by cowdery » Mon Jun 05, 2006 8:08 pm
For liquor stores, I also recommend Old Town Liquors on Bardstown Road in the Highlands. Cool neighborhood too. Check out Ear Ecstasy, a nearby music store. For lunch, I recommend the Bristol Bar & Grille, also on Bardstown Road. Try the artichoke fritters. The bar has a good bourbon selection. I had my first taste of Booker's there, about 20 years ago.
I'll confess to a certain amount of nostalgia and personal prejudice, as the Bristol was at the center of my social life for much of my time in Louisville.
The place on Fourth Street is, indeed, the Maker's Mark bar and is designed to promote Maker's Mark Bourbon, but they have a good selection of other brands, and it's a nice place. Near there is the Seelbach Hotel, which has a very classic and comfortable bar.
Actually, if you walk into any bar in Louisville and they don't have a good bourbon selection, just leave and go to the next one. Just about every bar in Louisville has a better bourbon selection than just about any bar anyplace else.