Palermo Viejo

Palermo Viejo is my kind of place. Or should I say was? Meat, meat and more meat. Nothing could be better for a carnivore like me. Palermo Viejo is a beautiful little restaurant that I really enjoyed.
I ordered the parillada de bifes which featured a generous portion of flank steak, short ribs and chorizo. Everything on the plate was delicious beyond words. It was the best meal I’ve had in Louisville.
Our server was wonderful. She was attentive and nice. The food, service and overall vibe were top-​notch. I was in a wonderful mood until our server told us the owners were closing the place the following week. I felt like I was punched in the gut. More like punched in my gut that was full of red meat. I couldn’t believe my ears. Here I am thinking I’ve discovered a place that I could wow all my Chicago friends with. But sadly, I won’t have the chance. I feel honored I had the chance to experience the wonderful food this place had to offer.
I wish the owners of Palermo Viejo all the best. And if they open a new place, I’ll be first in line to try it. And if they want to adopt a bourbon swilling, middle aged son, I’d be happy to oblige. I wouldn’t need an allowance. All you would need to do is feed me.

Sadly, this restaurant is CLOSED, as of 2÷21÷2015. Definitely a loss in the Highlands neighborhood dining scene! Best of luck to owners and staff with all future endeavors. We will miss you and your delicious cuisine!

It was hotter than a wolf in this restaurant. I’m not sure what the deal was, but I was about to die. Kick that air on.
Anyhow, the food was really good. The sweetbreads was surprisingly good. I’m not one to shy away from different foods, but just knowing what it was made me a little hesitant. Either way, it had a good flavor.
I recommend the empanada sampler, ham and cheese flavor. Very good.

Palermo is an excellent local place. The food is always very good. I typically get the parillada de bifes (sampler of flank, strip, ribeye and chorizo) or one of the other steaks. The steak is always excellent. I’ve had a few appetizers which are also very good. Their salad (which comes with the steak) is also quick good and unique. I’ve never had hearts of palm anywhere else. There are plenty of options other than steak and although I’ve never personally tried hem I’ve heard good thing.
The place has a great atmosphere and an extensive wine list. The service is usually prompt and friendly. The price is not real high considering that it’s a steak place. Overall it’s definitely worth a try.

This is a great little place. I had the 6 Oz. tenderloin which a cooked perfectly and I highly recommend the empanadas. I tried all four and they were amazing. Best if you get a reservation because they fill up fast. Out server was Corinth and she was awesome.

I had high hopes based upon the reviews, but was very disappointed by both the service and the quality of the food.
I ordered the Milanesas De Carne. It was dry and basically flavorless. We also ordered the empanadas, which were very good.
And while I don’t expect a restaurant with this type of cuisine to have a large selection of bourbon, six seems a bit small considering where the restaurant is located.

After a long time, I finally made it to Palermo for a dinner. I’ve heard many good things about it and just never had a chance to stop in although I pass it frequently. Lot of locals mentioned it and It was definitely higher on the expectation list, especially with the 4 star average I saw her on Unilocal.
Bottom line for me: Good neighborhood restaurant, pretty economical, average food that could impress with better execution, and nice, simple atmosphere inside.
Here’s what I got, and my first impressions.
— Provoleta: large gooey piece of cheese… not that impressive
— Empanadas: ham & provologne + beef … ham was good, beef was slightly dry. nice pastry crust
— Tira De Asado: Beef short ribs … fun presentation with the grill, beef was cooked perfectly
— Camarones: Tiger shrimp + rice … not bad, but not great. The rice is too highly sauced making it sour and too overpowering.
— Banana ice cream with dulce de leche crêpe: Great ice cream, love the chunks of banana, the crêpe is good, but tasted too oily
Overall — I’m glad I went, and probably will come back. But I felt the food had a better chance to impress, more than it actually it did. Looking forward to giving it another try.

I’ve been coming to Palermo for years. The menu isn’t super extensive, but you will find something for everyone. We always start with the provoleta app (melted cheese with herbs and bread). Do yourself a favor and get an entrée with the housemade, family-​recipe chimichurri sauce.
The wine menu is terrific, the ambiance is cool, they take OpenTable reservations, and the staff are very welcoming. Oh and the prices won’t break the bank for a dinner and drink out.

When I go to a new restaurant, I go all out — drinks, appetizers, main course (s), and dessert. We started with the cheese plate AND both types of empanadas. Cheese plate was a tasty starter and the perfect size for four people. The empanadas (2 /​order) were hot, melty, and in a fluffy pastry crust. The ham and cheese were my favorite — buttery, salty, and cheesy! Definitely something I would order «to go» on a night with the munchies!
Our entrees were outstanding. I ordered the filet and substituted the salad with mashed potatoes. Palermo serves their beef with a red chimichurri, which I found to be tasty, but a little too oily. The filet was tender, perfectly cooked. The mashed potatoes were an outstanding compliment to the beef. A true meat and potatoes meal!
The dessert was a caramel and banana ice cream crêpe. The perfect end to an outstanding meal.
We also tore through a bottle of Mysterio malbec (as recommended by our served) and a pitcher of Sangria — both were tasty compliments to our meal!

I’ve never had a bad meal here… But I always have the same meal here, vegetarian options being limited. That being said, I love love love the empanadas. My meat eating friends are always happy too. Also great coffee and desserts.

This place was really mediocre and disappointing. I made reservations and we got there and they stuck us in the back table by the kitchen. I didn’t want to ask to be moved, but it wasn’t packed so we could have been put somewhere else. Everything from the service to the food was just ok. Our server took forever to come back after bringing us water and never brought bread. I had to ask another server for bread while we waited for our food.
We ordered the shrimp, which we’re tasty, but just 4 measly shrimp. Then we ordered the cocita which she highly recommended and that was really disappointing. The portobello mushrooms could have been fried anything, they were tiny and dry. You get like 4 spears of asparagus and one tomato. It seams really measly and unexciting. We shared the flank steak grill and it was overcooked, we ordered it medium rare and it came much more done and no char on the steak. Lack of enthusiasm with the service and really average food. Good thing we could walk for frozen yogurt afterward!

A nice place for carnivores to visit; came here with a friend and shared the mixed grill. There was flank steak, Argentine chorizo and short ribs but they were out of sweetbreads. The chimichurri is authentic, tangy and delicious as one would expect.
The banana ice cream with dulce de leche makes for a satisfying ending and welcome reprieve from the meat-​induced coma.

Amazing.
This is one of my new favorite restaurants in Louisville. It’s small and quaint with a cozy atmosphere. The service was great and there’s a cute outside patio. I recommend making reservations because it can get quite busy and the place can’t accommodate a lot people. It’s just better to be safe than sorry.
The food is top-​notch. I had the Cerdo con Repollo — which was a grilled pork tenderloin with red wine cabbage served on top of whipped potatoes. I wanted to lick the plate when I was done, but refrained. They also bring out bread to accompany the meal with fresh whipped butter. So simple, yet so delicious.
I’ll definitely be back and recommend this restaurant to anyone. Definitely one of the best places in Louisville.

Call to make reservations. The online option, Open Table, said there were no openings at my requested time for at least 2 weeks. A pleasant, 5 minute phone call proved that this was not the case.
I came here with my monthly ladies night dinner club. We all shared the cheese plate and the cocida plate. The cheeses were great, but you’d have to try hard to mess up a cheese plate. The cocida plate was good, but the asparagus was a bit puny (maybe out of season?) and the mushrooms were almost paper thin (but tasted great).
I got the white sangria to drink… it is dangerously good! Highly recommended. For my meal I got the portabella milanesas. It tasted very Italian to me (quite a bit of tomato sauce on it) and again the mushrooms were a bit on the thin/​puny side, but tasted great. I tried several of the other dishes the table ordered and the Salmon and Tilapia dishes were fantastic.
Our waitress was great, and the experience was a good one.
When I got there shortly before 7, the entire place was empty besides the waitstaff. But by 7:30/8:00 most of the tables were filled. I’ve heard from other people that they only seat those with reservations and stop seating after 8:30. I don’t know this for sure, but every one who came in after us had reservations. And they turned the open sign to closed around 9:00.
For the longest time, I thought the place was actually out of business because it was *never* open when I passed by. Their hours are limited. But I definitely think it is worth trying out!

Sweetbreads, yo. Where else can you go get some meat with a side of meat? This restaurant is for the manly and awesome amongst us. Check your ovaries at the door, sissyboy. It’s time for dead animal. Yum!
Also, this is the first place I ever tried heart of palm and was like, «What! This is not meat. But it’s good. Holy crap it’s good.»

Went to Palermo Viejo early on Tuesday night before the steady stream of diners started pouring in. I was pleasantly surprised at how busy this place was on a weeknight. Here is what I ordered:
ENTREES:
La Parrillada — House specialty that includes housemade chorizo, short ribs, flank steak and sweetbreads served with chimichurri sauce and salad (4 out of 5. The meats were perfectly cooked, and dipping them in the chimichurri sauce enhanced the flavors. Be aware that sweetbreads is a fancy culinary term used for an animal’s thymus or pancreas glands. If I’m not wrong, Palermo Viejo serves thymus sweetbread.
Milanesas de Pollo — Breaded chicken (with garlic and parsley) pan seared and layered with ham, mozzarella and provolone cheeses, topped with fresh tomato slices and oregano, and broiled to melt the cheeses. (4.5 out of 5. I was tempted to try Milanesas de Carne but the La Parillada had enough beef so I opted for chicken)
DESSERT:
Torta de Chocolate — Moist chocolate cake in a bed of delicious housemade dulce de leche. (5 out of 5. This dessert was simply divine!!)
Great ambiance, excellent service and very good food. Highly recommended!

I took my wife here for our Valentine’s Day date. My wife is Panamanian, and while Argentinian cuisine is not identical, they have a lot of the same components and influences. We wanted to try someplace new, so Palermo Viejo it was.
Before you even get inside, you’ll smell the meats they prepare. If you go there planning on getting ravioli or something like that, the delicious smell may change your mind. Once inside, you’ll need to seek out the host station, which is also the server station, and also the bar. Not a big deal, but it’s a little odd to walk into a restaurant and not know where to go.
All the seating in the place is VERY close together. We were seated along the wall, which is even tighter than the other seating. My wife sat on the aisle side, and I squeezed in against the wall. Then we had to move the table even closer to the wall, because my wife’s chair was sitting with one leg hanging off the edge of the uneven flooring. I heard two other tables complain about the same thing (they weren’t talking loudly, we were just really close together). If you are looking for new friends, their seating is very conducive to that. If you don’t want to have to whisper to avoid being overheard, this may not be the best place to go.
They have a small, but varied, beer and wine selection, so it won’t be hard to find something you like. The appetizer we ordered was a selection of cheeses and meats, tomatoes and olives, and it was all very good. The table bread is also very good.
The rest of the meal was okay for the most part. Everything was a little on the salty side, and the french fries with garlic and parsley were salty enough I sent them back. I saw the chef try them and say they weren’t too salty, so he sent us a new plate of fries with no salt at all. I think he just has a salty palate. Chorizo and sweetbreads were excellent. Short ribs and flank steak were mediocre. Asparagus was very well cooked, and the sweet potato fries were no better or worse than any others I’ve had. The chimichurri was pretty bad compared to others I’ve had before, but those might not have been as authentic, so I’ll give a pass on that.
The highlight of the meal was the dulce de leche crêpe with homemade banana ice cream. The ice cream was extra creamy due to dulce de leche in it, and it also has delicious little chunks of frozen bananas.
Quick take: The food is average, but you can definitely get better for the money, which was $ 80 pre-​tip for a meal for two (only $ 15 was alcohol). The food was very inconsistent, with some outstanding, and some «meh». Definitely try the banana ice cream and caramel crêpe, and the chorizo. It’s a small place, and there are just too many tables too close together. That alone will keep me from going back.
TIP: The prices listed on their Facebook page are outdated — everything I compared was a couple dollars more now.
TIP: There is parking in the rear, accessible via Midland Ave, and there is an entrance in back, too.

My hubby took me out on a date night to this cute, quaint and cozy little restaurant. To our disappointment, we quickly learned that it was not as authentic as it initially appeared to be. The empanadas we had tonight were nowhere near being authetic Argentine empanadas. I found that the dough was still undercooked. I pointed that out to the server and was shocked that five minutes later she came back with the same empanada I had taken a bite out of except now it was hotter. In their defense, I will say that the bread they serve before the meal is pretty tasty.
We shared The Parillada and it was okay. In my opinion, it had way too much spice making it difficult to appreciate the taste of the meats. Times like these, I really miss Miami. We’ve definitely had better, authentic Argentine meals there and this place is far from measuring up. Although it’s cute and quaint and has an authentic feel to it, it’s always discouraging to find that you know more about the food they are serving rather than the servers themselves.

This place didn’t blow my mind, as I thought it would have with the 5-​star reviews. On the other hand, it certainly wasn’t bad.
First of, I love the interior of this restaurant! It is extremely warm and inviting, with brick veneer on the walls giving the feeling of exposed brick, and soft lighting. The light wood furniture sets it off. The open kitchen is nice, too, for those who are not familiar with a parilla to see it in action!
We got a bottle of Malbec to start — nothing special, but for $ 30, I was not complaining! We shared a chicken and ham/​cheese empanada. The chicken had a vinegar-​y flavor that I wasn’t too keen on, but the ham and cheese was good. If you are used to empanadas that are fried, you may be surprised to see that these are baked. They have a completely different texture than fried (for the record, I prefer the fried!).
We also got the provoleta, which is aged provolone cheese made all melty by the parilla. It was pretty yummy, but too much oregano for my tastes.
I got the lomo (filet), which was cooked perfectly and my guy got the sampler (flank, ribeye, strip, and chorizo). The chorizo and flank steak were both good — everything else was sort of «meh». Not great beefy flavor as you would expect from an Argentine steak (if they don’t get their beef from Argentina, this could have something to do with it!).
The worst part for me was the chimichurri. I adore green chimichurri with its bright parsley flavor — it helps break up the steak flavor. Unfortunately, this chimi was mostly vinegar with no green herbs in sight! It seemed that there were some red pepper flakes and oregano in there, but otherwise, it was a lot of vinegar. For me, it did not enhance the flavor of the meat, and in fact, sort of spoiled it! For the combo platter my guy got, it was drizzled all over the top, so was hard to avoid. :(
The absolute best part of the evening was the banana ice cream. O M G it was unreal! I would come back only for dessert in a heartbeat. It was truly amazing!

Last night, an impromptu date night found us on Bardstown Rd. in front of Palermo Viejo. Our curiosity and appetites got the best of us so we decided to venture in to see what the enticing smells were all about.
First of all, I have wanted to dine here for quite some time, not because of the great reviews, but because the outer exterior is visually appealing and inviting, which always catches my eye when driving or walking by. The interior does not disappoint, and the dim lighting, intimate seating, and overall ambiance made for a perfect romantic evening. It can get a little loud when the restaurant is close to full, but luckily we went late and only had to deal with the volume for about 10 minutes before people started to clear out.
The service was fantastic and our waitress was extremely friendly and helpful, pointing out recommended and authentic Argentinian dishes to assist us with selecting entrees. It is very rare that I can say a server checks on me exactly the right amount of times when I dine out, but that was definitely the case here. We only waited a short time for our food and had delicious bread to curb the belly growls while we waited, which kept us very satisfied.
We decided to share the empanadas (4 total, one of each kind) and share a Milanesas, an authentic Argentinian dish which involves pan frying meat – in our case, steak – and then covering it with spices, tomatoes and cheese before broiling it. Everything was cooked to perfection and the portions made it very easy to share. If we could do it again, however, I think we would choose 2 instead of 4 empanadas and order additional appetizers for our meals. There were many unique options for appetizers, all of which sounded delicious.
Overall, this restaurant’s stellar service and atmosphere are the reason that it deserves five stars. The phenomenal food options only serve as an added bonus!