Utopia

When Utopia is out of business, it's time to worry. Someone should change the sign to "Dystopia" now.

The Pink Door

When did the Pink Door give it up? I hardly ever frequented the place but always enjoyed its style. Their myspace and twitter haven't been updated since last summer.

4111 Oechsli

Right down the way from 4109 Oechsli, another vacancy in the real estate desert.

Louisville Gold Club

Another Louisville strip club, lost to the aether. Louisville Gold Club, formerly at 319 E Market Street, is now vacant and for lease.

The Pitchin' Wedge

This place always reminded me of one of Daniel Clowes' absurd storefronts in the backgrounds of his comics. Sadly, it seems to have gone the way of Ice Haven. I walked by there the other day on my way to La Catalana and noticed it's empty. And for the rest of the evening, I drove myself insane singing Frank Sinatra's "Summer Wind" over and over but substituting the words "Pitchin' Wedge".

Boudreaux's

Well, that was certainly a short run. Boudreaux's at 116 East Main opened just a few months ago and they've already packed it in. Just happened to be walking by the other day and noticed the place is empty and for lease. I only went in here once and was treated pretty snootily, so I can't say as I'm shedding a tear to see them go.

4109 Oechsli

How can anyplace so close to Havana Rumba, a virtual hub of hipsterdom, go out of business? Then again, a Google search shows that this spot has most recently been Girlfriends Gift Shop (who seem to still be in business online) and the Louisville Bridge Club (who have since moved to Dutchmans Lane). I suppose rum-soaked inebriants (like myself) aren't the sort of traffic these places were hoping for.

Clothes Encounter

Right next door to Scrub A Dub Dog. Wash your clothes, wash your dog, one-stop washing. It was a perfect block. And now it's all gone. Sad, I tell you, sad.

Smith's Furniture

I'm going to miss Smith's Furniture, and those old commercials with the owl... "Smith's Furniture, that's whoooo!" The last of their locations was here on Shelbyville Road and it finally followed its departed sister stores and gave up.

Of course, I never bought so much as a lampshade or a bobeche there; I just liked that the place existed, for its own sake.

The Patron

Aaarrgh!! One of my top five restaurants of all time, The Patron, has given up the ghost. They were unfortunately just too cool to live: in a nation with a dying economy and an increasingly dullard population, The Patron delivered stunning cuisine and specialty drinks (remind me to do a full feature on Lee Look, their supremely multifaceted bartender, one of these days on one of these blogs).



Someday, if I ever open a high-end cafe, I'm going to pattern it exactly after the way they did things at the Patron.

Kentucky BBQ Company

Well, I'll be damned. I just wrote about these people on Louisville Mojo a couple months ago and now they're gone. When I interviewed the guy there in December, he was enthusiastic and gave no sign that the ship was taking on water. Did they just move somewhere else, perhaps? Maybe. But their website's gone too.

Ray Parrella's Italian Cuisine

Ray Parrella's Italian Cuisine, a Louisville area institution since 1961, has closed its doors. The building at 2311 Frankfort Avenue is for sale, complete with fixtures and ready to go as another restaurant.