It's official: it's now cold enough in Louisville that I don't have to fit into my bathing suits until next year. Now that I've written that sentence it will probably be 120 degrees tomorrow, but I digress. My leggings are out, my bikini bottoms are folded, and it's definitely time to break out the beer-battered cheese curds.
Crescent Hill Craft House (also known as Craft House Brews) is focused on offering all the Kentucky-produced craft beers they can, under one roof. They also have a wonderful bourbon selection and a "chef-driven menu" focused on local food. Said menu features mostly American or German-influenced fare, farm-to-table comfort food like beer-battered cheese curds ($7) with pimento cheese ranch.
The pub mussels ($10) are served with pork belly, red onion, wheat beer, whole butter, garlic, and ripe tomato. Unsurprisingly beer works particularly well in this dish. The mussels were earthy and the broth was perfect for sopping.
The pork rinds ($3) were a great in-between snack after beer and bourbon and before our main course. Wilted kale salad with a bacon vinaigrette ($11) was the warmest, most Autumn-appropriate salad imaginable. The Kentucky fried ribeye ($19) was served with country sausage gravy and pork cracklins cornbread, along with pickled okra.
My personal restaurant litmus test is the good old fashioned cheeseburger: if a restaurant has a great cheeseburger, a really different and wonderful cheeseburger, the rest of their food is probably good. The craft house burger ($12) has "griddled cheese curds" and pickled red onion and it comes on a thick pretzel bun: totally delicious.
Service was brisk, but don't expect to be seated quickly on a weekend night. Crescent Hill Craft House's location (2636 Frankfort Avenue) makes it the perfect destination for a quiet evening stroll or a long, warm dinner. Crescent Hill Craft House is a welcome addition to the food and beer scene in Louisville.
