“Who doesn’t love bacon?”
Finally, a bacon bar has hit the bluegrass. Anne Marie’s Bacon Bar, which had a soft opening in early December, has officially opened its doors and with savory flavors, too.
Owner, Ann Marie Dunlap, has waited for this opportunity for four years now. With Bacon Bars popping up all across the U.S., Louisville has finally jumped on board.
Tucked away on 10301 Taylorsville Road, Anne Marie’s occupies the former site of Thirsty Ernie’s. When the former restaurant closed, Dunlap saw it as a “now or never” opportunity, and quickly scooped the place up to fulfill her dreams of opening a bacon bar. Opening a restaurant comes with many ups and downs, but as far as we can tell, only ups are coming Dunlap's way, as this little Taylorsville Road treasure is hands-down delicious.
Of course, I am a big fan of bacon, so there was really no way I was going to leave this bacon bar disappointed. I left very satisfied, full and ready for my next trip back.
Arriving at the Bacon Bar a little before noon, I were greeted almost instantly and did what any normal person would do, order a bacon Bloody Mary. I have a growing index in my head of the best Bloody Marys I’ve tried and this will certainly be added to the list.
The service was friendly and fast all afternoon, and the waiter suggested the best dishes on the menu while also throwing out a little history of the place as well.
Dunlap created the menu herself. It was was hard to get through it without salivating and equally as hard to choose just a few items to try.
We started with the Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers ($6); spicy bacon and cream cheese stuffed jalapenos wrapped in bacon and served with bacon ranch. They were divine. The bacon was crispy, the jalapenos packed a perfect punch and the cream cheese, well, you can never go wrong there. This was definitely my favorite dish.
We continued our meal with the Country Stack ($12), two buttermilk biscuits topped with fried chicken, white gravy and shredded cheese with a side of green beans and (very cheesy) mashed potatoes, the BLT ($10) with beef, duck, and house smoked bacon, plus lettuce and tomato on rye bread, and the Weisenberger Cornmeal Fried Catfish ($10) with green beans (we swapped fries for greens), coleslaw and in-house made tartar sauce. We also had to try the bacon mac-n-cheese ($5), which is technically on the kids menu, but they very kindly (or noticed we were just desperate) added it as a side for us.
I was in bacon heaven and hadn’t even gotten to dessert yet. It was a hard choice, but the chocolate lover in me decided for the group- a Bacon and Bourbon Brownie ($5) for the win. This brownie with bacon bits and bourbon cream sauce was simply delightful. I assure you, you won’t want to leave without dessert.
I can’t say enough great things about Anne Marie’s. Their fast and friendly service, their bacon infused alcohol, and of course their bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers and bacon and bourbon brownie, truly is a dream come true not only for Dunlap, but also for all those who get to experience it.
Ok, now you’re hungry? Good. Check out Anne Marie’s Bacon Bar website here, their Facebook page here and be sure to get over there and snag yourself some house-smoked bacon.
Photos: Krista Walker
