Sidebar in Louisville summer menu includes floats, burgers and more
In honor of Pride Month, Sidebar at Whiskey Row offers a special Rainbow Float to go along with their well-known burgers. See what else we tired.
- Sidebar at Whiskey Row in Louisville, Kentucky, is known for its creatively named burgers with legal themes.
- The “Ambulance Chaser” burger, featuring bourbon barbecue sauce and tobacco onions, is a customer favorite.
- Beyond burgers, Sidebar offers various appetizers, fries, and cocktails, including a monthly drink special.
It would be fair to pause before biting into something called “Death Penalty.”
But, Sidebar at Whiskey Row has stayed alive in downtown Louisville for 12 years partly by serving such burgers, paired with legal-inspired names such as “The 5th,” “Jailbird,” and “Hot vs. Brown.”
The cheeky monikers, along with matching decorations like an indoor mural of the opening words of the U.S. Constitution, are more than a randomly-chosen restaurant theme. It’s all meant to pay homage to the late Larry Jones, a longtime Louisville attorney and professional magician who performed regularly at the former Squirrelly’s Tea Room in the same building where Sidebar now sits.
Another burger called “Ambulance Chaser” has earned the title of by-far favorite for regulars and staff, according to general manager Lissa Ramos, who started “day one” with the restaurant/bar at 129 N. Main St.
Like all of Sidebar’s burgers, the patty is a blend of certified angus beef with chuck, brisket, and short rib. And you won’t be asked about your preferred temperature, as burgers are served medium.
For the “Ambulance Chaser,” toppings such as bourbon barbecue sauce, melted cheddar cheese, two pieces of applewood smoked bacon, and squiggly strips of fried tobacco onions are not just thrown together, but carefully composed so you can see each delicately-placed ingredient, all sandwiched between a softly-toasted brioche bun.
“It’ll be on every menu we ever do,” Ramos told the Courier Journal of the burger. “And we will never change it.”
In terms of factors that make this spot stand out, including a location literally on the side of a historic building and within steps of the KFC! Yum Center, consistency may sound boring.
But, producing the same quality burgers year after year has worked in Sidebar’s favor, Ramos said, as plenty of other establishments around downtown have come and gone since 2013.
As she said, if you order the “Ambulance Chaser” and “fall in love with it,” you can bet it’ll be the same next time.
Sidebar offers a different specialty burger each month, which you can usually find details for written on a chalkboard while walking downhill to the entrance on 2nd Street.
These burger concoctions sets up Sidebar to be a repeat participant, or offender to go with the theme, Louisville Burger Week, which returns this year July 14-20. Sidebar has signed on to be one of more than 40 participants in the annual burger celebration.
The menu also features salads, appetizers like pimento cheese fritters and pretzel bites, and, for its shining star of sides, a variety of fries. You’ll find fried dill pickle fries, fries inspired by the Kentucky Hot Brown, and fries of the Cajun, sweet potato, or truffle persuasion.
Though the Whiskey Row haunt, as to be expected, is amply stocked with bourbon ― and its barrel-aged Old Fashioned is the No. 1 seller ― the bar keeps things interesting with vodka cocktails such as a salted espresso martini and a simple, yet ultra-refreshing strawberry lemonade.
A drink special, too, is debuted each month, and for Pride Month, Sidebar offers a Rainbow Float made with orange, lime and lemon sherbet, Starry soda, and a touch of whipped cream and rainbow sprinkles, plus a cute, non-edible rainbow topper. To make the float “guilty,” there’s the option to add a shot of Jim Beam Pineapple Whiskey.
For a dessert option offered year-round, try the bourbon ball milkshake with bourbon cream or a classic root beer float.
Sidebar, 129 N. 2nd St., is open 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 5-9 p.m. Monday-Wednesday, 11 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Thursday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday, and noon to 10 p.m. Saturday.
We featured Sidebar at Whiskey Row in the latest installment of our video series, called the “Best Thing I Ate This Week.” You can follow along each week by visiting Instagram.com/courierjournal. Reach food and dining reporter Amanda Hancock at [email protected].
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