the troll pub under the bridge

i've eaten here twice. the beer cheese burger was decent but notgoodand the philly cheesesteak was meh. i do like the atmosphere in the bar area, if i wanted to grab a drink in the waterfront area. however, i will not be coming back for the food.

decent food and an interesting atmosphere. although i think most come for the beer which also has agoodlist of options available. definitely agoodafter work meet up place to unwind and grab some grub.

i walked down from my hotel which was several blocks away. it was dark but i felt very safe and never saw any problems around. i was by myself so i sat at the bar. it was a great bar atmosphere as the cubs were playing in the world series. i was in the mood for agoodhamburger. the bartender took my beer order then my food order. he was nice and agoodserver. my hamburger was wonderful and fries weregoodtoo. service time wasgoodeven with a crowd.i will go again when i am in the area.

they have a reallygooddeal lunch, combinations between salads, sandwiches, burger and soups. i order a half salad and half soup. the salad wasgoodand the soup was really good. i will recommend.

verygoodthe beer cheese was awesome and the loaded fries are a must have! dining in the bookcase...yes i said book case is a neat add on to an alreadygoodmeal!

if you were walking around downtown louisville, you would easily miss the bar hiding under the clark memorial bridge that leads to the north. except for the trolls. literally, peeking out from the underground bar, the goofy little mascots are a funny way to introduce you to the troll pub under the bridge. a dank little watering hole where locals love to go for pub food and a drink. the food here is good, and the atmosphere is perfect for the theme. it’s a funny place to see, and in fact, i think it’s overall agoodexperience.   the bar has a menu of your basic pub fare, with a ton of fried appetizers, pizzas, some steaks and pastas, fish and chips and more. the theme stays pretty close to your prototypical favorites, of course there are the burgers and sandwiches. i gave a try to the chicken salad sandwich, which is a pretty simple item, but the chicken salad is fresh, the chicken is real and large-cut pieces. the end result is a delicious sandwich with a bit of bacon that adds an element of saltiness to it. i love it, like many of the other bar food items, it has a simple charm. i have to mention a beer that is crafted specifically for this bar, termed the “card red.” it’s a light amber beer with a very simple flavor, a clean finish and not too heavy at all. it was perfect to try with the sandwich and i was a fan. if you happen to prefer one of the other brews, i might suggest one of the several dozen other beers, wines or bourbons on the menu. no matter your spirit, you’ll find a lot of different drinks to try. the atmosphere deserves mentioning. the restaurant reminds me a lot of an english pub concept, the dark interior has many recesses and small rooms where groups of folks go to congregate. mostly it’sgoodfor small groups, though there is a central bar too. in all the spot seems to be popular both with the downtown lunch cr

good food - fun concept - daytime family friendly. while visiting friends on a sunday, we met them here for lunch at 12:30pm - plenty of available seating and no wait (it's a fairly large place and you get the feel that it is more of an adult evening haunt! we didn't mind as we were a party of 4 adults + 3 kids (all under 10).

beware: if not from the area, gps will have a hard time finding it - we kept getting routed through the yum! center via our gps (latest update for 2014 even). it is sort of an ally interchange/corner and while there is a decent sign and statue of a jolly troll, the doors in are not well marked either...but this added to the fun mystique of the place!

atmospheric highlights:
1) inside this former bourbon house you get the sense of the former barrel roll paths, etc.
2) nice thick exposed brick walls, troll themed art and statues...plenty to keep you or kids entertained while waiting to eat.
3) bathrooms were a decent walk so young kids may need an adult escort so they don't get lost along the way there or back. this actually might be a positive as it will keep kids busy trying to find way to and from with the chance to view art along the way...for adults (if drinking) it will be entertaining to see if you can "hold it" and make it, let alone in a drunken stupor - find your way around. ha!
4) hidden room (near the patio and between main eatery and bar area is a side room, hidden by a heavy bookcase door) - two flat screen tv's, two tables with chairs and booth seats - it'd easily seat 8-10 adults. we had this room and it was nice for keeping younger kids corralled, and with full use of remote for the directtv - they blissfully watched cartoons while waiting for their meals.
5) clean - although a dark, long, cavern-like space that is subterranean, it was noticeably clean and well-kept.
6) we saw the bar, but can't comment much since we didn't spend time there. seemed to be plenty of tvs and a fairly large arrange of multi-shelf liquors.
7) through a door and window, we saw an outside urban-courtyard patio with cute little lights and urban-chic aluminum chairs. had it not been a bit rainy, and had we been there sans kiddos, the adults all commented that this would be a fun place for some happy hour drinks before a bats game!

overall, we found the menu to be diverse, a bit imaginative, and reasonably priced. very friendly, polite, prompt servers - we all noted were accommodating to our kids.

our family of 4 ordered: hot brown (which flavor-wise was a 4 on a 5 scale but presentation-wise looked like a large deep dish of neutral colored sludge), chicken fingers & sweet potato tater tots (all your usual kid-fare, most likely from a wholesale, frozen restaurant food provider but good), breakfast burger (ordered only after learning that despite the brunch menu, the server regretfully announced that they had run out of waffle batter and could not produce their famed chicken & waffles - boo...and seriously, pull out the flour, eggs, milk, etc and make some new batter...it's not that hard, my 10 year old can make it on her own even!). we had 2 lemonades and cola...and our bill for 2 adults and 2 kids was around $63 including a 25% tip (yeh, service was that good).

only downsides: a bit pricey * (then, we did tip well) but portions were fairly large and we took take-home boxes, a bit hard to find if not from the area (gps didn't help), park is in ally, on street around yum! center or city garage (we paid $5 flat rate there)...and time moves a little slower at the troll, we hoped to stay an hour and were there just shy of 2 hours.

good food.goodservice. fun eclectic atmosphere. family friendly. urban hip. relaxed feeling. kudos on the great restoration of this great old building! if we lived in l'ville, we'd surely look to rent it out for a company event! thanks troll, we'll surely be back!!!

always different. i've have been here several times now. the food is usually pretty darn good. the staff, on the other hand, is hit and miss. sometimes you get a great server and sometimes you don't. great place to sit at the bar with a nice craft beer selection andgoodatmosphere.

cool, i think. went the other night spent $65 for four of us (we drank water).my son's reuben was very good, the beer cheese app got a little pricey when we added a couple of pretzels and extra cheese. the rest of us got the fish and chips, the batter was very greasy and didn't take me long to decide i had enough. the portion was hearty and the fish its self was good. the overwhelming taste of white pepper ruined the cole slaw. but our waiter was verygoodyet very dingy, he gave us something to talk about. i will go back but probably won't have the fish and chips.

had a few decent experiences here,goodfood andgoodatmosphere but the last two trips were less successful. the first, i called to see how late they were serving food and i was told until 11, weer arrived at 10 and was told the kitchen was closing up and we were turned away. decided to give it another try last night. the server was very friendly and pretty good, however the appetizer was ordered with no onions came out covered in onions (i have an allergy and can't pick them off). then my pasta that i ordered medium spicy came out with chives (once again, onion allergy). the appetizer didn't come out until the others were almost finished with their food, then my pasta came out, it was so hot my face was red and eyes watering. the server even said she tried it in the back and it was hotter than the "angry" level of hot (i ordered medium). she went to ask the manager for a coupon and they told her they were out. no manager visit, no discount, no taking the food off the bill that i couldn't eat. i don't think we will be returning. i hate it because i really liked the place.

great atmosphere and surprisinggoodfood for a bar type place. the service was great and the place was packed. taco salad had a great cilantro lime dressing that was good. also tried chicken salad sandwich and it was white chicken breast meat on great bread.

ask for the hot sauce. the homemade hot sauce is great. everything we have tried there has beengood.....

whole family went and all loved it.goodfood and great selection of cold drought beer. cool digs too.

do not waste your time. i work downtown louisville i called in an order for lunch, it took literally 34 mins from the time that i ordered to get my order, which was mac n cheese and troll tots. i ended up being late back from lunch and even spoke with the manager johnny while i was their, who was very unprofessional. he stated that the problem was the server should not have quoted me 10 mins (like he did over the phone). the place was on a 20 minute wait and their were several tables open. the server who took my to go order didnt even come back to take the money. itsgoodmac and cheese, but doc crow's is just asgoodand same price. their are alot of restraunts in the downtown area, dont waste your time on this place. this is not our first expierence with this place, i asked the last time we ordered if i could make a substitution on my order, she stated "it depends on if the chef feels like it," thats why i only order sides their. however not anymore save time and go to one of the great establishments around the corner like doc's or oshea's alot more friendlier than this place.

in summary: beer cheese,goodand warm, chicken fingers super yummy, troll statue, awfully cute. but everything else: utterly mediocre bordering on dumb. the lackluster service. the burned bacon, the greasy fish, the blah pasta congealing in the bowl, the snarky servers lacking any kind of charm, and the unreasonable cost. sorry mr. troll, we won’t be visiting your pub again.