Mussel and Burger Bar

I have never been to a restaurant like the Mussel and Burger Bar. It is an unique environment and ambiance, but when it comes to the food they are hard to beat. Their strength is in their burgers, but they have some other intriguing things to offer. Mussel and Burger bar is a destination spot in Louisville.
As I have said before, what makes Mussel and Burger Bar a must-​try restaurant is their burger selection. Of course they have tasty traditional burgers, but in my opinion what makes them special is their more exotic burgers. My favorite is the Argentinian Burger. It comes with chorizo and caramelized onions. It sounds strange at first, but it comes together beautifully. Supporting these burgers is a strong selection of fries. The pomme fries are good, but I would also advise trying the truffle fries. They are rich in flavor and filling, but delicious.
You should go there for the burgers, but there are good options outside of them as well. As far as appetizers go, the short rib nachos are awesome. They were so good they nearly ruined my appetite for my actual meal. I also tried the mussels. They were good, but I would never choose them over a burger. They may be someone else’s choice, but I am more of a burger guy.
The reason I am giving them four stars out of five is because I am not too sure what the restaurant wants to be. The waiters are kind and attentive, but their attire is a t-​shirt and jeans. The restaurant has a feel of trendiness with some of its décor, but it is ruined with picnic table like tablecloths. They use mason jars as glasses as well. There is nothing wrong with these things. It just makes me feel like it does not know what they want to be. Nothing of this takes away from how delicious the food is. I would highly recommend this dining establishment.

Great place for date night. The atmosphere is awesome inside. The service was great. The food was good but expensive. Honestly I kind of expected more but I would say it’s a must try at least once

This is an AWESOME date night go to! The lighting is a little dim — which makes anyone feel intimate and sexy. The foods smell (and taste) AMAZING. The service is phenom.
My only regret is not taking photos of the food before eating it. But let me tell you, the mussels with chorizo inside — they’re on the top left of the menu where the mussels are listed — ARE TO DIE FOR! I don’t particularly love eating shellfish, but these mussels were seasoned and cooked so well, I couldn’t stop eating them!
My date and I also split this Mexican-​ish burger that had chorizo inside … It was the juiciest burger I’ve ever had. Oh my god this burger you all. I thought the breakfast burger I had the first time was the best … But THIS burger really did me in.
One could hope that one day, you can order a flight of their burgers, but slider size, so you can try every one in its meaty glory.
Just go, it’s popular for a reason!

Yummy food with great service! It was definitely a special treat for my birthday! I ordered The Local Burger and it was delic! I’d recommend and go back!

Short rib nachos is all you need to know about this place because they are absolutely amazing. Of course everything I’ve had here is delicious but it’s the nachos that keep me coming back. Out of their selection of burgers the bacon breakfast burger is my favorite, love the runny fried egg and maple aioli together.

Came in very exited. Left very disappointed. Saturday night
5:15 arrival
5:45 seating (understandable)
Drinks came and stayed in styrofoam cups because they were out of clean glasses.
6:15 appetizer arrived, no silverware available.
6:50 dinner arrived.
2 burgers, 1 mussels and 1 chicken tender.
Both burgers way over seasoned (salt) one more than the other. One burger came on wrong bun.
Chicken tenders were cold and bone dry.
The Blue Cheese and Pancetta Mussels were disgusting.
I’m fine paying $ 16 for a gourmet burger but not if its not executed right. Unfortunately will not be back.

4.5
Stopping at this restaurant was part of a road trip. We loved mostly everything we ordered!!! So special and unique. Atmosphere is nice and classic. Service is nice. Parking is not an issue. Food:
Calamari: is one of the most exotic mouthwatering flavors I ever tried. Great texture. Heat is perfect. Strongly recommended.
Spanish blue burger: delicious strong flavor. Perfectly cooked and seasoned. You would love it if you like the blue cheese.
Argentina burger: very tasty. Nice side sauce. Juicy and well seasoned. Love it
Grilled Chicken and brussel sprouts: nice flavor. The chicken was a little dry. Delicious veggies!

I have been to Mussel and Burger Bar many times, from the week it opened, until last week. It is the best restaurant, in JTown, of Louisville, and one of my favorites anywhere. All of the Olé restaurant group, restaurants that I have been to are great, actually.
Of the many times I have been, I have only had one mediocre experience. The waiter was brand new, it was a late lunch time, and, as you can see, it did not affect the 5 start rating they deserve, because everyone deserves and off day sometime.
Service is usually incredible, from the hostesses, bartenders (I have eaten lunch at the bar or sat at the bar often, before dinner), to waiters, who give recommendations, when asked, and take a picture of your group, for you.
I have been with large groups, of 8 – 20, and had a table for 2, service is not affected, by party size.
The menu has changed some, recently, but, I have had most of the appetizers, on the menu.
The ground beef taquitos, sliders, nachos, and lamb meatballs are some of my favorites.
The seasonal salads never disappoint. And, the fig salad is a favorite lunch choice.
I have to confess: I do not eat mussels, but I will say that I have many friends who do, and they say there are really good mussels here. There are multiple flavor options!
The burgers are huge, so I like to split an appetizer and a burger, when I get one, or take half home. I did eat an entire burger, for lunch, one time, and I did not eat dinner that night! I am sure most men cn handle an entire burger, though. There are so many good ones, it is hard to say what my favorite it, but you can’t go wrong, just pick the one that is your favorite type of food; Cuban, Mexican, Italian… You will love it!
My husband loves the sweet potatoe fries, with the pineapple dipping sauce. I prefer the regular fries.
The Short Rib Grilled Cheese is the first thing I ever got. It might be one of the main reasons I went, the first time! It is really good. It is huge. I do take half home, for lunch the next day. It can be a little greasy, so you should be aware, of that, but it is grilled, so it is to be expected.
The Salmon is great.
I do not think I have ever had the Churrasco, so I guess I need to get that next time.
My favorite entrée there is the fish tacos. I usually ask to have them all grilled, or 2 grilled and one battered. They are OK, with that. The Mexican corn, on the cob, that comes with it is incredible.
Another confession: I love dessert, so this is hard for me to imagine, but I have never had dessert here… The other food is just so darn good that I get too full. Next time!

One of my Louisville favorites. We have family that lives in Louisville and are there often. If we have time and its near eating time, we’ll hit up Mussel and Burger Bar. Great, tasty burgers, amazing mussels, and awesome appetizers. We usually get the taquitos and nachos. They are definitely worth it.
If you’re looking for a great burger and all-​around fun place to eat in Louisville, this is it.

This has quickly become my default I am hungry and too lazy to cook, where should I go out to eat place.
Burgers are great, mussels are great, no surprises there. The real stars here is everything else. Perfect presentation on the Foie Gra with a great balance of buttery, sweet, and salty. My favorite side dish is the potatoes with duck fat.
A word of warning they tend to cook their burgers a degree down. So a medium comes out medium rare. This is not a complaint since I would rather er on the underdone than over done side.
I will be back soon to try their in house made vegetarian burger. It looks so good that I would be willing to skip the cow for beet and quinoa.

This is not the typical restaurant I pick for dinner, but given the number of positive reviews I thought I might try it. It definitely did not disappoint, but it also wasn’t necessarily the best meal I’ve ever had. That’s likely more of a fault of my own personal taste than the actual quality of the food. That being said – I would definitely recommend this place for family dinners.
Our servers were great at accommodating such a large party (there were about 12 of us present). There was a great range of appetizers, all designed to be good for sharing. The charcuterie plate was delicious and had a wide range of meats and cheese. The wings and the calamari were also excellent. Drinks were also great – beers were served either in the bottle, or in cute little mason jars!
The star of the night (for me, at least) was the lamb burger. The lamb was cooked perfectly (I asked for medium rare) and the sauces complimented it perfectly. The sweet potato fries were also great, though I tried the truffle fries and found I preferred them. If you’re going to indulge, that’s what you should pick.
As it was my father’s birthday, we sprung a bit of song and dessert on him. The chocolate cake and coffee ice cream were the perfect portion size for us to share. Two were split well between a group of 12 who didn’t want to take more than two or three bites each. Rich without being sickeningly sweet. A perfect end to a great family dinner.

Delicious! I rarely give 5 stars, but this place was pretty perfect. Staff was great, atmosphere was great and most importantly the food was great.
Blue Cheese and Beer Pancetta Mussels as an app were amazing, my husband wanted to drink the sauce.
I had the seafood burger which was essentially a stuffed crab cake on a pretzel bun with avocado. Good but not nearly as amazing as the Mediterranean burger my husband ordered. Imagine the best gyro you’ve had but in the form of a burger! Sweet potato fries as a side were also yummy!
I only ate half my meal so I could also try a dessert. Went with the chocolate torte, it was really good. If you’re a chocolate lover like me, you’ll enjoy it.

This past Friday I showed up at 8:15pm thinking the rush wasn’t too bad as this place is always packed. The hostess said it would be 30 – 45 minutes to get a table and the bar was full with people eating and even more people hovering over them with a drink. It’s frustrating when you see 8 open clean tables and three hostess at the stand. Maybe they should invest in more servers but I wouldn’t waste my time again because there are other great burger joints really close to the restaurant.
Unless you like waiting a LONG time to eat a burger then this isn’t the place for you.

My girlfriend and I made an unexpected stop in Louisville, during our three-​day move down to Atlanta, to get some rest. We, of course, wanted to fill our bellies with awesome food, so we searched for one of the highest rated restaurants near our hotel and found Mussel & Burger Bar. Thank the lawd, for Unilocal,because our meal kicked some serious ass.
*****
I. FOOD & DRINK
Think high-​end gastro pun with mussels and burgers. And of course, we got just that.
*Mussels: It’s been a long-​time since I ate there, but I remember them being cooked in butter and wine. Oh my goodness. So. Delicious. I would eat this every night, if possible. And I don’t mind that my girlfriend looked like crazy person savagely devouring the mussels with her butter-​soaked hands. It was sort of hot, but sort of not. lol.
**CEO Burger: Foie gras on a burger? Why the hell not? Foie gras had a nice sear and the burger couldn’t have been juicer. The things I think they can improve on are 1) finding a way to keep everything from falling apart (bottom bun was too wet) and 2) not recommend the sweet potato fries. Fries were well salted, but just too soggy. I think traditional fries are the way to go there. (My girlfriend had those.)
II. SERVICE
Incredibly nice folks that make you feel welcomed. Plus, I left my Rhymesayers snapback (Minneapolis hip-​hop label) there, and they held onto it for a month until Emily H retrieved it for me. (Thanks, boo!)
III. ATMOSPHERE/​DÉCOR
From what I remember, upon walking in, two dining areas exist that are perfect for small groups. Also, it’s a gastro pub, yet slightly sports-​y. If I lived in town, I would visit often to watch football or basketball.
IV. PRICES
I don’t remember the prices being anything unreasonable. I think it was around $ 12 – 15 for the burger and maybe $ 18 for the large serving of mussels. Again, these are guesses, but for delectable food, I’m glad to shell out that kind of cash!
V. OVERALL
I think it’s a no-​brainer where I should visit, the next time I’m in Louisville. And it’s a city I want to come back to. (Side Note: As a Minnesota Vikings fan, I love me some Teddy Bridgewater and I’m glad he played college ball in this wonderful city.)

This place currently has 353 other reviews and an almost perfect 5 star rating. There’s not much else I can add that all those other people have not stated already. But I can confirm that all those people are on point about this place.
Yes this place lives up to the hype. Yes the wait is worth it. Yes everything on the menu is amazing… especially the short rib nachos.
A great thing about this place is the environment. You can feel fine taking the kids but it also has a «nice place» feeling if you happen to take your date there. Also, it has a full bar and a decent selection of wine.
I’m fortunate enough to live near this restaurant. But even if you don’t, the drive is worth it! All 354 of us can’t be wrong about this place! Bön Appetit!

Sometimes when I travel out of town, Unilocal lets me down. It’s rare, but it happens.
It did not happen tonight.
Thank you, Unilocalers, for helping me find this place.
We’re in the Louisville area for a few days with our only plans involving bourbon. Turns out that between rounds on the Bourbon Trail, you need food. Good food.
We started with an appetizer of mussels — blue cheese, beer and pancetta. The substantial portion of mussels came smothered in a creamy, salty, addictive sauce. By the time we were out of mussels, we were squabbling over the bread to sop up the sauce. When our server took the bowl away, my husband asked for a straw to drink the remaining sauce. The server thought he was kidding…
I had the Good Olé Burger — standard burger on a pretzel bun with cheddar cheese, onion, tomatoes, and lettuce. It was, though, anything but standard. The burger was seasoned to perfection and cooked exactly how I requested. My burger came with a side of the house pomme frites — crispy, golden fried potatoes.
My husband ordered the CEO, which is a burger topped with foie gras. I didn’t get to try it (it has truffle aioli on it and I have a mushroom allergy), but he ate it so fast I’m not sure it ever existed. His came with the steak fries, which are laughably huge portions of potato. Equally delicious as the pomme frites; seasoned differently.
Service was excellent. Dylan was prompt and patient, both things we needed tonight.
We’re here for two more nights. I wouldn’t be surprised if we end up back here.

A lot of odd things about this place, but I’m still giving it four stars so clearly the oddness isn’t an issue for me.
My dad and I came here for a Sunday lunch. When we walked in, we almost felt out of place at first. The lighting was very dim and the tables looks almost upscale (from a distance) with a tablecloth and candles. Then we noticed the workers were all in jeans and t-​shirts. A very odd vibe. The tablecloth turned out to just be brown paper– I’m assuming it makes clean up after mussels easier.
Let’s get straight to the food. We didn’t have huge appetites unfortunately, so no mussels were had. The appetizer we ordered were taquitos. Little teeny tiny tacos with sweet peppers on them. Very good and the perfect sized appetizer for two people to share. My father had The Local which he seemed to really enjoy. This one came with steak fries and a (I think garlic) aoli. I tried the fries and aoli and both were pretty tasty.
I had the Southern Belle– oh my GOODNESS. This had fried green tomatoes and a huuuuge amount of cheese on it. Oh, and the best part of course was that it was on a pretzel bun. It came with sweet potato fries and a pineapple dip for those. The pineapple dip was awesome– a bit of a smoky flavor as if it was right off the grill.
Our burgers were cooked perfectly. Both of us like it as rare as we can get so of course we were excited to see they could do that for us.
I’ll be back for sure and I can’t wait to try the mussels!

How can you not love MBB? From their drinks to their food to their service, every aspect of this place is phenomenal. I look for any excuse to come to MBB.
I normally get the good olé or the Argentinian burger with truffle fries (of course. Why wouldn’t you?). The truffle fries are always hot and crispy, and the burgers juicy and rich. My mouth is salivating thinking about the food.
I’ve never had a server that wasn’t friendly and cool. I would honestly befriend every server I’ve had and get a beer with them (and maybe take advantage of the fact that they work at MBB).
The only downfall (ONLY) is that they don’t take reservations and that they consistently stay busy. But it’s worth the wait. Trust me!

I guess I’m one of the few who doesn’t think Mussel and Burger Bar is 4 or 5 star worthy. Don’t get me wrong, it’s good, but I’ve had a better burger elsewhere. I thought the prices were pretty high for what you got. I ordered the Spanish Blue. It was decent. I was very disappointed it was undercooked. A restaurant that specializes in burgers should know how to cook one properly. I’m a medium rare gal. I went ahead and ordered it medium because I was told they usually cook their meat a little bit rarer than most places. When I bit into my sandwich the meat was red and kind of raw. A medium temperature is supposed to have a little pink inside but not bloody and mooing. I couldn’t imagine what I would have received if I had ordered it the way I normally do. Their sweet potato fries were good but like every other fry I’ve ever had. I didn’t like the pineapple dipping sauce at all.
The savior of the day was the lobster mac-​n-​cheese. Oh. My. Goodness. Now that’s what I’m talking about! If I ever return to MBB this and a glass of wine will be my meal. Wow!
I really didn’t get the décor inside. It was pretty plain Jane. The wait wasn’t too bad thank goodness because I’ve heard from many others who have dined here that the wait was ridiculous. More than likely I’ll give this place another whirl. I try to not base negative reviews on one visit alone.

LAAAWWDDDD HAH MUHSAY. THAT WAS A MIGHTY FINE BURGER, CHIL’!
Really is. What a bizarre place, though. It’s in the Taylorsville/​Hurstbourne area (busiest intersection in Louisville?), but it is sorta hidden. If you don’t know where it is or don’t know where you’re going, you might have difficulty finding.
It’s a really nice place, but it has paper table clothes for quick removal and easy cleanup. That’s probably to do with the mussels, I guess? Not that I care. Just found it atypical.
It really is a super versatile place, though. That’s one thing that I found really exceptional about it. It is a «nice» restaurant that sells burgers. You can wear whatever you want (shorts and a tshirt, or slacks and a tie (or lady’s equivalent to these things)), and you will not be out of place. It’s similar to Hammerhead’s in that way. Which is good. It’s a great date destination.
On to the food…
Got the Argentinian. Swell burger. I’d get again. I could go through what all the burger has on it, but you can look at the menu and see for yourself. It was dope, though.
Wife got the Italian. She liked it OK. Her palate is a bit more novice. She thought it was overpriced for what it was, but that it tasted good. Nothing great. I have no clue. I didn’t take a bite. I’m sure it was better than what she thought.
Fries were normal. Not anything special. Just a standard fry. Something to fill the hole.
I really liked the burger. Thought it was unbelievable. However, I prefer Grind Burger Kitchen. Just feel it’s better and not nearly as busy. Although, this isn’t a knock on M&BB. M&BB is exceptional, and I’ll be back a lot.