Baxter Avenue Station in Louisville is a rare combination of whimsy and culinary delight. Usually restaurants with a theme are better known for their surface appeal: being quaint typically guarantees food that is flat and lifeless. However, Baxter Avenue Station avoids the "cutesy" curse and becomes an establishment the feeds both the eye and the palate.
The Experience
Baxter Avenue Station is settled on the corner of Payne and Cooper and looks like any other building in the area. On the inside, the eatery is styled like the dining car of a passenger train. It's subtle at first, you may walk the expanse of the building and not notice, but once you sit down, the accoutrements become apparent.
Some tables for two have train seats to sit in and a painting on the wall that mimics the countryside during a trip. Running in a perpetual circle through the expanse of the restaurant is a small locomotive pulling a few rail cars, which ads to the quirky experience. It's a very clean space and generally pleasing to the eye as you pick out the "look-at-that" features while waiting for your meal.
The Food
Generous portions, even at lunch, are offered at the restaurant. The menu is extensive and sectioned into lunch and dinner, so choices may vary as to the time of day you visit. The calamari appetizer, which at $7.95 is rather pricey, is well worth laying down the cash. The squid strips are lightly battered and melt in your mouth, and they are served with several kinds of peppers and two sauces for dipping.
The two dishes I sampled were the Cajun linguini, which is $9.95, and the mussels and linguini, which was $1 more. Both dishes were excellent. Baxter Avenue Station has the best mussel dish I have ever eaten. The lightly oiled pasta served with pine nuts and generous amount of mussels is a dream. The Cajun pasta, which features a spicy sauce and perfectly prepared medallions of smoked sausage, is heavy and hearty.
The Service
The wait staff at Baxter Avenue Station is as quirky as the restaurant itself. The day I was there, my waitress was very attentive but also laidback. She definitely wasn't there to make friends or act like she was putting on a hospitality performance, but I never had to ask for anything. And frankly, I appreciate servers who act like "real" people. The chefs meander in and out of the kitchen, so it's not surprising to see one walk by your table dressed in their cooking regalia, giving a serious diner a means of discussing the complex, bold, and stylish dishes.
Review
Baxter Avenue Station is the real deal. The food is delicious, the portions are generous, and the dining environment is pleasing and energetic. Pasta is the name of the game there, so an eater would be remiss to order anything that did not come with the perfectly cooked tendrils of grain. The prices are reasonable. A party of four can look at spending around $60 at lunch with appetizer and dessert, and about $80 for dinner.
The ability to order beer and wine with your meal is also nice, as the flavors of the food are often accentuated by a nice wine or light, wheat beer. There is also a kids menu, and the restaurant is very family friendly. If you're looking for something different for lunch or dinner, or if chain restaurants, such as the Olive Garden, are getting old and a change of pace is necessary, I would highly recommend Baxter Avenue Station.
The only draw back to Baxter Avenue Station dining is that if the restaurant is full on a busy night, the only place to go is outside. And, no matter how an establishment tried to deal with weather generalities, the diner is always at the mercy of how hot or cold it truly is outside.
Recommendations
- Calamari
- Hummus
- Mussels and Linguini
- Italian Crème Cake
Pros
- Kitschy Dining Experience
- Large Portions
- Kid-Friendly Environment
Cons
- If the restaurant is full, you're forced to sit outside.
- Parking is street-only, so if you go during a rush, you may have to walk a ways to get to the restaurant.
