While this list of woman-owned restaurants, cafes, breweries, and more is unranked and non-exhaustive, we’re proud to celebrate our female entrepreneurs in every way we can.
If your favorite spot isn’t featured, share this list and shout them out. All of Louisville’s woman-owned restaurants deserve our love and support!
Cask Southern Kitchen & Bar
9980 Linn Station Road
At first named SOU! owner Ashley Saylor bought out her business partner and created her own concept: Cask Southern Kitchen & Bar, which professes to provide a new take on traditional southern foods and cocktails. Think chicken and waffles with cheddar cheese waffles and bourbon maple syrup. Saylor has found success with her creation, and was named one of Yelp’s Top 100 restaurants in the U.S. in 2022.
Photo via facebook.com/cask502Blue Dog Bakery & Cafe
2868 Frankfort Ave.
Once a woman-owned restaurant, always a woman-owned restaurant? Even though Blue Dog Bakery recently changed hands, it’s woman-owned status has stayed intact thanks to new owner Libby Ackerman Loeser. She’s looking forward to preserving what locals love about this Louisville institution. Blue Dog is an artisan bakery known for its European style bread and pastries, which it has spent years perfecting. Its head baker has over 21 years of experience, and the bakery turns out 1,000 loaves per week. Its broad pastry selection features French macarons and pain au chocolat made with European-style butter. You can also stop by its Frankfort Avenue storefront for its lunch menu of sandwiches, soups and salads.
Photo via facebook.com/bluedogbakeryandcafeCanary Club
1247 S Shelby St.
We’re thrilled that Louisville’s first and only natural wine bar (and Leo Reader’s Choice Award winner!) Canary Club, is a 100% woman-owned business. Located in the heart of Shelby Park, right next to another woman-owned bar, stop by for wine, cocktails and snacks before picking up a bottle from the adjoining Breeze Wine Shop. Be on the lookout for jazz nights and pop-up kitchens, which are sure to sell out fast!Hi-Five Doughnuts
1940 Harvard Dr.
Woman-owned Hi-Five Doughnuts just reopened in their new location in Douglass Loop. Owners Annie Harlow and Leslie Wilson began their venture with a food truck that was named as one of the best in the South by Southern Living. Their new location features a full coffee bar as well as doughnut sandwiches.Miki’s Karaoke Bar
2230 Frankfort Ave.
You can find everything from beer buckets to flavored soju and sweet rice pancakes at Miki’s, a Korean restaurant and karaoke bar in Clifton. The owner Mikyong Miller grew up in South Korea and has lived in Louisville since the late ‘90s. She was excited to add this concept to the growing Louisville Korean restaurant scene. If you need late night food, this is your spot! Miki’s is open til midnight Wednesday-Sunday.Kizito Cookies
1398 Bardstown Road
Elizabeth Kizito is the cookie lady. She has been selling her homemade cookies in Louisville for over 30 years. Known for balancing a basket of cookies on her head at Louisville Bats games, she is one of the most recognizable female entrepreneurs on this list. Although what really sticks in your mind is the taste of her baked goods, which also include brownies, muffins, biscotti and granola. Her bakery on Bardstown Road is also a shop, which is stocked with folk art from Uganda, which is also where Kizito is from. She recently collaborated with the Jack Harlow Foundation to raise money for refugees.
Photo via facebook.com/KizitoCookiesDragon King’s Daughter
1126 Bardstown Road; 129 W. Market St., New Albany, Indiana
For a different kind of sushi experience, go to Dragon King’s Daughter where you’ll find rolls wrapped in prosciutto or stuffed with bacon or added mango. If you want tried and true, DKD has that, too, including several types of simple sashimi. There’s also bibimbap and Asian-inspired quesadillas and tacos on the menu. Owner Toki Masubuchi named the restaurant after the first women to reach enlightenment.
Photo via facebook.com/DKDHighlandsShippingPort Brewing
1221 W Main St.
Owned by native Louisvillian, Amelia Pillow, Shippingport Brewing serves craft beer along the waterfront in Portland. She began brewing beer in 2007 and loves to incorporate locally foraged ingredients. The brewery also serves breakfast burritos and specialty sandwiches like the Mushroom Banh Mi and Italian Panini.V-Grits
1001 Logan St.
Kristina Addington makes vegan food focused more on Southern comfort than health. At her restaurant, you’ll find meatless meals that taste just like your carnivorous and cheesy guilty pleasures like fried “chicken” made with oyster mushrooms and loaded mac and beer cheese. Now located at Logan Street Market alongside other exciting local woman-owned businesses.
Photo via ofacebook.com/vgritsTrouble Bar
1149 S. Shelby St.
Trouble Bar was created by two women — Nicole Stipp and Kaitlyn Soligan-Owens, who, as they tell it, “fell in love with bourbon late, but forever.” Their resulting bourbon bar, named after Good Troublemakers like civil rights icon John Lewis, is a welcoming space with an extensive bourbon menu.
Photo via matsongilman.comPayne Street Bakehouse
225 S. Spring St.
At Payne Street Bakehouse, you can pick from 10 styles of bagels and seven types of spreads — or select one of the bakery’s special bagel creations. Whether you make up your own combination (like a rosemary parmesan bagel with lox cream cheese) or let the Payne Street geniuses choose for you, just know that your bagel will be piled high with goodies. Owner Anne Fuller inherited the restaurant from her friend, Nancy, who passed down her bagel-making expertise.
Photo via Nancy’s BagelsWiltshire Pantry
605 W. Main St. & 1310 E Breckinridge St.
Wiltshire Pantry is one of Louisville’s best bakeries and caterers. Owner Susan Hershberg has two locations, one in The Highlands and one downtown. Be sure to try the homemade pop-tarts with a flaky pastry crust and juicy filling.
Photo via facebook.com/WiltshirePantryBakeryAndCafeCultured
1007 E. Main St.
Charcuterie isn’t just a snack; it can be a full-on meal. And at Cultured, it’s all you’ll want for lunch and dinner. Owner Jessica Mattingly curates platters of cheese, meat, fruits, vegetables, pickled items, condiments, nuts and berries. You can pair your boards with cocktails, wine, beer and an extensive bourbon list.
Photo via facebook.com/culturedcheeseandcharcuteriebarRoots and Heart & Soy
1216 Bardstown Road
Huang “CoCo Tran,” the owner of Heart & Soy and its upscale equivalent Roots, introduced Louisville to Vietnamese food 35 years ago with Café Mimosa. That restaurant is gone, but Heart & Soy and Roots remain, blessing Louisville with vegetarian Vietnamese food.
Photo via facebook.com/HeartAndSoyRootsAll Thai’d Up
4812 Brownsboro Center
All Thai’d Up has graduated from food truck to their very own storefront. This authentic Thai street food restaurant is now a upscale casual full service concept with a rotating selection of curries, papaya salad, veggie stir fry, grilled steak, and grilled chicken, plus classic Thai dishes like pad see ew and pad thai. Eventually, owner Kathy Aphaivongs wants to sell take-home meal kits, too.
Photo via facebook.com/AllThaidUpKYGrind
829 E. Market St.
Arguably Louisville’s best burger restaurant, Grind’s food will impress your carnivorous guests. And your vegetarian ones, because the restaurant doesn’t skimp on its veggie burger, either. Don’t trust us? Guy Fieri’s a fan, having featured the spot on “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.” Owners Liz and Jesse Huot also have a scandinavian slider bar called Oskar’s at 3799 Poplar Level Road.
Photo via Grind Burger KitchenLucretia’s Kitchen
Lucretia’s Kitchen is a West End soul food catering business. Make orders by calling: 502-294-8143.
Photo by Jess AmburgeyBrew & Sip Coffee Bar
3800 Shepherdsville Road
During COVID, Latoya Cook Bradley pivoted from her catering businesses to open Brew Sip Coffee Bar in West Buechel. Her flexibility has paid off, and Brew & Sip is now an established coffee restaurant with a “wide variety of espressos, specialty coffee, fresh squeezed juices” and smoothies, according to its website. The shop also sells pastries, breakfast and lunch.
Photo via brewandsipcoffeebar.comGlow Worm Cafe & Play
The Highlands
Glow Worm Cafe & Play is Louisville’s only play cafe, where a coffee shop and bakery meets indoor play for children 6 and younger. They also offer parties, support groups, classes, and a retail shop filled with ethically made, organic clothing for children. Owner Katie Read opened the first location on Barret Ave in 2021, alongside baker Dara Staggers of Staggeringly Delicious Bakery, and they partner with Bean for coffee and espresso.Fleur de Tea
1074 Meeting St.
Black tea, green tea, oolong tea, roobioois tea. Tea with steamed milk, tea served in a cast iron trap pot, tea with 50% more tea added. And finally, bubble tea. Whatever tea you want, this tea shop probably has it. Started by Jasmine Gatti, who admits she has the perfect name for this sort of venture, Fleur de Tea is an adorable shop in Norton Commons. You’ll also find scrumptious desserts if you visit.
Photo via facebook.com/fleurdeteaGeorgia’s Sweet Potato Pie Co.
1559 Bardstown Road
Georgia’s Sweet Potato Pie Co. sells mini delicacies that will fit in the palm of your hand. Stop by its retail shop on Bardstown Road for eight flavors of pies, cupcakes and sweet potato chocolate chip cookies. Georgia’s also gives out free books to the community as part of its Pies with a Purpose initiative. The restaurant is owned, not by Georgia, but by her granddaughter, Dawn Urrutia.
Photo by Jess AmburgeyHoly Grale/gralehaus
1034 Bardstown Road/1001 Baxter Ave.
Lori Beck and Tyler Trotter hold court over a whole campus of restaurants and bars on their corner of Bardstown Road. On one side there’s Holy Grale, a beer bar and German restaurant. Separated by a garden is a chef-driven breakfast spot called gralehaus. You could start your day at one and end it another, and you wouldn’t care that you didn’t leave. Oh and soon there will be a natural wine bar called Grale Goods.
Photo courtesy of Holy GraleThe Cheddar Box Cafe
12121 Shelbyville Road
The Cheddar Box Cafe (not to be confused with Cheddar Box Too, also women-owned and also on the list), has been a popular Louisville lunch spot since 1996. Owner Michelle Bartholomew cooks up gourmet sandwiches, pasta, salads, dinner entrees, appetizers and spreads and homemade desserts.
Photo via facebook.com/cheddarboxcafeChristi’s Cafe
1280 Dixie Highway
Christi’s Cafe is your classic roadside diner, except with lots and lots of pink. Christi J. Druin started the business in 2006 after 12 years of waitressing. Her menu is full of eggy platters for breakfast and homemade burgers at lunchtime. For the extra hungry, she sells a three-pound burger with a side of fries that, if you eat it within 30 minutes, will earn you a free T-shirt.
Photo via facebook.com/ChristisCafeEden & Kissi
3912 Bardstown Road Suite 101
Eden & Kissi, from owner Christine Gnamba, 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.” We’ve also heard their oxtail is worth the trip.
Photo via LEO archivesCheddar Box Too
109 Chenoweth Lane
The Cheddar Box Too serves old-fashioned American food from owner Nancy Tarrant, who, as food critic Robin Garr wrote for LEO “finally gave in to a constant, years-long chorus of pleas to open a restaurant,” in 2012, after decades of owning the Cheddar Box deli.
Photo by Robin GarrOrange Clover
590 Missouri Ave., Jeffersonville, Indiana
Orange Clover, started by Rachel Smallwood, is known for its catering business, but it’s also a hidden gem of a cafe in Jeffersonville, Indiana, serving the best lunch on the sunny side of the river.
Photo via facebook.com/OrangeCloverKitchenShirley Mae’s Café & Bar
802 S. Clay St.
Shirley Mae’s opened on New Year’s Eve, 1988. Now 34 years old, its owner Shirley Mae Beard is still cooking up her Southern meals on the daily like she was serving Sunday dinner in her home.
Photo by Robin Garr
Sign up. We hope you like us, but if you don't, you can unsubscribe by following the links in the email, or by dropping us a note at leo@leoweekly.com.
Signup
By clicking “subscribe” above, you consent to allow us to contact you via email, and store your information using our third-party Service Provider. To see more information about how your information is stored and privacy protected, visit our policies page.
Subscribe to LEO Weekly Newsletters
Sign up. We hope you like us, but if you don't, you can unsubscribe by following the links in the email, or by dropping us a note at leo@leoweekly.com.
To sign up now, enter your email address in the field below and click the Subscribe button.
By clicking “Subscribe” above, you consent to allow us to contact you via email, and store your information using our third-party Service Provider. To see more information about how your information is stored and privacy protected, visit our policies page.
