LouVue
All Articles

LouVUE's Weekly Dish: May 26th - June 1st, 2025

June 1, 2025 7 min read

Welcome to the Flavor Frontier, Louisville! 🍽️

Hey food lovers and safety sleuths! It’s your pal LouVUE back with the lowdown on our city’s dining scene from May 26th through June 1st, 2025. Whether you’re craving tacos, pizza, or some homey mom’s kitchen vibes, I’ve got the scoop on who’s keeping it clean and who’s got some cooking to do. Buckle up — this week, the heat isn’t just coming from the kitchen flames!

LouVUE by the Numbers: Serving Up the Stats

Last week Louisville’s health inspectors knocked on 98 doors (restaurants, that is). Here’s the breakdown:

  • Total Inspections: 98
  • Regular Inspections: 89
  • Other Inspections: 4
  • Follow-Up Inspections: 5

Inspection teams are hustling as always, keeping an eye on food safety so you can dine without worry. But as usual, some spots are sizzling while others… well, they’re a bit undercooked on compliance.

Second Servings: Tacos, BBQ, and Pizza — The Follow-Up Files

Follow-ups are like the encore in a concert — they tell us if a place fixed its flub or is still fumbling. We had five notable follow-ups this week:

  • GUERITA TACOS (no address) had a follow-up on May 30th but oddly, no grade or score was reported. This leaves us hanging — not enough info to tell if they’re back on track or still burning the tortillas. Transparency is key, so I’m sharing as-is!

  • KOKO & RAE MOM’S KITCHEN at 1511 Bardstown Rd cleaned up nicely, moving to a solid B with a perfect score of 100 on May 29th. Now, a B grade here means they had some bumps previously but have since gotten back into the game. Remember, a B often signals that follow-ups were needed because of prior issues — so patrons, keep your eyes peeled but feel better knowing they’re making strides.

  • NOCHE MEXICAN BBQ at 1838 Bardstown Rd aced their May 27th follow-up with an A and a perfect 100 score. That’s what I call smokin’ hot compliance! No BBQ blues here.

  • PAPA JOHNS PIZZA #10 at 5709 Bardstown Rd also nailed an A with 100 on that same day, showing their dough is rising in the right direction.

  • SUPER MERCADO PUEBLA at 10119 Taylorsville Rd scored 100 but strangely received no grade on May 27th. Again, a bit of a mystery stew here — no grade makes it tough to judge, but the perfect score is promising.

Follow-ups matter because they reveal whether places clean up their act after a slip. Kudos to those who turned things around; to those with missing info, we’re watching you!

Cautionary Cuisine: The C-List Chronicles

Alright, folks, time to talk about the spicy side of things — the C grades. A C grade means a restaurant scored below 85% OR had at least one critical violation. Critical violations are serious, the kind that could land you a nasty foodborne illness if ignored.

This week, 6 establishments earned the dreaded C stamp. Let’s break down the details and what it means for your dining choices:

Derby City Pizza

  • Score: 93
  • Address: 12900 Dixie Hwy, Louisville, KY 40272
  • Date: 2025-05-28
  • Violations:
    • PROPER COLD HOLDING TEMPERATURES (Critical): Pizza prep fridge was chilling at 50°F — way too warm to keep your toppings safe.

LouVUE’s Take: Pizza lovers, don’t let a cool slice turn into a warm worry. A cold holding temp at 50°F is a red flag, especially for a pizza prep area where food safety should be on point. Derby City Pizza’s 93 score is borderline, but that critical violation is a no-go. Keep an eye on this one!

Fairdale Valero

LouVUE’s Take: An 80 without listed violations usually means multiple minor issues or possible criticals not detailed here. C-grade convenience stores often house food that needs vigilance — proceed with caution and maybe double-check those premade sandwiches!

IHOP

LouVUE’s Take: IHOP’s got breakfast on the brain but forgot some mid-shift cleaning mojo. Running a dishmachine without sanitizer is like making pancakes without syrup — it misses the point. A critical violation like this can spread germs faster than you can say “buttermilk biscuit.” Despite the 90 score, this is a serious hiccup.

North of Bourbon

  • Score: 94
  • Address: 935 Goss Ave, Louisville, KY 40217
  • Date: 2025-05-29
  • Violations:
    • FOOD-CONTACT SURFACES: CLEANED AND SANITIZED (Critical): Sanitizing solution concentration not right for manual/mechanical ware washing.
    • FOOD IN GOOD CONDITION, SAFE, AND UNADULTERATED (Critical): Found food past its expiration date in cooler.

LouVUE’s Take: A 94 score might look tempting, but two critical violations tell a different story. If your sanitizing solution isn’t properly concentrated, you might as well be giving germs a VIP pass. And serving expired food? That’s a plot twist nobody ordered. North of Bourbon needs to sharpen its act before it earns back full trust.

Taste of China 555 Inc

  • Score: 91
  • Address: 1167 S 4th St, Louisville, KY 40203
  • Date: 2025-05-29
  • Violations:
    • INSECTS, RODENTS AND ANIMALS NOT PRESENT (Critical): Live roach found under 3 compartment sink.

LouVUE’s Take: Yikes. A live roach is a dealbreaker in any kitchen. At 91 points, Taste of China 555 Inc is skating on thin ice; one creepy crawler can mean bigger pest problems lurking unseen. This is definitely a spot where I’d keep my takeout to a quick grab-and-go until they get their bug situation under control.

Yummy Pollo

  • Score: 87
  • Address: 4222 Bishop Ln, Louisville, KY 40218
  • Date: 2025-05-27
  • Violations:
    • NO BARE HAND CONTACT WITH READY-TO-EAT FOODS OR APPROVED ALTERNATE METHOD FOLLOWED (Critical): Bare hand contact with ready-to-eat foods observed.
    • PROPER COLD HOLDING TEMPERATURES (Critical): TCS food not kept at 41°F or below in front counter cooler.
    • PROPER HOT HOLDING TEMPERATURES (Critical): TCS food not held at 135°F or above in front counter hot holding.

LouVUE’s Take: Oh, Yummy Pollo, you’re looking a little less yummy with these three critical strikes. Bare hand contact with ready-to-eat food? That’s a shortcut straight to a foodborne outbreak. Plus, sloppy hot and cold holding temps mean bacteria have a playground. At 87 points, they barely escaped a worse grade, but this spot needs a serious food safety refresher.

The Check, Please: Savor Smart, Louisville!

There you have it, folks — a week of wins, woes, and watch-outs in Louisville’s culinary corners. Follow-ups show some restaurants are stepping up, but our C graders serve as a spicy reminder to stay savvy when choosing where to chow down. Remember, A grades mean top-notch safety, B grades signal a bounce back from prior issues (so keep that in mind), and C grades are your warning bells.

Stay informed, support clean kitchens, and don’t be shy about asking your favorite spots about their latest inspection results. After all, eating well is about more than flavor — it’s about feeling safe and confident.

Catch you next week for more LouVUE insights. Until then, keep your forks sharp and your food safety radar sharper! 🍴🔍

LouVUE, Louisville’s food safety insider, signing off.