River City Drafthouse

Dry burger with little going for it. Brown fries that look twice deep fried. Beer selection questionable. However the fried cheese cubes were suitable. Service was good though.

9−1−1 Fries — too hot for me! But my tablemates loved them
(hand cut fries topped with River City Sauce and a variety of sautéed hot peppers)
Fried Cheese Cubes — these were SOOO good, I ate an embarrassing amount of them
(Pepper Jack cheese cubes, breaded and fried. Served with ranch)
Vegetarian Cheesesteak — super messy but delicious. I wish it came with some kind of sauce though
(Chopped mushrooms, green pepper, sautéed onion and choice of cheese.)

This place is rad, updating my review as I’ve been in louisville for almost 9 months now and have pretty much tried all the bars that serve good beer.
Only American craft brews on tap here, non of the watered-​down big name beverages. Just good beer from American craft breweries…
The food is the next best thing other than the beer. Whether you get the pretzel that’s the size of a 17″ hubcap, chicken cheese steak with onions, fried cheese curds, crab fries, hummus plate or the chicken wings that come with the normal sauce or one of the cooks (Steven) home grown sauces you can’t lose.
Rivercity is among my top 2 places in louisville for beer, this place fucking rules. The staff is awesome and the location is great. Stop in and have a good time…

Hmm. I love beer, and I come here all the time, so it’s beyond me why I haven’t written a review for River City Drafthouse.
The notable characteristic of RCD is that they carry tons of different beers on draft, rather than brewing their own. This makes for a fantastic business concept because the tap is always rotating, and if you’re not a fan of one beer, you really can’t blame it on the business, right?
As I mentioned, I’ve been here a number of times and what keeps me coming back is the variety and price of their beers, the HUMONGOUS pretzel with beer cheese (seriously, GET​.IT.), and some of the awesome specials they have throughout the week. I also like the casual, laid-​back atmosphere of the place; it’s not pretentious.
Add the fact that it’s walkable to my house (if the weather is nice and I’m wearing comfortable shoes), and we have a 5-​star beer bar right here.

This place was ridiculous. The atmosphere was alright, it was relatively clean and had adequate seating. All that may be good, but beer was at least $ 7 for 12oz! Why? This wasn’t special beer, you could go to liquor barn and get any of these, we walked next store got a Sam Adams for under $ 4

This is a great little draft house that I feel often gets over looked on Bardstown rd. Great, knowledgeable service. Great craft beers from local breweries and a huge selection that is always changing. I love the wing nights they have on Wednesdays. They really do have great wings and lots of different bar foods.

I finally got to try the food here and I am happy to say that I was overall pleased with the quality and price.
We visited on a Wednesday evening for 55 cent wings and a few brews. There was a nice sized crowd there in high spirits so I knew it’d be good eats.
I ordered the fried pickle spears and nine of the mild wings and my S.O. ordered 12 of the hot wings. I also ordered the Woodchuck Fall Cider and a few glasses of the Goodwood bourbon beer. If you haven’t tried Goodwood I highly recommend this beer. Its dark, smooth and could probably pair with anything. The flavor is just really unforgettable, we were trying to figure out where to get it in bottles to have at home!
I’d been craving good bar wings for weeks and these definitely hit the spot. The wings came out pretty quickly and they smelled delicious as they hit the table. The wings were super fresh and had the perfect amount of sauce. These wings are HUGE! It took me forever to eat them all. The garlic infusion with the mild sauce was the perfect balance for the light spices and they’re simply addictive. The hot sauce was also excellent and had a healthy kick to it, almost comparable to BWW’s medium sauce. The wings were huge, cooked perfectly and SO juicy.
The fried pickle spears are hot and crunchy, yet I find the pickle slices hold up a lot better. We found ourselves biting into the pickle spear and the pickle slipping out of the fried casing, it was more funny than anything else. I wish they had a few more options for dipping besides ranch sauce (yuck!).
Although the crowd wasn’t immense we had a bit of trouble grabbing our server’s attention, no big deal, I just walked up to the bar and ordered a few more beers and they were brought to the table.
I love this place and I think this is probably going to be our go-​to for weekday brews and especially for wings (we eat them often, haha).

Our favorite neighborhood hangout. Amazing American beer, great service, and awesome pub food.

I have to be honest in that trivia is what got me in the door.
I’m a huge fan of bar trivia, and head heard that this place had trivia on Tuesday nights. After verifying that they indeed do have trivia, verifying the start time (7:30), and cajoling a friend into coming with me, I was on my way!
Word to the budget-​conscious: happy hour is from 4 – 7 ($ 1 off beers and ½ price appetizers). If you want to take advantage of your first round of drinks or snacks at a reduced price, make sure you arrive before before the stroke of 7. We got there just after 7, so we paid full price. No matter, it’s still affordable.
We were both surprised to realize that River City is located just adjacent to Cumberland Brews. Parking is a little tricky along this stretch of Bardstown Rd, so bring shoes to walk if you have to park a ways away. There is a small amount of outdoor seating, in case people-​watching while enjoying a pint and a burger is more your style than trivia.
Inside it is cozy, uncluttered, and welcoming. The staff was all friendly, and the bartender made some great recommendations for a light, non-​hoppy beer for me to enjoy (Schlafly this evening).
Trivia kicked off right at 7:30. It consisted of 3 rounds of 6 questions each, with a bonus question at the end of each round. There were prizes for the top 3 teams. We finished 4^th (cue the sad trombone), which only whet our appetite for returning to win in the future.

This small, cozy bar/​restaurant is great if you’re a East Coast transplant like me. You can get little tastes of home with the crab fries (thick cut fries tossed in Old Bay) and Philly Cheesesteaks (which owner Patrick models off of Tony Luke’s in Philly).
My wife and I hung out for maybe 2 hours at the bar last night, and Patrick and his bartenders were polite and talkative. We feel very happy to have found a bit of the East Coast in Louisville.
The beer list is good, and the owner is a Cicerone – or the equivalent of a sommelier for beer. Becoming a Cicerone isn’t easy, and Patrick and his staff clearly know their stuff when it comes to beer. The food’s not bad, either – the fried pickles and burgers were great.
My only knock on the place is that it’s small and the beers run 5 – 7 $. 7 $ is more than I’m willing to spend on a beer. But the happy hour boasts 1 $ off drafts and ½ priced apps. 2.50 $ fried pickles is a great deal!

What a fun spot to sit and enjoy a draft! I’m really impressed with the diverse tap list, heavy on the local guys (which is how it should be) and plenty of variety, even a cider or two.
The place is a chill retreat from the buzz of the Bardstown foot traffic. The wings specialty was fun and tasty although I need to check out the menu again. After I ordered my appetizer had a chance to chat with the owner. He’s from the east coast and claims he makes an authentic Philly cheesesteak. Nom. Sounds like a reason to go back — soon — and check these guys out again!

Great selection of beer and friendly staff that help this beer novice pick the right beer. Really enjoyed the atmosphere and the food… ordered the pretzel and we couldn’t finish finish with three people eating.

Tons of great craft beers on tap… friendly staff… beautiful neighborhood. No frills.
When in Louisville we will be back.

This place is very cozy. There are fun board games to play while enjoying a drink and some food with friends and or family! The beer is all on tap and imported from great beer cities. The owners are super awesome and are very knowledgeable when it comes to beer. They remember their customers and have awesome weekday deals on apps and beer!

We went here with some friends last Sunday and really enjoyed our visit. There were lots of seating options for our group of eight and there were a lot of appetizer specials. My husband and I shared the crab fries and had spicy burgers. All of it was delicious. Two in our group ordered the ENORMOUS pretzel and beer cheese, and I got a big kick out of it.

The good: I’ve been here a few times before, and like their beer selection. There are better selections out there, but they have a somewhat eclectic list sprinkled with some local breweries.
the bad: two TV’s, both with the NFL network on it. We asked if the UL basketball game could be put on (didn’t need sound — –wasn’t trying to make it a ‘sports bar’ but just wanted to keep up with the game). Bartender advised us the owner just doesn’t like college basketball, so he refuses to allow it (but other sports — -like the NFL network… are ok).
Call me a little biased, but I thought when you ran a business you worried about what your clients want, not what YOU want. Had we been able to have a TV (that no one else was watching as it was quite empty in there) tuned to the game, we would have stuck around. Instead I will likely not visit this establishment again due to a poor policy.
Bartenders not very friendly, had some mild knowledge about beer, but didn’t sell the place well. Maybe they were having a bad day, but that attitude… combined with the owner’s attitude on not letting clients have what they would like at NO COST TO HIM makes me think this is an owner and establishment I do not want to support. Plenty of other places in town with good beer that actually cater to their clients instead of their own personal whims.

Two words: cheese curds.
Cheese curds! They are decently close to the real thing.
The beer cheese is also good. Spicy and good with the pita that comes with it.
Service was good and the beer was decent.
Indeed, I would be happy to go back sometime.

I absolutely love this place. Amazing draft list and the owner is always so nice and helpful. We live around the corner and frequent this place often. Definitely our go to neighborhood beer bar. Oh, and you must try the pretzel if you go.

I came here a few weeks ago with about 10 other people. We were the only ones in there on a Sunday night and had a great time chatting, sipping beer and enjoying the food. I am a beer wuss and never get anything really dark or anything hoppy. One of my friends recommended I try the Ciderboys Mimosa. Oh wow! It tasted just like a mimosa and was so good! I’ve been wanting another one since I left there. It was only $ 5 too, which seems very reasonable compared to other craft brew houses in Lou. I saw a long list of other beers too, that would be able to suit anyones preferences.
Now onto the reason I gave it 5 stars! I’m what I consider a pretzel connoisseur and had been told about the pretzels at this place for a long time. I’m so mad I didn’t try it sooner. Their pretzels really are divine! It’s not just the huge quantity of the pretzel, which is the biggest freshly-​made pretzel I’ve ever seen! Seriously, the server asked me 3x if I was sure I wanted to order one since my friends at the end of the table had already ordered one. I explained my intense pretzel love to her and she smiled like I might be a crazy person. When the server brought it to the table, I actually squealed with delight, further confirming her suspicions that I was a crazy person! The quality was also out of this world. The beer cheese was really delicious and it also came with a great tasting mustard. I devoured as much as I could, but I still had ½ leftover and it tasted good the next day for lunch!

River City Drafthouse is an under-​appreciated beer hotspot in Louisville.
And I admit that I under-​appreciated it until recently. I live a few blocks from the Drafthouse, and I’m sad to say I’ve only been there a couple of times.
But I very much hope this changes in the near future.
The Drafthouse has nearly 20 taps, all stocked with delicious brews — a mix of Kentucky-​brewed beer (like West Sixth and BBC) and other favorites (like Dogfish Head and New Holland).
The servers are knowledgeable about what’s available. I asked them about a few of the beers, and they were able to tell me the styles and gave them their recommendations.
And the food! They don’t have entrees but their apps were more than enough. We ordered some of the fried cheese curds — first place in Kentucky that I’ve found these! — and oh my, that pretzel.
I was doubtful at first when I saw that one Bavarian pretzel costs $ 9 — and an additional $ 3 for beer cheese.
But this pretzel was enough to feed four people. It was larger than the plate it came on and at least an inch thick. I’ve been dreaming of that pretzel ever since I had it last week.
The Drafthouse is a chill place to enjoy a brew on this side of the Highlands. You can sit at spacious tables inside or at one of the smaller tables on the sidewalk. I really can’t wait to go back.
P. S. Check out the photos on the Drafthouse’s wall that spell out L-​O-​U-​I-​S-​V-​I-​L-​L-​E. And show off your Louisville knowledge by identifying where each of the letters were photographed.