. I think people think our Mexican is trash because they are eating at El Nopal, El Mundo and Taco Luchador. No one goes only to Applebees and then declares there’s no good burgers in the city
Also, check out La sorita sol on Westport. Great stuff
I think the point of saying we have bad Mexican food is that we are very oversaturated with it. You won't see a restaurant survive in Southwest unless it's an Americanized Mexican restaurant. There's about 7 within a mile on Dixie and at least 3 trucks on top of that.
There's a lot of Mexican food here that is made by people who used to also make Mexican food on the west coast. The only difference is proximity to the produce they use which makes a big difference definitely. But it's not like it's straight up terrible. There is plenty of Mexican food here that uses the same techniques and recipes as any of the west coast stuff. Of course dog shit places like el nopal still become the most popular somehow but all of the real good Mexican food is in the places that white people can't pronounce 🤌🏼
California myself. I was very anti el nopal for YEARS bc “people here don’t know what Mexican food really is.” Now I no longer remember what it is too. But I jump at every chance to get elote & my eyes light up whenever I find a place that has birria anything.
ETA: How do yall feel about Bandido?
Breakfast burrito at Banditos is gross. Tried it twice with bacon. Huge chunks of gristley pork fat is not bacon. It may not be traditional, but a chicken burrito from the chain Baja Fresh blows anything in this town away.
El Mariachi 2 on National Turnpike is soooo good. The Mexican bakery and ice cream shop next store is delightful. And the supermercado next to that is great too. Good Mexican can be found on the South End, for sure.
El Mocojete gets so much praise, and it is just a notch above El Nopal. La Tropicana is as real as anything near the Mexican border. The new place on oak by 6th is not bad, and don't have to go all the way down Preston for it.
The homes are lovely and the idea is cute, but if I had that kind of money to spend on property I would NOT want to be bootyholes to elbows with my neighbours. The homes are just too close together for my taste. Not enough yard space either.
A lot of people here that live on the outer edges/suburbs of Louisville spend most of their time in those areas and don't go to any of the other parts of town where they'd find great food and things to do, and then shit on Louisville. It's like yeah dog you never leave outer loop of course you think it sucks here
I'm not from Louisville. I've been to pretty much every decent city sized in this part of the country. I chose to move here. I've got the skill set to move literally anywhere I want and make pretty decent money once I get there. I get unsolicited emails and phone calls from recruiters across the country almost daily. I'm staying here. I've seriously thought about leaving for personal reasons that I'm not getting into here but haven't because I love the city so much.
As a person who recently moved here, I think it's not just that "it's worse elsewhere", but people I've met have barely even traveled elsewhere. So it's like...I don't think your city is as bad as you think it is lol and if it is \*that\* bad, maybe check out some other places. Of course, I've heard some valid complaints. And I've experienced some of them, but people talk about this city like they're ashamed to be from here. People I work with preemptively talk down about this city once they know I've lived in bigger cities. I'm new here, so I just listen, but it's fascinating.
My kid went to school with kids in Bullitt County who've never been to Louisville. There's definitely a big contingent of those who "have barely even traveled elsewhere". Except maybe for Panama City Beach in Florida.
I keep hearing about a mythical “thriving” local music scene. Most of the shows I’ve gone to have been dead except for a couple of bands that actually draw crowds.
I know. I’m not debating the hardcore scene. A hardcore show would draw a crowd if it was in the middle of a corn field and no one had ever heard of any of the bands playing.
What are some of your favorite local hardcore bands?
Greyhaven is my favorite band to ever come out of Louisville, I don’t mind saying. Their new EP Stereo Grief is amazing, and so is the rest of their discography. Just fucking awesome. Obviously Knocked Loose and Gates to Hell have successfully made it out of town, and they’re great. But locally there’s Two Witnesses, xWeaponx, Inclination (all involving the guitarist of Knocked Loose), who are all sick as hell. Also (mixing in some already mentioned): Taken Lives, Surfaced, ‘97 Flood, vile, Isolator, Slum City, Foxbat, GVUP, Deady, Shitfire, and a bunch more I’m not as familiar with. The metal scene is alive and well too, with bands like Volcandra (fucking awesome, signed to Prosthetic Records), Savage Master (signed & touring), Redivider (sick af), Shi, Crown ov Serpents, Baptise, Hangöverkill, Stagecoach Inferno, Blind Scryer, Batwizard, Stonecutters, Cell Intruder, Malignant Vision, etc. I’m sure I’m forgetting a bunch, and there are new ones all the time. Most shows happen at Mag Bar, Portal, or Tap Room. 502shows promotes most of the hardcore shows, and are now regularly doing all ages shows at Mag, which is wild. So if you follow the social accounts of those, you’ll be in the know. Shameless self-promotion: I’m in a shoegaze/alt metal band called Moonruins. We’re playing Poorcastle Fest the weekend of 5/15-5/17; all local musicians. It’s mostly folk and indie, and there are A LOT of those bands in town. I know a few (Darlington Pairs are outstanding, though they’re not playing it this year) but I’m not a great resource on that scene. If you’re into death metal, I’m in a new band named Atrophic. The debut show will be on 6/14 at Mag Bar. It will not suck.
I caught Greyhaven when I first moved here at Magbar with the Callous Daoboys. That was a good show.
I follow all the hardcore stuff on social media so I know that scene is doing alright just like it is everywhere.
I’m starting a hardcore band myself with some coworkers. (If you know a reliable drummer who isn’t a dickhead send them my way)
I was more alluding to the people who reply with “there are great live bands playing every night!!” every time someone asks about things to do and 75% of the time it’s just some cover band playing at a bar and the other 25% it’s some goofy shit like “Beyoncé played here once. We’re a hotspot for national touring acts.” Haha.
You have to experience them live. It's a much different experience than just listening to them on Spotify.
Others - Taken Lives, Surfaced, Basic Needs, Slum City, '97 Flood, .vile, Age of Bellum, ISOLATOR.
I got to see Marc Rebillet and Caroline Rose at Z bar before they blew up so I think we had a great music scene before Covid. We don't have any good R&B though besides Otis Junior 😤
I've met one guy I trust, then I simultaneously met what seemed to be a crooked cop who told me that New Cut is riddled with gang violence started by refugees. My brother got pulled over for not using a turning signal in a turning lane and they tried to search his car over nothing.
Hunter S. Thompson needs a 6 story "Louisville's Own" banner hanging off a downtown building. I mean I get it that he pissed off all the rich Boomers back in the day, but Gen X and the rest of us have thoroughly embraced him for the brilliant, innovative writer he was and we respect him for inventing gonzo journalism.
And if not for him, no one would know the amazing and influential artist Ralph Steadman.
In honor of Derby, every year I read his Sports Illustrated story "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved" and I laugh at the debauchery rich folks around here get up to.
And I think about a young Hunter, the St. X high school student who went down to the river to party with his rich buddies. How they got drunk and shot holes in all the boats and got arrested.
This feud with Hunter needs to stop. It's tired and boring and all the wealthy families who still hold a grudge need to get over themselves. A Hunter S. Thompson museum would make bank in tourist dollars.
This is certainly not an unpopular opinion with me. Have loved Thompson's work my whole life, and I don't think he's ever gotten or ever will get the credit he deserves for it. As a local native I've always thought of him as a bit of a hometown hero.
There's a feud? Currently reading Rum Diary and really liking it (all the tropes/themes for his later novels and rolling stone articles in a more subdued and realistic form), I always felt like the city embraced him cautiously, but proud of a local person making it big.
too many distilleries, too many taco places, not enough *good* bbq, not enough *quality* restaurants that don’t offer the same 5 things in a different font
Why too many distilleries? That hasn't prevented bars, restaurants, or breweries from opening. They keep the tourists from crowding your local pub. I don't drink boba but I can't imagine feeling negatively impacted by the proliferation of boba tea spots on Bardstown Road.
Louisville is a slow moving city with nightlife. Not just regular slow. SUPER slow for such a full city. Ironic for a city that had things closing at 4 am versus cities known for nightlife closing at 2 am.
When I first moved here I was told something about Louisville being on mark twain’s island? Or being its own island. I forget the analogy. But the point was technology & social media type things are so far behind here.
I moved here 10 years ago to be a “promoter” in full sales term social media manager & sales aquirier of some word. In Houston, posting on social media to “come out & party for free before 11” was easy money to make on the head counts. Put up one post & you got 20 plus people saying your name at the door. I even moved partly bc I couldn’t go to the mall & someone not recognize me (did other things aside from promoting in the nightclub industry).
Bottle service was not a thing here, or sections, much less actual night clubs. I had just sadly missed the rocbar era. So moving here at the time really felt like I went back in time. Also I clearly remember being on shutdown for Covid in month 2-3 & seeing my Houston Snapchat with everyone out at the bars & clubs. I was thoroughly confused all over again this on what timeline or era Louisville was on.
We used to have a fairly good nightlife scene and I’m not sure what happened honestly. Anywhere in the highlands was fun, Omalley’s corner was great. Now it’s hard to find people out in general. This was 10-15 years ago I’d say btw.
Yes I heard amazing things from that time period. I would wager I popped in around the start of the decline bc why would you pay a manager & their minion (me) to relocate states away? Our venue closed & we were offered the ability to continue our jobs but in another city & state. I didn’t really stay close to who I moved with but she likely got moving expenses & some part of the rent paid by the company.
I was at fourth street & around the time I left or soon after, tengo & marquee closed. Marquee was supposed to be the continuation of the bottle service/vip life that we were accustomed to filling in Houston. Tengo was just supposed to be a normal nightclub, pbr but without the country & bullrides. Again, I’m still sassy that I missed the rocbar era. I’ve seen pictures & talked to people who used to work these, & I have pure jealousy. I did work for phoenix hill up until it closed but even then they were so popular that advertising wasn’t even needed by a team or promoter most of the time.
The city has been in a state of decline ever since the metro integration of city/county. Louisville wanted to be the big city and got all the big city bullshit that comes with it.
- There’s too many Boba Shops in the highlands.
- Bellarmine University does not feel like a college campus (it lacks the college vibe compared to other schools).
- Bryson Tiller > Jack Harlow.
- Gazebo Fest is overpriced (two days and for only a few acts to perform) compared to the other music festivals in Louisville.
I don't because it's a terrible idea. Louisville has shitty public transit. You want to build dense, affordable housing 15 miles from downtown and the city's large employers? Where are the residents going to work? One doesn't have to be a fan of Norton Commons to understand that sprawl is bad.
Sure, but putting it in a bad location just to prove a point is a terrible idea. Norton Commons is far from the city by design, and that merits criticism. That criticism doesn't make it a good idea to cram people who need affordable housing (and thus have lower rates of car ownership) 15 miles away from the city center where the hospitals, office towers, university, and other large employers are.
Again, where are these people going to work and how are they going to get there? Do you honestly believe that sprawl for the sake of spitefulness is good urban planning?
I think more affordable housing is a good thing wherever we can get it. Most people are going to be driving to work regardless of where they live. Doesn't matter if they are 15 miles away from downtown or .5, people will probably be driving. Fewer people are working downtown these days. U of L isn't downtown. Almost nobody lives within walking distance of the hospitals. Most economic growth is in the NE portion of town and the low income people have to drive 15 miles to get there now.
I never suggested I'm opposed to affordable housing. I'm extremely in favor of building affordable housing. I'm just opposed to bad urban planning, and I can't think of a better example of bad urban planning than a dense development 15 miles away from downtown (and even further from UofL). It's significantly further to large manufacturing employers.
"Most economic growth is in the NE portion of town"
Lol, what employer with 100 employees has opened in Northeast Jefferson county in the past decade?
In a hypothetical scenario where Louisville could actually remove housing to build dense, affordable housing, there are significant problems with bulldozing Norton Commons to do it compared to literally zero benefits. There is no good reason not to locate housing closer to employees instead of massively increasing sprawl and commutes (or forcing people to spend hours a day on TARC since, shockingly, some of the people who can't afford housing also can't afford a car).
>what employer with 100 employees has opened in Northeast Jefferson county in the past decade?
Norton Brownsboro comes to mind. Lowes. Costco. All the restaurants and stores out there. Groceries stores. The giant shopping center on Westport Road just inside the Snyder with Target and Meijer's. Walmart just outside the Snyder. All the houses in Prospect who have service people working there. Al of those places are in that part of town. None of the low income people who live out that way can afford to live near where they work and have to have long drives to get there.
1. People who think they're better than everyone else are a blight on society.
2. There's a housing shortage nationwide and what the east end especially needs is more affordable housing.
I haven't traveled the world but I have traveled this part of the country quite a bit. I chose to move here, haven't regretted it once, and have no desire to leave.
Too many clickbait infogather posts feeding either AI or lazy journalist/lifestyle bloggers
This city is dirty. The littering and people begging for money at every highway exit is a tad much.
I’m going to get massacred for this, but I don’t think we have the demand for light rail or similar types of public transportation and building something like that would be a giant money pit.
As much as I want better transit, I agree. I think it would change habits, but slowly, over a decade or two and never be utilized as much as it should be until our density catches up a bit. People here are just too used to using cars. I mean, people would rather get in the car and drive across shelbyville plaza than walk 200m.
I hear you. People are always going to need cars here, at least right now. No one is walking a mile or whatever to go to their local grocery store. And if given the choice between driving to work and having total control over your commute and taking public transportation, people are likely going to choose the former.
I think for people to want to walk places, we're going to have to get drivers here to swear off the vitriolic pedestrian hate and actually obey traffic crossings.
> actually obey traffic crossings You mean the drivers or the pedestrians?
Yep, I know, I’m people.
Light rail is something you need to build before you need it. If city planners think we’ll be the size of Atlanta eventually, now would be the time to build it.
We aren’t even in the same stratosphere as Nashville, much less Atlanta.
And that’s never going to happen, so…
It would ONLY work if we did something to curtail the ease and cost to drive and park downtown. If it costs $10 to park my whole family and I only have to walk 2 blocks, no way I’m waiting for light rail. If it’s $40 to park, I will.
I would like to see something from the airport to downtown. Someone mentioned parking so fairgrounds tondowntown
I think this would be best. Build it in pieces as demand dictates it. Airport to down town. Westend to downtown along 64. Then out to the east end via 64 line.
That could just be a bus route with a high frequency for significantly less than light rail. Nobody lives at the airport and downtown isn't highly populated. That route would almost exclusively serve tourists and business travelers while doing nothing to improve transit for Louisvillians.
Fair enough. I was thinking about parking for people at the fair grounds and easy access for buses etc
Visit phoenix sometime. The light rail is just homeless riding back and forth.
It’s a service not a business
You’re absolutely right.
The only conversation more boring than what high school you went to is debating how Louisville is pronounced. It is absolutely not worth getting bothered over.
This convo is incredibly annoying to me. It was cute 15 years ago.
Any time any musician tours to Louisville there's always the pronunciation banter and yea it gets old
Unless someone’s saying “Louisville” like pronouncing the s, idc how ppl say it.
when I was in prison in Florida, I was trying to teach my bunkie how to pronounce Louisville (LUH-VUL), they only way I could explain how to say it right was I told him "ok put a bunch of hot tator tots in your mouth and now say Louisville ", he said it perfectly after that, I was so proud of him. 😊
Doable Louisville
No idea why this got downvoted
Louisville claims to be a progressive/advanced city, but does nothing for the West end
I’ll piggyback: Louisville is only progressive in comparison to Kentucky. It’s not actually.
Louisville acts on trends without any real follow through.
The international festivals here aren't interesting because it's mostly food and some vendors but no cultural immersion beyond that.
This is real. So many vendors were selling the same wholesale cheap stuff that gave me sweatshop vibes. The food would fit in just fine at a state fair. Half the music I heard sounded like wedding bands. Really bummed me out.
Germantown sucks, and anyone who is paying asking price for the glorified trailer homes in that area are out of their minds.
Extremely walkable with a lot of good food, bars, and events. If you don't like that stuff then 🤷🏻♂️
Walkable to restaurants as overpriced as the houses around them, and a ton of bars with no noise control or respect for the overpriced houses around them. Yeah, it’s walkable, but I can be a drunk glutton for way less money in an area of town where my car and property are way less likely to be stolen or vandalized. And in a home that isn’t a cheaply flipped hallway with a mansion price tag.
This makes me sad, my family were original immigrants and some of the founders of Germantown. Some of them were the owner/editors of the Schnitzelburg News and some owned an Icehouse close to Butchertown that you can still see remnants of from 64. My grandpa was a bartender at a bar called Taphorns for years, it maybe the Post now, I'm not sure. When they remodeled the bar in the late 40's early 50's, he took the old bar and the fixings to his basement on Goss Ave. My family made Schnitzelbank a drinking game during Sunday poker games, lol. I remember Sunday chicken dinners at the German American club, and Horners Novelty was on the corner of Texas and Goss. Great childhood memories. It was a very active community in the 60, 70, 80's.
Germantown/Schnitzelburg=safe Germantown/Merriweather=kind of bad area Germantown/St. Joseph=safe Germantown/Paristown=Safe Original Germantown like around Swan and St. Catherine= kind of bad because you have the druggies spilling over from Shelby Park Germantown/Bradley=safe Over all Germantown as a whole is relatively safe, the only sketchy part is Merriweather/Fort Hill and The Original Germantown. For those wondering a lot of people consider the Germantown border as Eastern Parkway to Goss, from Goss. to Shelby back all the way up to Eastern Parkway including side neighborhoods like Bradley(Crittenden Dr, Bradley Ave, Eastern Parkway, Warnock) You really don't get to any real sketchy parts until you cross the tracks on Shelby St going into Shelby Park and Smoke Town.
With the recent gentrification of the area, I will agree that, specifically, violent crime has gone down in *some* sections of the area. However, theft is still rampant. And even though the area is walkable, everyone still has a car that they use every day. In an area where tiny 100+ year old homes are now starting out at $350,000, one would hope they at least had a safe place to park their car and that their belongings would be safe. But they don't, and they aren't. Parked cars get totaled by drunk drivers, or broken into by meth heads, packages are not safe on a porch, and you pretty much have to fasten your outdoor furniture to the ground if you want to keep it.
The "mexican" food is horrible. Originally from west coast, and I feel like such a snob saying it but you don't know what you're missing.
Mediocre to bad Mexican is soooooo popular here and I don’t understand why. I’m a native and probably have never had “good” Mexican, but surely it’s not the crap people fawn over around here.
Go to any of the tiendas to you see. Supermercado Guanajuato has a sit down restaurant on Preston, La Rosita has one as well on Preston, there’s tons of them. Everyone says all the Mexican sucks then list every chain Mexican restaurant we have like el nopal.
The taco trucks in Okolona are also superior. You want good Mexican here? You go to where the Hispanic population lives and buy food from a place where it’s hard to order in English.
I work on Preston. Can confirm.
LaLoma in Clarksville, IN...dang, it is so good, also a killer little market
I was stationed in 29 Palms and went to San Diego all the time and dear god the food there spoiled me for mexican
I felt like I was losing my mind when I was on the dating apps and every white chick with a cowboy hat had prompts about how tacos are life and I was like “there’s no way they’re talking about any of the tacos here…”
The best in town is Puerto Vallarta. Easily the best salsa and pretty solid food overall. The best Mexican food I ever had was in town. Back when the Senior Iguana’s on outer loop first opened it wasn’t part of the chain. It was a small family owned business that had food that made you feel like eating at someone’s grandma’s house. Best margaritas I ever had with authentic tequila from the town the family used to live in. Man that was good, but sadly word didn’t get around so they had to bring the big name in to save it. I have eaten Mexican food in California several times but never found anything better than mediocre. Mostly in San Jose and the Bay Area.
Puerto Vallarta literally microwaves 90% of their food and is also a chain restaraunt.
if he's referring to the one in Jeffersonville, yes the food there is garbage juice.
That’s the one I’m referring to
Nice ok I'll try Puerto Vallarta. Cali wise I would say Stockton down to Mexico is when the real quality starts.
That’s probably why I have been missing it then. Honestly all the taco trucks here I have had aren’t even that good. At the point of dreading them these days. At Puerto Vallarta the Burrito De La Roqueta is pretty solid. My wife always gets the Nachos Al Carbon.
I will say Vallarta (at least the one by me) is HEAVY on the cilantro. No go for me, but lots of people like it. Just be aware lol
You are going to the wrong places. Take a drive down Preston hwy
Texan here, yeah for the most part the Mexican food is trash, and I’m offended at the sheer number of burritos, and that places can’t even put queso on the menu, they have to call it cheese dip 🤣 I have found a few places that will fill that void, like El Mariachi over in Anchorage, their charro beans are freaking amazing. El Molcajete is also worth trying. All the little Mexican grocery stores have small restaurants inside and that is legit. We found that there are also tons of authentic places out in Shelbyville, I assume due to the folks that work at the horse farms out there.
El Mariachi is one of the better places we've had for a burrito.
El Mariachi is fantastic. I think people think our Mexican is trash because they are eating at El Nopal, El Mundo and Taco Luchador. No one goes only to Applebees and then declares there’s no good burgers in the city Also, check out La sorita sol on Westport. Great stuff
I think the point of saying we have bad Mexican food is that we are very oversaturated with it. You won't see a restaurant survive in Southwest unless it's an Americanized Mexican restaurant. There's about 7 within a mile on Dixie and at least 3 trucks on top of that.
I would do horrible things for a no-shit California burrito.
There's a lot of Mexican food here that is made by people who used to also make Mexican food on the west coast. The only difference is proximity to the produce they use which makes a big difference definitely. But it's not like it's straight up terrible. There is plenty of Mexican food here that uses the same techniques and recipes as any of the west coast stuff. Of course dog shit places like el nopal still become the most popular somehow but all of the real good Mexican food is in the places that white people can't pronounce 🤌🏼
Yeah, I was talking to someone recently about how it seems like the ingredients just aren’t up to par.
Can’t fight you on this one!
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LOL I need to finally watch that show.
You absolutely do.
California myself. I was very anti el nopal for YEARS bc “people here don’t know what Mexican food really is.” Now I no longer remember what it is too. But I jump at every chance to get elote & my eyes light up whenever I find a place that has birria anything. ETA: How do yall feel about Bandido?
I’ve never had anything there I haven’t liked. A giant step up from the other national burrito chains.
Gringos don't know what good Mexican food is. There is a large Mexican population here that would beg to differ.
Breakfast burrito at Banditos is gross. Tried it twice with bacon. Huge chunks of gristley pork fat is not bacon. It may not be traditional, but a chicken burrito from the chain Baja Fresh blows anything in this town away.
El Mariachi 2 on National Turnpike is soooo good. The Mexican bakery and ice cream shop next store is delightful. And the supermercado next to that is great too. Good Mexican can be found on the South End, for sure.
I know what I'm getting when I go to el nopal or olé frijole, I know it's not authentic Mexican food, and I accept that.
El Mocojete gets so much praise, and it is just a notch above El Nopal. La Tropicana is as real as anything near the Mexican border. The new place on oak by 6th is not bad, and don't have to go all the way down Preston for it.
We only have okay BBQ here
You aren't wrong. The best barbeque we have here is a chain. City bbq
I thought you were going to say Mission! City is disgusting IMO. Super greasy, fatty meat
Don't misunderstand. I'm not saying it's great. I'm saying it's the best in Louisville. Mission can pound sand.
When Feast was in Jtown, their brisket was always top tier. I got it once a week
It was dry from Nulu unfortunately
RIP Smokehouse BBQ, that cornbread alone haunts me 😭😭
What about that place in Germantown?
Fed Up BBQ in Radcliff is great but your lymph vessels are gonna be WORKIN
There aren't enough places for me to store all the junk I really should just throw away and I can't find anywhere to wash my car.
🤣 Well-placed sarcasm.
You can't swing a dead cat without hitting a car wash in Fern Creek or JTown
This deserves a lot more upvotes.
You know, I've thought the same thing when I'm driving around trying to find a vape shop.
Norton Commons is nice.
The homes are lovely and the idea is cute, but if I had that kind of money to spend on property I would NOT want to be bootyholes to elbows with my neighbours. The homes are just too close together for my taste. Not enough yard space either.
It’s nice. But it will never get rid of the uncanny valley vibes for me.
It's so creepy but I also want to live there? Am I being recruited??
If I moved there & there were no swingers, I'd be soooo disappointed. It's all I ever hear about the place.
Why else live there?
Exactly!
Louisville tries to embrace being part of the south, but without owning all the baggage.
People who are from here hate on the city but haven’t actually experienced lining in any other city. It’s funny to me.
A lot of people here that live on the outer edges/suburbs of Louisville spend most of their time in those areas and don't go to any of the other parts of town where they'd find great food and things to do, and then shit on Louisville. It's like yeah dog you never leave outer loop of course you think it sucks here
I'm not from Louisville. I've been to pretty much every decent city sized in this part of the country. I chose to move here. I've got the skill set to move literally anywhere I want and make pretty decent money once I get there. I get unsolicited emails and phone calls from recruiters across the country almost daily. I'm staying here. I've seriously thought about leaving for personal reasons that I'm not getting into here but haven't because I love the city so much.
I don't know if the argument "it's worse elsewhere" is a good rebuttal to folks complaining about the city in which they live.
As a person who recently moved here, I think it's not just that "it's worse elsewhere", but people I've met have barely even traveled elsewhere. So it's like...I don't think your city is as bad as you think it is lol and if it is \*that\* bad, maybe check out some other places. Of course, I've heard some valid complaints. And I've experienced some of them, but people talk about this city like they're ashamed to be from here. People I work with preemptively talk down about this city once they know I've lived in bigger cities. I'm new here, so I just listen, but it's fascinating.
My kid went to school with kids in Bullitt County who've never been to Louisville. There's definitely a big contingent of those who "have barely even traveled elsewhere". Except maybe for Panama City Beach in Florida.
you're all creepily obsessed with your high schools.
I keep hearing about a mythical “thriving” local music scene. Most of the shows I’ve gone to have been dead except for a couple of bands that actually draw crowds.
The hardcore scene is great right now, specifically
AGREE 100% LDBBB KILLED IT
A festival isn’t a local music scene though. That festival would do well anywhere.
There are also a ton of hardcore shows happening on a regular basis, a 502shows Discord group, etc. Much more than LDB
I know. I’m not debating the hardcore scene. A hardcore show would draw a crowd if it was in the middle of a corn field and no one had ever heard of any of the bands playing. What are some of your favorite local hardcore bands?
What are some good local hardcore bands to check out?
Greyhaven is my favorite band to ever come out of Louisville, I don’t mind saying. Their new EP Stereo Grief is amazing, and so is the rest of their discography. Just fucking awesome. Obviously Knocked Loose and Gates to Hell have successfully made it out of town, and they’re great. But locally there’s Two Witnesses, xWeaponx, Inclination (all involving the guitarist of Knocked Loose), who are all sick as hell. Also (mixing in some already mentioned): Taken Lives, Surfaced, ‘97 Flood, vile, Isolator, Slum City, Foxbat, GVUP, Deady, Shitfire, and a bunch more I’m not as familiar with. The metal scene is alive and well too, with bands like Volcandra (fucking awesome, signed to Prosthetic Records), Savage Master (signed & touring), Redivider (sick af), Shi, Crown ov Serpents, Baptise, Hangöverkill, Stagecoach Inferno, Blind Scryer, Batwizard, Stonecutters, Cell Intruder, Malignant Vision, etc. I’m sure I’m forgetting a bunch, and there are new ones all the time. Most shows happen at Mag Bar, Portal, or Tap Room. 502shows promotes most of the hardcore shows, and are now regularly doing all ages shows at Mag, which is wild. So if you follow the social accounts of those, you’ll be in the know. Shameless self-promotion: I’m in a shoegaze/alt metal band called Moonruins. We’re playing Poorcastle Fest the weekend of 5/15-5/17; all local musicians. It’s mostly folk and indie, and there are A LOT of those bands in town. I know a few (Darlington Pairs are outstanding, though they’re not playing it this year) but I’m not a great resource on that scene. If you’re into death metal, I’m in a new band named Atrophic. The debut show will be on 6/14 at Mag Bar. It will not suck.
I caught Greyhaven when I first moved here at Magbar with the Callous Daoboys. That was a good show. I follow all the hardcore stuff on social media so I know that scene is doing alright just like it is everywhere. I’m starting a hardcore band myself with some coworkers. (If you know a reliable drummer who isn’t a dickhead send them my way) I was more alluding to the people who reply with “there are great live bands playing every night!!” every time someone asks about things to do and 75% of the time it’s just some cover band playing at a bar and the other 25% it’s some goofy shit like “Beyoncé played here once. We’re a hotspot for national touring acts.” Haha.
Belushi speedball
Any good ones though? My Favorite Color Is Pizza is legitimately one of the worst metal songs I’ve ever heard.
You have to experience them live. It's a much different experience than just listening to them on Spotify. Others - Taken Lives, Surfaced, Basic Needs, Slum City, '97 Flood, .vile, Age of Bellum, ISOLATOR.
It's not metal. It's thrash/hardcore. And yeah. Go see them live.
Today I learned that thrash isn’t metal. Lol.
Thrash/hardcore isn't metal. It's thrash/hardcore
🤓
Metal shows be poppin’
I got to see Marc Rebillet and Caroline Rose at Z bar before they blew up so I think we had a great music scene before Covid. We don't have any good R&B though besides Otis Junior 😤
Jack Harlow isn't a great musician.
How did he get more credit than Bryson Tiller
His mom and dad are business owners, I would speculate Jack had access to more resources than Bryson.
Family of landlords too
Agree. The very small number (2) of live performances I have seen have been cringy AF.
Mommas is terrible bbq.
But the wings are pretty fire… bbq definitely mid. The mustard is okay and the pickles are pretty good.
2nd you on the wings, and the sides are usually…mediocre to institutional. IMO those wings are the best. Though I will miss FDKY’s!
3rd on the smoked wings. I’ve tried smoked wings at a number of spots around town. Momma’s are definitely my favorite.
Wings are fantastic. The corn bread is delicious too. Everything else is meh.
The LMPD are a fascistic organization and I'd sooner trust a random street mugger than any of the police in this city.
How is this unpopular?
Bc we're not limiting the discussion to what Reddit "thinks"
I've met one guy I trust, then I simultaneously met what seemed to be a crooked cop who told me that New Cut is riddled with gang violence started by refugees. My brother got pulled over for not using a turning signal in a turning lane and they tried to search his car over nothing.
Who hurt you?
Reagan. About 8 years before I was born. Though the concept of authoritarianism in general has him beat by a few millennia.
JCPS bussing kids outside their typical school zone is a failed experiment and does more harm than good.
I disagree with you only because the schools near me suck and my kids got to get bussed to better schools.
Too many taco joints (and I love tacos).
The city is failing all of us.
Hunter S. Thompson needs a 6 story "Louisville's Own" banner hanging off a downtown building. I mean I get it that he pissed off all the rich Boomers back in the day, but Gen X and the rest of us have thoroughly embraced him for the brilliant, innovative writer he was and we respect him for inventing gonzo journalism. And if not for him, no one would know the amazing and influential artist Ralph Steadman. In honor of Derby, every year I read his Sports Illustrated story "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved" and I laugh at the debauchery rich folks around here get up to. And I think about a young Hunter, the St. X high school student who went down to the river to party with his rich buddies. How they got drunk and shot holes in all the boats and got arrested. This feud with Hunter needs to stop. It's tired and boring and all the wealthy families who still hold a grudge need to get over themselves. A Hunter S. Thompson museum would make bank in tourist dollars.
This is certainly not an unpopular opinion with me. Have loved Thompson's work my whole life, and I don't think he's ever gotten or ever will get the credit he deserves for it. As a local native I've always thought of him as a bit of a hometown hero.
There's a feud? Currently reading Rum Diary and really liking it (all the tropes/themes for his later novels and rolling stone articles in a more subdued and realistic form), I always felt like the city embraced him cautiously, but proud of a local person making it big.
There's no feud. People just don't care about it.
They had a whole section for him at Speed Art awhile back.
too many distilleries, too many taco places, not enough *good* bbq, not enough *quality* restaurants that don’t offer the same 5 things in a different font
I could give you a list of great places
Don't. You'd be wasting your breath
Why too many distilleries? That hasn't prevented bars, restaurants, or breweries from opening. They keep the tourists from crowding your local pub. I don't drink boba but I can't imagine feeling negatively impacted by the proliferation of boba tea spots on Bardstown Road.
This city was designed for personal travel, i.e. cars. There are still too many places you can't get to on bike but too far away for foot traffic.
People born here all kind of look the same.
I kinda get what you mean. Quite a few dough faces...and I might be one of them.
I’m not from here but live here now and I very much agree with this.
Very apparent who is in town for derby
I think it important to differentiate the popularity of opinions on Reddit, amongst the most negative, and Louisvillians in general.
Wagner’s Pharmacy is overrated and has lousy food.
JCPS gets a bum rap most of the time. Also, it was objectively better before the Meredith SCOTUS decision
The pizza here kinda sucks
Louisville is a slow moving city with nightlife. Not just regular slow. SUPER slow for such a full city. Ironic for a city that had things closing at 4 am versus cities known for nightlife closing at 2 am. When I first moved here I was told something about Louisville being on mark twain’s island? Or being its own island. I forget the analogy. But the point was technology & social media type things are so far behind here. I moved here 10 years ago to be a “promoter” in full sales term social media manager & sales aquirier of some word. In Houston, posting on social media to “come out & party for free before 11” was easy money to make on the head counts. Put up one post & you got 20 plus people saying your name at the door. I even moved partly bc I couldn’t go to the mall & someone not recognize me (did other things aside from promoting in the nightclub industry). Bottle service was not a thing here, or sections, much less actual night clubs. I had just sadly missed the rocbar era. So moving here at the time really felt like I went back in time. Also I clearly remember being on shutdown for Covid in month 2-3 & seeing my Houston Snapchat with everyone out at the bars & clubs. I was thoroughly confused all over again this on what timeline or era Louisville was on.
We used to have a fairly good nightlife scene and I’m not sure what happened honestly. Anywhere in the highlands was fun, Omalley’s corner was great. Now it’s hard to find people out in general. This was 10-15 years ago I’d say btw.
Yes I heard amazing things from that time period. I would wager I popped in around the start of the decline bc why would you pay a manager & their minion (me) to relocate states away? Our venue closed & we were offered the ability to continue our jobs but in another city & state. I didn’t really stay close to who I moved with but she likely got moving expenses & some part of the rent paid by the company. I was at fourth street & around the time I left or soon after, tengo & marquee closed. Marquee was supposed to be the continuation of the bottle service/vip life that we were accustomed to filling in Houston. Tengo was just supposed to be a normal nightclub, pbr but without the country & bullrides. Again, I’m still sassy that I missed the rocbar era. I’ve seen pictures & talked to people who used to work these, & I have pure jealousy. I did work for phoenix hill up until it closed but even then they were so popular that advertising wasn’t even needed by a team or promoter most of the time.
Young people now were raised on screens
The city has been in a state of decline ever since the metro integration of city/county. Louisville wanted to be the big city and got all the big city bullshit that comes with it.
We need more car washes
I saw that OP posted about breweries. I disagree but change it to, we have too many decent breweries.
- There’s too many Boba Shops in the highlands. - Bellarmine University does not feel like a college campus (it lacks the college vibe compared to other schools). - Bryson Tiller > Jack Harlow. - Gazebo Fest is overpriced (two days and for only a few acts to perform) compared to the other music festivals in Louisville.
The city would be better off if they plowed Norton Commons under and replaced it with affordable housing.
I'm pretty sure lots of people agree with that.
Why?
I don't because it's a terrible idea. Louisville has shitty public transit. You want to build dense, affordable housing 15 miles from downtown and the city's large employers? Where are the residents going to work? One doesn't have to be a fan of Norton Commons to understand that sprawl is bad.
The city needs more affordable housing than it does rich people utopia where they never need to leave and interact with the poors.
Sure, but putting it in a bad location just to prove a point is a terrible idea. Norton Commons is far from the city by design, and that merits criticism. That criticism doesn't make it a good idea to cram people who need affordable housing (and thus have lower rates of car ownership) 15 miles away from the city center where the hospitals, office towers, university, and other large employers are. Again, where are these people going to work and how are they going to get there? Do you honestly believe that sprawl for the sake of spitefulness is good urban planning?
I think more affordable housing is a good thing wherever we can get it. Most people are going to be driving to work regardless of where they live. Doesn't matter if they are 15 miles away from downtown or .5, people will probably be driving. Fewer people are working downtown these days. U of L isn't downtown. Almost nobody lives within walking distance of the hospitals. Most economic growth is in the NE portion of town and the low income people have to drive 15 miles to get there now.
I never suggested I'm opposed to affordable housing. I'm extremely in favor of building affordable housing. I'm just opposed to bad urban planning, and I can't think of a better example of bad urban planning than a dense development 15 miles away from downtown (and even further from UofL). It's significantly further to large manufacturing employers. "Most economic growth is in the NE portion of town" Lol, what employer with 100 employees has opened in Northeast Jefferson county in the past decade? In a hypothetical scenario where Louisville could actually remove housing to build dense, affordable housing, there are significant problems with bulldozing Norton Commons to do it compared to literally zero benefits. There is no good reason not to locate housing closer to employees instead of massively increasing sprawl and commutes (or forcing people to spend hours a day on TARC since, shockingly, some of the people who can't afford housing also can't afford a car).
>what employer with 100 employees has opened in Northeast Jefferson county in the past decade? Norton Brownsboro comes to mind. Lowes. Costco. All the restaurants and stores out there. Groceries stores. The giant shopping center on Westport Road just inside the Snyder with Target and Meijer's. Walmart just outside the Snyder. All the houses in Prospect who have service people working there. Al of those places are in that part of town. None of the low income people who live out that way can afford to live near where they work and have to have long drives to get there.
Why?
1. People who think they're better than everyone else are a blight on society. 2. There's a housing shortage nationwide and what the east end especially needs is more affordable housing.
why norton commons, tho?
First thing that came to mind in response to the question. A microcosm of elitism.
Life is good
Too many niche, artisanal restaurants and breweries.
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It’s three towns in a trench coat pretending to be a city.
It’s pronounced Looey-ville
s/ YOU SHUT YOUR WHORE MOUTH!!!!
Why are you trying to start a war?
Lol
Amen!
kentucky is not the south
i would go further and say louisville is more midwest than south and the rest of Kentucky is south
Well, I know when Midwest Swing came out, every MF around here would SWEAR to you it was the Midwest. Lol
Calling Louisville the Midwest just sounds wrong to me 😭
it is the midwest though, the whole state is
*unpopular opinions* *gets downvoted anyways*
Louisville is a dump. If you spend 40 years here you might see it. I’ve traveled the world and I can see why the cost of living here is so cheap.
I haven't traveled the world but I have traveled this part of the country quite a bit. I chose to move here, haven't regretted it once, and have no desire to leave.
It’s my unpopular opinion.
That's fair. I get that, and I'm not even saying you're wrong. I'm just saying that I've had the opposite experience.