Bourbon is the star of the show at Charr'd Bourbon Kitchen and Lounge, a spot that's won accolades from the likes of The Bourbon Review. It's easy to see the reason for the buzz, given the bar's selection of more than 80 bourbons—and the fact that it's located inside bourbon-themed Marriott Louisville East. But beyond these recommendations, there's another reason to visit: a bold, sumptuous menu of bourbon-country cuisine, curated by executive chef Ryan Montgomery. "Almost every dish is infused with the sweet and complex flavor of bourbon," wrote one Louisville.com contributor. 

Among Montgomery's specialties are cheddar rolls with smoked-bourbon butter, asian salad with chilled bourbon chicken, and St. Louis–style ribs smoked over barrel wood with a bourbon barbecuce sauce. Desserts are also infused with the mellow spirit, as in the case of pecan pie drizzled with bourbon-laced caramel. Even the aesthetic here is bourbon inspired: ruddy woods line the restaurant's interior, recalling the hue of whiskey barrels or bourbon-watered oak trees with a tipsy flush to their bark.