Proof on Main

So noisy that we couldn’t enjoy our dinner. We found the main courses and service nothing special. The bones appetizer was unique and tasty though.

Proof on main is top tier in Louisville. Unique food contemporary atmosphere. I real gem. You must eat here eventually. It’s worth it!

Pros = their normal menu looks good, and the location is nice. The appetizers and drinks were delicious.
Cons = Sunday’s they have a very limited menu that they did not tell us about when we made our reservation. Once we got there the portions were small by American standards (e.g. A $ 30 salmon that could buy at Kroger for less than $ 7) and the prices scream LA. I am from LA and this place screams hipster wannabe with over priced items and subpar service. It didn’t stop there, my mother was with me and had an allergic reaction to the seasoning on the salmon, and the staff instead of doing the right thing from the get go, lectured us all about how it is our duty to inform them beforehand. I was appalled coming from LA and used to much better customer service given the price point. In the end they took the salmon off the bill, but this was too little too late. This was my first and only time coming to this location, I would not recommend this place.

Love this unique & creative space, the museum is fun to walk through as well. Good ambiance and nice service.
The food here is delightful, although a lot of the portions are very small. If you’re hungry, go for the grilled cheese or the brisket sandwich, they are the normal size most of us expect, and they are delicious. The grilled cheese is actually huge & will make you want to replicate this sandwich at home everyday! It has cheese on the outside too!!! It’s a shame they don’t offer a good soup to go with it, that would have been amazing!
The fruit shrubs are wonderful! I love this drink, try it :)
The hot chicken and charred vegetable salad are also nice, with really good flavors and a fresh and crisp quality & presentation. Unfortunately, even ordered together the small portions on these items make them a tease of a meal. I ended up borrowing some of my friends’ grilled cheese and fries to fill up.
If you order an entrée be prepared to also want an app or another side or salad, and likely spend $ 40 on lunch. I wish they did a better job of conveying the great variation in portion size across the menu; that would make it much more likely that a person would order what they really want. .. like that grilled cheese sandwich.

Ordered the shrimp banh mi off the lunch menu, with a side of braised greens. Both items were good, but I’m not sure how good they would have to be to justify the $ 15 cost, particularly since the meal was a little on the small side. (As a point of reference, in my review of Four Sisters I called a similar $ 7 banh mi a tad pricy! I guess years of living in Oakland have me accustomed to $ 3 banh mi, and it’s hard to shake that.)
Yes, the location is sophisticated and all, and I’ll probably try dinner here sometime, but I doubt I will return for lunch.

Sat for 20 minutes after asking for my whiskey while the bartender served 4+ other people then went to look for my whiskey. 5 minutes later returns empty handed. A few minutes later he asks what I want. I ask if they can do a flight of Elijah Craig barrel select. Bar tender doesn’t know and doesn’t go ask. He goes and helps another patron. When he comes back a minute later he asks what I want. I’m too pissed by this point and tell him I’ve had bad service and am not going to buy anything. He says ok and walks to go help another person totally contempt with the situation.
Now he gave good service to the other patrons including the people in my group but I got bad service, no attempt to remedy it, and no apology. That’s 1 star service to me.
What did I do to you Mr. Bartender? I literally was asking you to take my money and you didn’t want it. I was thinking of ordering the Old Rip Rye too.

Stopped by Proof for lunch today with reservations of coarse The location is in an old building and is a typical Bistro. The inside is comfortable and not to loud. Dress is business casual. Our lunch consisted is a Bison burger cooked medium and was done to perfection and a side salad (greens). We were told to steer clear of the rutabaga sandwich as it is a tasteless mess but it is something designed for vegetarians We also had the toasted cheese sandwich which was obviously oven baked and was great. In addition our group had a brisket sandwich which was flavorful and just the right amount of fat All in all this is great place for a business lunch and would go back.

Only one visit but it was a 4.5 star one.
Loved the art gallery vibe and the bright open space. For lunch on a sunny day, it was bright and happy.
Our server was top shelf and made the meal even better.
I tried the Hot Chicken, it was equally gorgeous and delicious.
My Bloody Mary was perfect.
They had good coffee, good desserts and an AMAZING whiskey menu. Four pages of bourbon!!!
Not cheap, but worth it.
Probably not ideal for families with little kids in case you were thinking about it after the Slugger Museum.
Oh, and after lunch go check out the art gallery, it’s a treat after a solid meal.
Great happy spot. I will return.

This was our first stop upon arriving in Louisville, we weren’t too hungry (owing to the quarter pounders we’d eaten on the road… yeesh) but were looking for some bourbon and maybe some snacks. Proof on Main did not disappoint!
We sat in the bar area, but the restaurant portion looked positively lovely, very warm and inviting. We had the sweet potato pop tart after a couple of rounds of drinks and it was awesome. Very unusual and extraordinarily tasty. Highly recommend. Their bourbon list and beer list are quite extensive of course. I finished the night with a hard root beer (my new obsession) and it was delish!
If you find yourself in downtown Louisville, I highly recommend stopping into Proof for a quick drink or even for dinner. It is fun and innovative, particularly for a hotel bar/​restaurant.

Lunch menus basic, not too many options as the reviews I read on Unilocal.Came on a Wednesday around 2 pm. Sat at the bar, service was decent. Will come back and check out their dinner menu.

Proof on Main is one of my favorite places on this planet. It’s quite expensive, but it’s one of my favorite places to enjoy excellent food and cocktails, plus you can go and see the art in 21C after your meal.
We visited here for Valentine’s Day as we did last year as well. We were a little worried because of the weather as it was nasty and snowy on roads but luckily they were still open and serving. We got in and sat at the bar because the restaurant was closed. We both ordered the Proof Bison Burger, cooked to perfection with Proof Fries. The burger is served, cut in half with tooth picks in the middle of each half to hold it together. It’s pretty massive, with bacon, cheddar cheese and a jesebel sauce (that I have no idea what’s in it) that adds an earthy elegance to the burger. We also got a side of Proof Fries each with adorable little ketchup bottles to pour on top of them. It was super cute. We also ordered a cocktail each and a bourbon flight. I ordered the «Up All Night» and it did just that. It had a ton of liquor in it plus espresso so it keeps you up, and gets you buzzed with clotted cream on top (which was kind of odd to me, but it was very tasty to say the least). Scott got the Poison Arrow which is similar to a Manhattan with a blood orange bite instead of just regular bitters.
I love the way this is set up, you can tell they take pride in not only how clean the bar is, but also in what they hang there. It has that feel of high-​scale, artsy bar that I dreamt about as a child and still dream about today. The food and cocktails are always on fleek and it’s a gorgeous building. Proof on Main is something that everyone should experience at least once in their tenure in Louisville and you shouldn’t need much more proof than what I’ve already described. It’s gorgeous and attached to a beautiful art gallery. Go. See. It.

Stopped in for drinks as Stamp #10 on the Urban Bourbon Trail, and it definitely was a nice finish! We sat up at the bar with a full belly of food & wine from dinner, so we stuck with a nice cocktail to finish the night. I ordered Up All Night and my husband ordered an Old Fashioned. We were both pleased with the quality of the cocktails and the experienced bartenders mixing them. It was definitely fun to watch them create all kinds of cocktails for the other bar-​goers, and we were still able to catch up with the basketball game on their tvs.
Their beautiful wall of bourbons mesmerized us with the frequently changing color of the glow. made us feel like we were sitting at a bar in a nightclub – or within a hip museum hotel which it is!
Let’s be honest, at this point of the night I was a little shot and needed to sober up before the walk back to the hotel. I ordered a cup of coffee & the bartender brought me the full coffee pot, real sugar cubes, and cream. Can’t say I’ve ever had such a fancy cup of coffee before – and very delicious!
We enjoyed this place so much, we came back the next day while waiting for the Evan Williams tour to begin, and ordered mimosas at the bar. We glanced over their Sunday Brunch menu which looked amazing and we were so bummed we didn’t have time to try it! At least this time we had time to walk through the museum and enjoy the experience with fresh eyes (:

The meal I experienced at Proof recently would easily fall in my list of top five favorite dinners in Louisville. The food was excellent and service outstanding. I will definitely be back and hope to attend one of their Sunday Suppers.
We arrived rather early on a Saturday (5:30ish) because we were attending a theater performance at The Kentucky Center. It was fairly empty but by the time we left an hour later is was completely full so I suggest unless you are going right when they open to get a reservation.
The interior is very modern and matches the fact that it is a the bottom of 21C. You definitely need to plan time to take a look at the museum either before or after dinner (we did not and only had a few minutes and were disappointed we had to rush). Even though it is more «modern» it still feels cozy and intimate, definitely date night appropriate or somewhere you could go with friends for cocktails and appetizers.
We started out with the smoked catfish dip and were pleasantly surprised. We knew it was probably going to be good, but didn’t expect to love it as much as we did. The dip was accompanied with homemade wafer thin crackers and hot sauce (probably my favorite part of the dish– it had a spicy yet sweet aspect to it and really added nice contrast to the luxuriousness of the dip itself). For my entrée, I ordered the pork shoulder which had a fried pineapple, sweet potato disc, and a crumble. The sauce on the dish really tied everything together and the fat in the pork shoulder was perfectly rendered which means a lot when eating such a fatty cut of meat. It was also huge. I normally expect nicer restaurants to give smaller portions but there was so much food on my plate I couldn’t even finish it all and believe me I eat a lot. My boyfriend ordered a duck special and also loved it– also a huge portion size.
The meal I experienced at Proof recently would easily fall in my list of top five favorite dinners in Louisville– the food was excellent and service outstanding. While it may seem weird to say a simple pork shoulder is one of my favorite dinners I have had in Louisville– especially with our diverse culinary scene– I think it really just shows how less is more and perfect execution/​technique on the preparation of what appears to be a more humble dish outshines how «fancy» another dish may sound.

I’m a huge fan of proof. It’s one of my downtown favorites – perfect for a lunch meeting, happy hour, or dinner.
You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu. I personally love the beet salad for lunch. It’s pretty light so I like to add chicken. The grilled cheese is also amazing, and you can never go wrong with a burger. The truffle fries are also delicious, probably some of the best I’ve had – so crispy! I’ve also heard good things about almost every thing on the menu so I guess I’ll just have to work my way down!
As for the restaurant ambiance, I would say it’s on the nicer side. It’s not too formal, but it is not completely casual. The price point is great for the atmosphere. It’s also located in 21c hotel, so the bar area has a pretty funky artsy vibe – but way better than any hotel restaurant I’ve ever visited!

I just loved this place! I didn’t read much about it before we went here for brunch and I was really pleasantly surprised.
The atmosphere of this spot is great. It’s very hip and artsy while simultaneously being warm and welcoming. I just wanted to linger. It is part of a hotel and art museum. Defiantly go to the restroom which is part of the art instillation! There is art all over the restaurant and you can walk right into the attached museum which is free of charge. Really really cool place.
The food was very good. We had brunch and it was very tasty. The brunch cocktails and coffees are also spot on. We had banana bread to start off our meal and it was just amazing.
The service was also great. For a place like this I wouldn’t expect such warm service, I think I would expect it to be more formal. But it was excellent service with warm charm, I felt like our server could be my friend.
I can’t wait to go back here next time I am in town. Hoping to stay at the hotel too!

I normally skip reviewing anyplace that has this many reviews, but I think it’s worth adding on another 5 star review after stopping here for drinks on a Tuesday evening. In our hometown craft cocktails are huge and this was one of the best cocktails bars I’ve been to. The atmosphere here was so unique and added to the whole experience. The service was super friendly and extremely fast.
My favorite was the Poison Arrow was the favorite cocktail that we tried. In the cocktail was a liqueur called China China which I had never seen on a menu, let alone tried. It was phenomenal whiskey/​orange/​herbal goodness!
Make sure you use the restroom while you are here as the hotel is an art museum and you get a very unique experience.

Décor: Really, really cool! Before you enter, there’s a huge gold statue overshadowing the restaurant. You can’t help but to stare or take a pic.
Service and Food: Seated quickly (Sunday evening, light crowd) w/​friendly genuine smile. All employees seemed cool and casual, down to earth and pleases to provide quality service. They know the menu and are happy to explain specials or unique dishes/​ingredients. We ordered the Bison burger w/​Truffle fries and the Duck Confit dish. Both delicious!
Don’t forget to snap a shot w/​the famous pink penguins!

Sat at the bar and split an order of Blistered Octopus and Smoked Catfish dip. Both were spot on and delicious. The bartender was hilarious and super friendly. I have to say, as a visitor, Proof is always a pleasure. Until next time… oh and don’t forget to save some time to explore the museum.

I love the food, the art and the service. Even if you don’t need to us the restrooms, do head back into the hotel and use the facilities, they are simply the funnest and most interesting bathrooms!
I have always enjoyed the food here and the service is good. If you like people watching this is a great place; from tourists to business people and locals trying to impress each other dressed for a night on the town, its all here.
I don’t drink but my friends seem to think they have a good selection of wines, whisky, and beers. More important is the staff seems to know everything anyone I’m with asks for, no matter how obscure or unusal.
I appreciate the locally sourced foods that Proof focuses on with their dishes. Proof runs its own farm or ranch where it raises it own beef, bison and pork. The meats taste great and are always creatively prepared.
I often get a Bison burger and grits but everything I’ve tried is good. Tonight we had octopus and green beans on the side along with our main dishes. Several people with me ordered pork chops which were giant! They all raved about how good it was.
We decided to get deserts and I ordered the peach cobbler. It was not traditional, lighter and well presented. It was not too sweet and not just spiced with cinnamon and nutmeg but also something that added heat to the dish that left me warm but not burning. It was unique and tasty without being heavy or too sweet.
Next a walk through the art gallaries before heading home. Good company, good service, great art makes a perfect night out.

I tried the classic mint julep and I’d have to say it was excellent!
We ordered the proof fries, smoked ky catfish dip and bison meatballs. We enjoyed all of our appetizers and wouldn’t hesitate to order any of them again. It’s a very cool bar with an eclectic menu, so you might have to pay a little more than some other places, but we enjoyed our visit and thought it was worth it. The staff was very knowledgeable about their food and alcohol selections as well as the Urban Bourbon Trail. The museum was fun to look through if you have the time and a trip to the restrooms in the lobby would certainly be worth your time!