Varanese

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Address:
2106 Frankfort Ave.
Louisville, KY 40206

Neighborhood:
Downtown Louisville

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Cuisine:
Contemporary American

Price: $30 and under

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Varanese Details

Dining Style: Casual Elegant
Website: http://www.varanese.com
Email: letsdine@varanese.com
Phone: (502) 899-9904
Hours of Operation: Dinner: Sunday - Thursday: 5:00pm - 11:00pm, Friday & Saturday: 5:00pm - 12:00pm
Payment Options: AMEX, Discover, MasterCard, Visa
Cuisine: Contemporary American, Mediterranean
Executive Chef: John Varanese
Dress Code: Smart Casual
Accepts Walk-Ins: Yes
Additional Details: Banquet/Private Rooms, Bar Dining, Bar/Lounge, Beer, Entertainment, Farm to Table, Full Bar, Gluten-free Menu, Late Night, Non-Smoking Area, Non-Smoking Restaurant, Patio/Outdoor Dining, Private Room, Smoking Area, Takeout, View, Wheelchair Access, Wine, Wine Bar
Catering: Catering is offered depending on Chef Varanese's availability. Call to inquire.
Private Party Facilities: Varanese can accommodate parties up to 80 people. The room may not be exclusive to the party. Call to inquire.
Private Party Contact: John Varanese (502) 899-9904
Entertainment: Live jazz seven nights from the Jeff Sherman band 6-10pm.

Getting there

Cross Street: Vernon
Public Transit: Varanese has a TARC stop in front along with a Frankfort Ave. Trolly Hop Stop.
Parking: Private Lot
Parking Details: Varanese provides on-premise parking along with additional parking across the street at Nancy's Bagel Grounds along with street parking.

A word from Varanese

Varanese settled in Louisville because of its successful independent dining scene, and he believes that the people of Louisville will appreciate fresh ingredients, prepared with a creative flair and a culturally diverse menu. Varanese’s eclectic menu boasts an array of options from stuffed grape… leaves, and fried green tomato salad, to new signature entrées: the seared boneless pork chop, and caramelized orange salmon. Finish with a fried banana accompanied by a house-made oatmeal cookie dough ice cream dessert. This New American style restaurant will comfortably seat 150 guests between its bar, dining room and four seasons patio. The four seasons patio of Varanese is an addition to the building, which has a dramatic 20-foot slate water wall. The space is enclosed by a serpentine of glass doors, which retract to offer an outdoor dining experience. Varanese is located at 2106 Frankfort Ave. in the Historic Clifton neighborhood Continued

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Awards voted by OpenTable diners

Diners' Choice WinnerBest Food
Diners' Choice WinnerBest Service
Diners' Choice WinnerContemporary American

Diner Reviews

"Terrific local favorite. Great menu with daily specials that excite. Good service and customer interaction. Nice touch with ambient music and water feature."
Dined on 3/8/2014
"The food was very good. However, the small table for two was quite crowded and the noise level in the restaurant was too high for intimate conversation."
Dined on 2/22/2014
"This was our first time at Varanese and our experience was great! We highly recommend this place..."
Dined on 3/3/2014
"As always, the salmon was fantastic and the grits with cream cheese can become habit forming. First time we dined in the side room off of main dining room and it was delightful - - quiet and intimate setting. The server was attentive and pleasant. Wonderful evening shared with friends over wine. We ended the evening with the fantastic oatmeal ice cream. Veranese is outstanding, and we will certainly return."
Dined on 3/1/2014
"Varanese was fantastic! The food is incredible and our server was so great! She was educated on the menu and made great suggestions for us."
Dined on 3/1/2014
"perfect place to go with good friends to have great meal and plenty of laughs."
Dined on 2/28/2014
"I love varanese but the music is always too loud and you cant hear and visit with your guests. Really is unfortunate, I know it keeps many people away."
Dined on 2/28/2014
"1) They setup a table in the walkway to the kitchen and I was dumb enough to accept it. - My bad. 2) The only fish they had on the menu was something called Walu and my GF ordered it. In all my travels, I have never seen this fish on a menu. Being curious, I read about it. Wondering why they would serve this fish after what is out there on the internet about it. 3) Waiter brings a glass of wine with it dripping. It leaves the menu all stained up. We tell the waiter and he says, "Oh yeah, the bartender made a mess when he poured it". Thank for taking care of us, good sir. NOT! Won't be back."
Dined on 2/14/2014
"We ate here on Feb 22, 2014 from an open table recommendation. Were seated promptly in quiet nook of 4 tables, Ed took our orders. Very friendly and gave helpful menu advise. Wife have goat cheese salad and I have appetizer of confit quail, both were very tasty. Took reviews advise and ordered caramelized orange glaze salmon and grits which is worthy of the praise other reviewers have given! Wife had pasta special of salmon and pasta with goat cheese sauce which was different take on the salmon but again amazing. We share dishes with each other. Desserts of small bits for me and small pear with the most amazing ice cream ever capped a perfect dinner. Wish we lived closer! Meet John the chef/owner as he can out to me guest. Thanks!"
Dined on 2/22/2014
"This was our first time to eat at Varanese and it was excellent the service was great and the food even better. A great restaurant to impress your date at."
Dined on 2/21/2014
"Wonderful atmosphere with nice Jazz playing in the background; the food was outstanding and the service was even better. Highly recommend for a nice night out. We took our teenage sons and they loved it as well!"
Dined on 2/16/2014
"Course dinner was really delicious and filling. A wonderful way to spend the evening with friends. Some of those courses should be added to the regular menu! Never disappointed at Varanese!"
Dined on 2/19/2014
"Only problem was the tables were to close together."
Dined on 2/14/2014
"the tables were too close servers had trouble getting between them ,the food was good not great for valentine menu,had a great meal on new year eve"
Dined on 2/15/2014
"We go back frequently. It is open on Sunday, which also makes it a great place to go after the Opera!"
Dined on 2/16/2014
"My fiancee and I went to this place for Valentine date. I thought the food and service was outstanding. Our waitress was very friendly and asking us how was our dinner with compliment. The down part was space. I thought it was a bit crowded with little space. But our table neighborhood seemed friendly and respectful. Overall, it was a great restaurant."
Dined on 2/15/2014
"The food at Varanese is excellent. My wife had the Valentines special scallops and I had the regular menu pork chop. The pork chop was the best I've had, and my wife's scallops were fresh and well prepared. The layout of the restaurant is odd in that small, 2 person tables are close to the door and catch a breeze which can be a bit distracting on a winter evening. The place can get crowded and a bit noisy, but that didn't seem to distract from the experience for me. This was my second visit to Varanese, and I will go back again soon."
Dined on 2/15/2014
"My girlfriend and i celebrated our one year anniversary here and it was an amazing experience. The service was wonderful, very friendly and knowledgeable. Food was Fantastic, a great place to go!"
Dined on 2/14/2014
"We loved everything. Only complaint we went for the 20oz cowboy ribeye steak and it was OUT by 615. Not happy at all. But we will return again."
Dined on 2/14/2014
"My wife and I ate at Varanese for Valentine's Day. I actually waited tables there three-plus years ago but hadn't been back to dine there since. What can I say but, wow, I had completely forgotten how amazing that restaurant is! John Varanese is a culinary virtuoso and his Hawaiian butterfish and leg of lamb specials were melt-in-our-mouths amazing. Also, the waitstaff is outstanding (shoutout to Matt, our most excellent server that evening, as well as Jay and Ed, Felicia and Rory and, of course, the general manager Dave, who was one of the best GMs I've ever worked for and whose excellent stewardship of Varanese is evident in everything from the superb wine list to the gorgeous 2012 remodel). We will be going back, often and soon!"
Dined on 2/14/2014
"My wife and I recently ate at Varennes for the first time on Valentine's Day (2014) and we ordered off the "Appetite of Love" aphrodisiac menu. We started off with some amazing fried rolled oysters that were hot and crispy on the outside, but nearly melted in your mouth on the inside. For our main course, I ordered the pan seared scallops (which were huge) with lobster raviolis covered in a delicious butter - saffron lobster sauce. She ordered the coffee rubbed leg of lamb that was exceptionally cooked and tender enough to cut with the dull side ofa butter knife. We both shared each others meals, and tho the portions were not very large, we were both unfortunately too full for dessert. We couldn't get over how amazing the food was"
Dined on 2/14/2014
"fantastic meal with excellent service-one of our favorite restaurants!!!"
Dined on 2/12/2014
"Excellent food and service. We had to go for an early dinner, so it was quiet when we were there this time. We love sitting on the paito area which is enclosed for the winter, and the waterfall wall makes for a pleasant surrounding. You can sign up on their email list or Facebook page for specials and events. You definitely get what you pay for at this restaurant."
Dined on 2/11/2014
"Great food, with unique menu. Service was mediocre, as we had two different wait staff work with us, which was very weird. Tables are a bit close together, which meant the wait staff was nearly on top of you when taking orders from or serving other diners. This was our second time there, so we hope the staffing issue was an anomaly. However, the tight quarters is a problem we noted the first time, though it obviously did not keep us from returning for the great and unique food."
Dined on 2/1/2014
"Varanese is a high value restaurant. The prices tend to be in the lower range of the high end restaurants in town, but the food meets the competition step by step. You will not be disappointed in my opinion. I have gone to this establishment several times and each time I feel satisfied with my experience. The Bourbon Barrel Smoked Pork Chop is a signature dish you do not want to miss."
Dined on 2/11/2014
"We took our family of 5 to Varanese to celebrate our oldest daughter's 18th birthday. We had a great table next to the waterfall wall. Our table was decorated with red rose petals (I had mentioned the occasion when I made reservation). The service was impeccable and the food was wonderful! Our three girls had a wonderful experience!"
Dined on 2/7/2014
"Great ambience and server but the food wasn't great. The smoked pork chop was way too smokey, the augratin potatoes were very dry and the green beans were crunchy. I did enjoy the bread sticks and the music was nice. However, the restaurant was very crowded and noisy. Do not plan to go back."
Dined on 2/8/2014
"I hate to go to a wonderful restaurant and music is too loud, that you cannot talk to your guests."
Dined on 2/8/2014
"Went with my wife for an early valentines, the food was amazing and the service was excellent! I would highly recommend the pork chops, wow, blew my mind!"
Dined on 2/8/2014
"All I was expecting at Varanese was good service and gourmet food, but there were a ton of great surprises. Right when we walked in, we saw that they had a small band playing. It was really great in setting the tone. We sat down, and the hosts took our coats for us so we didn't have to worry about them. Then the server stopped by right away with some complimentary bruschetta. After this great start, everything else went really well. We had a great server who gave us awesome recommendations. We had a hard time choosing our meals because everything seemed so delicious, and when we finally did choose everything, it definitely was delicious. I highly recommend this place for a fancy night out."
Dined on 2/8/2014
"Service was very good. I recommend that you tell servers to help or recommend items on the menu since the good is not all that familiar. Same for the wine, maybe have a wine sampler or have wine descriptions such as sweet, dry, or mixed. Food service and music was very good. Restaurant was relaxful."
Dined on 2/6/2014
"Love, love, love this restaurant. The food is always superb, as is the service. I have been manyl times and have never had a less than wonderful experience. Chef John Varanese makes a point of visiting each table during dinner to ask about the food and to chat. Nightly specials offer unique combinations of flavors. Martinis are fantastic, too. My favorite Louisville restaurant!"
Dined on 2/1/2014
"The food was outstanding but the service was disappointing. Even though it ws a busy night I think it could have been improved upon. When a second wine is ordered to go with the meal it is irritating to have it arrive when the meal is half eaten."
Dined on 1/31/2014
"We love this restaurant it's our anniversary tradition. The food is always outstanding and the wait staff are attentive and polite. It's one of the best places we've been to."
Dined on 1/25/2014
"Literally said "oh thats good!" However my husband says honey you just said that outloud... Ha! I didn't even realize it! Now that's good food! We will definitely be back!"
Dined on 1/24/2014
"Had a fine meal, great service, and will return. Pork chop was one of the best dishes in Louisville."
Dined on 1/24/2014
"Varanese never disappoints. Every time I have been there, the food, service, and atmosphere are excellent. Chef John always checks in with the diners to make sure of that. I have also purchased a Turducken, that Chef John prepared. It was delicious!"
Dined on 1/22/2014
"Each of the four of us ordered something different. No disappointments. Service was good. The complimentary appetizers - tomato bruschettas - are signature."
Dined on 1/21/2014
"We have dined at this restaurant a dozen times now and the delicious food and service have been extremely consistent. Their menu changes with the season on some entrees and we enjoy the different soups. Three of my guest had the shrimp bisque and it was fabulous. The beef medallions were tender with a wonderful sauce and the potatoe was delicious. Others ordered the salmon which they enjoyed. The portions were just right and healthy. Dessert was delicious, a combination taste of strawberries ,ice cream and piece of chocolate . There were 2 musicians there that were a nice touch to the evening. We sat very close to them but it was not a problem for conversation. A lovely evening for a birthday celebration."
Dined on 1/19/2014
"Have been planning to go to Varanese for some time now, and will definitely return. The food was excellent, and the grits...just heavenly! Don't let the small site or location fool you, this place is fabulous. Can't wait to go back again!"
Dined on 1/18/2014

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