Maker’s Mark Bourbon House and Lounge

Nasty, flavorless, bland. Wow, I’ve had some GREAT food in Louisville. I am incredibly upset that I wasted a meal here. My father in law was visiting from CA and being a lover of makers mark, thought this would be a great place to go. We had fried chicken, the pasta primavera, fried smelt appetizer, Caesar salads and sides of lyonnaise potatoes and greens. Every single item was bland. The chicken was tasteless and greasy, the greens were sweet. (?!) the Caesar salad didn’t even come close to being anything like a Caesar salad. The 4 slices of potatoes that consisted as being a side item were bland and half cooked. The only thing good was the bourbon. So, if you need to experience a bourbon-​tourist trap, come for some bourbon and please eat somewhere else. Seriously, there is was too much excellent food in Louisville to waste your time and money here.

This place is generally pretty Lame. Great bartender and my bourbon flight was nice but I probably wouldn’t return

Had friends in from out-​of-​town who were staying at the Seelbach so I thought it was a good location with a unique Kentucky offering. While my friends liked the close proximity to their hotel, they didn’t think much of the food or the service. There were 10 of us, we had a reservation and we were seated on the patio which was nice. The rest of the restaurant was empty so I thought at least we’d get good service. No.
I hate hearing a waiter say «well, you are a group of ten. I have my hands full.» Really? It’s our fault we are a group of ten? Drinks came pretty fast but the food was mixed up, unremarkable and overpriced. The goat cheese appetizer was the best of the offerings, but the salmon was over cooked and dry. The Cobb salad just barely satisfied. Out of broccoli so how about some asparagus? No thanks. Burgers and club sandwiches won’t make an impression on out-​of-​towners!
I can’t imagine a reason we would return, even if I have a bus load of bourbon loving friends because there are lots of places in Louisville with an impressive assortment of bourbon.

We came here with a group of 6 for lunch and sat on their patio — perfect spot for people watching :) For the most part, we all loved what we ordered and would definitely come back the next time we are in the area. The location and ambience are great! Right in the hart of the city.
Pros:
— Jalapeño cornbread — delicious and perfectly crisp yet soft in the center. It came with 2 miniature loafs and was great to share
— Brisket sandwich — so good! loved the fried green tomato that it came with and the meat was so tender
— Shrimp po boy — plenty of shrimp! and the slaw was so tasty
— Homemade potato chips
Cons:
— Shrimp & grits — the portion was small and the flavors were just ok
— They were sold out of a lot of items — my heart was set on the hot browns but it was a busy weekend so understandable :(

Review preview: the only way this place stays in business is the high turnover of tourists and bachelor/​bachelorette parties that come through town. Over priced food (even given location of 4^th Street) that wasn’t that great, small portions, poor service, great bourbon selection. I would not recommend this restaurant to a friend.
I was in town for my soon-​to-​be brother-in-law’s bachelor party two weeks ago, and we had reservations here before going out on 4^th Street. Reservations were for 8pm on a Saturday, and we were seated promptly — the restaurant was busy but not packed. Our group of six had some bigger guys (myself included) and the tables were tight — very hard even just to get our legs under the tables — no idea why they were so close to the ground.
Obviously, the Kentucky Bourbon selection here is top notch — pretty much anything you could ask for. But as good as their bourbon selection was, their wine and beer selection lacked (what do you expect going to a «bourbon lounge» though I suppose?).
I think our server was new as he didn’t really seem to know when to come over and politely interrupt our conversation to take our order — it must have taken 20 or 25 minutes after our drinks before he came back, and that was just to order apps! Then, when we did, we ordered two different appetizers for the table — both delicious, but the smoked salmon only had two pieces, for $ 15! It would have been nice to know how small the portions were since we were obviously sharing with the table…
The entrees are very expensive and not for much food. I ordered the 5oz. filet which, albeit was cooked great (medium rare), was served OVER a scoop of the mashed potatoes. Umm… name one other restaurant in the world that serves you a $ 30 piece of meat smushed into mashed potatoes? And the «side» of asparagus was three (3) — three! — pieces. Wow. And under cooked at that. Others in our party order the half slab of ribs — they were burnt, dry, and tasteless. (Think: Chevy Chase opening up a Turkey at Christmas type dry here.)
Finally; finding our server at the end of the night to close out and get our tickets was an ordeal in itself. He was standing behind the bar talking with someone; we were very close to standing up and going to get him. All in all it took us about 2.5 hours — a meal that easily should have taken closer to 90 minutes. Frustrating given the business of the restaurant and fancy atmosphere.

We went to the Maker’s Mark Lounge for a bachelor’s party for my brother-​in-​law. This was a Saturday night during Thunder Over Louisville, so I expected it to be packed. But, we could have walked in without a reservation and gotten seated. We had a group of 10 people so I expected there to be an extra server based on the fact that the rest of the restaurant was basically empty.
If you are a bourbon drinker, this place is top notch just for the selection of bourbon. I, however, am not a bourbon drinker so that didn’t really appeal to me. I ordered a local beer that was very good, so that was a plus.
We finally got the server around to order our food about 30 minutes in. I ordered the rack of ribs. She came back about 5 minutes later and told me they had sold out. I was confused because the restaurant was empty and it was 7:30, but none the less. I ordered the pork loin instead. We waited what seemed like forever, but it was legitimately 45 minutes for our food. It finally came out, warm but not hot. My pork loin was served on a bed of parsnip purée. That was absolutely killer. The downside, there wasn’t enough. The pork itself was slightly overdone, but I rarely find a restaurant that doesn’t cook the fire out of pork because of fear. The food was good, but it wasn’t filling for $ 25 a plate.
We waited another 20 or so minutes while they put together a few desserts. My water glass was empty for about 30 minutes. They filled it when they brought the tickets (made no sense). It took another 15 minutes to get the checks returned. So, we wound up spending 2 hours there when it could have easily been an hour had our service been at least average. Sort of frustrating given the lack of people, the price per person, and the «prestige» atmosphere. I won’t be revisiting here next time I am in the city, but I guess it might be worth a try for some.

If you’re in Louisville, Kentucky, and are going to have your first taste of Kentucky Bourbon, this is the place to go. They over several three-​bourbon flights from $ 12-​$ 20.
During my visit, I had my first taste of Maker’s Mark — which is significant because I’m not typically a bourbon drinker. Maker’s Mark appeals to me, tho, because it uses wheat instead of rye in its ‘mash’along with corn (the predominant grain) and malted barley. The result is a milder-​tasting, smokey bourbon that appeals to those (like myself) that find typical bourbons too intense.
Since it’s always a poor choice to drink on an empty stomach, I took the opportunity to try the lounge’s ‘chicken and waffles’ appetizer. It’s a great appetizer for the lounge to offer since it’s maple syrup flavor pairs well with bourbon. It proved to be good ‘bar food’ but it can’t be compared to chicken & waffle entrees served at local restaurants such as Hammerheads.
The atmosphere is swanky. The bourbon is good. The food is ok. The service was dreadful. It’s within easy walking distance to local hotels — so if you explore too many bourbons, it’s easy to find a nearby cab or room.

Cool ambience with a slightly upscale vibe– probably what’s keeping the st. pat revelers away. Anyway, great bourbon menu (one should hope so) and good drinks. Food is the downfall. Ordered short ribs which were blah. Was supposed to come with broccoli rabe but was served broccoli instead. Same thing, right? Not! Watress sensed my overall displeasure with the meal and cut me a break on the meal. Thanks! Also, Sam and Emily were there which ended the experience on a positive note.

This place has a great atmosphere!
I got the Loretto 46 and my boyfriend got the Whiskey Sour, they were both delicious and perfectly strong to warm us up from the coldness outside! I would definitely recommend this place for a drink or two. We didn’t try any of the food but the menu looks good as well. Their happy hour is 3 – 6 with half off apps

The pluses, well it’s Makers Mark, what more can I say. A festive bunch of diners and the food is actually good!
The service, well they don’t really wanna be here. Makers Mark is located in a touristy spot, there for its not local bound. So service sucks.
The bourbon flights, I say get them, get lots of them. They are fantastic. The cuts of beef and pork, fantastic, but if your eating outside, beware the homeless, the are aggressive. Thusly making this place a three star restaurant.

We came to see Light Up Louisville and decided to stop here for dinner. The service was excellent, cocktails were great as well. We had the goat cheese skillet to start. It was delicious and plenty for 4 people. We had a spinach salad, ribs, risotto, and shrimp n grits. The flavor of everything was spot on but there were some issues, which is why it only gets 3 stars.
They were out of arugula, which I really wanted that salad. They offered to sub spinach, but I felt like the salad was built around the peppery flavor of arugula and spinach would be a poor sub. The ribs were tender and fall off the bone, but very heavy with rub and peppery. They left the tails on the shrimp which was a pain, literally, to find them all and take off the tails when they’re covered in boiling hot cream sauce. The risotto was not done. It was still slightly crunchy.
I feel like the price and atmosphere of this place calls for an experience without these rather amateur food mistakes.
We probably won’t be back. It was $ 160 bill and I’m not sure I’ll take another chance at these prices.

Maker’s Mark is a Kentucky, and Louisville, tradition. I have been to Maker’s Mark Bourbon House and Lounge a handful of times for dinner, lunch, and happy hour. All are ok, but I must admit that happy hour is your best bet for enjoyment. The atmosphere is awesome and the prices are just right during their happy hour specials. Their regular «after work happy hour» includes $ 4 well drinks (though I’m not a fan that their well bourbon in Jim Beam rather than Maker’s) and ½ price appetizers (from a specified menu). They also have other happy hours throughout the week, including ladies night on Thursday, and late night happy hour on Friday and Saturday.

The goat cheese appetizer was very delicious. The steak was okay but it didn’t come how it was ordered. For the price, go somewhere like Mortons that is known for steak. I found it strange that our group paid for an open bar and the bourbon it included was Jim Beam.

Great if you want overpriced, poorly mixed drinks and terrible service. Personally, you may find more joy flushing some money down the toilet than wasting it here.
We should have known this was a bad choice judging how empty the Makers Mark Lounge was compared to other establishments on a Saturday night. It took 10 minutes for our waitress to take our orders, and after our drinks were dropped off we didn’t see her the rest of the evening. We chose this as the last stop for a bachelorette party because We read promising reviews online, but this was a bust. Our drinks were mixed terribly and our waitress walked away when we said they weren’t right.
For an hour we tried flagging a waitress down for more drink orders and a possible food menu, but no one attended. Finally we were very frustrated that we had terrible service, drinks, and still no check, when one of our party went to the bartender and asked for a manager, the waitress stormed by us, kept talking to another staff while rudely pointing and then very rudely gave us our checks.
No manager was ever brought out and we left. Up until this point we had a great experience, having traveled from Cincinnati to Louisville to celebrate this special occasion. This was definitely a terrible choice. I don’t recommend at all.

Omg so sweet and crunchy chicken and waffles, tastey fried green tomatoes, tasty makers mark drink and mint julip!
Service is great and atmosphere relaxing;)

Would be a five star if the barmaid didn’t say «closing at 11 I just did last call» she served anyway with only slight reluctance.
Huge selection of bourbon and scotch.

I almost pooped myself when I saw this place. Having been in KY for almost a week now without having any bourbon in me was a chore I don’t even want to try to explain here. Anyway when I saw the sign I knew I had to go to there.
The ambiance is upscale and sophisticated and the bar is very well stocked with lots of lots of Kentucky’s finest. Our bartender was quite the connoisseur of bourbon for a young lady and had some excellent recommendations. The small batch bourbon flight was amazing; I wish I had time for a round trip.
The food seems a bit pricey but the appetizers were reasonable. The shrimp and sausage had nice flavor and good spice. The seafood trio was really good too having lobster, shrimp and crab.

Snazzy ambiance I must say. I didn’t eat, only had drinks. The service was good and it wasn’t crowded on a Saturday afternoon.
Enjoyed the mint julep!

We really wanted this place to be very special after reading a variety of reviews on Unilocal and at Open Table. It turned out as an average experience. The cocktails were very well prepared and tasty, but be aware they are a little on the pricey side. $ 10 for a house Manhattan for example. They use Makers Mark bourbon as their well, which us good but still does not seem to justify the drink price.
We has the warm goat cheese dip and rock shrimp appetizers. These were good but not worthy of five stars. The food seemed like what you could get at any chain restaurant.
The atmosphere was very nice, intimate except that we were seated right next to the bar where there was plenty if traffic and noise. The bar itself is very beautiful. The staff was polite and attentive. But we’ll probably try someplace else before going back here the next time we visit Louisville.

It wouldn’t be a trip to Louisville without visiting the Maker’s Mark Bourbon House. It’s one of my favorite bourbons and wanted to try a couple bourbon flights.
The flights here are no joke. We ordered up a couple samplers and tried each one. When we were done, I was so buzzed I couldn’t remember my favorite. Maybe all of them?