AP Crafters

Great food and exceptional service! Don’t miss the donuts for desert.

Decent but not impressed by anything either. Service was not very good either.

Exellent service and a great roomy atmosphere. A creative menu with quality ingredients and a very friendly staff.

Gone here several times with a large group. It is always very accommodating for our group. Good food. I was taken aback by their ginger-​ketchup at first, but now I crave it. Plus, you gotta love free gummy bears as you leave.

I was thinking ³⁄₅ stars for this, but the description of «Meh. I’ve experienced better» is a good way to express my apathy about the experience. I was excited to finally go to AP Crafters with a few people for lunch, and the concept is a good one. It’s a gastropub with many locally-​influenced or locally-​sourced dishes, and seems like it could be a real success with the right execution.
We arrived for lunch and service was slower than I was expecting for the noon hour. It took a few minutes (5+) for our drink orders to be taken. Lunch orders took a proportionately long time to get as well. By the time the food arrived, I was about to eat my fist out of hunger but was also panicking because I needed to get back to work.
As far as the food, it was just ok. I was excited to see so many locally-​inspired items on the menu that used season and local ingredients, but was underwhelmed by everything I ate.
I got the soup of the day, which was a curried vegetable with chickpeas, and expected a creamy explosion of Middle Eastern and Indian deliciousness. Instead it was more of chunks of American veggies with some chickpeas thrown into a thin broth that did at least taste like curry. I didn’t finish it, which is rare for me since I love food.
One of my companions got the Ahi Tuna and was expecting thin slices of Ahi, perhaps with sesame seeds on the perimeter of the tiny tuna steaks. Instead it was an iteration of a Tuna Sandwich with so-​so fries on the side. This companion loves fries so much that he purchased a fryer to cook up a batch at home at his leisure; he also didn’t finish these.
I didn’t even consider dessert since the service tok so long. I was late getting back to work because the check took so long to come.
Don’t get me wrong, I was excited about this restaurant and think its concept, location and ambience have definite potential. An overhaul to the menu items (I’d be happy to volunteer to taste-​test :D) and some hurrying up on service and the kitchen line could help make this one area restaurant that would be a true hit.

I had a «Roast Pork Sammy» and some beer battered deep fried cheddar cheese curds at AP Crafters in Louisville. The fries were terrible (pure seasoned salt), but the rest was OK. The fried pickle chips were actually great… and I’m not usually a fan of the medium. I also had two cans of Strongbow.
AP Crafters says it’s a «gastropub», defined by the OED as «a public house which specializes in serving high-​quality food». As long as «high-​quality» means «deep fried in a beer batter,» this place nails it. The beer list is curiously limited, and the food was dumbed down and just OK (the two notable exceptions being the fried cheese curds (very good) and the french fries (very bad). The meat on my sandwich was bland (a crime when it comes to pork covered with swiss cheese and something promised to be «bacon jam») and my wife’s side of Mac & Cheese was only just room temperature (I thought they were pretty good, while she was deeply unimpressed). The real strength of our meal was the quality of the beer batter. This alone should not be the star in a restaurant’s cap, however. All in all, the food wasn’t offensive… it just wasn’t memorable or remarkable. The label «gastropub» makes promises this place doesn’t keep. Ultimately, it’s better than your typical Applebee’s fare, but only just.
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This is based on one meal. Your mileage will almost certainly vary.

AP Crafters is an adequate gastropub. Nothing here is mind blowing, but they have some decent beers on tap (that are a little pricey) and some very yummy cocktails. The food menu items are fairly creative, but nothing has yet to knock my socks off. It is a great addition to Westport Village, but I think some minor tweaks could really make this place shine.

I went here twice on my last visit. There can be a wait on game nights, but the other time I went, seven on a Friday, I didn’t wait at all. If you do get handed a pager, you can pop out to the porch, which has a lovely fireplace and stays pretty warm.
The food is an interesting hodge podge. They have fantastic appetizers like a bacon bruschetta with bacon jam and arugula that seem really upscale alongside pretzel sticks with beer cheese. It’s nice for me because it pleases my foodie palate along with my less-​than-​foodie relatives, but it makes me confused about just what AP is trying to be. The televisions everywhere add to that. Are they an upscale bar? A sports bar? Both?
Try to hit this place during happy hour because they have great deals. Five dollar apps, three dollar beers, and their entire mixed drink selection for five bucks (and I do think their mixed drinks are what they do best). Oh, and the servers are all awesome; I was wearing my coat because I was a little chilly and the server turned up the heat without me even saying something!
I wish I could give this place five stars because I do like the atmosphere and I could see myself hanging out here every game night. But the food, while really good, is not oh-​my-​god to die for and I think the restaurant is still trying to figure out what it wants to be when it grows up.

Great environment and fun menu items. I chose the fish and fries which I enjoyed (even reheated the next day!). Next time I want to try the grilled cheese. Not the most vegetarian-​friendly, but there are a few options. Don’t miss the donuts and pretzels with cheese!

I really like what they did with the place. Not sure of the sports bar that was there before but this was a nice improvement. Great atmosphere and location. The first glance at the menu was promising, hard decide what to try, that is always a good sign. I hate going to a place and not finding anything on the menu that sounds interesting, this place has several options so not a problem here. Started with mushrooms which were good but not great, the dipping sauce saved the day, green chilli jam was awesome. We wanted to try the pretzel and beer cheese, but found out the pretzels are not made in house. All I can say is go to Flannigans try them there and ask yourself why you would ever eat a frozen pretzel again. I decided on dixie diner as it seemed like the best comfort food on the menu. I was excited about the bacon jam, the waitress raved about it. So when it comes to the table I was impressed and ready for an amazing meal. I was left disappointed as i felt the dish was overdone and couldn’t taste all the flavors. Bacon jam was there but couldn’t taste it due to all the gravy and cheese. You even get a side of gravy as if 2 cups of gravy is not enough. A light amount of gravy with extra on the side would greatly improve the dish. Mac and cheese was better than most places and a little different with the bacon flavor. One quick note, it was happy hour when we went and you can get the specials, but only in the bar area. Seemed strange to us, but explained why the bar area was packed. Not sure why it is limited to bar area only but changing that would be a plus. Also the «small» tvs in the dining area are oddly placed, one or two larger tvs on the front and back walls would make it easier to watch a game. Overall a nice new place with some character, a few tweaks to the menu would make it a go to place for me. Definitely going back just due to the potential this place has if changed a little.

Very try to be upscale. If you
Like beer and sports forget it. If you like to be a wanna be yuppie with no atmosphere then this is the place. Dark boring girl glasses for small selection of beers. Nice for the upscale elderly.

Generic. Poor food. Unknowledgeable management.
This place is generic even for a chain restaurant. I don’t know how they call themselves a gastropub. The one time I ordered a burger it was so obviously frozen, and tasted like cardboard. They put sugar on the fries??? And I asked management how many ounces their beer pints were and they had absolutely no clue. For a place that calls themself a pub???
I’ve eaten there three times, but I’ll never go back. Even for the half off Groupon. I give this place another 3 months tops

Between 3 and 4 stars…
Went for a weekday lunch with a coworker. Atmosphere is nice, I like the décor and I like the patio area although we ate inside.
Burger was great– large, juicy, done medium like I asked, good bun. Toppings were okay, I love the grilled onions option but the cheddar must have been a very thin slice because the flavor didn’t come through at all.
Fries– great seasoning but they weren’t crispy at all. Yummy tomato-​y
ketchup. I think the serving container made the fries kinda soft but it also kinda kept them warm; trade-​off I suppose.
Friend said her chili was good although an unusual taste to it, maybe beer in the sauce. Grilled cheese was good with several types of cheese melted into it.
Service was friendly but a bit uneven. Very slow at points even on a non-​busy weekday. Some miscommunication on an order that at first didn’t get dealt with but was handled very well in the end by the manager.
Prices felt a bit high for the type of food (burgers are pretty basic after all) but the serving sizes were large and the quality was good.
I would return again and try some other options and also make sure to clarify my order. Wouldn’t come if I was in a hurry for lunch though like during some workdays.

I love AP Crafters. I do. I love the cute sort of faux industrial modern meets farmhouse décor. I love how we have only been there four times and we are HUGGED when we come in and leave. I ordered my husband a Cucumber lift. He said it was happily reminiscent of lawn clippings so they replaced it with a Bomb pop which he loved, I usually order a bloody Mary because it comes with bling, a skewer of olives, celery and a beer back. Bloody Mary’s with no bling make me terribly sad. They also have adorable retro cans of beer, rolling rock, PBR, etc.
The people at AP Crafters are nice. They give good service, you won’t find any ’ tude here, they refill your water, the manager and owner come by and say hello, they smile at your kids and make sure you enjoy yourselves. The food is relatively cheap too, which is nice when feeding a family. I haven’t had anything BAD here, both the French fries and sweet potato fries are excellent as an appetizer and you can order all sorts of dipping sauces to accompany them. I do wish they would add a lemon aioli to the menu. The pretzels with beer cheese are also yummy. The bacon bruchetta with brie, candied walnuts, arugula and bacon jam is not to be missed.
As an entrée, the Mighty fine chicken is a yummy, gastropubby ginourmous plate of chicken with a spicy chili sauce served with a fresh coleslaw. The burgers are all good. They have some nice vegetarian options and they allow substitutions.
This place is perfect if you want to go somewhere relaxed and have «dranks» and want to do this in an atmosphere cooler and prettier than TGIFRIDAYS. It’s kid friendly and comfy and you get decent food at a good price. I can see where other reviewers are saying they are still «working out the kinks» but for me it has been pretty consistent overall. It’s a nice joint.
Oh! And the salted caramel banana pudding IN A JAR (what is this new jar thing? Everything is in a jar! Cupcakes, pie, cakes! Jars are the new black! I swear, the next time I go out I will be able to order steak-​in-​a-​jar!) is so so so good. It’s beyond.

The first thing I noticed when I entered AP Crafters is the improvement of the interior and patio over Indigo Joes (the pervious tenant). To me Indigo Joes seemed extremely plain and ordinary with their only decorations being basically TVs and white walls. It was nice to see the owners of AP Crafters take the time to redecorate the interior and exterior to create a really nice atmosphere and visual appeal to the restaurant. Now on to the food and drinks.
AP Crafters has a respectable beer, cocktail, and wine menu. My girlfriend ordered the skinny girl margarita on the rocks and I ordered the cucumber lift, which is a gin and tonic with cucumber purée and basil. The cucumber lift was surprisingly good and refreshing. The gin and tonic and the cucumber purée worked really well together to make a nice summer drink to enjoy on their patio. I tried my girlfriends margarita and it was a quality lime margarita. Both drinks were good sized and reasonably priced ($ 7 dollars each). AP Crafters has a selection of about 20 craft beers and their own label beers on draft. While the selection of beers is nice and better than most places, I thought it could have been a little better.
My girlfriend and I decided to start off dinner by ordering an appetizer. AP Crafters has a nice selection of pub inspired appetizers ranging from chicken wings, to pretzels and beer cheese, to fried mushrooms. We decided to go with the Poutine (which is basically fries covered in brown gravy and cheese). The Poutine came out really quick and is definitely big enough to share with four people. The Poutine was sinfully good and I definitely recommend it.
The dinner menu is mainly comprised of gourmet burgers, sandwiches, and various platters. For dinner I decided to go with the Morning After burger and my girlfriend decided to go with the Huli Huli Chick. Our dinner arrived with the same promptness that we received our appetizers. The Morning After burger comes topped with bacon, cheese, and a fired egg. The burger was a larger than average burgers Ive had and it was soo good it felt wrong eating it. My girlfriends Huli Huli Chick is a grilled chicken breast that comes topped with a fruit salsa. When I tried it I thought the chicken breast very well grilled, still very juicy, and the fruit salsa complemented the chicken well. This is a nice alternative if you are watching what you eat or not in the mood for a burger or sandwich.
I had one problem with the service. I asked my waitress for some mayo to go with my burger. I guess she told one of the runners to bring it out to me, but there was some miscommunication somewhere. She would come by check on me to see if one of the runners had brought it out yet and I kept telling her no. Finally after 12 – 15 minutes she went ahead and brought it out to me. When I got my bill I noticed I was charged 50 cents for the mayo. While I don’t mind paying the 50 cents, it kinda rubbed me the wrong way having to wait that long for it and still being charged for it.
Overall, I was impressed with the food and the drinks I had at AP Crafters and would definitely come back again. I think the menu has a nice selection of unique burgers and sandwiches combinations and all of the prices are very reasonable for what you get too. The AP Crafters website describes the food as a combination of the American Tavern and the European Gastropub. I agree with the American tavern part, but I think Gastropub classification is a bit of a reach on their part. The food is good, but when I think of Gastropub around Louisville I think of the Holy Grale. I think a better description of the food would be closer to gourmet/​upscale pub than Gastropub.

4 stars for the appetizers, 2 stars for the entrees, 3.5 stars for the Salted Caramel Banana Cream Pie in a Jar.
Went for a work lunch and split a lot of things off the menu.
Highlights:
Cheese Curds — they melt in your mouth and are absolutely delicious
Pretzel with Beer Cheese — classic flavors done well
Steak Fried Mushrooms — these come with the green chili jam — perfectly seasoned and crispy
Bacon Bruschetta — a must for bacon lovers (bacon jam!!)
Sassy Shrimp — the bread was unecessary, the shrimp had great flavor on their own
Needs work:
All the entrees. Maybe we went wrong by not getting a burger, because the cod, mighty fine chicken, tuna blt, and griddled cheese were all disappointing compared to the awesome appetizers.
They have lots of sauces too — possibly more than I’ve seen anywhere else?
Highlights:
Housemade ketchup — not an every day ketchup, but still pretty great with the sweet potato fries
Green Chili Jam — best all-​around sauce, great on the fried mushrooms, sweet potato fries, and makes the Griddled Cheese more enjoyable
Pimento Cheese Ranch — perfect accompaniment to the cheese curds
Needs work:
Zip sauce: strange, unpleasant flavor. Described as hot sauce + ranch, it tasted more like a bad Thousand Island (we didn’t expect it to have pickle relish)
After all of that (including some not bad but not noteable dishes such as the truffled mac & cheese and the fries — just get the sweet potato) we still sprang for dessert. The Salted Caramel Banana Cream Pie in a Jar was calling our name, and had all the makings of a great desserts… except it was topped with a big dollop of Cool Whip. Totally disappointing. Once we scraped all that off though, we pretty much licked the jar clean.
I’ll be back for beer and apps, maybe a burger, but I don’t think I’ll be ordering an entrée again.

Family dinner was nice. Had the hand rubbed wings — better than most I’ve had and spice was just right with no need for the additional hot sauce. Son’s kid chicken was really good for a chicken plank at a restaurant. Wife’s grilled chicken sandwich was good too — feta and artichoke toppings. Warm doughnuts for dessert topped it off. Big doughnuts with powdered sugar, cinnamon and caramel sauce. Very good dinner place.

There were a couple of rough patches during my visit to AP Crafters, but that is to be expected with a new restaurant. All in all, I think they are a solid addition to the Westport Village complex.
The décor was cool and trendy and pub-​like. Alas, the clientele was still dressed for the old Indigo Joe’s sports bar with their kids in tow. So the net effect was pretty casual and family friendly.
I ordered a beer at the bar while waiting for my table. Apparently, the bartenders are required to shake your hand when they introduce themselves. A nice business practice, but vaguely comical when it happens with 3 different bar tenders. In their defense, they were having some trouble with the keg, so I appeared to be sitting without a beer for a spell. I like that they wanted to be sure I was helped. $ 3 for one of their house craft beers seemed like a pretty good deal during happy hour.
They have a number of decent beers on tap, but I wanted to try their label. The wheat beer was pretty meh (not bad, just meh), but I enjoyed the pale ale.
For dinner, we tried the soft pretzels and fried cheese curds. Both were quite good. Some day I will suffer a massive coronary and think «deep fried cheese curds with a cheesy ranch dipping sauce? yeah, worth it.»
I ordered the «morning after» burger, which comes topped with bacon, cheese and a fried egg. It’s like an entire barnyard died to prepare my meal, but I don’t feel like their deaths were in vain. It was more than I could finish after the cheese curds, but it was delicious. Next time I have a hangover, I’ll be back for sure.
My companions ordered the house salad, mac and cheese and the BLT lettuce wraps. The mac and cheese was good — not legendary, but good. As Lynn noted, the lettuce wraps ended up being consumed like a salad. They weren’t really wraps in the traditional sense. I think my friend liked them, but I was glad I went with the burger.
We also ended up with regular and sweet potato fries at the table. I thought that the sweet potato fries were the better option (but that is generally my bias). They were tasty, but not the best in the city. The green chili jam was a pretty fantastic addition to the fries though — good move on that one AP Crafters.
The service was really friendly and prompt. They were super on the ball when my friend spilled her drink. Extra napkins, clean up and a fresh beer were there in an instant. (They were helpful and nice when we weren’t having a crisis too — the mac and cheese contains bacon, which would have been a problem for my vegetarian friend — yes, I ate an entire barnyard with a vegetarian — but the server clued her in so she was able to get it prepared without bacon. Good job server!)
Alas, there was no room left to try the warm donuts with salted caramel sauce, so I really have no choice but to go back. I mean, it’s my duty as a Unilocaler, right?

Like Lynn L said, they are still working out kinks. They even admit it. I have been twice for Social (Happy) Hour. They offer drink and appetizer specials between 3−7pm.
I really like their ap crafters pale ale, expecially for $ 3 a pour. I tried their bacon bruschetta on my first visit, very
last visit, I tried the steak fried mushrooms with the green chili jam. I enjoyed the sweet heat from the jam. the mushrooms were fine.
I like the fact that the servers introduce themselves with a handshake and remember your name. This forced me to remember their names and I still remember most after my first visit.
More low-​key than Indigo Joe’s but more sure of itself. I look forward to trying their burgers. Definitely worth checking out if you are in the area.

Came here for lunch last week with some co-​workers. I think they are still working out some kinks, but it’s worth giving this place a try!
They have a nice location, and we enjoyed sitting outside on the covered patio (it’s covered, so they specify no smoking — sweet!). They have a nice beer menu, with some German and Belgian selections to boot! They also have their own (private-​label) beer «Crafters» in a few different styles. They have a reasonable wine list, too, along with some specialty cocktails.
Their menu is expansive and has many choices for sammiches, burgers, salads, and starters. We shared the pretzels and beer cheese to start (it actually came out after our meal, but it was all ok in the end). The beer cheese was very garlicky, but I really enjoyed the soft pretzels!
I went for the griddled cheese, and upgraded to sweet potato fries, and added some green chile jam for the fries. The sammich was kind of boring, but the green chile jam (really, more like a relish — it was big chunks) zipped up my sammich to my liking! The fries weren’t so great (they cut them thicker so you get a lot of sweet potato-​y taste, not too much crunch), and I left nearly all of them.
My co-​worker got the BLT lettuce wraps, which were really just like small wedge salads on iceberg lettuce. There was no «wrapping» involved like you would with butter lettuce, so that was a bit disappointing. She asked for dressing and ate it like a salad.
Service was very friendly, but a bit awkward at times. Like I said, I think they are still working out some kinks.
There are many things on the menu I’d like to try (I’m looking at you, cheese curds, poutine, and burgers…), so I look forward to coming back soon and updating my review!