Best of Downtown: Jenicca's

Among the most underappreciated (best that I can tell) spots in downtown-ish Louisville is the wine/beer bar and restaurant Jenicca's. Even before I "moved" downtown, we hit Jenicca's on a fairly regular basis, but now I'm making an even more concerted effort to get there as often as I can. Like so many downtown establishments, Jenicca's is struggling, and it's in everyone's best interest that this place thrives.

Whenever I walk into Jenicca's, I feel like I want to move in. Not only does Jenicca's design aesthetic match my own (although you'd never know it walking into my shotgun home-- I love the NYC loft-y, industrial schtick, but when you own a 102 year old home, you feel obligated to preserve the original design as much as you can-- at least I do), the music is great, the food-- though light-- is my kind of food, and the people behind the bar-- usually Jennifer or Rebecca, the owners-- are lovely and kind. Not to mention the fact that they have beautiful bathrooms and a great outdoor space.

Jenicca's is open from 11-3pm on Mondays, 11-10pm Tue-Wed, and 11-midnight Thu-Sun. They offer an extensive wine selection and lots of craft beers, including Schlafly's on tap. Their menu features mostly sandwiches and snacks, and everything I've had there is great. I'm especially partial to the BLAT (Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, and Tomato) sandwich. At $5.95, it's an awesome deal. With any sandwich, you have a choice of broccoli salad (which is WONDERFUL) or chips and salsa.

Jenicca's hosts lots of live music on the weekends and other special events. Last Friday Trolley Hop the place was so packed it was nigh-impossible to get a beer. It made me so happy to see them so busy, I wasn't bothered a bit.

My only beef with Jenicca's is that they only offer regular coffee, actually it's hazelnut coffee which is one of my least favorite coffees. I can say with total certainty that if Jenicca's had cappucino-machine-made coffees or at least a regular coffee on tap that the restaurant would become my very regular on-the-way-home stop after work. I know that this is an unwelcome complaint for the Jenicca's owners. They've made conscious choices about what to offer-- and the conscious choice not to offer a better coffee selection is one that they're firm on. But still. With only Blue Mountain and DCE even remotely nearby, I can't help but think they'd do a killing on lattes and such with the local small business owners. I know if I worked in an office nearby, I'd sooner bring my own cappucino machine to work than go out and get a hazelnut coffee from Jenicca's any day.

Smaller beef: at least twice, we've tried to head there on a weekend afternoon and found them closed despite what their business hours said.

Jenicca's
636 E. Market StreetLouisville, KY 40202