RESTAURANTS

Dish | Hillbilly Tea Shack to open on Baxter

Dana McMahan
Special to The Courier-Journal

A "to-go version of Hillbilly Tea" is underway at 960 Baxter Ave., says owner Karter Louis, who plans to open in the next week or two.

"It's all the favorites," he says. "Chicken salad, pork and pone, meatloaf, all the things people love and want never to go off the menu. Most if it's to go, but inside there are six seats at a bar and there's the cutest little lounge in the back."

"It feels like a slice of the downtown Hillbilly Tea," says Louis. "It's cute and fun, and on weekend's it's open 24 hours — from Friday morning at 8 till Sunday night at 10."

He's been at work on the concept for some time. "Our idea with Hillbilly Tea is to change the menu every season, but when we took away pork and pone people were violent," he says with a laugh. "The emails, the calls ... people get very attached (to their favorites). We took chicken salad off, we tried to make it turkey salad, but people want their chicken salad. There's that magic part of Hillbilly Tea."

He initially planned to open the to-go concept on 18th Street, but that site didn't come together. "But I really wanted to do the Hillbilly Tea Shack," Louis says. "I drove by the old hot dog shop (on Baxter) every day. ... As I was at a red light in front of it one day, I thought it would be perfect. We got the location … then all of a sudden (the Hillbilly Tea Cafe in) Portland happened. When the media went crazy about Portland, I thought Baxter would get lost in the shuffle. We just weren't ready. Now we're just waiting on the signage.

Louis says they're working on a firm date for opening, but he hopes to have a grand opening as soon as Oct. 3.

In other Hillbilly Tea news, the fall menu is out featuring new dishes, such as cushaw pumpkin salad, vegetable slab pie and a caramel apple jar cake. A kid's brunch menu includes a duck biscuit burger and corn fried tofu. The Portland cafe location will begin construction later this month; "If we could make it open by Thanksgiving that would be my dream," says Louis.

More information: (502) 587-7350 or www.hillbillytea.com.

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