Ft. Mitchell Public House

The Story

This stretch of Dixie Highway used to be Northern Kentucky's restaurant row, a run of supper clubs and taverns that people drove out for. Then I-75 opened in 1963 and took the traffic with it, and most of those places went one by one. The building at 2053 is one of the survivors. It's a century old, it's held a few different restaurants over the decades, and it's still doing the same job.

The owner is Mike Hang, and he didn't buy his way in from a distance. He tended bar at this address for years before he took it over, and people still find him behind it. That's the whole difference between a neighborhood place and a place that says it's one in the marketing copy. Regulars here have a standing Friday table, which is about as good a review as a restaurant can get.

The Vibe

You'll notice the patio before you notice the restaurant, because it's out front rather than tucked around back where you'd expect. Brick pavers, red umbrellas, an oak throwing shade over the whole thing, and it was full. You walk past it, up the steps to the porch, and in through what looks for all the world like somebody's old house.

Inside is one long room with the bar toward the front, exposed brick, low pendant lights, and a fireplace down at the far end under an iron fleur-de-lis. We came in on Wednesday late afternoon and sat at a front window where we could see inside and out. While there were already plenty of people on the patio and several inside upon our seating, the place kept filling by the moment as we ordered and ate. The house never lost the feeling of being comfortable rather than designed.

The bourbon list is the thing I'd point at. It's sorted by distillery town. Frankfort, Bardstown, Lawrenceburg, with Elijah Craig and 1792 and Four Roses and Angel's Envy filed underneath. Plenty of Kentucky bars carry those bottles. Organizing them by where they were made is a choice, and it tells you somebody here is paying attention.

The Food

The Cajun bourbon filet tips are the reason to come back. Cajun-marinated tips under a sweet bourbon glaze, mashed potatoes, and a haystack of fried onion strings piled on top. The right way to eat it is to build a fork with a little of everything, beef and potato and onion strings all at once, and let the glaze tie it together.

The smokey bacon pasta is penne in a cream sauce with red onion, peas, and parmesan, with shrimp added. The bacon was the weak part, more garnish than ingredient. Everything else held up. The shrimp was cooked exactly right, the sauce had real flavor without going heavy, and the bread on the side is there for a reason. Use it.

My wife is a sucker for an Italian sub and she said this is what a good Italian sub is supposed to be. Salami, pepperoni, ham, banana peppers, mozzarella, balsamic on an Italian roll, bread with a light crunch and filling stacked past the point of politeness. It comes with kettle chips, cooked properly, which is why some of them left the plate they were served on.

We have certain foods that are staples, and if a restaurant has them on the appetizer list they're coming to our table. Stuffed mushrooms are one of those, so they get judged. Here's my honest read on the category: stuffed mushrooms are hard to make badly and harder to make memorable. Same as pizza, same as deviled eggs. The floor is high and the ceiling is low. These crab-stuffed mushrooms come in white wine butter under parmesan and panko, and they land where the good ones land. Very good, and they disappeared. I'd season them a little heavier, but that's my palate talking, not a fault in the kitchen. My wife will order them every time she walks in the door. I've had better, and I'd still eat these.

The Cajun quesadilla surprised me, because I find quesadillas boring on principle. This one has andouille, roasted peppers, and onions in it, so it's actually a dish instead of a folded tortilla with cheese in it. That's a low bar and most places don't clear it.

The Bottom Line

Worth a Short Detour. This is a pub with a real kitchen behind it, in a building that's outlasted the era it was built for, run by a man who used to pour drinks in it. Good food, good bourbon, and a patio you have to walk past to get inside. That’s just cool.