A strip mall restaurant does not entice you into its doors with its curb appeal. Instead, it relies on the quality of its food and its reputation.
A good strip mall restaurant will lure you out of the fancy dining districts in the citys core, out to a far-flung suburb.
The eateries on this list will do just that. They include immigrant-owned restaurants, a wine bar and several that have been around for decades.
Mai’s Thai
1411 E. 10 St., Jeffersonville, Indiana
Most Louisvillians swear by Simply Thai, but there’s an equally great Thai restaurant across the river in Jeffersonville, started by Mai Kungkran (now Meyers), who learned traditional “home style” Thai cooking from her father while living in a suburb of Bangkok. You’ll eat your Pad Thai and curry surrounded by scenes of Thailand, making you feel far away from the H&R Block next door.
Photo via facebook.com/Mais-Thai-RestaurantGourmet Provisions
9407 Westport Road
Gourmet Provisions was started by veterans of the Louisville restaurant industry who have worked at some of the city’s finest restaurants, including Jack Fry’s. They wanted to do something different with Gourmet Provisions, which sells chef-forward bistro fare for carry-out or delivery — served from an inauspicious East End strip mall.
Photo via Gourmet ProvisionsBombay Grill
216 N. Hurstbourne Parkway
Bombay Grill is an East End restaurant with a menu that covers a wide variety of Indian regions and dishes: There are more than 150 items to choose from, many of them quite affordable, with none over $15.99.
Photo by Robin GarrBodega Mi Sueño
3645 Mall Road
Bodega Mi Sueño is a Cuban grocery store and bakery but you can also stop by for a meal, served cafeteria style. You’ll find your Cuban favorites, including lechon (citrus-marinated, roasted pulled pork), maduros (fried plantains) and steamed yuca with red onions.
Photo via facebook.com/BodegaMiSuenoBrix Wine Bar
12418 La Grange Road
Here’s one that really fits the term “hidden gem”: a wine bar in a strip mall. Brix features a large selection of wine and a few, carefully selected entrees, appetizers and salads. This low-lit restaurant is perfect for a surprise date night.
Photo via facebook.com/Brix-Wine-Bar-and-BistroThe Charcoal Restaurant
2805 N. Hurstbourne Parkway
In the style of Jerusalem street food, the chicken at The Charcoal Restaurant is rotated over natural wood charcoal and served with a powerful garlic sauce.
Photo via facebook.com/TheCharcoalRestaurantLa Chapinlandia
1209 McCawley Road
La Chapinlandia is a grocery store/restaurant, as all the best strip mall restaurants are. It serves Latin American food from all over but specializes in Guatemalan fare, including their pacaya envuelta en huevo, a date palm cooked in an eggy batter and served with rice, frijoles and crema.
Photo via facebook.com/LachapinlandiaClay Oven Restaurant
12567 Shelbyville Road
Clay Oven is a restaurant that LEO food critic Robin Garr dubbed a bright star “in the Indian-restaurant galaxy,” which is saying something in Louisville. Its menu features Indian food from all regions as well as Nepal.
Photo via facebook.com/clayovenlouisvilleCafe Thuy Van
5600 National Turnpike
Head to South Louisville for a family-owned authentic Vietnamese restaurant with a bowl of pho that locals swear by. Cafe Thuy Van is cash only, but reviewers say you’ll find an ATM at the gas station next door if you forget your bills.
Photo via Cafe Thuy VanCorner Cafe
9307 La Grange Road
Corner Cafe has lasted for a reason. The family-run New American restaurant opened in 1986 and its shrimp and grits and Irish pork are award winning. It’s located, not on the corner of anything, but in the middle of a Lyndon strip mall.
Photo via Google Street ViewEl Mariachi
9901 La Grange Road
At El Mariachi, you can find your Tex-Mex favorites, but the restaurant also has Guanajuatan roots. Our food critic Robin Garr praised the restaurant’s complimentary chips in particular, which he called, “thick and crunchy and full of the flavor of masa, Mexican cornmeal.”
Photo by Robin GarrVietnam Kitchen
5339 Mitscher Ave.
Vietnam Kitchen is the longest-standing Vietnamese restaurant still open in Louisville, and it’s stuck around for a reason. The menu is extensive, with more than 100 dishes, categorized by an easy-to-use letter-and-number system. The most popular dish is the K8, a spicy rice noodle dish with saté chili oil sauce, broccoli florets and your choice of meat or fried tofu.
Photo by Robin GarrHyderabad House
12410 Shelbyville Road
Hyderabad House is one of Louisville’s newer Indian restaurants, specializing in biryani. The restaurant serves over 35 variations of the hearty rice dish and even more on the weekends.
Photo by Robin GarrLa Lupita Mexican Restaurant
827 Eastern Blvd, Clarksville, Indiana
There are several Mexican restaurants along Eastern Boulevard in Clarksville but La Lupita is special: This strip mall taqueria praised for its authenticity serves food from Mexico’s culinarily famous Oaxaca region.
Photo by Robin GarrBorsalino Cafe & Deli
3825 Bardstown Road
Borsalino Cafe & Deli in the Beuchel neighborhood serves a small menu of Balkan European favorites including a savory Bosnian pita, made with phyllo dough, and cevapi — a grilled sausage. You’ll also find coffee drinks and pastries.
Photo via Google Street ViewStarving Artist Cafe & Deli
8034 New La Grange Road
The Starving Artist is a hippie-themed cafe with an ever-rotating menu, filled with sandwiches named after creative geniuses.
Photo by Robin GarrJasmine Asian Bistro
2420 Lime Kiln Lane
Jasmine Asian Bistro is the increasingly rare sit-down Chinese restaurant that offers a menu of American favorites, along with an array of authentic dishes, such as hong shah rou, or red braised pork belly. Here, the focus is on dishes from the Sichuan region.
Photo by Robin GarrVinBun Vietnamese Bistro
12422 Shelbyville Road
This brightly colored Vietnamese restaurant specializes in bún, thin rice vermicelli noodles that are added to bowls and soups.
Photo via facebook.com/VinBun-Vietnamese-BistroBabie Bac’z
8533 Terry Road
Babie Bac’z started as a small shack on Terry Road in Pleasure Ridge Park and has since graduated to a small storefront in a strip mall on Terry Road in Pleasure Ridge Park — and it’s been delicious in both iterations. The family-owned business says its been perfecting its barbecue technique for 20 years, and it shows. The menu features smoked meats (as well as smoked nachos) and homemade sides, including cornbread muffins and “Shut Ya Mouth” chips.
Photo via facebook.com/babiebaczgoodgrillFunmi’s Cafe
3028 Bardstown Road
Louisville has only one Nigerian restaurant, and thank goodness it’s Funmi’s. The restaurant, tucked into the back of the Gardiner Lane Shopping Center, features an extensive menu with around 24 entrees. First time trying Nigerian cuisine? Try their $12.99 appetizer combo with ewa, dodo, moin-moin, samba and more.
Photo via Facebook.com/funmiscafeEden & Kissi
3912 Bardstown Road
Eden & Kissi creates Afro-Caribbean food with a French touch, and the best wings in the city, according to LEO’s Arts and Entertainment editor Erica Rucker. She described their Peri-Peri wings as “ordained by the heavens and ebony gods of quality chicken wings and seasoning.” Their oxtail is also worth the trip.
Photo via LEO archivesYummy Pollo
4222-B Bishop Lane
You didn’t think you’d find Peruvian food in Louisville did you? But it’s here, and it’s delicious. Yummy Pollo slowly char-broils its chicken on a rotisserie. Eat it with the restaurant’s bevy of sides, featuring yuca fries, cilantro lime rice, pasta salad and more.
Photo via Google Street ViewOpen Caribbean Kitchen
4724 Poplar Level Road
Just outside of a manufacturing park lies the fresh food oasis that is Open Caribbean Kitchen, started by Ernst Pierre, who immigrated to the U.S. from Haiti when he was 10. He sells authentic cuisine, including jerk wings, oxtail and more.
Photo via facebook.com/OpenCaribbeankitchenChef’s Cut Pizzeria
9901 C. LaGrange Road
Chef’s Cut Pizzeria has everything you’ve come to expect and love from pizza restaurants: breadsticks, salads, Italian sandwiches and delicious pies. Of course, it has its twists, like the hot brown pizza and its T-mac dog, an all-beef frank topped with pulled pork, house slaw and barbecue sauce.
Photo via facebook.com/chefscutpizzeriaGasthaus
4812 Brownsboro Road
The goal of Gasthaus is that when you enter, you should feel like you’re actually in Germany — even though you’re just in a Brownsboro Road strip mall. Started by Annemarie Greipel and her husband Michael, Gasthaus is known for its homemade desserts and homey surroundings. Annemarie makes the Schwarzwaelder Kirschtorte, Michael makes the jaegerschnitzel, and you get to sit at their table.
Photo via facebook.com/GasthausLouisville Photo via Gasthaus/Facebook
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