No no, there's only one "t" in Chasity

Perhaps nowhere do I feel more out of place than at a club. I'm not a club kind of guy. I take paying just for the convenience of spending more money inside someones establishment as a personal affront to my intelligence (I can just see the owner in his office, peering over his pile of money through a double-sided mirror as the crowd shuffles in: "Holy shit! The moron just paid to get in! Muahahaha."). I don't like overpriced drinks, I don't like high-maintenance women (or men), while I see the merit in some dance and techno music I generally don't enjoy listening to it, and I don't like spending time in a place where the women are in no way attracted to guys like me and the men make me feel physically inadequate - yes, I'm happily committed, but I still like to feel good about myself.

As I'm on the edge or sounding like a bigot I should pause here to balance the above paragraph with a few more facts: I have no problem with dancing. I like dancing. I like Michael Jackson and Lady Gaga. In fact, I even enjoy Ke$ha - Yeah, I spell her name with the proper "$". Though, I like Ke$ha for same reason I like Jersey Shore. She's a train wreck, and I enjoy ridiculous idiots who take themselves seriously and seemingly don't understand that 90% of their fan base is laughing at them not with them - at least, God, I hope that's the case. Plus, it's cathartic and American to look down on people who are richer, more successful and most likely less intelligent than you are. Well, so much for my redeeming second paragraph...


The point is, with my aforementioned loathing towards the club culture, what event could possibly get me to a place called Prime Lounge - Why do all clubs have names like this? Why can't there be a super chic, super posh, super elite club named Karen's Place? - in downtown Louisville, Kentucky on a Wednesday night? Chasity's Birthday Party, that's what.


Chasity is a young woman born-and-bred in Southern Indiana, and a co-worker of mine. (Yes, Chasity. As many people had done before me, I referred to her as Chastity for the first three months I knew her -  Chastity having, you know, precedence as a name for human beings and all.) It was Chasity's birthday last Wednesday and this is how she invited me to her party (insert Indiana twang here):

Oh, you know Wednesday is my birthday, my favorite holiday of the year. Oh, I don't fuck around on my birthday. I treat it like its prom - though I never went to prom, I didn't stay in school long enough. I get up real early and hang around in my pajamas, then I get my nails done. Then I get my hair bleached and go buy a new outfit. Did I tell you about my cake? Its a big prescription pill bottle. You better be coming to my party, its at Prime Lounge. I'll be there at 10:00. They have $5 bottles of wine on Wednesday nights. Last year I made everyone give me a birthday card with their favorite "Chasity memory" in it. That's how my boyfriend found out I used to be a lesbian. This year I want everyone to bring me a mix CD with songs that, when they hear them they think of Chasity.

How the hell do I not go to that?

The funny thing is, I wasn't sure how I felt about Chasity at first. She got hired where we work the same day as me so we had an initial common ground, but even while she is exactly the type of person I had begun preparing myself to share a community with the minute "Yeah, I'll move to Louisville. Why the fuck not" came out of my mouth, I wasn't sure how to handle her. Her naivete rubbed me the wrong way, she was my age but we might as well of lived on different planets, she was quite literally addicted to Mountain Dew.

But meeting people like Chasity is all part of the beauty of traveling around the country. I've now had the privilege of living on both coasts, the biggest city in the Midwest, and now the crossroads of the Midwest and South, and I'm without a doubt the better for it. In his books and on his TV show, Anthony Bourdain repeatedly reflects that, despite all his travels over the last decade, the more he sees the less he feels he really knows. He couldn't be more right. It's an old adage, but it's stuck around for a reason.


Chasity has since become one of my closest co-workers. We don't spend time together outside of work - visiting a different planet just for some company is a long way to travel - but I certainly enjoy our conversations. Part of this is because - like Ke$ha - Chasity is, in a word, ridiculous. She's the only woman I've ever known that can say something so perverted and obscene that I can't even muster up a response - instead closing my eyes, shaking my head, laughing and walking away

She's still addicted to Mountain Dew, enjoying her first 20oz of the day with her coffee around 7am. Though to her credit, as her Doctor has explained the Dew is basically destroying her body the way alcohol kills an alcoholic's, she's tried numerous times to quit - but the headaches and stress usually knock her off the wagon within a few days. Even when she's off the Dew however, she takes enough of those energy pills one finds at gas station counters to land someone like myself in the hospital with an anxiety attack.

I won't get into details, but I don't think she'd have any problem with me saying that her home life with her live-in, aspiring rapper boyfriend tends to get a little messy at best, and her kids sound like a handful. Though, I don't know what she expected when she named one of them Maliki after the sinister kid from Children of the Corn (seriously).

So, this is what got me, hater-of-all-things-club, to Prime Lounge in Louisville, Kentucky on a Wednesday night. And there I was, sipping on a $5 bottle of Chardonnay like it was a 40oz while Chasity, looking good all dolled up in her new birthday outfit, 4-inch heels,  freshly painted nails, and newly bleached, purple-tipped faux-hawk drank her birthday Patron out of a glass, like any classy, cosmopolitan woman would do on her favorite holiday.

Who's the white trash now?

New happy louisville

It's been awhile since my last post, not because I didn't have much to say - I always have something to say - but because I didn't have much to say that pertained to Louisville-area happy hour and bar specials that wasn't already posted on my examiner page. When I came upon this realization last week, it lead to a mini-dilemma.

Why, exactly, do I need a blog and a website dedicated to happy hour specials?

The answer, quite simply, is that I don't - and neither does Louisville. I admittedly started happy louisville because I was "sick of googling 'louisville happy hour' and not getting any worthwhile results." Louisville is the 4th US and 6th overall city I've lived in in my quarter of a century here on Earth, and never as a recent transplant to any of them had I found a reliable website that simply gave a brief overview of a bar and/or restaurant and their happy hour/daily special info. After all, isn't that all one really needs? So, I thought happy louisville would be a good place to keep track of all the happy hours I came across, write some semi-entertaining tidbits about each bar/restaurant and, hopefully, help out fellow google searchers like myself.

The problem is that I already do that on Examiner. I thought that happy louisville could supplement my examiner reviews with more honest, first-person accounts and anecdotes from a "restaurant insider." The truth is, why the hell would anyone read a review about a bar, get all the info they need, then go to another site to read another - slightly different - review about the same bar, by the same person? No one, that's who. Especially when you can skip both and just follow it all on twitter.

So, that was a very long winded way of saying, welcome to the new happy louisville. A place for "rants, reviews, realizations and observations of Louisville food, drink and culture from the perspective of an east coast transplant." When the mood strikes - or something about a place conjures up words and thoughts too inappropriate and unprofessional for Examiner - I'll still write about food and drink,  which should be often, as half of my life is eating and drinking, but just not in such a "review" format. There's more than enough of those sites to go around, anyways (like mine).

You can still find happy hour stuff in the twitter feed over there to the right, but I'll be using this space for - hopefully entertaining - perspectives on Louisville life, Kentucky culture and life in general from someone who, five years ago, told himself and his born-in-Ashland, KY girlfriend, "I will never live in Kentucky" and now lives here, and does so happily.

O'Shea's Happy Hour

I tend to stay clear of pubs. Yes, it's partially because I'm from Boston, whose Irish history gets overplayed for tourists and therefore completely unauthentic pubs - as almost every American "Irish" pub is - can be found on every street in the city. Yes, its partially because I worked at quite possibly the most famous pub in America if not the world (trust me, they come from far and wide) and possibly the most unauthentic of the unauthentics (though it wasn't always that way).

Mostly, however, I stay clear of pubs because I simply don't enjoy being at one. They're almost always overpriced, most have a very "chainy" feel to them, they're a dime a dozen, and I just prefer dives. True pubs exist (and are great) but unfortunately the "Murray's" "O'Hanrahan's" and " Fitzy's" of our fine country tend to serve nachos brought to you buy cheap-looking women in short skirts who dance on the bar from time to time.

O'Shea's is, luckily, not quite that extreme and judging from the pictures on its walls is at least a fun place to be on St. Patrick's Day. Right down the street from Flanagan's (which it owns and I actually prefer) Molly Malone's (which it doesn't own and I admittedly don't care for) and that other one Donegan's (which just sort of exists), it actually took me awhile to finally go in any of the pubs on Baxter as their close proximity to one another too closely resembled the almost unbearable Faneuil Hall bars in Boston (think 4th Street Live). In fact, I probably mumbled something critical about "pub-alley" every time my girlfriend and I drove down Baxter for the first month I was in Louisville.

O'Shea's sticks out though, because of one thing: its patio. I love its patio. It's street level and practically on the sidewalk, its wide open, it's big, it has trees (and therefore shade, though the sun barely gets in to the patio area in the afternoon anyways), an outside bar, table service, and now a great happy hour. As far as a place to get a Guiness and sit outside goes, O'Shea's wins. At least on "pub alley."

What's more? They're going to start playing two movies on a projector screen on the patio every Monday night. The only time I've watched movies in a bar before was at one of my all-time favorites in Allston, MA  and it was usually very dark inside, very empty, I was on a large couch, and drinking $2 Brubaker. However, a movie outside, on a projector screen, on a summer Monday is an admittedly cool idea should it actually work, and if Monday's can keep the crowd minimal enough to actually hear the movie it's probably worth checking out.

My Examiner article is here

Specials are here:

• Happy Hour: $2 Bud Light pints, $3.50 well drinks, $10 bottles of Twisted brand wine, 1/2 off appetizers. Mon - Thur 5-8pm, Fridays 5-9pm starting July 16th CANCELED

•  Monday: "Sunset Cinema" on the patio. A large projection screen will show two films every Monday night, starting July 19th at sunset.
• Tuesday: $10 bottles of Twisted brand wines, after 6pm
• Wednesday: $3 Bells Oberon pints after 9pm, featured unique and/or specialty beer on tap at 7pm
• Thursday: Four kinds of Pinnacle Vodka punch bowls for $29.99 after 9pm

O'Shea's Traditional Irish Pub


956 Baxter Ave


(502) 589-7373

The Back Door

Once settled in Louisville (settled meaning the moving truck was unloaded) the first thing I did was to seek out the closest dive to my place. This happened to be a short walk from my apartment: Barret Bar, which I frequented for 2 weeks before it shut down.

Out of luck and still with no Louisville friends, a Google search lead me to the Outlook Inn - not a dive, at least not anymore - and then Cahoots - too hipster. I had seen the signs for The Back Door during my first few visits to ValuMarket but couldn't for the life of me comprehend where in the shopping center it was, nor did the elitist East Coaster in me have any interest in visiting a mini-mall bar in Kentucky (I was new).

However, as I started to get acquainted with those whom I now consider good friends, recommendations for The Back Door came piling in, and I quickly realized the joke was on me. Since then I've gone back every couple of weeks for ridiculously cheap drinks, great (who knew?) bar food, and perhaps the best people-watching of any bar I have ever been to.

Of course, I'm from Boston and spent some time in Seattle and Chicago before arriving in Kentucky last fall, so the everyday people and culture I still find fascinating - and is full force like no other at The Back Door - is nothing short of mundane for my born-and-raised friends that usually join me.

My only gripe isn't really a complaint, only that I'm often overlooked for locals and regulars at the bar, but if I were back home I'd expect nothing less from a place where the regulars are literally painted on the wall. I actually prefer a dive bar to be a place you have to earn your stripes, if that means being looked over after five minutes in line for someone who just walked in so be it.

My full Examiner review is here.

• Happy Hour: 4-8pm daily, $2.50 wells, $6.50 pitchers $2.50 pints of domestics, $1 off pitchers, $.75 off pints of imports
• Monday: $1.50 domestic bottles
• Tuesday: $2.50 wells
• Wednesday: $3.25 Jim Beams
• Thursday: $.75 off imported beer
• U of L and UK Gameday Specials : $6 pitchers of domestic, $.40 wings

The Back Door and The Back Burner Grill
1250 Bardstown Road (behind ValuMarket, along the north alley)
(502) 451-0659

8STGTQP82ZQG

Bearno's Highlands Happy Hour

Went to Bearno's on Bardstown earlier today for a beer and stumbled upon one of the best happy hours in Louisville.

Full review is here, but the details on their happy hour (or, in this case, happy day) and daily specials (which start when happy day ends at 7pm, except Sundays) below:

• Happy Hour: daily, seven days a week, from open (!) to 7pm. $1.75 domestic drafts, $2.50 well drinks, $3 house wine
• Monday: $3 Absolute drinks (all flavors)
• Tuesday: $3 Long Islands
• Wednesday: $3 Margaritas (rocks only)
• Thursday: $4 Makers, "Draft Night" $2 all drafts (imports, micros, domestics), pub trivia @ 7:30pm
• Friday: $1.50 Pabst Blue Ribbon drafts, $3 Crown Royal drinks
• Saturday $3 Jim Beam "your way"
• Sunday: $3 Effen Bloody Marys

Bonus: A featured "Beer of the Month" is on special all month long. PBR is $1.50 all June.

*UPDATE 7.06 : Picked up a salad to-go last night, stumbled upon another great deal. Monday's from 8:59pm - 12:01am (not sure what's up with the odd times) they host a $9.99 all-you-can eat and drink pizza and domestic draft buffet


Bearno's
1318 Bardstown Rd
(502) 456 4556

Cumberland Brews Happy Hour

Cumberland Brews is a brewpub on Bardstown in the highlands. Like most brewpubs the beer is great but can get a little pricey. However, they have daily specials AND a daily weekday happy hour. The food is standard pub food, mostly apps and sandwiches.

Stopped by one afternoon a couple weeks ago for a porter (delicious) and ended up getting the hummus plate (good) for something to snack on while hanging out on the (small, 4 table) patio. If you can snag a seat outside during happy hour its a good place to read the paper or hang out with a couple friends (but beware! like most brewpubs they don't serve booze).


You can see my full review here

• Monday: $5 Growler refills (a 1/2 gallon, take-home jug)
• Tuesday: $2.75 Pints all day long
• Wednesday: $10 Bison burger + a pint of beer (the burger alone is usually $9.50)
• Thursday: Cask conditioned beer is offered (hand pumped, unfiltered specialty beer, usually room temperature)
• Friday: $5 lunch specials
• Sunday: $3.25 Pints all day long
• Regular Happy Hour : $3.25 pints 4-7pm Mon-Fri

Cumberland Brews
1576 Bardstown Road
502 458 8727

Dragon King's Daughter Happy Hour

Dragon King's Daughter is one of my go to restaurants when I can make their 3-5 happy hour. Only draw back is they don't sell liquor, so you have to be in the mood for wine, sake or beer. Also, given its all bottled beer and they don't offer anything along the lines of PBR or Miller Lite, even with the happy hour prices the drinks aren't super cheap. However, the food is so absurdly cheap during happy hours that it makes up for it, and the (small, but rarely full) patio is a great place to sit on a warm summer night.


Here is a re post of an article I already wrote for examiner.

The only thing better than happy hour : two happy hours in one day. At Dragon King's Daughter on Bardstown Road and Ellwood Avenue in the Highlands, this glorious phenomenon happens six days a week from 3-5pm and again from 10pm-12am (they close at 10pm on Sunday).

Similar in quality and price to its sister restaurant Maido on Frankfort Ave, Dragon King's Daughter veers slightly from Maido's strictly Japanese menu to offer, according to its website, "an eclectic fusion of Japanese and American fare." Here, eclectic means tacos and pizza to compliment your Makizushi, but by "taco" DKD is referring to options like tuna teriyaki with wasabi sour cream and by "pizza" they mean smoked salmon with wasabi-cream cheese sauce on flat bread.

All three - sushi, tacos, and pizza - are offered on the cheap during the early happy hour. While the late-night deals are reserved for sushi rolls, about quadruple the amount are offered the second time around and you can still get pizzas and snacks starting at $5 and $2.50 respectively, all day and night.

What about drinks? The 3-5pm has discounted wine, beer and sake. 10pm-12am offers select $10 bottles of wine. The only con: No liquor, no draft beers. Here's the Details:

3pm - 5pm:

* $1 off beers, $2 off glasses of wine, $5 off bottles of wine, 1/2 off hot sake, $3 off cold sake
* Half pizzas (all you'll need) $5, Tacos $2 each, Sushi from $3-$5.

10pm - 12am:

* $10 select bottles of wine
* 25+ varieties of sushi rolls from $3 to $11

Dragon King's Daughter

1126 Bardstown Road

502 632 2444