The Best Places in Phoenix Hill & Butchertown

1. USA Today Restaurants of the Year
2. Eater The 18 Best Louisville Restaurants

The hummus comes with schug, herb tehina, and enough conviction to make every other hummus in town feel like it needs to apologize. This is a casual Eastern Mediterranean restaurant drawing from Palestine, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, and Israel, with a menu that roams widely and settles nowhere predictable. The chef behind it earned a James Beard nomination for Best Chef Southeast. Come hungry enough for babka.

1. James Beard Awards 2025 · Nominee · Best Chef: Southeast · Noam Bilitzer
2. Eater The 18 Best Louisville Restaurants
3. James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: Southeast · Noam Bilitzer

1. AAA Approved
2. Eater The 18 Best Louisville Restaurants

1. AAA Three Diamonds

1. AAA Approved

1. Eater The 18 Best Louisville Restaurants

The name undersells it: Butchertown Grocery Bakery is a breakfast and lunch spot where the pastry case gets equal billing with the sandwich menu. The wagyu pastrami sandwich with hot mustard and a runny egg has the kind of following that fills tables before noon. Weekend mornings bring out the rolled croissants in rotating flavors, the kind of thing people plan their Saturdays around without quite admitting it.

1. Eater The 18 Best Louisville Restaurants

1. Difford's Guide 4 stars · Difford's Guide

The bar is a skinny brick-and-wood-floor sliver off the dining room, one row of tall tables against the wall and barely enough aisle to turn around in. A cocktail bar where the staff in flannel and jeans serves a menu that, despite the name, doesn't lean especially hard on rye whiskey. The attached restaurant runs fine-dining prices, so expect the drinks to match.

1. Difford's Guide 3 stars · Difford's Guide

1. Esquire The Best New Restaurants in America