Barret Bar

I found myself here randomly with a table full of journalists! It’s a large place with plenty of parking in the back. This place would be perfect for a sizable work party or other large group of people.
On that particular night, there was a journalist gathering, Goodwood’s employee holiday party, people playing pool, and locals scattered all around. With that being said, the bar and the staff handled everyone with ease.
I could see myself becoming a regular if I lived in the neighborhood. This bar seems to secretly be one of those «Where Everybody Knows Your Name» bars. The staff was incredible. Nice, prompt, and they periodically checked to see if anyone needed food or beer.
They also have a decent selection of food if you need a snack. I only ordered the pretzel loaf and beer cheese. It was good, but the beer cheese seemed to be lacking something.
The beer and bourbon selection was enough. So many places either have too many (if that’s possible) options or not enough. Barret bar had a nice mix of food, beer, and bourbon.
If I remember correctly, there are at least 8 pool tables here (Maybe more). They’re also spaced out so no crowded areas.
The only reason for taking 1 star off is the bathroom situation. Maybe I was missing something, but there wasn’t a lock on the men’s bathroom (which consisted of a single urinal and toilet). I can deal with relieving myself with my back turned to the door, but I’d hate to have people walking in on me if #2 hit!
Go here with a group. Have a few drinks and some food. Enjoy!

I’m still a super huge fan of this bar, but I figured this review needed an update and a better touch on what it means for a night on the town at Barret Bar.
Me and Scott have visited this bar quite frequently since it is almost walking distance to the house, almost. If shooting pool is your thing then they have several pool tables, but you may have to wait a little bit because there are generally plenty of people playing. If pool isn’t your thing then there is a giant TV that they usually show games on with plenty of tables facing the area. Since I’m not a sports fan (at all) I generally don’t pay a lick of attention.
The outside patio is huge, with plenty of seating and a bar outside as well so you don’t have to keep walking in and out. When it’s cold outside they generally have a canopy over some of the tables and heaters to keep it warmer outside.
They also serve pretty decent bar food. The onion rings, fries and pretzel bread with beer cheese is what I generally go to during each visit if I just want sides and carbs. However their burgers are also really, really delicious and there have been a couple of nights when we’ve been too lazy to cook and decided to drive down for a cocktail and burger.
I’ve never received bad service from these guys. Anytime I get food there is always someone who walks over to the table and makes sure everything is good and they are on top of making drinks as well. Their beer selection is decent and they rotate some out for the seasonal section so you never know what you’re going to get. One of my first visits here I tried Stone’s Arrogant Bastard for the very first time and I enjoyed it so much that I wanted to take one home, because the nearest liquor store was a bit away. I asked the bartender and she rang it up for me, didn’t take the top off and let me walk out with the bottle in a bag so I was super happy that night.
The noise level inside gets kind of loud on busy nights since there are people playing pool in the background and drinking at the bar. I prefer outside as it’s usually a big quieter and easy to chat it up with friends.
Overall this bar is one of my favorites in the Ville because the prices aren’t too steep, great & friendly service, hella good burgers, great bourbon selection, and when I’m in the mood to shoot some pool I have a place not to far from me to do so.

Went on Vacation and hung out at the Barret Bar during the Kentucky Kickdown Weekend. Can I yell??? WOW WOW WOW. The music and food was terrific and the bike show was cool (lot of rice and no earth shattering bikes). Met the owner Rich and his beautiful wife, Very singer and totally awesome people. A must stop hangout. If I ever get back to Louisville you will find me at the Garret! Love it !

Visited from Chicago and wanted to play some pool. If you want to play pool this is the place. Also very nice outdoor patio. Service is good as well. I had a couple issues with the drinks– first the waitress brought me Beer I didn’t order. Then the replacement tasted like line beer, and was warm, despite it being a freshly tapped keg. Draft issues aside, this is a solid neighborhood bar.

The mac and cheese bites were pretty fantastic, but the tenderloin sliders were a bit on the sad side. They were chintzy with the meat and whatever sauce was on them was thin and weak. Good drinks and patio area though.

Great patio… AWESOME patio.
Very good selection of beers, prices not bad (the same beer that is $ 7 across the street at Monkey Wrench is $ 4 at Barret Bar).
The staff is friendly and pretty great.
And the food isn’t too shabby. I got the pork burger and it was delicious!
I definitely recommend it!

The staff here is great. Very friendly and fast. The crowd varies from night to night, but overall you will meet some interesting people. Can’t beat $ 2 Coors anytime.
They also have good live music randomly. Don’t look for a jukebox though … they choose their own music and do a very good job of it. You never have to worry about listening to hours of terrible hipster-​chosen garbage.
Lots of pool tables, too.

This is my regular local bar, so I’m morally obligated to love it, but it only deserves 5 stars in its narrow category, which is local pool bars. Diamond’s Pub tried to do to much, IMHO, and Bankshot Billiards is too dedicated to pool for my tastes. Barret Bar fits right in between for me. There’s always a table to shoot at and there’s always a table to eat at. The outdoor patio is great, the chef loves his smoker so there’s always a bounty of fantastic meat, and the rare bike night and bicycle Polo really make the place stand out as interesting without getting overwhelming.
And the bartenders are second to none. :-)

This is one of my favorite neighborhood bars because of the reasonably priced and good mixed drinks and the outdoor, partially covered patio with a bar (one of the best in town). They also have pool tables available by the hour or game.
The bartenders are some of my favs too! They are helpful in picking a drink and always on top of it. I have seen this place packed and still not waited for a drink more than a couple of minutes.
They have a fair amount of tvs as well as a small food menu. The food is good. Seriously. Try the pretzel bread and beer cheese or the fried mac and cheese bites. The kitchen is open so you can even watch the cook make your food! :)
I have gone here for live music on the patio before too. Perfect atmosphere!

Cajun fries seemed like frozen fries caked in spicy seasoning, too hot. Hummus and pita was good though. Craft draft is $ 6 – 6.50, little pricey. But nice crowd, good for games and pool.

I remember back in the day when I would go play pool at the old Barret Bar. It was divey and the bathrooms were always dirty, the «patio» had no atmosphere at all and the only music came from the jukebox. But, it was still a local gem and my friends and I always had a good time. When I walked past one day a few years ago and it saw that is was closed, I was very sad. Since this is only a block or so from my house, I hoped that it would reopen and thrive.
Not only did Barret Bar reopen in early summer 2011, but it has a facelift beyond my dreams while keeping its genuine neighborhood tavern feel. From the new sign on the outside, to the better lighting, clean bathrooms, and awesome pool tables, a lot of time and money was put into making this place better. The patio is a beautiful little oasis with great décor, its own bar, and live music several days a week.
The new food menu is fantastic. Nothing fancy, but a bit more upscale than just fried bar food. I had the pretzel bread and beer cheese– YUM! Next, I had the portabella mushroom sliders that were seasoned well and quite tasty. I washed it all down with a cold BBC draft beer for $ 5. Not bad! I am looking forward to many more evenings relaxing on their patio with a frosty beverage.

The drinks are cheap and the crowd is fun. The guy selling jerky is a bonus. I can’t vouch for the food.

I was here for a cigar event on a Tuesday night and it is a great place. Very nice outdoor patio that allows smoking, attentive staff, and although I didn’t have anything to eat everyone that did enjoyed it very much. Will be back!

Super-​cozy interior. Friendly bartender was helpful, & the pool table was FREE!!!
Will definitely be back.

Germantown loves their patios. Between this, Nach and Monkey Wrench it’s a toss up on which takes the cake as the best. Rather, as any Unilocal reviewer knows, it’s not about the best but more about which place is the best for any given situation.
So, here’s some more details to help you decide if Barret Bar’s patio is right for your particular scenario: the patio is partially covered and has a number of tables ranging from 4 tops to 15 and some are spread out pretty far apart from each other. Barret is also set up to be a night out to watch the game with plentiful TVs around, or a night of playing pool. The indoors is pretty spacious too, so it never really seems that crowded. Even being here during this past years NCAA championship game, there was still more room to roam than other places.
Their drafts are normally priced at about $ 5 or so, depending on the beer I think. But get this: they’re all about that Can-​tucky attitude, aka they’re serving up canned beer. And it’s a pretty good deal. I got a White Rascal for 3 bucks.
They don’t serve Bulleit bourbon which is usually my go to but the did bartender whip out a whole list of bourbons for me so I didn’t have to peer around the bar trying to locate another. Needless to say, great service on top of everything else!

Nice, casual place. Fair prices for drinks and food. The tequila lime beef sliders are awesome. I live in the neighborhood and think I will become a regular.
OK. I just edited my review to five stars! I can’t stop thinking about those sliders.

This is a place where I could see myself spending long summer evenings out on the patio in the company of good friends, each of us with a pint in hand.
The Barret Bar is tucked away at the corner of Barret and Winter. The staff is extremely friendly and helpful and knows many of the regulars by name and drink. Inside you’ll find pool tables galore (love pool tables at a bar! It’s a great activity for when the conversation and the brewskis start to go flat but you still want to be somewhat social), with tournaments held on Tuesday and Wednesday nights. TV’s allow for watching sporting events, and — like I mentioned before — the patio is a great place to congregate and visit.
As far as food goes — get a burger here! I visited recently and got a regular burger, while my friend got a beer cheese burger. Both were cooked medium-​well. We split our burgers in half and shared with one another. This is a place with a Burgermeister-​worthy patty, cooked to juicy perfection and with a crispy crunch of lettuce tucked between the buns. Kettle chips on the side complete the sensory tour.
The pretzel roll with beer cheese is great as an appetizer or as a side to split around the table. The roll comes with scores through the bread for easy breaking off, flakes of sea salt on the top, and tangy beer cheese for dipping. The cheese is good enough to eat by itself with a spoon, but I’d recommend putting it on the bread if you’re feeling civilized.
As the weather warms up, saunter on over to the Barret Bar for a good time — guaranteed!

It’s good to see this place open again, and with some nice changes. New décor, a spruced-​up patio and (finally) a food menu again.
Though the new poll tables in the main area are quarter tables, they are quite nice an play much better than ones at your regular bar.
The drinks are fairly cheap, and even on a busy night, service always seems to be pretty good. Though they don’t have a full kitchen, the food is still pretty good, and the owner makes his own beer cheese, which I suggest anyone who likes beer cheese try.

This is becoming my go-​to bar in my neighborhood. I love the outdoor patio and the wide open bar area inside… it just seems to ooze comfort. I feel perfectly at home just sitting at a table quietly or chatting up people at the bar; it’s a very open and unassuming place. The crowd is usually a pretty calm, after work, laid back kind of crew. There are typically open pool tables as well as some cornhole boards outside.
The drinks are stifffff (my typical reason for hitting up Barret Bar) but I’ve tasted the food as well and been a fan. I shared some pretzel loaf and beer cheese with a friend and then some Swiss cheese dip and thought they were both high-​quality, awesome bar appetizers.
Great place to hit up if you’re around Bardstown Rd. and want to avoid the crowds and the college kids.

The perfect hang out bar whether you’re looking to catch up with friends, play a couple rounds of pool, or get a good beer or stiff drink without a wait. From the moment you walk in the door it just feels comfortable. Totally lacking pretension, bells and whistles, hurry, I found Barret Bar to just be easy going without being dull.
Pretty good crowd as well. Mostly 20s and 30s, not too uppity but far from classless. This would probably be my Cheers if I lived in this neighborhood.
Only reason for lack of a star was the price for the beer. 5.50 for Magic Hat is a little steep, but I’ll pay it to have the ambiance in tow.