Mussel + Burger Bar in downtown Louisville, Kentucky, is a popular spot for delicious seafood, burgers, and drinks! Here's what we recommend.
We stopped at Louisville's Mussel and Burger Bar on a whim and had a delicious meal. We ate (wait for it)…. mussels and burgers. They did have other items on the menu, though!
There are two locations: downtown Louisville (really close to Evan Williams and Michter's Fort Nelson Distillery) or Taylorsville Road (on the outskirts of the city and closer to Jeffersontown). We went to the downtown spot.
Here's what to consider if you're interested in eating at this place.
Do I Need a Reservation?
When we arrived (without a reservation) on a Thursday evening, I was surprised to see that, despite being a weekday, the dining room was absolutely packed.
From what I've seen online, the downtown location doesn't usually take reservations, except maybe for some holidays, so try to allow plenty of time. The Taylorsville Road location does take reservations.
Initially, they told us there was a short wait for a table, but then offered us an outdoor seat without a wait.
We chose that option, and followed the host to the back of the restaurant and down a flight of stairs to a cute courtyard tucked away between tall buildings.
On the Menu at Mussel + Burger Bar
We started with an Old Fashioned and a Manhattan, both of which were delicious. I love an Old Fashioned made with chocolate bitters!
As an appetizer, we tried a plate of mussels. (Really, given the restaurant name, we had to. Right?) They're not found in the starter menu, but are sold as an appetizer-sized portion under the mussels part of the menu.
My husband saw that they offered a Blue Cheese Beer Pancetta mussel option and had to try it.
I’ll say that while the sauce was good and the mussels were cooked well, the sauce had a very distinctive flavor that is probably only for the biggest of blue cheese fans.
He would order it again, but I’d probably go with a more classic option like the Meunière sauce.
For our mains, he ordered the Spanish Blue burger and sweet potato fries. He said the burger was delicious, and he could tell the meat was high quality.
We both were blown away by how good and unexpected the smoked pineapple dipping sauce that came with his fries was! (The sauce is not pictured below because it was hiding behind the fries.)
I ordered the seafood burger, in part because I don’t think I’ve ever seen a “seafood burger” on a menu before. It was basically a large crab cake, but had a mix of shellfish instead of just crab. It was quite good, and had a sweet mild flavor.
This was a really delicious stop in downtown Louisville, and a must if you’re in the mood for mussels and a burger!
Foodies visiting Louisville might also be interested in visiting Lou Lou on Market, Quills Coffee, and Angel's Envy Distillery, all located in the downtown area!
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