Kentucky Derby and Louisville, KY

There is precious little in the board archives on Louisville, and I’ll be headed there in a month for my first Kentucky Derby.

Curious to hear advice about restaurants, wine lists, corkage, and any other good information on navigating the city during Derby weekend.

Thanks!

I had a great meal here http://www.proofonmain.com last time I was in Louisville. Decent wine list, good service. They took a bottle of Premoxed WB back with out any hesitation. I would definitely go back.

George

I got nothing for you, but envy you the trip. I’ve always wanted to see the Derby. (But only if I could do it right)

Was at the “Darby” many mango seasons ago. Was in the infield ; what an “animal show” (naughty people) ! blush

Indeed – I was basically in the exact same mindset, and my mother was kind enough to offer up a once-in-a-lifetime trip for my 50th birthday and I couldn’t resist. I’ll be happy to send a report afterward if you’d be interested…

Definitely post about the trip!

Enjoy and please post. I never did the derby but did do derby trials before. It’s been a number of years since I last went so don’t know what’s good now. Honestly, I never liked l’ville as much as Lexington. Nothing really compares to Keeneland.

Had an amazing meal at Jeff Rubys steakhouse, steaks, seafood, wine list…top notch. Don’t know about byo but you are in KY … drink bourbon. Proof on main is great.

I’ve been to the Derby 5-6 times but it was in my 20’s…infield was crazy

One of my regrets when I was in college that I didn’t do this like several of my classmates. I almost did it this year along with the Bourbon Trail but after consideration, I thought the trail would be a little crazy and I should taste bourbon in the fall.

We were there last year, and headed there again this year. Pure Americana. One of the most joyful experiences of our lives. We see no reason not to go annually.

Well it appears that waiting until a few weeks before the Derby to secure dinner reservations is not a good strategy – most of the places I called laughed at the suggestion that I might want a table one of those three days. I did secure a reasonable reservation at Rye for Thursday evening, and have a placeholder for 10pm Saturday evening at Ward 426. I am hoping we won’t have too much trouble finding something casual to do the other night. Besides, I was told that corkage is illegal in KY, so I wouldn’t mind being around the room so that we can enjoy great wine anyway.

Next time (if there is one) I’ll know to get my act together well in advance…

Kevin – here’s what we learned last year: by the time Friday night and Saturday night roll around, people have been drinking and partying for a long long time. Which means that you can walk in to many places around 8pm or 9pm, wait a bit, have a drink or two, and grab a table that was previously reserved for one of the many no-shows.

I’ve never been to the Derby, but back in the 80’s, I was traveling back from Colorado with a GF and heading through Baltimore area during Preakness time, and we popped in to check it out. OMFG…it was so packed that it took about 30 minutes to get 20 yards through the crowd. It was SO packed that we left and went to a hotel room to watch the race on TV. I don’t remember the race, but I remember that GF. champagne.gif

I was wondering about whether that might work. Also was curious after a long Saturday just how much interest I’m going to have in fine dining late into the evening, if at all…

Regarding Pimlico and the Preakness, I went there on a whim two years ago with my GF, and (sorry if I offend anyone here from Baltimore) but WOW was that place a dump. I mean, I like going to the track so it was no big deal for me, but it certainly didn’t impress the GF like I was hoping it would. We still had a great time, but the track facilities (and the whole neighborhood) look like they’re still stuck in 1975…

As I said before, its been years since I have been to either Pimlico or Churchill but back then Churchill was only a touch better than Pimlico. Keeneland on the other hand, is one of my favorite places and a way better experience. My wife even contacted them about getting married there but unfortunately decided against it.

Side note, there has been some talk of moving the Preakness to Laurel which would be a great improvement.

I agree – Keeneland is beautiful. I haven’t been in 10 years, but would love to go again. It’s too bad the fall meet conflicts with college football season, but it’s so gorgeous at that time of year…

Saratoga is at the top of my list, then probably Keeneland and Del Mar in a tie (totally different experiences, but both really nice in their way), then a big drop-off after that…

If time permits, consider exploring the Bourbon Trail

When we did the trail twice, everyone said Derby weekend is crazy busy. Expect long lines if you can get in at all.

Quick Update:

We had a great time at the Derby. Stayed in an AirBnB in the NuLu neighborhood, a newly-gentrifying warehouse district with lots of art galleries, new restaurants and hipsters. One important note I learned is that in KY it’s illegal for customers to bring their own wine. I pleaded with a couple of places to test their resolve but they held firm. So be warned…

Dinner reservations during the Derby weekend were near-impossible, but the “show up and wait for a cancellation” strategy outlined earlier worked out just fine. That combined with the fact that we were darn tired Friday and Saturday evenings after full days at the track meant that we were less interested is very fine dining that we thought we would be.

We stayed in NuLu for dinner each night. First night was at Rye, a contemporary place that was really excellent where our 6:30 reservation was perfect after a long day of driving. Had a Stoplman Roussanne that was quite tasty.

Second night we ate just a couple of doors down from our AirBnB at Wiltshire. Again this was contemporary dining, and we landed a sidewalk table that was perfect to enjoy the lovely evening weather. Solid but not outstanding food, and a bit pricey. That night’s bottle was 08 Felsina Rancia Riserva, which was drinking great.

The final evening we grabbed takeout from Feast BBQ, a hippish place apparently recently opened by a former PerSe chef. BBQ was fantastic, and went well with our own bottle of Billecart-Salmon Cuvee Nicolas Francois Billecart 1999.

If folks are interested I’d be happy to share lots of insights on the entire weekend experience. There are so many ways to do the Derby (cheap/expensive, go for fun vs. seriously watch races, etc.) that I’m not sure any universal advice I might give would apply, but I will say we had a tremendous time. It’s 10 hours a day of sensory overload, as there is so much to see, so much noise, and actual thinking going on if you’re gambling, that we were absolutely gassed at the end of each day.

One note on transportation – we used Uber each day to and from the track. They apparently had drivers ship in from surrounding cities for the weekend. Getting to the track was easy and cheap; getting home harder and more expensive, but overall all it worked out fine and was much cheaper for us than riding the city shuttles back and forth from downtown…

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions or want more info and I’ll be happy to share.