Black Rabbit — Restaurant in St. Matthews

I honestly can't believe I didn't write a review absolutely gushing about this place 2 years ago. When we came that first time for our first anniversary it was a speak easy on the side of the Equus and Jacks restaurant/bistro deal. The setting was very intimate and cool. Lofi hip hop was playing, either fireplaces or the bars logo were on the T.V.s. The waiters were absolutely the most professional and classy bunch I'd ever met. The drinks were something special to write home about. The food was out of this world.

We could tell something was going on when we went back last year. We were able to reserve the table we had the year before which was great but the waiters, and drinks while good weren't nearly to the level as the year before. The cool lofi hip-hop, cozy, intimate feel was kind of gone replaced by generic jazz music that my grandma surely would love. The food was still great though and they even gave my lady a desert for the occasion. Couldn't really complain other than it seemed that it had kind of lost its edge. We just wrote it up to a change in staff and it being a bit more crowded than the first time we went there.

Our 3rd year coming back for our anniversary was an absolute let down. We weren't made aware that Black Rabbit was now just the whole bistro and Equus and Jacks was now just an imitation Black Rabbit. Granted... They replaced the tables and chairs with couches and such but man... What a let down to told my reservation was no good and be turned away at the door to the speak easy. I mean that REAALY set the stage for the rest of the evening. "Oh sorry... You'll have to be seated at the lounge." I didn't make reservations for "The Lounge" though. I made reservations for Black Rabbit.

Anyway... We got there and they had to shuffle someone off our table. Granted we were about 4 minutes early but damn. I kinda felt bad for them.

First things first. This was THE most annoying thing was there was flipping THE SAME sportsball game on EVERY screen in there, and there were 3 TVs. It felt like I was at some... well... sports bar. It was hard to look anywhere and not have to look at a TV. It was at best annoying and distracting. The music was... Eh. The same 70s-80s mix you'd get pretty much anywhere. I'd have honestly preferred grandmas jazz mix to be fair. The drinks were fine. Not really anything special you couldn't get anywhere else. The service was fine. We usually get the Charcuterie board ($28) as an app and its USUALLY absolutely FIRE. This year was fair but not anything I'd ever pay nearly $30 for. A fairly simple smoked salmon pâté, pimento spread, 6 small toasts, fridge pickles, pickled onion, thin slices of dry ham in the shape of a rose. Again... fine for like... $15. Definitely not $30.

Next up... The $50 "house cut" 16oz steak frites with a house made sauce. Thats going to be a hard pass for me on everything except the frites. The steak was a NOT a Prime grade cut. At BEST a Choice cut NY strip that had grissle running thick down the spine and so hard at the ends that I probably sent 3 - 4 oz of it back when we were done. I'd have gotten a better cut at costco for $9/lb. That was at BEST a $20 steak even prepared.

Conclusion. Man... It seems like Black Rabbit was really a victim of its own success. If I had to guess I'd say that they probably couldn't keep up with the reservations at the speak easy and so just converted the whole restaurant into a lounge. The problem is that in the process the entire soul (and really the only reason to go) of the place was lost. It feels less like Black Rabbit and more like Equus and Jack went out back with the shotgun, skinned the rabbit and are now wearing it around...

I was so excited when I found this place as having moved to Louisville about 6 years ago I've struggled to find places that actually deliver on the experience, unfortunately this place missed the mark as well. Came here for my anniversary, stated that on our reservation as well. Everything started off good, waited at the bookshelf, gave them my name for reservation and was let in. Unfortunately that's where the good parts pretty much ended. As we were being taken into the far back room, there was an employee watching YouTube videos (takes away from the speak easy feel) we were sat at what looked like a thrown together table, 2 short stools and a very small table that looked like a metal upside down laundry basket with a wood top. Our first server came to get our drink order, he seemed very knowledgeable. When we mentioned our seats and table, he told us "Yeah, I didn't think they would actually sit anyone here". We received our drinks and waited for our server to come take our food order. By that time my back was killing me from the seats we were in. They offered to move us which we happily agreed to. The new area we were sat, near the bar was nice. Unfortunately we were given another server, this one wasn't as attentive. He took our food order. My wife and I talked, tried soaking on the atmosphere but it was being ruined by the random tvs. One had a space program, the other 3 stooges.(again takes away from the speak easy atmosphere) our food arrived, my wife had the porkchop which had a nice flavor, however the sides for it did not have everything they said was in it. I had the fried chicken, the breading was burnt, the chicken had 0 flavor, mashed tasted off, did really enjoy the sweet balsamic collards with the dish but that was about it. During that time we got our second drinks, first drinks very good, second round seemed like we got incorrect orders. We Left wanting. I really was hopeful but, with the lack of attentiveness of service, the overall quality of food and drinks, and the missing atmosphere of a speak easy, the search...

We have been patrons of Equus/Jack's since it was owned by Dean Corbett. It was a favorite with dependable service, great food and fun atmosphere. We remained patrons through the confusion and assorted ups and downs of the transition to Black Rabbit. We dine out two to three times a month but it had been quite a while since we were able to get to the Black Rabbit so we were definitely looking forward to having dinner there.

When we arrived around 5, the restaurant was fairly empty with only two groups of patrons in the bar area and no other patrons in our section. Our table was directly under Dean's chef coat which brought back fond memories of him, his love of hospitality, excellent service, and wonderful food.

We were provided with water and told that our server would be with us shortly. As we looked over the menu, we found it had changed again and the selections were very limited, appearing more suitable to an upscale bar menu rather than a restaurant. It was disappointing however, hindsight being 20/20, we probably should have looked at the menu prior to reserving. It just didn't occur to us that it would have changed that much since our last visit.

While we were waiting for our server to take our drink order, two other parties were seated in our section. By this time it was 5:15 and we thought our server would be by shortly. After a few minutes, the recently seated parties had placed their drink orders and we were wondering why no one stopped by our table. We sat until 5:30, still with only water and decided that 30 minutes was long enough to wait for service. As we left, we noticed that the restaurant as well as the bar were still very empty.

We are truly sad that what was once a lovely place to spend the evening has declined so much in service and menu offerings. There was a time that a lovely upscale dinner experience as well as a more casual bar experience were available. It is understandable that a change of concept and menu might be in order but excellent, well trained service should always...