On Guy Fieris constant quest for diners, drive-ins and dives, the Food Network host has found several not far from and some within Louisville, Kentucky.
These nearby restaurants graced by the Mayor of Flavortown are scattered throughout Kentucky, Indiana and Ohio. In his shows 34 seasons, hes driven his cherry-red Camaro to an old-timey drive-in located in Lexington, a café in Indianapolis, a seafood joint in Louisville, and many more.
Theyre all worth a road trip of their own or maybe just a jaunt down the street, if youre lucky.
Some of the descriptions from these restaurants come from LEO Weeklys sister paper, The Cleveland Scene.
The Seafood Lady
601 E. Jefferson St., 3201 Fern Valley Road, Louisville
The Seafood Lady, aka Nichelle Thurston, earned her name on her appearance on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives” with Guy Fieri telling her that she had the “seafood hand” after trying The Hawk — now called Guy Fieri’s Lobster and Waffle. This dish features fried lobster tail and fried shrimp atop a Belgian waffle with sriracha mayo and powdered sugar. Thanks in part to Fieri’s visit, The Seafood Lady has been able to open two new locations in Louisville: On Fern Valley Road and in NuLu.
Photo: Food Network screenshotMomma’s Mustard, Pickles & BBQ Restaurant
102 Bauer Ave., Louisville
You don’t have to go to Kansas City for Kansas City-style barbeque if you can get it in the East End of Louisville. Guy Fieri recommends Momma’s chicken wings.
Photo via MommasBBQ/FacebookGralehaus
1001 Baxter Ave., Louisville
This Southern-inspired breakfast and lunch joint in the Highlands sits inside a restored Victorian house with rentable rooms, making it a “bed and beverage,” as they call it. Guy visited in 2016 and fell in love with the specialty bologna sandwich, which also features cheddar cheese, eggs, and hot sauce.
Photo via The Grales/InstagramGrind Burger Kitchen
829 E Market St., Louisville
This NuLu food-truck-turned-burger-joint’s veggie burger and pork belly Cuban sandwich won over Guy Fieri years ago, but the restaurant has been serving up plenty of burgers, sandwiches, salads and beers ever since it opened its brick-and-mortar location in 2014.
Photo via grindburgerkitchen/FacebookThe Irish Rover
2319 Frankfort Ave., Louisville
When Guy Fieri visited Louisville’s first Irish pub and sampled their lamb-stuffed cabbage, he became an instant fan. You might, too, just as you might like their cottage pies, beef stew, bangers and mash and other dishes you’d enjoy in the Emerald Isle.
Photo via The Irish Rover/FacebookThe Table
1800 Portland Ave., Louisville
This unique cafe in Portland, which Guy featured in a Thanksgiving episode in 2016, has a pay-what-you-can concept. The cafe’s regulars (and Fieri) offered praise for both the smoked pork sandwich and the smoked chicken sandwich. The Table also serves a rotating menu of other dishes, which, as of this writing, also includes winter salad, roasted squash falafel, white bean soup, and french onion grilled cheese.
Photo via tablecafe/InstagramThe Turf Club
4618 Eastern Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio
This Cincinnati-based joint, formerly called Terry’s Turf Club, is most famous for rolling out burgers with adventurous toppings on them. Guy seemed to especially enjoy the burger with burgundy mushrooms and mango curry sauces. Since visiting, the longtime restaurant has changed ownership, but the restaurant is still getting rave reviews on Yelp.
Photo via Facebook.com/turfclubcincyWallace Station Deli and Bakery
3854 Old Frankfort Pike, Versailles, Kentucky
This sandwich shop is located in a former gas station/general store/post office on a national scenic byway about an hour from Louisville. When Fieri visited in 2010, he sampled their Big Brown Burger and, according to the owners, declared it one of the top five best burgers he had ever had. It’s made with blackening spices and topped with pimiento blue cheese, bacon, lettuce, tomato, pickle and red onion.
Photo via Facebook.com/WallaceStationRick’s White Light Diner
114 Bridge St., Frankfort, Kentucky
This little restaurant, across the “Singing Bridge” from Frankfort’s downtown, serves Cajun and Creole dishes made with U.S.-caught seafood and products from local farmers. After tasting Chef Rick Paul’s oyster po’boy and Louisiana crawfish pie, Fieri said that Paul couldn’t “even spell bland.”
Photo via Facebook.com/ricks.dinerParkette Drive-In
1230 E. New Circle Road, Lexington, Kentucky
A true drive-in, Parkette is a Lexington classic that originally opened in 1951 but was more recently brought back to life by brothers Randy and Jeff Kaplan. Guy Fieri tasted the original owner’s chili dog recipe and dubbed it “authentic.” The restaurant is also famous for its “Poor Boys,” a double decker hamburger, which was featured on the Food Network’s list of 15 Best Burgers from Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.
Photo via facebook.com/parkette.driveinTaste of Belgium
1133 Vine St. and 16 West Freedom Way, Cincinnati, Ohio
This local restaurant group has the honor of being on DDD twice — in 2014, its Vine Street location was featured in an episode that only spotlit restaurants on that street in Cincinnati; in February of this year, its West Freedom Way location closed for the filming of an episode whose airdate is TBD. In any case, Guy loves their carbonnade, a savory beef dish.
Photo via Facebook.com/tasteofbelgiumMelt Eclectic Cafe (now known as Melt Revival)
4165 Hamilton Ave., Cincinnati, Ohio
The original cafe was sold in 2018, but the new one (hence the “Revival” in the name) is still focused on serving fresh foods, including sandwiches and salads. Guy’s not a vegetarian or vegan, as many of Melt’s customers are, but he has given their vegetarian chili a feature on his show.
Photo via Facebook.com/MeltRevivalIsland Frydays
2826 Vine St., Cincinnati, Ohio
If you get in the mood for Jamaican food while you’re in Cincy, you can try the same jerk chicken and Escovitch snapper that Guy loved — plus plenty more Caribbean dishes on offer, including rice and peas, beef “pattie” melts and Jamaican greens.
Photo via 3 Jimmy Emerson, DVM/FlickrBlue Ash Chili
9525 Kenwood Road, Suite 5, Cincinnati, Ohio
Guy tried and loved Blue Ash’s “6-Way” chili, which includes spaghetti, chili, beans, cheese, onions and fried jalapeno caps. This chili restaurant has also appeared on several other shows, including “Ginormous Food.” Take their “No Freakin’ Way!”eating challenge if you dare.
Photo via facebook.com/BlueAshChiliSenate Pub
1100 Summit Place, Blue Ash, Ohio (originally 1212 Vine St., Cincinnati, Ohio)
Although the location of this “gourmet street food” eatery that Guy Fieri visited has since closed, their location in Blue Ash, a 20-minute drive away, still serves the Korean hotdogs that Guy tried and loved (and called a “flavor kaleidoscope”) in his 2014 visit.
Photo: Food Network ScreenshotBakersfield
1213 Vine St., Cincinnati, Ohio
Bakersfield, which started in Cincinnati but has locations all over, serves up tacos and other Mexican style dishes with lots of margaritas to go along with them. On the show, Guy especially loved their killer short rib tacos and chicken torta.
Photo via Facebook.com/BakersfieldCincinnatiPho Lang Thang
1828 Race St., Cincinnati, Ohio
Pho Lang Thang is a Vietnamese spot located inside Findlay Market, serving up delicious bowls of pho and banh mi sandwiches. The restaurant also features an upbeat vibe where customers such as Fieri, can easily warm up and feel free to slurp loudly.
Photo: Food Network screenshotThe Tamale Place
5226 Rockville Road, Indianapolis, Indiana
This Mexican restaurant has been around for almost two decades, serving hundreds of thousands of mild, spicy and vegetarian tamales (plus tortas, tacos and nachos, too.) Guy learned how good their pork tamales are when he visited in 2011.
Photo via Facebook.com/The.Tamale.Place3 Sisters Cafe
6223 Guilford Ave., Indianapolis, Indiana
This café in Indianapolis’ cutesy Broad Ripple neighborhood makes a ham-and-cheese sandwich with kale and bacon that Guy Fieri called “outstanding.” With the approval of Fieri, and the proceeding throngs of diners, 3 Sisters was able to move to a new location in 2014. Fieri also ate their raspberry lemon corn cakes and blueberry goat cheese pie.
Photo via 3 Sisters CafeZydeco’s
11 E. Main St., Mooresville, Indiana
This Cajun restaurant brings Big Easy flavors and favorites, including jambalaya, gumbo, crawfish and red beans and rice to the Indianapolis area. The barbecue shrimp comes Guyly recommended.
Photo: Food Network screenshot
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