BY AXEL HALVARSON, STAFF WRITER
Louisville has become one of the best cities in the country for new restaurants to come to life and have success. Stout Burgers and Beers is just another business that has experienced early success in Louisville. Stout is a restaurant that’s not new around the country, but is new to its small home at 1604 Bardstown Road.
Stout has three locations in California and one coming soon to Nashville. Investors brought the eatery to Louisville after they noticed the growing restaurant scene in the Highlands.
The general manager, Paul Priesing, a Boston native, has lived in Louisville for seven years and has worked in the hospitality business for 30 years. Priesing said he believes in the philosophy that Stout’s burgers should be prepared fresh every day, even though it may be the hard way.
“We have amazing burgers,” Priesing said. “We have the freshness of grinding our own meat on a daily basis.”
On a slow Saturday afternoon, I had a family lunch at Stout. As soon as we walked through the door, we were pleasantly greeted and seated. The interior of the restaurant is one of the first things I noticed. It is clad with brick walls and wood furniture, which gives the dining area a cozy feeling.
The bar, which takes up the entire right side of the building, was full of top-shelf drinks on display as well as two televisions specifically used for sports. Stout combines a relaxing dining area with a modern-looking hangout spot.
After ordering our drinks, we noticed the small menu. It features 10 hamburgers, a few chicken burgers, vegetarian burgers and extras. I decided to go with the Hot Brown burger as my entree because the hot brown is unique to Louisville, and I was intrigued as to how a traditional hot brown could become a burger.
The tall, narrow burger came out on a small plate with the sides coming unconventionally in silver cylinders, separate from the main course. The burger’s taste was like a traditional Louisville Hot Brown, but not as sweet. My three family members ordered two different burgers and the chicken burger. They all enjoyed their choices very much. The table shared seasoned fries, onion rings and poutine fries, which were all delicious.
Before we finished our entrees, our outstanding waiter mentioned that one dessert Stout serves takes 15 minutes to prepare and asked whether we would be interested. Because of how impressed we were with our main course, we decided to make some room for the gourmet bread pudding. This was, by far, the best choice we made during our lunch. The dessert was served in a small baking dish. The warm bread pudding was topped with vanilla ice cream and a side of bourbon sauce.
The best part about Stout is the incredible detail of the little things throughout the restaurant. The check at the end of the meal came in a metallic case, the knives had wooden ends and the plates were not the average circular shape.
Every item in the restaurant seemed to have a unique twist behind it. This idea represents the entire diverse and independent area of the Highlands and makes Stout a terrific eatery in a well-known foody town. I would highly recommend Stout for a great burger in a very cool place.