First things first. Â This is a SPORTS BAR, not a cafe.
We sat at the bar. Â It wasn't that busy for a Friday night, I was surprised. Â
The food and drinks aren't cheap, for the quality they are a couple of dollars off the sweet spot, it gives you the impression it's more of a "Tourist Trap" pricing than a locals bar (no - NOT Café!).  $7 for a beer.  Really?
By biggest concern are the ribs.  My half rack had already been hacked with a machete before being put on the plate.  Now, the meat on the ribs?  Very tender.  Fall off the bone, but whoever is out in the kitchen isn't slicing these portions, they are literally smashing them with a meat cleaver.  There are bone fragments everywhere.  Instead for 4 of 5 clean ribs I ended up around 15-20 pieces of varying  sizes of bone, and some were quite sharp too. Â
This is a serious choke hazard, especially for small children. Â You don't expect to bite into rib meat and find shards of bone.
I told the girl behind the bar, who pretty much shrugged her shoulders and said she didn't know. Â I STRONGLY suggested she tell a manager, but I'm guessing she didn't as no one stopped by to ask about it.
The rest of the food? Â Ehhh, I've had MUCh better. Â The fries were limp, the wings over breaded, the coleslaw was warm on top because someone had left it under the heat lamp with everything else. Â It just makes you think they are just going through the motions - and I'm guessing the main bulk of customers are transient, staying in one of the nearby hotels, like we were, and unlikely to return anyway. Â
Let me save you the trouble. Â Don't go in the first place.
Cardinal Hall of Fame Cafe has somehow become the "go to" place of my parents recently. I've been a number of times over the years. Â It's a convenient place if you're at UofL or an event at the fairgrounds (Kentucky Exposition Center).
My favorite part is the UofL theme. Â (If you know me in "real life" then that's a big fat DUH!). I am actually even in one of the pictures hanging up in a display window. Â There is also a small gift shop with UofL paraphernalia if you're interested.
The food itself is okay. I like one of the salads quite a bit; I can't remember the name, but it has blue cheese & strawberries. The steamed vegetables are a healthy side option. Most options are average or can be hit-or-miss. Â To me, it's overall what I expect from a sports bar & grill.
The service has varied in my experience. Sometimes it is on point. Â Other times it is not. Sometimes it even varies within the visit. I have waited here before, but on my most recent visit (a Saturday around 6 pm), we were seated immediately.
Also, they have some large rooms if you have a large party. (You probably have to book those in advance, but I don't know how that works.) Â There are also plenty of TVs; some tables even have their personal TVs. Â It's a nice place to watch a game, though I would imagine it gets busy for big UofL games.
Basically, Cardinal Hall of Fame Cafe isn't bad generally... It's not amazing though. I was wavering between a 2 and 3 star rating on this, but since there's not a 2.5, I like the UofL theme win me over to give it 3 stars. Â Go Cards!
Very large sports bar with multiple rooms and lots of TV's. Â Nice Louisville Cardinal showcase for sports. Â Pricing is a little high. Â We came in with a very large party (booked in advance). Â Service was slow, refills were hard to get. Â They should have assigned more people to our area given that the restaurant wasn't very crowded. Â Don'[t think the kitchen can handle the size of the restaurant. Â If it's full go somewhere else. Â
Lobster bisque soup was very good. Â Small salads are a rip-off for the size and price. Â Get the large ones and take home the leftovers. Â Lots to choose from on the menu.
Better than I was expecting based on the reviews. Â Went in for lunch just after checking into our hotel. Â Lettuce wraps for appetizer were tasty as was the Lobster Bisque. Â The Grilled Chicken Alfredo was a little dry but after we asked for some extra sauce it too was very tasty. Â Also, tried the Derby Pie with Ice Cream. Â I thought it was good but my husband was not impressed. Â While good it was missing the obvious ingredient in Derby Pie.....Bourbon. Â The service was annoyingly slooooow and the place wasn't that busy. Â The server was very nice though and kept apologizing stating they were down a few servers that day. Â Will likely go back for some Lobster Bisque before we leave town.
Review Source:Just Had some 11.95 nachos at this place. Â Which they kindly replaced with some 9.95 chic wings. Â The nachos were basically a lot of chips with some sweet salsa (sweet - weird) and melted cheese. Â They threw in about 6 sliced olives, some lettuce (on nachos?) and a sweetened sour cream (on nachos?). Â The replacement wings were greasy and I could only eat 3. Â Expensive (very!) and unsatisfying food. Â Service was good and they did offer a replacement for the nachos. Â I just can't understand how they can justify the food prices for the quality of the food.
Review Source:I have tried out the Cafe 4 times now and every time it is incredibly average. They have a large menu selection, almost too much. It reminded me of the Cheesecake  Factory menu. The sad thing about the selection is they dont seem to do anything great. It is all just OK.
I have never had wait to be seated, although I'm sure that would be different on a game day. They have a great bar area with lots of draft beer. Some tables have their own private TVs to watch what ever you want.
If you're a big UofL fan this is the place for you - they have almost a museum area (the walk of fame) and TVs are everywhere, including the booths! Â I'd go more for the atmosphere than anything else though! Â
Portions were huge, the food was typical chain food and our server seemed kind of annoyed. Â We were a huge group that had reserved a "room" ahead of time though so he knew what to expect. Â I was disappointed that I didn't get offered a refill on my diet coke.
very mediocre, over priced.
Spotty service depending on where you sit.
The wait staff seem to favor certain kind of people to serve
Good ambiance for sports fans
Would not go back again.
Would not recommend for a dinner.
great for drinks after work.
Couple of good waiters, couple of very bad waiters. Depends on your luck I guess.
I would not come back unless desperate.
Bah, it's okay. Â It was hot and humid out and after a long day, we decided to just walk across the parking lot for dinner. Â
The inside is full of Cardinal goodies. Â We grabbed a booth and I sat across from an autographed poster of Dr. Dunkenstein, Darrel Griffith. Â That was the highlight of the evening. Â Oh and the seats are rock hard. Â I saw a big cushion and sat down hard, breaking both my right and left cheek. Â What's up with the lack of padding?
I had a steak and green beans. Â It was okay and pretty inexpensive. Â We had a coupon for a free appetizer, which we burned on potstickers. Â Not a potsticker fan, but these were pretty good. Â That and a couple Grolsch's were the entertainment for the evening. Â
I know, I know. Â I'm boring.
Let's play a game .... I say a word and you write the first thing that comes to your mind. Â Okay fine, you didn't come to this review to play games with me. FINE! So doesn't the word "Cafe" conjure up certain visions of a small, quaint little .... well, cafe? Â This place takes up a block - the party they seated before me was a party of 20 .... but then again, this is in Kentucky so maybe things are just bigger out here. Â
I don't know about you, but I go to restaurants so that 1) I don't have to cook and clean and 2) so that I can actually be engaged with my dining companions. Â But when there are mini TV's at every booth ... doesn't that sort of defeat the purpose? Â Mini TV's at every booth, sitting underneath flat panel HDTV's that span every 2 booths and then an entire wall of TVs behind the bar. Â Overkill ...or just Kentucky? Â Well, at first I was a bit annoyed - I was tired, I was cranky, I was hungry and I'd been dreaming about a beer for the past 3 hours. Â So after being seated and waiting at least 15 minutes before even being acknowledged by the waitress had already set me off in a bitter mood. Â But our waitress - was so genuininely apologetic and got our order AND BEER delivered so fast, I forgave her. Â
The bacon cheeseburger was delicious and that blue moon (on draft no less!) really hit the spot and took the edge off the bitch. Â After a while, even the TV screen prompted for bits of conversation. Â Me thinks this is a chain restaurant - but despite that, they delivered a yummy burger to someone who had already gone down the path of annoyance. Â So this definitely counts for something.
Oh, and the menu was organized which pleased me.
OK, it's chain food, I know. But it's pretty good fare and I can't resist the UL Cardinals theme, the sporty atmosphere, and the little TVs in each booth. I'm a big fan of lettuce wraps from eating a lot of Korean food and this is the only place in Louisville I've seen serving them (including the several Korean restaurants).
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