In Jefferson County's eastern suburbs, it's easier to find a chain restaurant than an independent one.
But that's changing as Louisville operators spread through the metropolitan area, moving out from the dense corridors of Bardstown Road, Frankfort Avenue and East Market Street to areas with fewer local options.
In 2018 alone, at least a dozen new locally owned restaurants opened east of the Watterson Expressway.
And the trend has continued this year with the opening of Grassa Gramma in the Holiday Manor shopping center along with two new restaurants in Middletown: Louisville Cafe India and a second Liège & Dairy.
This spring, Fernando Martinez of Olé Restaurant Group will also open a new concept, Steak & Bourbon, at an undisclosed East End location.
Related: How Fernando Martinez built a food empire in Louisville
New restaurants alert: These Louisville area spots have opened in 2019
He's been working on the restaurant for more than a year and initially planned to launch it downtown. But available restaurant space took him back to the suburbs, where he already operates four restaurants, including Guaca Mole and Artesano Tapas, Vino Y Mas, and where he'll soon open a fourth El Taco Luchador.
"We always try to diversify areas that have a need for locally owned cuisine," Martinez said. "... The restaurant industry is really competitive. Why open in a place where there's plenty of competition around? It's a place that's ready for the picking, and you're a pioneer."
Martinez's latest concept will be a take on a casual steakhouse, with affordable prices that reflect the relaxed atmosphere.
From April 30 through May 4, his restaurant group will offer a preview of the Steak & Bourbon menu at Artesano Tapas in Westport Village.
The menu will include four cuts of steak, two non-beef entrees and four appetizers, such as crab meat deviled eggs and steak and cheese hand pies.
"Once you eat fresh-made food, it's hard to go back to a chain restaurant," Martinez said. "It's why the whole industry is changing."
LouVino owner Chad Coulter can likely confirm Martinez's claim.
Coulter and his wife, Lauren, opened their first small plates restaurant on Bardstown Road in 2014 and quickly learned that residents in the suburbs were craving locally made food just as much as those in the Highlands.
Restaurant Review: LouVino Douglass Hills is good, but has room to grow
In 2016, the couple opened a second LouVino in Douglass Hills, which served as their busiest location until they opened a fourth restaurant in Cincinnati this past spring.
"It’s a pretty good performing store for us," Coulter said. "It's consistent, and we've been happy to be out there. We felt like it was an underserved area for more unique concepts."
Commercial corridors in the East End are typically stocked with shopping centers that don't have the charm of the Highlands, where historic buildings lend the neighborhood a sense of individuality.
But local operators like Kevin Grangier and Izmene Pierdo have made the centers' spaces their own, turning them from generic storefronts into restaurants with personality.
Both owners opened restaurants in the Holiday Manor shopping center within the past year, with Pierdo launching a second Con Huevos location there in April while Grangier opened Grassa Gramma nearby in January.
The East End Con Huevos isn't quite as funky as its original location on Frankfort Avenue. But the brightly lit restaurant draws its character from mural-sized images of food adorned to one of its walls and the canary yellow booths that match its logo.
Grassa Gramma, meanwhile, has a lushly decorated dining room that gives off the feel of an Italian courtyard, with a wall of second-floor balconies facing the mostly open interior.
The wave of new restaurants could worry operators that have already made their way east. But Pierdo said she welcomes the competition.
"I think it's a good decision if we have more restaurants around us and we can grow together," Pierdo said.
Bailey Loosemore: 502-582-4646; bloosemore@courier-journal.com; Twitter: @bloosemore. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today: https://www.courier-journal.com/baileyl.
You may like: Where to get discounts and deals on fried fish in Louisville this Lent
Read this: Louisville has a serious love affair with Lenten fish fries. But why?
More Kentucky news: For Sara Bradley, nothing will be the same after 'Top Chef'
https://www.courier-journal.com/story/entertainment/dining/restaurant/2019/03/19/louisville-east-end-local-independent-restaurants-gain-ground-chains/3207951002/ 2019-03-19 13:48:16Z
0 Comments:
Post a Comment