What to See, Eat, and Do in Louisville, Kentucky

Having lived in Louisville for years, it only seemed right to share some of my favorite places, things to do, and where to eat in Kentucky’s largest city.  I first wrote this post for my friend Annaliese’s blog {original post here} last year, but figured it was a good one to share before I leave Louisville.

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What to See, Eat, and Do in Louisville, Kentucky | About Louisville

Louisville, Kentucky is best known as the home of the Kentucky Derby, but this city has lots to offer!  It’s a gateway between the South and Midwest and it’s within a day’s drive of two-thirds of the US population.  Louisville has a great restaurant scene, lots of fun local shopping, as well as tons of distilleries. So let’s start out with where to eat!

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What to See, Eat, and Do in Louisville, Kentucky | Where to Eat

I have an entire post dedicated to some of my favorite places to eat in Louisville, but also wanted to include a couple of newer and previously unmentioned favorites.

• Biscuit Belly is a newer brunch spot that is absolutely delicious.  Pictured above is The Love Shack which is a fresh biscuit sliced and served as a toasted, open faced sandwich with brie, smoked honey, raspberry jam, and candied pecans.  Y’all — it’s SO good.  The biscuits are all made fresh daily; I also love The Hot Brown!
• Simply Thai is one of my favorite spots for dinner and yet I somehow forgot to mention it last time.  This family-owned restaurant has two locations in Louisville and everyone that I’ve taken here has loved it.  I usually get the pad thai but the fried rice is also amazing and the sushi is really good too.
• Liege & Dairy is a newer dessert spot in Louisville that also has two locations.  They serve small batch, handmade ice cream served on top of handmade Liege waffles.  {Liege waffles are baked with sugar pearls inside and a different yeast ratio so they’re a sweet delicious base for a sundae.}

As for the tried and true:

• Louisville Cream is a local ice cream shop that makes small-batch ice creams with flavors beyond your wildest dreams.  My absolute favorite is their seasonal Krampus Cookies & Cream, “a red buttercream frosting ice cream with sugar cookie dough & Oreos.”  Also a big fan of Chocolate City and their Banana Pudding ice cream.
• Please and Thank You has the BEST chocolate chip cookies that you can buy individually, in a half dozen, dozen, or even in a cookie cake!  They make a great hostess gift if you’re heading to a party but also are just delicious to eat by yourself.
• Le Moo can cover your steak dinner needs but I personally love their drag brunches for a fun atmosphere to enjoy with friends.  They regularly do themed drag brunches that sell out quickly featuring your favorites from: Disney princesses to Ariana Grande to Mariah Carey.

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What to See, Eat, and Do in Louisville, Kentucky | What to See & Do in Louisville

Distillery tours, horse farms, and the like are always popular options.  I’m not a huge bourbon drinker but have had great experiences at the Evan Williams Bourbon Experience {more about it here!} and at Jeptha Creed.  Jeptha Creed is owned by a mother-daughter pair and newer to the bourbon trail.  While they were waiting for bourbon to age they started making moonshine as well as vodka which means there’s more tasting options.  They have a beautiful indoor bar as well as very fun farm to table cocktail dinners.

Bitters End is an open air rooftop bar that opened in 2019.  The space is gorgeous with views of Whiskey Row and the Ohio River.  The downtown location makes it easy to stop over at Merle’s Whiskey Kitchen to grab a green chili pork taco or meander over to Hell or Highwater, a speakeasy bar that’s a few steps away.

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What to See, Eat, and Do in Louisville, Kentucky | Where to Shop

There are SO many great businesses to shop but I’ll start with these:

• Work the Metal is a boutique located in the Butchertown Market.  They carry everything from home decor, stationery, affordable fashion jewelry, clothing, gifts, and more.  {The store also has a wine bar inside where you can order pastries & drinks and on Saturdays they have $1 mimosas.}
• Westport Village is an outdoor shopping center that’s right off one of the major interstates; it’s also where this #WhatLiftsYou mural is located!  The Village features a variety of boutiques, restaurants, a hair salon, toy store, and home decor stores.  {Darling State of Mind is a personal favorite of mine for trendy, but reasonably priced finds!}
• The Outlet Shoppes of the Bluegrass are right outside of Louisville and again just off the interstate if you’re driving to Lexington or further east.  The outlet center has TONS of stores we all love from Kate Spade to J. Crew Factory as well as Tory Burch and Gucci outlet stores.

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Hopefully this post has you planning a stop through Louisville in the near future.  Thanks so much for reading today!