Proof on Main

You can eat at the bar or you can eat in the main restaurant.  Fantastic art on the walls and wait staff is great.  Bison burger is great for lunch just remember to order more of the Jezebell sauce.

Terribly disappointed after the recommendations from friends and the Yelp review.  I really *wanted* to like it more.  Cool vibe, trendy cocktails - what's not to like?  Well, our party of 8 made reservations 3 weeks out for a trip into KY.  Showed up early because we were told to plan bar time for some hand-made cocktails.  OK, get there, check in 30 minutes early and they say they would like to sit us early.  No problem.  Service starts out fine, but we clearly offended the server, weren't locals or were going to be that table.  Ask for cocktail recommendations and "everything is great,"  except when it is not.  If you don't want to serve a Canadian whisky to a Canadian who is visiting your city, don't have it in the bar.  But don't belittle him, and then treat the entire table as yokels.  And if someone springs the extra couple of bucks for the house made ginger ale with a bourbon, how hard is it to stir the drink first.  It was awful until half-way down when I discovered that they floated my bourbon on top but never stirred the dang thing.  Easy to excuse when everything else if firing well, but just another disappointment.  Based on the servers strong recommendation, ended up with 5 plates of apps for 8 people. The marrow was great, the octopus was pretty good, the meat plate had a couple of hits and a couple of nice-trys.  The fresh bread was wonderful.  And then we waited.  And waited.  Seated at 7:30 for an 8 PM reservation, apps on the table by 8.  Our entrees did not arrive until 9:15 about 5 minutes after we asked about them.  We shouldn't have bothered - the burgers were stone cold.  Cold buffalo burger (rare instead of medium rare as requested) and the fries were over-salted and cold.  The two guys who ordered something other than the burger fared no better.  

I really wanted to like it, but when you drop more $75 for 3 drinks, too many apps, and burgers not cooked to order and served cold, I would have to say there are other places in Louisville to have a much better meal for the serious splurge.  And the mandatory 18% gratuity was insult to injury.  My advice is to sit at the bar, watch the bartender make your drink so he can remember to finish it before serving it, and skip the kitchen and service.  The marrow and the atmosphere give it a second star, but I was bitterly disappointed.

This restaurant is not for everyone...but if you are looking for creative dishes wonderfully prepared with great service, you will be happy with this choice. Much of the menu offered variations of food that I had not seen before but worked perfectly.
The couple next to us left as they could not find anything "traditional" on the menu. It was definitely their loss.