Manny & Merle

Last night we ventured to Manny and Merle’s for dinner before the UofL game. This was my first time actually eating here and … WHY HAVE I WAITED SO LONG. There are a few things I appreciate in a social establishment. Manny and Merle’s were able to check off many of them — PLAID, COLD BEER, CHEAP TACOS, GREAT MUSIC, and FRIENDLY STAFF. Oh and did I mention tacos and beer? We started with the queso and chips. The queso was so-​so and if you are ordering a burger they also come tortilla chips, so we were alittle overloaded. My husband went with the queso burger with chorizo and it was a litle slice of queso heaven. He would only part with one bite but it was all I needed to dream about it. I had a green chili pork taco and the tortilla soup. The taco was very spicy but delicious and the soup was very flavorful. The tacos are small so I would opt for ordering more than one or a taco and a side. Unilocal has a great check-​in offer for FREE CHURROS … I mean really free churros … need I say more? The only downfall was the wait for a table and the acoustics in the PACKED house. I would not recommend going before a UofL basketball game if you are trying to get anywhere on time. However, if you want good music, good food, and don’t really need to talk to the person next to you this is your place!

I’ve been itching to try this place ever since tasting their food at a Unilocal event. They claim to have the best tacos and the best margaritas in Louisville; I’ll vouch for them in the first case. My girlfriend and I fortuitously stopped in on a Tuesday — «Taco Tuesday» — when the tacos and margaritas are heavily discounted. We ordered six different types of tacos and agreed that the Green Chili Pork was hands down the best. In second place, we preferred the Chorizo. In third we both liked the Crispy Fish. The Carnitas, the Pollo Rojo, and the Brisket were all forgettable, though none were disappointing. The margaritas were excellent, but too salty AND too sweet for me to consider them among our city’s best. The churros were one-​dimensional and too plain; I feel like they might benefit from an additional component such as whipped cream or fresh fruit. The people associated with running Manny & Merle are extremely friendly. The service was top notch and the pricing was very reasonable. With three exceptional tacos, an above average margarita, smiling employees, and reduced pricing on Tuesdays, I’m willing to forgive the establishment’s country western theme and music. Manny & Merle can expect to be seeing plenty of me in the future.

Service was OUTSTANDING! (That’s a big plus for me always!) Sat at the bar on New Years (Yay! They were open!) Drink specials were mimosa’s and Bloody Mary’s. I happily downed a few of the Mary’s, which were complete with a bacon swizzler. Great spice, bacon was a nice and interesting touch. Saw bacon also on the menu as an appetizer selection with dip for those of you that are huge bacon fans (okay, hubs likes his bacon). I went for sandwich which was good. I wasn’t a huge fan of the parmesan fries, but my hubs chowed them. Thin cut. He said the taco specials were great, average taco prices are $ 4 a piece. We will return to try other options.

Great food, fantastic ambiance, and downright devilish whiskey and bourbon. I’ve never been to Kentucky and so I was excited to get me some bourbon.
It was a Friday night and this was only one of two places nearby that had live music. Though there was no dance floor, a few people made one for themselves. Kudos to them!
We had the 10-​piece appetizer wings. The skin could be crispier, but maaaan that cilantro crema sauce brought them to a whole’nother level! Ranch and blue cheese don’t even compare.
I had some fried chicken, Nashville hot style (it was only mildly spicy, and I like spicy, but I heard the extra hot is really really spicy), and per special request, the spiked honey on the side. I also got the mac and cheese, which was nothing too special, but paired with the fried chicken, was heaven. Crispy, smothered in seasoning, and juicy on the inside, the fried chicken hit the spot. That and the mac and cheese, of course.
My boyfriend and his friend got 3 different tacos each. I was too distracted with my own food to even try theirs, but they complained that it wasn’t hot, like room temperature. I had one taco of my own, the pork one, which was tasty! But I was also disappointed because it wasn’t hot and they didn’t char or even really heat the corn tortillas.
The waiter had such a great attitude, and even gave me a free shot glass as a souvenir!
Note: It was a Friday night and their kitchen was open until midnight! Which is a lot later than most of the places nearby (most of the bar/​restaurants nearby close their kitchen at 10pm). Huge plus.

Good food. We went on a Tuesday and it was $ 2 tacos! Margaritas were yummy and tacos were good too. Service was a little slow but host was very friendly and nice and checked with us several times. Very loud place but fun!

Great atmosphere! They have a fantastic lunch special, pick 2 for $ 6.99. I choose a salad with a chipotle ranch and boy did it have a little kick. I also choose to add a sandwich for an up charge of $ 2.00 and had a chicken sandwich. It was wonderful! The location is in the middle of downtown and a perfect option for anything held at the Yum Center!

I just love love love Manny & Merle!
Great service, great atmosphere, and great food!
I’m seriously Obsessed with their tacos, I haven’t had a bad one yet!
Highly recommend!

Where to start with this magnificent little establishment downtown? I had initially heard about it from my co-​workers one day (both Unilocalers, I might add) and they highly recommended that I give it a shot considering how much I love El Taco Lucador and cheap eats. So while we were on vacation me and the boyfriend took a gander and we will be coming back!
You can tell the history of the building they are in by the interior it’s rustic and has down home kind of feel to it. We walked in and we were greeted by who I am guessing to the manager of this location. He was very friendly and smiled the entire time, he even offered to take our umbrellas and keep them with him so we didn’t have to worry about losing them or setting them on our table — which I thought was really nice of him to offer to do.
We were seated at a table by the window and being the people watcher that I am I wanted to look outside. (Plus downtown Louisville is just so pretty to look at as well!) Our server comes over, Andrew I believe, and asks for what we were going to have for drinks. Feeling as hungover as we were from a night with our friends, I unfortunately could not handle a Mannyrita (however next time, game on!). My boyfriend just got a tea, but I simply had to have a Copper and Kings soda (OMG, so good!). We browsed the menu and ended up ordering some queso and chips. It wasn’t too big but enough to wet your appetite for the main dish.
We finally decided what we were going to order. I decided I need 4, yes FOUR tacos, since they had a special where any taco that wasn’t fish or steak was only $ 3. So I ended up ordering the Wild Mushroom, Chorizo, Crispy Fish and the award winning Green Chili Pork. I’ll start with my least favorites and move on the best of them. So I was really looking forward to the mushroom and chorizo tacos and while they looked quite delicious, they fell all the way flat with flavor. The mushroom taco tasted bland and underseasoned while the chorizo had almost no heat and tasted like it was just ground up pork. Those two being the first two tacos that I ate, I did not have very high hopes for the following. HOWEVER, the Crispy Fish and Green Chili Pork were absolutely great. The crispy fish was a deep fried fish filet (obvs) with a PBR beer batter. It wasn’t the least bit greasy like I thought it would be and you got that satisfying crunch on each nibble! The Baja Crema they add to it was soooooooo damn good! I wanted put into a bottle to take home with me. The final taco I got around to eat was that award winner, Green Chili Pork, and I completely understand why it won! It’s so tasty and has just the right amount of heat that and this one also has a crema too. A freaking Roasted Garlic crema! You pair that with that delicious green chili jam, heaven. I would say next time I come here I *want* to try some of the other tacos, but that Green Chili is a hard one to pass up so time will tell.
My boyfriend went a different route than I did. He opted for the Southern Style quarter chicken with the spiked honey sauce and he also got a side of the Mac & Cheese. Though we should have known it was going to HUGE because: A) it was titled a ‘Fixin’ on the menu and B) it was stated that it is a shareable portion. But who doesn’t love a WHOLE BUNCH of Mac & Cheese? So we figured with my tacos and his chicken plus the mac we’d be golden, but it was more like practically bloated! His chicken was perfectly cooked, still moist and very flavorful and that sauce was the bomb dot com! So back to that Mac N’Cheese … Scott (my bf) gets through about half of it and pushes it over to me as I’m noshing down my last bit of the Green Chili Pork Taco, which means he wants to me eat the rest. I try a little bit of it and even though I was basically bloated already I went ahead ate the rest. It was soooooooo good! The Mac and Cheese is better than the best I’ve ever had!
As I’ve already stated a second trip is REQUIRED! I need some of their drinks and I also have got to have that Green Chili Pork Taco and Mac’n’Cheese at least eight-​thousand more times!

I have been to Manny & Merle about 4 times so that tells you something! Their location is great, they have outdoor seating and a bar area. Service has been good and prices are not too bad! Their «pollo rojo» tacos are really good and their guacamole is delicious! I would suggest adding more items to the «dessert» menu as they only have churros. I will definitely come back!

A friend’s birthday party brought us back to M&M for our third visit but first in several months. I was pleasantly surprised to see the menu had greatly expanded since our last trip. This had primarily been a taco joint, but now it has a lot more variety, including fried chicken and Nashville-​style hot chicken, burgers, salad and the like. It seems to fit more with the honky-​tonk vibe.
With that said, of course I went Mexican for my order anyway. The wife and I split some chicken nachos, which were good if a little light on the toppings, and I also added a Baja fish taco, which was excellent.
The beer list also seems to have gotten much bigger and better since my last visit, as there were plenty of local options from places like Against the Grain, Apocalypse, Goodwood and West Sixth. Way to represent, guys!
This place does get pretty loud, which made conversation a little difficult with a large party. Of course, they often have live music, so if you’re going for that you probably don’t mind the acoustics too much.
Overall, this is a cool place to have dinner, especially if you’re attending an event at the arena or in town for a convention downtown. With so many good taco places in town, I probably won’t go out of my way to make it back soon. But it’s great to know it’s there and that there are more delicious options available on the menu and at the bar.

I’ve been to manny and Merle’s a couple times and must say that I really enjoy the place!
The outdoor seating was perfect in the summer time, and even still great right now! I just love the vibe of the place. There was live music last night too, which was a plus!
The food is pretty darn good as well! The hot chicken is a must! Unless you can handle it, I suggest getting the hot not the hotter, as even mom who usually finds American spicy foods quite mild said it lived up to her standard of hot. I personally couldn’t handle it at all! I also recommend getting the kale salad as a side— it was delicious! The mac n cheese was pretty mediocre, though the fries were pretty good! The churros were quite yummy as well! Next time I think I’ll try something new; maybe the Dixie chicken or tacos!
Happy hour is pretty great as well! Get the margarita!

The food I have had from Manny & Merle, whether from the brick and mortar location or from festivals where they had a booth, has been pretty good. And the staff that I have encountered have been genial and welcoming.
My problem is with pricing and advertising. I went in… prepared with enough money for 2 tacos and a tip, based on their menu. I ordered and the bartender rang it up under the lunch special of «2 items for $ 7» (pre-​tax). Except I ordered the mushroom taco and the chorizo taco. Both listed for $ 3 individually. I asked that my taco order be rung up not under the special because it would be cheaper for me. I was informed that while the menu and the website state that those tacos are $ 3/​ea, the prices have actually gone up and they are just waiting for new updated menus. It didn’t amount to a lot of money, but I feel cheated and lied to. Since my visit, over a month ago, the prices on the menu are still the same. But beware… you *will* be charged more.
I don’t think you should be charging more until your menu can accurately reflect the price the customer should expect to pay.
At least I had enough money for the tacos. No longer for the tip.

I have dined here a handful of times and also been for happy hour with friends, but never visited for lunch. I was impressed! They have an awesome option for lunch that is like $ 7…you pick 2 different items and get half portions of them both. Yay! I chose nachos and tortilla soup. I was not disappointed. The nachos are piled high with black beans, cheese, guacamole, and tomato salsa. The tortilla soup was nice and hot with a good flavor. I could have added meat to either of these options but kept it vegetarian. :)
I thoroughly enjoyed the tastes of both items I ordered and was so pleased with the low cost and full belly once I was finished. And… don’t forget to check in on Unilocal so you can receive a free order of churros!
P.S.
I did not partake in any alcohol, however if it had been later in the day I would have gladly ordered a house margarita! They are pretty good.

I recently heard about Manny & Merle after reading a few new reviews on Unilocal.I checked out the drink specials (half priced wines, Mannyritas, wells and Dos Equis, Tuesday-​Friday 3−7PM) and also saw that they had a check in deal (free churros in chocolate sauce) and was pretty much sold on giving it a try.
On a Wednesday evening this place was delightfully packed, always a good sign to me.
Upon entering we were promptly greeted by a friendly manager who sat us at a clean and comfortable half booth/​half table facing the patio. Although a little too snug for my SO, it was perfect for me. I don’t mind getting a bit cozy.
We were introduced to our waitress, Ashley, right after being seated. I must say, Ashley is one of the absolute best server’s I’ve ever had. She was attentive, friendly and gave great recommendations. We had to send back a a few things and she didn’t skip a beat, everything came back quickly and she made sure that it tasted the way we wanted it to. She definitely made this a great experience.
I started off with a Mannyritta and some pretzels and queso for an appetizer. Wow, the pretzels and queso were astonishing. The pretzels were the best I’ve ever tried at any restaurant; they came out piping hot, fluffy and so flavorful. It is the perfect pretzel bread for dipping into drippy cheese. The queso that accompanies it was so good that we kept it after the pretzels were gone so we could dip our fries in it.
My Mannyritta, unfortunately, had so much salt on the inside that it tasted like tequila ocean water. It looked absolutely beautiful, however and was the perfect size to go with my meal. I let Ashley know about the drink and she fixed it right away with no fuss. Hey, no problem, the next one was perfection. When I got my new one it was delicious and I loved it. At 3.50 during happy hour, these top shelf margaritas are an absolute steal.
I love the food options here, I couldn’t decide between trying a few pollo rojo tacos, the hot chicken or a queso burger, so I asked Ashley, who recommended if I was really hungry (I was STARVING), to try the hot chicken, which I did. I also ordered some parm fries, and my SO ordered the queso burger with house made chips.
We got our food fairly quickly. Mine was wonderful, the half chicken (I underestimated how big half of a chicken was) was super flavorful, the perfect amount of spicy and cooked perfectly. Juicy meat and crispy skin colored red with seasonings. The parm fries are the perfect side to share. At five dollars, these are a great deal! It feeds two people perfectly and they taste delicious. I’m so glad Ashley suggested that instead of swapping out my SO house chips for fries, that we could just share for two bucks cheaper.
My SO ordered his burger sans caramelized onions. Unfortunately there was a bit of a mix up and we were given our table neighbor’s burger. No problem, the onionized burger was whisked away and was promptly replaced with a juicy queso burger dripping with delicious cheese and meat. I gotta admit, I was pretty jealous. He said it was delicious and definitely worth the reasonable nine bucks.
After our filling meals we were presented with our free churros in chocolate sauce. YUM. Six churros on a bed of melted chocolate, perfect for two. The churros were a little bit crunchier than I was hoping, I like them soft, but perfectly delicious anyway.
The bill came to about $ 35, with tip $ 45. I think that is great deal for what we got.
Overall: I had a great time here. Our service was awesome, the place was clean and upbeat, and I loved my food. I can’t wait to come back and try the coveted tacos. I will say, I probably won’t visit outside of happy hour, its just too good to pass up and is worth eating a slightly early dinner. I highly recommend Mandy & Merle.

Thanks to my run-​in with my new Unilocal friend Joseph T while visiting Louisville, I have found probably the best fried chicken I have had in a very very long time.
It’s «hot» chicken Nashville style. So, I ordered the quarter chicken at just $ 5.50 and it was plump, perfectly breaded, and spiced to perfection. The first bite was simply heaven and every other bite after that was divine. Next time in Louisville, I’ll be hitting this spot without a doubt. I also ordered the Mac&Cheese and it was quite tasty. At first I thought $ 5 was a bit much, but it was definitely a sharing size.

I vacillate between three and four stars. Since Theresa is a nice person and a good waitress, four stars it is! We came twice in two days. (Whaaat?!)
The first night my husband and I started with wings — half boubon, half Buffalo. Then segued into our mains, both ordering M&M’s award winning green chili pork taco plus a second taco, filled with carnitas. (Though both tacos were pork, their tastes were wildly different and very good. Not typical of what one would get in a Mexican restaurant.)
What really appealed to us were the drinks. T had local Goodwood Stout, but I got a glass — okay two! — of sangria, probably the best sangria I ever drank. It was made with Lunazul tequila, and perfect little blackberries.
We came back the next day with my daughter for a pre-​dinner drink and appetizer. «Wait till you try the sangria!» I enthused. We ordered a pitcher — and while good, it wasn’t as fabulous as the night before.
Let me backtrack: I’m not a fan of ice. I think drinks are pretty much served as cold as they need to be. While a cube or two or three is fine — too much ice dilutes the product. Unless the barkeep changed recipes, that’s what may have happened here. Both nights I told Theresa, «light on ice.» Glasses the first night were perfect, the pitcher on day two was not, even when I grumbled. (Theresa said something about the pitcher vs. the glass which didn’t make sense, but I went with it. My mistake.)
In summation:
– try the sangria. (You’re better off with four glasses than one pitcher!)
– if tables are available outside, sit there. Very pleasant!
– be prepared for a la carte choices. This isn’t quite tapas, but not a typical hearty plate of food
– enjoy! The staff is nice, the crowd is lively and the food is pretty good, and fairly priced.

One the most magnificent mac n’ cheeses I’ve had in quite some time. And while I wouldn’t go so far to call myself a mac n’ cheese connoisseur, I sure do like the stuff. Manny & Merle does a whole lot of right when it comes to m&c…and a handful of other delicious things too!
Inside, Manny & Merle is eclectic but warm. The Southern elements are present and mesh nicely with the brick wall, comfy booths, and slick looking bar. As soon as Emily & I sat down for lunch I was happy to spy an equally eclectic but edited menu that included hot chicken. This spicy bird needed to be part of my lunch, so I ordered a quarter hot chicken and a side kale salad. Yin and yang, friends. Thankfully Emily ordered a side of the mac n’ cheese, thus my opportunity to sample that too!
The hot chicken flavor was very good, it had some heat but it wasn’t volcanic. The cayenne had just enough kick for lunch time. My only issue with the chicken is that my bird wasn’t super plump; I fork and knived my way around a ton of bones and while I don’t expect a monstrous quarter piece, I left wanting more meat. The kale salad was a lovely and fresh accompaniment with a perfect citrusy dressing. And the mac. As mentioned, these creamy, cheesy shells are pretty damn perfect. Our server was quick and friendly for a speedy lunch!
Manny & Merle is a super fantastic place for lunch and just narrowly misses the 5 star mark from me.

Went here for lunch with my fiancé and their food was amazing. They have a nice cross of Southern and Tex-​Mex food. we got some bacon skewers with maple bourbon sauce, which were great (who doesn’t love bacon?). We decided to order a whole fried chicken to split, hot style (they have no spice and their hottest, which I’m glad we skipped as it had an habenero sauce). The chicken is served in qauters so we each got a half chicken. It had plenty of flavor and spice. We also go an order of mac n cheese and garlic fries. Everything was awesome, and they portion to share. Needless to say, we had plenty of leftovers for dinner!
They also Boast a wide selection of bourbon and tequila, and their light fixtures are repourposed liquor bottles which gives it a unique vibe. We will definitely be back in the evening to sample some bourbon and catch some live music.

I have found my favorite fried chicken in the city. And I LUV fried chicken. Favorite food on this earth.
If I were on death row, and I got to select my last meal, I would pick fried chicken as the main course.
Manny & Merle’s fried chicken is legit. I wish I had a picture of it, but we sat on the porch, and it was a bit too dark for picture taking. Hence the only picture being from inside the restaurant when I was walking back from the bathroom.
Went with the Nashville hot style chicken. It wasn’t overwhelmingly hot. It was just enough spice to be perfect. It was delicious. I wasn’t brave enough to try extra hot.
Also got the cornbread. Definitely enough to share with someone else. And it was fantastic. Really good, sweet cornbread.
Wife got a chicken burger. She’s picky and said it was unreal.
The dessert you get for checking in on Unilocal is perfect. Really light dessert. Even if you don’t think you’ll have enough room for dessert, you will. It’s very small. Basically just sugar doughnuts with chocolate sauce.
Great atmosphere. Really busy and loud and fun and good music.
Super reasonable price. Under $ 30 for the two of us.
Great location. Walking distance to many places.
Hit it up. It’s an awesome place. You’ll enjoy it.

I’m not sure why I didn’t hop on Manny & Merle until now. Maybe it got buried under the noise of so much else happening downtown. Or perhaps subconsciously it felt chain-​y to me – from a totally superficial, not researched point of view.
I’m not proud that it’s taken me so long to enjoy this Southern honky tonk hot spot, but I intend to correct this with many return visits.
I mean, M&M’s menu includes Southern and hot chicken, as well as bacon «picks» and cracklin’ chicken wings.
This place definitely deserves a try.
On my visit, though, the star was the Merle’s Loaded Fries — a basket of potato-​y carbness topped with bacon, onion, jalapeños and, in our case, chicken.
I could have made a meal out of just this. The chicken had such a great flavor to it, that meshed well with the fries and other fix-​ins.
It was bad-​for-​you-​but-​oh-​so-​good deliciousness!
And then to go with it, I got a crispy fish taco and tortilla soup — the «Choose Two» option for $ 6.79.
This taco was substantial without being overfilled, and the fish had its own distinctive flavor — something I’ve found lacking in other fish tacos. The tortilla soup was also filling.
And to top off our meals, we used the Unilocal check-​in offer for free churros. I mean, who doesn’t love churros? Sad, mean people, that’s who! And we are neither sad not mean.
Our service was prompt even though it was packed. All in all, a great lunch, that will be followed up by many more meals at M&M.