Roadfood_ Revised Edition - Jane Stern [69]
Not that we want to slight lunch and dinner. Lynn Winter’s “Mom’s Meatloaf” is a square-meal knock-out made with marinara sauce, sided by real mashed potatoes and al dente lima beans. Louisville’s own hot brown sandwich is built on sourdough bread, its turkey, bacon, and tomato slices fully blanketed by a mantle of sizzling broiled cheese. Hamburgers are available with French fries or one of several side dishes. These include creamy polenta, braised rosemary cabbage, crusty blocks of mac ’n’ cheese, and grilled asparagus. Last visit, we relished a dinner of hot turkey, dressing, and cheese grits.
The beverage selection includes a “gigantic mimosa” and a “world famous bloody Mary,” made from Lynn’s own mix and garnished with a skewer of peppers and olives.
Marion Pit
728 S. Main St.
270–965–3318
Marion, KY
LD | $
Marion Pit is open every day of the year except Christmas, Thanksgiving, New Year’s Day, and Easter. Proprietor Jack Easley said that he usually cooks an especially large number of pork shoulders on Saturday because so many local churches purchase meat by the pound for Sunday suppers. At thirty-plus years in business, his is the oldest smokehouse around, and certainly the most unpretentious—a tiny hut on the outskirts of town with a few picnic tables for dining al fresco or inside a screened patio.
Place your order at a window in the small building to which hickory-cooked shoulders are brought from an adjoining building and readied for eating. Mr. Easley told us that he cooks his meat for seventeen hours, using no seasonings and no sauce whatever. The long roast at low temperatures results in pork that is unspeakably tender, so soft that it cannot be sliced because it would fall apart. You can buy it by the pound to go, by the sandwich, or by the plate (billed here as a “big pile of bar-b-q”). It is some of the best Q anywhere, served with a delicious sauce, the recipe for which is known only to Mr. Easley, his wife, and his son.
Mike Linnig’s Place
9308 Cane Run Rd.
502–937–9888
Louisville, KY
LD (closed Mon) | $$
“Fried fish and bottled beer under the trees down by the Ohio River!” is how our tipster described Mike Linnig’s, a destination eatery that dates back some eighty years to when it opened as a fruit and vegetable stand on Mike Linnig’s farm. Sweet as it is to eat outdoors, inside accommodations are pretty swell, too. It’s a huge place with cavernous dining space in back and a smaller front room opposite the bar where you step up to place your order (table service is available in back). Here the wood-paneled walls are crowded with trophies of creatures from the land, sea, and air, as well as nostalgic photos, clippings, and knickknacks.
The menu includes just about every kind of seafood that can be fried, including sea scallops, crawfish, and salmon, but its highlights are such fish camp specialties as catfish, white fish, and frog legs, all served in immense portions. We are especially fond of the spicy fish nuggets and the freshly breaded shrimp. The fish, the frog legs, the scallops, and the oysters have a seriously nice crunch to their crust, but are not otherwise memorable.
Onion rings are a specialty. They are big chunky things, extremely brittle and mostly crust, with just a hint of onion flavor emanating from the slick ribbon within. By the way, the tartar sauce and cocktail sauce, while served in the sort of individual cups typical of institutional meals, are Mike Linnig’s own recipe, and both are outstanding.
Among the beverage choices beyond bottled beer are iced tea (sweet or not), lemonade (which tastes a lot like the tea), and genuine Kool-Aid, listed on the menu as fruit punch.
Moonlite