Merle's Whiskey Kitchen

Name: Merle's Whiskey Kitchen
Address: 122 W Main St, Louisville, Kentucky, 40202, US
Telephone: (502) 290-8888
Price range: $$
Rating: 4.40

Southern restaurant (US), Bar, Live music venue, Restaurant, Soul food restaurant

Location: 122 W Main St, Louisville, KY 40202, United States
Located in: Waterfront Plaza
Phone: (502) 290-8888
Price: $$

Opening hours

Sunday: Closed
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 11 am-10 pm
Wednesday: 11 am-10 pm
Thursday: 11 am-10 pm
Friday: 11 am-12 am
Saturday: 11 am-12 am

Food & drink

Vibe

Nachos

Chicken sandwich

Moscow mule

Macaroni

Chicken and waffles

Chicken Wings

Cornbread

Hot chicken

Cider

By owner

Street View

Menus and Prices

Add Your Review

Reviews

I can’t say enough good things about Merle’s.
We found it a couple years ago when we were driving from Toronto to New Orleans and got stuck in Louisville due to a storm that closed the roads.
The hotel said that Merle’s was probably the only place that would’ve stayed open in those conditions so we headed there.
The food blew us away.
So much so, we adjusted our plans for the way home to make a stop back in Louisville again and we had Merle’s for lunch and dinner! This time, we came for a couple days to check out the city and ate at Merle’s 3 times in the two days! The lunch special is highway robbery, I don’t know how they’re charging that little amount for that amount of food.
But it’s all amazing.
Cornbread, pretzels and queso, Mac and cheese, el jefe nachos, chips and queso, burger, fried chicken sandwich, and the tacos…mushroom, barbacoa jack fruit, steak, chicken, fish…..we ate it all over and over and never got tired of these flavors.
This restaurant is a MUST when you’re in or around the Louisville area.
We are definitely counting down the days until we can return to Merle’s.
I’m sure there are other good restaurants in Louisville but after eating at Merle’s, we aren’t interested in trying anywhere else!!! Sooooo good!!!

We went on a Saturday night before a Journey concert.
We arrived at 5pm and were told the wait would be 30-45 min.
We only waited 20 min! There was live music that was so loud you couldn't hear the other people at your table because the speakers face right at the tables.
We found that unpleasant, but if you know that is what the bar is about, it is probably a fun time! We got chips and queso and the queso was so good! We all got Merle's Melts and they tasted like high quality baconators.
The fries were SO GOOD, crispy and well salted.
We were most disappointed by the lack of physical menus.
There are a variety of reasons someone could want or need a physical menus and not being able to accommodate that request feels insensitive to that need.
We were annoyed that the appetizer and 2 plates (out of our 4 top table) were delivered.
Around 5 minutes after, the other two plates were brought to the table.
Even the server pointed out how that was weird.
The server was nice and the place was spacious. Short version - Great food, leans more bar than restaurant, wish they had real menus, and server was fine!