Access Louisville

Many restaurants seem to live within four weeks of closing.Lawrence Weeks, chef and co-owner of Murray's Creole Pub, brought up that chilling point during a live recording of the Access Louisville podcast earlier this week. "If we do a month that's bad, it's hard to recover from that," he said on the show. That's why matters like food costs, the economy and consumer behavior are so important to the industry. Murray's Creole Pub is located in a 2,500-square-foot, two-story building at 1576 Bardstown Road in the Highlands. It offers a casual, pub‑style space on the first floor and a high‑end dining room upstairs.Weeks was joined on the podcast by Noam Bilitzer, of NuLu Mediterranean restaurant  MeeshMeesh, Anne Shadle, of Mayan Cafe, also located in NuLu, LBF Restaurant Reporter Michael Jones and LBF Managing Editor David Mann. The panel discussed the impact of the delayed Kentucky Oaks post time during Derby week, staffing difficulties and turnover, thin profit margins (avera

Louisville's Waterfront Botanical Garden is growing.Yeah, that's a pun — but it's also a true statement, considering the massive expansion project taking place there. This week Philip Koester, CEO at Waterfront Botanical Gardens, joins LBF's Access Louisville podcast to tells us about everything happening place there. Waterfront Botanical Gardens, 1435 Frankfort Avenue, is an urban botanical garden just east of Downtown Louisville, built on the site of a former landfill that was closed in the 1970s. The project opened to the public in October 2019.The first phase of a four-phase masterplan has been completed, representing the development of approximately five acres of the 23-acre site. Phase 2 will include the addition of the Bonsai House and Display Gardens, an approximately $8 million project. The garden already has about 50 trees in its collection. "Over the next several years we plan to have a total of 150 bonsai trees," Koester says on the show. One of the trees — found at t

It's April in Louisville so plenty of restaurants are opening around town. We go over the latest on this week's Access Louisville podcast. We start off the show with a conversation about Web and Honey. This deli is coming to the former ShopBar space at 950 Barret Ave. The deli is being launched by Melissa Ann Culton, the former co‑owner of Bluegrass Pizza & Pub in Danville, Kentucky.ShopBar closed in June 2025 after six years in business.After that, we chat about Harry's Taphouse, a Jeffersonville bar and restaurant that's coming to Georgetown. And we discuss Smoketown’s Trellis Brewing, which is launching an in-house kitchen to produce food designed specifically to pair with the brewery’s beers. We also discuss a new soul food restaurant coming to Russell, called GiGi's Kitchen, a new location for Indi's Chicken in New Albany and the story behind My Brotha's BBQ, which opened recently in Jeffersonville.Our next live podcast, "Access Louisville: The State of Dining

Join us live: Our next live podcast, "Access Louisville: The State of Dining Out," is set for 4 p.m. April 21 at 500 West Jefferson. Three local chefs are coming on: Noam Bilitzer, of MeeshMeesh, Anne Shadle of Mayan Cafe and Lawrence Weeks of Murray’s Creole Pub. We’ll talk about issues facing the industry, including food costs, changing neighborhood dynamics and more. Tickets are available here.What would a deal for Brown-Forman Corp. mean in Louisville? We chat about it on this week's Access Louisville podcast.Louisville-based spirits giant Brown-Forman and Paris-based Pernod Ricard have confirmed they're in discussions about a potential merger. LBF Bourbon reporter Stephen P. Schmidt is on this week's show to talk about the size of the company this would create and how it would stack up in the industry. Brown-Forman (BF.A, BF.B) is Greater Louisville’s fifth-largest public company, with most recent annual revenue of $3.98 billion. It's key brands include Jack Daniel's, W

Join us live: Our next live podcast, "Access Louisville: The State of Dining Out," is set for 4 p.m. April 21 at 500 West Jefferson. Three local chefs are coming on: Noam Bilitzer, of MeeshMeesh, Anne Shadle of Mayan Cafe and Lawrence Weeks of Murray’s Creole Pub. We’ll talk about issues facing the industry, including food costs, changing neighborhood dynamics and more. Tickets are available here.The restaurant scene is ever evolving and we go over the latest on the Access Louisville podcast this week.To start off the show, we chat about the future of Vincenzo's. With news of the potential redevelopment of the Humana Building and surrounding property, we've all been wondering what would happen to this venerable Louisville restaurant that's on the site. Reporter Michael L. Jones, who interviewed the brothers behind the restaurant, explains that a lot is still up in the air. Brothers Agostino and Vincenzo Gabriele opened the authentic Northern Italian restaurant in May 1986 after David

Join us live: Our next live podcast, "Access Louisville: The State of Dining Out," is set for 4 p.m. April 21 at 500 West Jefferson. Three local chefs are coming on: Noam Bilitzer, of MeeshMeesh, Anne Shadle of Mayan Cafe and Lawrence Weeks of Murray’s Creole Pub. We’ll talk about issues facing the industry, including food costs, changing neighborhood dynamics and more. Tickets are available here.Greater Louisville Inc. is out and One Louisville is in. We go over the new economic development strategy on this week's Access Louisville podcast. The creation of One Louisville follows the merger of GLI and the short-lived Louisville Economic Development Alliance last month.The new economic development agency debuted at GLI's final annual meeting on Wednesday. And LBF Reporter Michael L. Jones recently did an interview with One Louisville Board Chairman Matt Thornton. On the show this week, we talk about what led up to the change and what to expect next.After that we chat about some recent South

Join us live: Our next live podcast, "Access Louisville: The State of Dining Out," is set for 4 p.m. April 21 at 500 West Jefferson. We’ll talk about issues facing the industry, including food costs, changing neighborhood dynamics and more. Tickets are available here.Hollywood is shining a spotlight on Louisville with HBO's true crime documentary "Murder in Glitterball City."The doc, which released a few weeks ago, was based on the book "A Dark Room in Glitterball City" by local author David Dominé. And he joins us on this week's show. Dominé is also the owner of Louisville Historic Tours, which gives architectural and ghost tours in the city. We give our impressions on the 2-part series, which — in spite of the heinous crime at the center of it — somehow manages to paint Louisville in a charming light. That was core to the book as Dominé explains, as he wanted the Old Louisville neighborhood to feature like a character in the book.As Dominé notes on the show, the book

Join us live: Our next live podcast, "Access Louisville: The State of Dining Out," is set for 4 p.m. April 21 at 500 West Jefferson.  Three local chefs are coming on: Noam Bilitzer, of MeeshMeesh, Brittany Kelly of North of Bourbon and Lawrence Weeks of Murray’s Creole Pub. We’ll talk about issues facing the industry, including food costs, changing neighborhood dynamics and more. Tickets are available here.New apartment and single family home developments around town top this week's Access Louisville podcast. We start off talking about plans to renovate the Hubbuch & Co. Architecture building at 320-324 W. Main Sts. into 14 apartment units. Developers for the project include Lee Weyland, partner at CORE Real Estate Partners, Dean Wilkinson, president of Wilkinson Builders, and Bobby Bailey, founder of Louisville Geek.After that, we chat about plans for new apartments at 11501 Schlatter Road, which is the former site of Valor Traditional Academy. Six permits were filed detailing the construc

McDonald’s owner-operator John Salls joins us on the Access Louisville podcast this week.Salls, who has more than 10 years of experience in the fast-food restaurant industry, talks about leading the restaurant group, having an impact on his young employees and carrying on his mother's legacy. John Salls is the son of Ira Salls, who in 1991 became the first Black female McDonald's franchisee in Kentucky and Indiana. She passed away in 2024 at the age of 70 and John talked about how she inspired him. “It's the reason why I do what I do," he tells LBF Editor-in-Chief Shea Van Hoy. "It's the reason why I'm so dedicated to the brand, just watching my mother — all the sacrifices and strides that she made as a trailblazer. "I'm really proud to carry on her legacy and continue to be a staple in the community for everyone, and just try to exemplify some of the things that she believed in.”He also spoke about  the challenges of operating in a price-competitive market, includ

We cover a number of topics on this week's Access Louisville podcast.First, we chat about the University of Louisville ending its long-running management of an early childhood center near campus and severing its ties with Family Scholar House due to budget constraints. Louisville Scholar House includes 56 apartments, the Owsley Brown Frazier Academic Services Center and an Early Learning Campus (ELC), which provides care and early learning for children ages six weeks to four years old through the College of Education and Human Development.After that, we talk about the Louisville Kings, a United Football League franchise that will start playing in March at Lynn Family Stadium. Reporter Stephen P. Schmidt tells us about efforts to build local support for the new team — particularly among the business community. We also chat about what we think of the team's newly unveiled jerseys, which feature a forrest green meets lime green aesthetic. Late in the show, we switch gears to go over the recently announ

A new pizza joint is coming to NuLu and a new place for steak burgers is coming to the South End. We talk about both — and more — on this week's Access Louisville podcast. We start out around Dixie Highway. Reporter Michael L. Jones recently covered a press conference from Louisville Mayor Craig Greenberg. During the Feb. 10 conference, the mayor announced the first four restaurants to receive grants from the city’s $1 million Dixie Highway Corridor Fund:LongHorn Steakhouse will open a full-service restaurant at 7401 Dixie Highway;Crumbl Cookies, one of the nation’s fastest-growing dessert chains, will open its first South End store at 10970 Dixie Highway;Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers will build a new restaurant at 8700 Dixie Hwy; andDerby City Pizza will expand its location at 12900 Dixie Hwy to include an event space and outdoor game yard.We also chat about the first Southern Indiana chef to be considered by the James Beard Foundation. Red Yeti’s Chef Michael Bowe was selected as a semifin

You can't be a suburb of nowhere.And that means that Downtowns are important to communities, including Louisville. Jeff O'Brien, executive director at the Louisville Metro Cabinet for Economic Development, made that point during Access Louisville: Heart of the City, a live event put on by Louisville Business First on Feb. 5 at the Baird Conference Center at 500 W. Jefferson Street. The event doubled as a live recording of the Access Louisville podcast. Lee Weyland, of Core Real Estate, Hank Hillebrand, of the Poe Cos., and Rebecca Fleischaker, of the Louisville Downtown Partnership were on the show as well. Louisville Business First Senior Reporter Joel Stinnett moderated the discussion.The panel spoke about the importance of development in Louisville's urban core, not just in downtown but also NuLu, Butchertown and elsewhere. It was a particularly timely discussion considering all the recent news on new developments.On Tuesday, Feb. 3, Louisville-based Poe Cos. announced it had officially sign

Access Louisville: Heart of the City: Our next live podcast is 4 p.m. Feb. 5. Join us as we talk about development within Louisville's urban core with Lee Weyland, of Core Real Estate, Hank Hillebrand, of the Poe Cos., and Rebecca Fleischaker, of the Louisville Downtown Partnership. Details and registration here.Imagine if Louisville landed three new hotel towers.Seems far fetched, right? But there are actually three such projects floating around out there. We talk about those on this week's Access Louisville podcast. The latest (and focus of the show) is a recently unveiled plan for a J.W. Marriott at 4031 S. 4th Street (formerly known as Brown & Williamson Tower). Indianapolis-based Ghoman Group has secured franchise approval to bring a JW Marriott hotel to the 26-story structure, which is in the middle of Fourth Street Live. The company has said construction is set to begin “soon” with an opening date set for sometime in 2027. There are some unanswered questions, though, including how much th

Access Louisville: Heart of the City: Our next live podcast is 4 p.m. Feb. 5. Join us as we talk about development within Louisville's urban core with Lee Weyland, of Core Real Estate, Hank Hillebrand, of the Poe Cos., and Rebecca Fleischaker, of the Louisville Downtown Partnership. Details and registration here.Few people in Louisville probably know the overlap between art and business better than Ben Robinson.Robinson, a singer-turned-CEO, was appointed as general director and CEO of the Kentucky Opera in November. We get a chance to catch up with him this week on Access Louisville, a weekly podcast from Louisville Business First.Robinson is not only an accomplished singer but a stage director and arts executive who brings creative vision, operational expertise and a deep commitment to opera as a community-building force, a release announcing his hire last year said. He replaced former CEO Barbara Lynne Jamison. Peggy Kriha Miller has been leading in an interim capacity.Most recently, Robinson was gene

Join us live: KY Inno's annual Startups to Watch Awards highlights early-stage companies that are poised to make big moves in the coming year. Join us 4:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 27 at the Ice House, 226 E Washington St. Tickets for the event are available here.A plan for the future of the Mid City Mall site seems to be taking shape. But is it good enough? We talk about it on this week's Access Louisville podcast. The plan hasn't been fully revealed but there is plenty of information out there. Most recently, LBF Senior Reporter Joel Stinnett reported that The Metts family, which owns the property at 1250 Bardstown Road, is partnering in a joint venture with Atlanta-based Branch Properties to redevelop the site, according to the agenda for an upcoming Highland Commerce Guild meeting. Branch Properties develops, operates and invests in grocery-focused retail properties, according to its website. The majority of its portfolio, which spans eight states in the Southeast, consists of Publix-anchored pro

Access Louisville: Heart of the City: Our next live podcast is 4 p.m. Feb. 5. Join us as we talk about development within Louisville's urban core with Lee Weyland, of Core Real Estate, Hank Hillebrand, of the Poe Cos., and Rebecca Fleischaker, of the Louisville Downtown Partnership. Details and registration here.We've unplugged our crystal ball, waited five minutes, then plugged it back in. Surely, now, we'll be able to see the future. As we have the last few years, we start another year of the Access Louisville podcast by making predictions for what we think will happen in the area over the next 12 months. We tackle a large range of topics in our predictions — construction, sports, business trends, bourbon and more. You'll have to listen in on your favorite podcast streaming app to hear all of them but here are just a few to give you a taste: Greater Louisville Inc. will change its name. It's role and collaboration with Louisville Economic Development Authority is being reconsidered,

Against the Grain wound down its operations at Louisville Slugger Field in late December.This week on the Access Louisville podcast, we chat with Sam Cruz, one of the founders of the brewery, about the closure and what's next for the Louisville beer brand.The company had been at Louisville Slugger Field for 14 years. It announced the closure in a Facebook post recently, saying its lease at the ballpark is expiring and it has opted not to renew. The restaurant’s last day was Tuesday, Dec. 23.Losing the space is like letting go of a "living memory," Cruz tells us on the show. But he's not sad about it."Its hard to be sad about evolution," he said. "Life changes. Our company and us as people we've grown and evolved and the restaurant has kinda run its course. It's time to look beyond that. I felt really comfortable ... being able to land the plane as oppose to holding on and potentially crashing at some point." In recent years, Cruz and business partner Jerry Gna

A deal that would see the Humana Building, at 500 W. Main Street, redeveloped as a large hotel, seems to be cooking behind the scenes.LBF Senior Reporter Joel Stinnett broke the story recently and joins us on the Access Louisville podcast to tell us about what he's learned. As reported on Dec. 12, Louisville-based Poe Cos. is in the planning stages to convert the 26-story Humana Building into a 1,000-room hotel, according to multiple sources familiar with the project. The tower is located at 500 W. Main St., near Louisville's Belvedere, Museum Row and the KFC Yum Center. To reach 1,000 rooms, an additional tower may be constructed behind the existing tower, near or where The Exchange office space and Vincenzo's restaurant now sit, according to at least one source. The existing tower would be converted to house the majority of the rooms, the sources said.On the show, Stinnett tells us how his reporting on the matter came together, other projects the Poe Cos. has in the works and what the needs l

Louisville got a major economic development announcement recently with the news that multinational tech giant Foxconn is opening up a facility here — but it does raise some questions.We talk about what we know — and what we don't know— on this week's Access Louisville podcast.Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear and other officials announced on Tuesday, Dec. 9, that Foxconn Technology USA Corp. — the American subsidiary of Taiwan-based Foxconn Technology Co. Ltd. — would invest $173 million to launch a manufacturing operation in Jefferson County, creating 180 full-time jobs. In a news release, Beshear called it the company's first U.S. manufacturing operation, but that doesn't appear to be the case. The other main question we're wrestling with is what products are going to be made at Foxconn's local facility, which is planned at 6675 Randy Coe Lane. The company has not confirmed anything officially, though there are some hints.The Foxconn discussion is just one part of the podcast this wee

We've got a classic restaurant news update on this week's Access Louisville podcast.We start things off by talking about Mashup Food Hall, which opened its doors at 750 E. Jefferson St. recently. Part of the $115 million NuLu Yard development from Weyland Ventures, Mashup Food Hall is home to six local vendors, including Dipped & Drizzled and Mable’s Southern Kitchen, Barcelona Bistro Bar, 721 Mint It! Herb & Juice Bar, Nexus Bar Bites (formerly Happy Belly Bistro), Wiltshire Pantry Bakery & Café and Cold Stone Bagels.We also talk about a couple of recent closures around town, including Fizz District in Crescent Hill and OutCast Fish & Oyster Bar in New Albany. We also hear about a new location for Maya Bagel Express, a New York-style bagel restaurant, which opened at 2513 Preston Highway on the edge of Germantown. The more than 3,000-square-foot space was previously occupied by a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant that closed in August.Following a break, LBF Senior Reporter Joel Stin