Holy Grale

Sinned lately? Looking for redemption for not leaving a bigger tip last time you dined? Look no more and come to the Holy Grale it’s in an abandoned church and you’ll find your salvation with good food and a fine selection of beer!
This place is gorgeous I ate upstairs in the choir loft and sung the praises of imported German and Italian beer.
I got the the pretzel and beer cheese alongside of the pork belly and shiitake sliders. The pretzel’s bavarian huge and the sliders are packed with flavor I recommend!
It would be a sin not to stop in here when your in town!

I don’t give five stars unless I think the place meets or exceeds my expectations of the day. This place does a nice job. The hamburger no doubt is top of the line, comparable to T Dubs in Wisconsin. They had a great selection of beers and a very nice ginger beer if you don’t drink alcohol.
The salad was very fresh and tasty with what appeared to be chef made candied walnuts, not something out of a bag.
Fries are good but the dipping sauces are excellent.
What really got my attention was the dessert. Some kind of banana custard with coffee ice cream. Do indulge in this. It’s like a dish made by a pastry chef in a very expensive restaurant, not something made at the neighborhood bar. Where do you get coffee ice cream anymore that taste like coffee?
Very impressive.

My favorite place in Louisville. No real signage out front, so you have to be looking for it. Pub style service, which means you order at the bar, not the table.
Incredible beer menu, with detailed tasting notes. Many of the beers here I’ve never seen anywhere else. A lot of thought goes into the beer menu here.
Limited food menu, but what’s on there is really, really good. If in doubt go for the pretzel bread and beer cheese.
Beautiful outdoor area. Upstairs bar called the Choir Loft (did I mention this used to be a church?). Tables use old pews along the wall for seating. Men’s room has a Last Supper theme.
And did I mention the beer menu? Interesting place with a great vibe. Definitely a must do if you’re a serious beer fan.

I have been dying to go to Holy Grale for a couple years now but do not live in Louisville so I’ve waited till my current trip here. I went there tonight with my husband and my adorable and incredibly well behaved 7 month baby girl in hopes of having a good dinner in their beer garden. We were told that babies aren’t allowed there so therefore we obviously had to leave. I can’t tell you how disappointed I was. I understand that there are certain places where children shouldn’t be allowed but this was not somewhere I expected that to apply. Fortunately we were able to get an amazing pizza at The Post and I can’t recommend this place enough. Excellent service and delicious food. Plus no discrimination to parents with sweet little babies!

This place has incredibly cool ambiance, an insanely good Burger cooked to perfection and one of the better groups of beer on tap. Only downfall is it’s a little pricey. $ 50 for 2 beers and 2 burgers and there’s no included side like fries or slaw. The quality was amazing though!

Love hanging here with friends. They have a great beer garden! Great beer variety and love the fun atmosphere

Even before I was able to legally drink I always hated beer. Then I realized it was the type of beer I was given — anything with Light behind the name. You will NEVER find that here. In fact, as someone who is a born again beer enthusiast who has tried and researched a lot of beer you will find so many beers here that you have never even heard of. They import some of the rarest beers in the area and serve them up always in the correct (& CLEAN) glassware. You pay a premium for these beers but I have rarely had a beer here that I did not enjoy and feel was worth every penny.
If you decide to go out on a limb and ask for a suggestion the bartenders are EXTREMELY knowledgeable. People flock here to get a top notch beer and if you are there in the evenings you will see this. Be prepared to stand and get cozy next to your fellow beer loving patron. I enjoy going there the most in the early evening or afternoon. It’s quiet and you can always find a seat.
We recently tried their burger special which was a smaller version of their grale haus burger. It was spectacular! Their food menu although small is incredibly delicious and thought out. I’ve never had anything on it that I don’t like. I know the beer cheese & pretzels are the most popular and you cannot go wrong with this.
If you are ever able and it is open & not crowded go sit & drink in the Choir Loft. They have an even more exclusive tap list upstairs. Don’t miss it if you can help it!

This is my buddy whose from Louisville, favorite spot. We came Derby weekend and it was packed. The inside was full, and so was the great outdoor patio. It really seemed like the place to be. We loved it so much we just grabbed a drink and stood around enjoying the ambience of the patio. It really felt like the place to be. It seems to have everything, good food, a nice spot for friends, dates, any occasion. Plus the craft beer selection is pretty solid. Holy Grale for the short amount of time there was easily my favorite spot in Louisville. But I also do have a soft spot for gastropubs!

Since moving to New York, I have had a homesickness for Louisville in many ways. This includes about three different places I would often hang out and The Holy Grale was one of them.
The food is really good, it’s top notch gastropub fare. Some of my all time favorites that I crave here in NY, regardless of being surrounded by offerings, are the pretzel bread with beer cheese, the burger, their frites, their brussell sprouts when they are offered, their sliders of any kind, when offered.
I miss going to Hot Sunner Nights, sitting in their perfect Grale garden dotted with herb plants and hops.
I miss the always rotating exciting beer selection.
Mostly, I miss a place that always feels like home. It’s always on my list of places folks should stop by if they are in the city.

Take a step off of the merry-​go-​round of new hipster bars and find out why this place has so many 4 and 5 star reviews.
The beer selection is outstanding and what I mean by that is that you’ll need to come back here plenty of times to sample all of the beers they serve on tap not to mention the bottled beers. I never got to try the «Jolly Pumpkin Forgotten Tales of the Last Gypsy» but I bet it’s spectacular.
Food here is prepared by an honest to goodness chef. Not only is the food beautiful to look at but it’s just as tasty as it appears. Take some friends so you can share eats and don’t forget to pause, bow your head and say thanks to the big fellow for this place.
When we go back to Louisville to visit our son in Louisville we’ll definitely make this our first and last top.

I always have fun here!
I usually get the cheeseboard but this bar is themed after a church and Leslie shut that idea down on our most recent visit — sensing that I would sing «What a friend we have in cheeses,» after a beer or none. I never pass up a chance to be ridiculous.
Their cheeseboard and their pâté are fantastic. I was blown away by their cheeseburger. It was really good and they actually cooked it medium like I asked, it was easily the second best burger I have had in the city of Louisville or in the world. Our burger scene is on point.
The bartenders — even on a busy Friday night — are very helpful. I have been seated in all three parts of the bar (garden, main floor, choir loft) and each time I have had fantastic service.
My favorite time there was with my cousin Meredith. There was a guy there, sitting at the bar, who looked like a painting on Jesus. It makes sense: if I tried that hard to look like the old paintings of white Jesus in protestant churches around America the Holy Grale would be the bar I would be morally obligated to haunt. So, when he left I asked the bartender, «Did he tip or did he just change water into other drinks the whole time?» I think I’m funny and I’m really not but my ability to entertain myself is epic.

You know when you find one of those gems that you know you will go out of your way to go to? When you’ve found a place that takes food and drank seriously. The place not only serves fantastic beer on draft, but serves some of the most delicious food I have ever tasted (like seriously, that burger might be one of the top 5 burgers I have ever eaten).
I’ve never experienced a beer garden (biergarten) like Holy Grale before. With really ironically corny /​hipster church memorabilia and mildly sacrilegious (I’m a Christian and I found it pretty funny). The backyard is a nice area with the hipster Christmas lights and picnic tables to take in amazing summer weather. It was just a really fun place to be.
I will be back. This place is a much needed respite from the blistering world with some amazing food and brews to comfort your soul. Kind of like what an actual church should be. Go to church everyone (and Holy Grale).

Woah, what a selection! If I wasn’t sold on Louisville as a weekend destination before, I am now. These guys have more beer from all over the world than you can shake a stick at. This is not your usual flagship beer taphouse. Here you’ll find interesting, experimental, and new styles from all over the world.
We headed in for lunch and a drink, and stayed for a drink and a few more drinks. They have lots of belgians/​sours on tap, so if that’s your wheelhouse look no further. The setup was a little confusing — there’s an outdoor area with a mini bar area (about 6 beers on tap there). Then there’s the downstairs bar area, where they have the majority of their beers on tap. For more of a sit-​down table service experience, you can go upstairs to the choir loft, where they have another selection of beers. If you want to sit downstairs or outside, you belly up to the bar and order. It wasn’t too crowded on a Sunday afternoon, though, so we figured it out.
The food is really good here. They have a lot of vegetarian options (shitake sliders, tofu bahn mi) and the menu seems pretty heavily asian-​inspired. The food is fantastic, but very rich. Two small shitake sliders was plenty for me.
I’d definitely love to come back and spend an afternoon on the patio sampling my way through their list.

Split a burger with a bud bc I was feeling poor and didn’t want to pay $ 15 for a burger. It was amazing!!! Ppl tell me it’s the best burger in Louisville, better than MBB and Grind. I’m not sure if I agree. It’s definitely up there though. Maybe tie?

4.5 stars. The Holy Grale is a great beer bar. They have a well curated selection on tap and a knowledgeable staff. It’s a very cool ambience, being that it is a converted church. The upstairs has two communal tables that give it a proper beer hall feel. My only knock on this place is that it is on Bardstown road, so it attracts some folks who get belligerent. I recommend checking this place out early in your evening to avoid the knuckleheads.

You have to understand what you’re getting when you come to Holy Grale. It’s more bar than restaurant, but don’t let that worry you about the food. The food is delicious.
I am on the hunt for the BEST burger in Louisville and I have to say, this could possibly be it. So delicious. The bun was soft but crunchy on the edges. The burger was cooked perfectly and the topping gave it such a unique flavor. Plus it was topped with an adorable, little pickle. I mean, Come On! A baby pickle! Lol
I also have to commend the beer selection. I tried the cider which I enjoyed. My boyfriend tried a couple different beers and all were very good.
The fritjes were good but average. Nothing too special. We tried three different sauces: Beer cheese, fritjes sauce and creole mustard. The beer cheese was good but I favored the mustard just because it was very unique. I never tasted a sauce like that before.
The staff was friendly and helpful. They were also very attentive.
I would not recommend coming with a big group as the place is small and table aren’t meant for more than 4 people.
Super fun and neat atmosphere. I was skeptical about the church theme but thought they kept it pretty tasteful.
Overall, I really loved the burger and would come back for that alone.

This place has a nice feel but I wish the menu was a bit more cohesive. The burger is great, the poutine was okay and the pasta was good but nothing to write home about.

I have always loved Holy Grale, but I usually find myself over at Gralehaus rather than the HG. And I had never eaten at Holy Grale before. That was a mistake. One of the best burgers I’ve ever eaten! On that pretzel bun!!! Scrumptious.
And… my first Saint Sours Day experience here this year a few months back. Now I can’t get enough sour beer. Thanks a lot Holy Grale.

A five star beer experience, rare, hard to find beers, have never been disappointed. I could live in the atmosphere, dark, masculine wood, it was once a church, beautiful.

I should have known this wasn’t not going to be a great experience as soon as I was told they don’t have ice water. Yes you heard that right. They serve room temperature water with no possibility of adding ice. Who doesn’t have ice?
I found it odd that I was asked to immediately pay for my meal when the initial order was placed. To be fair I was given the option of starting a tab with a credit card. Which i declined because I was paying with cash. In my entire adult life I’ve only been asked to prepay once at a sit down restaurant, and that was at bar close at a downtown dinner, which was literally filled with homeless people. I guess they are worried people are going to walk out after eating their $ 30 per plate meal?
Now on to the food. I had the three course special which included a kale salad, which was decent. And a duck breast, and an orange flavored cupcake. The duck was very flavorful but difficult to eat. It was extremely chewy and nearly impossible to cut with the supplied butter knife.
This meal was about 7 or 8 dollars over priced.
And last but not least should you decide to visit the men’s room be prepared to have dozens of Jesus’s watch you do your business.
there are lots of great restaurants in the area. You might consider trying of of them first.

Monty Python, your quest ends here.
And — truth be told — Holy Grale is just the kind of eclectic gastropub where you might expect to see a person dressed in knight regalia saunter in and order a beer in the outdoor biergarten.
Located in a former Unitarian church at the intersection of Bardstown Rd and Baxter Ave, Holy Grale offers a wide selection of tap and bottle beers as well as a menu of equally enticing nibbles with many ingredients from local farms. Order your food inside, and — if the weather is nice — grab a seat in the outdoor biergarten. In the colder months, cozy up inside, either on the first floor or in the choir loft. Either way, Holy Grale hits the ambiance for a quirky local watering hole right on the head.
I’ve visited a number of times and — as an accompaniment to your beer — can highly recommend the escargot, the mussels, the pretzels and beer cheese, the chicken liver toast, and the brussels sprouts. The chicken liver toast isn’t something I would have ordered, but when a friend got it and I gave it a try, it became a new indulgence!
And speaking of indulgences, if the spirit so moves you, you may buy one in the form of a round of beers for the kitchen, for a mere $ 15. Can I get an «amen» to that?

Holy grale is the holy grail!
DRINKS: Any beer aficionado would love it, as would anyone over 21. There are beers for all over here, and the staff is very knowledgable and can help you pick one that best suits your wants! I’ve had some great Belgian beers here!
FOOD: In addition there appetizers are delicious! You could go with the typical beer cheese and pretzel, but I recommend the Brussels sprouts and the poutine! So yummy! In addition, I’ve heard great things about the burger!
ATMOSPHERE: I could stay here all night. I was here for 2 hours the other night and didn’t want to leave. It can get quite crowded, but is the type of bar where I would go to catch up with friends, bring my parents, or for a date.
OVERALL: love love love holy grale. Will certainly be visiting again and again

I have a, ways been extremely impressed by the Holy Grale! The atmosphere is inviting and hilarious!!! Our bartender was cocky (the good kind), knowledgable, and fun! He recommended our appetizers, entrees, dessert, and beer! Bravo!

I would give the food 5 stars, but overall I give them 4 stars due to lack of table service and having no TVs (we were looking for somewhere to watch college football.)
My husband and I both had the burger and split an order of fries with beer cheese dip. The food was freshly made and from local sources. The burger came with a pretzel bun, which was fantastic.
The did not have any local beers on draft, but they had specialty beers from Europe and some other domestic crafts beers.

The name says it all. The Holy Grale was a true find, and we will make the journey back just to experience it again. The beer choices are vast and rotate, so you can visit multiple times and never have the same beer twice (unless you find one that really hits the spot). We enjoy variety, so we recommend getting the 6oz. beers (normal is 12oz. for most) and a few of them!
But it’s not just the diversity and quality of the beer that drew us in; my boyfriend and I had been hearing about a certain burger for months. The 3D Valley Farm Burger is the best burger I’ve ever had, period. We almost ordered 2 each…
To top it all off, the venue is so unique and a must-​see. We sat at the bar and enjoyed the bartenders suggestions, but we would love to come back and sit in the loft or the patio.
Worth the extra splurging! Go see it for yourself!

Beer ramen was awesome, expensive sure $ 15, but didn’t disappoint. Beer selection was diverse, atmosphere was very unique. Old church with a cool garden

Last night was the first time I’d been to Holy Grale in quite a while. How ridiculous of me! This spot just gets better. I absolutely loved sitting outside with friends under the lights and surrounded by the beautiful stained glass panels. It’s smart that they have a separate bar area out back, too. It was busy and we stood a while waiting for a picnic table but it really didn’t take terribly long to swoop in on one as people left. My husband and I both decided to do the special summer nights thing with the featured beer, a kolsch. They gave us small glasses with coasters and as we finished they were automatically replaced and the staff member would add a mark to our coasters. When we didn’t want any more, we just put the coaster on top of the glass and they stopped refilling our glasses. To pay, they just tallied up the number of marks and charged $ 2 for each mark. It was really great! I am sad it’s been so long since we have been to Holy Grale but I have a feeling we will return soon!

Atmosphere is good, definitely a place that will be crowded on the weekends and select weeknights. Bar is nice and the beer selection as with most places on bardstown is pretty damn good.
As for food I decided on the special, a ribeye bánh mì. The sandwich was good but there was so much meat it kind of killed the idea of a traditional bánh mì. You didn’t get the flavor from the cilantro, dikon, carrots and cucumber. It was more of just a ribeye sandwich. Not taking anything away from the place it was still a good sandwich and I’ll be back to try more in the future.

Hands down, one of the best patios I’ve ever been to. Taking an abandoned church and turning it into a functioning garden/​patio– amazing!
I was visiting last weekend and this was one of my favorite places I went to.
One thing I wasn’t too keen on was having to go up to the bar during the slow hrs of the day to order drinks and food. During the slow hrs, it makes sense for the staff to come outside on the patio and ask what the guests want. My only complaint!
Beer was good! Company wasn’t bad. I didn’t like that smoking was allowed outside but that’s not how we do it in Indianapolis so it was a change I had to get used to.

Love this place~
Fantastic Beers I have never heard of~
The staff is amazing and polite~
and the food… to die for ~

Cute idea for a place to eat and drink for that matter! We waited a long time to try this place out bc we’ve heard it was small and it was always later in the night when we get hungry.
So that’s one thing you might want to remember is that if you want to eat you might want to get there early bc there aren’t many tables.
We ate in the choir loft. It was totally cute we had two beers each, the beer cheese and pretzel bread (best I’ve ever had), and the burgers (also most amazing burger I’ve ever had)!!! There menu is small but I have a hunch that little meaning has been perfected.
Our service was pretty good considering he had all the upstairs tables.
The only thing that we didn’t like was our bill. It came to $ 78. We weren’t expecting that for what we got. So bring a lot of money if you plan on eating or drinking more than us.

I love coming to this place for a beer or two, especially in the warmer months at night. They have one of the most beautiful patios in Louisville that I have seen. So many plants: flowers, herbs, trees, etc. The lighting is also nice. Not too bright, but showcases the architecture as well as the surrounding décor. They have made this place look like such an escape from the bustling traffic on Bardstown Rd. There is a bar out here where you can order a small selection of draft beers as well as a sampling of cans/​bottles.
The inside is so fun too! This place used to be a church, and so you can see the history of that inside Holy Grale. They even have a choir loft that has it’s own bar as well.
A couple of interesting points about this gem is that you can order food (a good sized and tempting menu) from any location at Holy Grale-​inside first floor main bar, upstairs choir loft, or back patio. Also, each bar has some variances of beers on tap. I think that adds to the charm of going to this place. So many different choices and yet all high quality ones.
This brings me to another fact about this beer haven… they hand pick all of their beers and the wonderful people who own this establishment have traveled around the world refining their palettes and schooling themselves on all things beer, and a little cuisine to go along with it of course. Check out a beer dinner there to get a real feel for how much thought goes into all of their offerings/​pairings.
FYI…they also own The Louisville Beer Store (in NULU) and Gralehaus (behind Holy Grale).

Awesome gem in Louisville with great beer and impressive food, located in the Bards Town Road area.
It’s mostly street parking in this area. The atmosphere of the restaurant was dark and cozy… fairly crowded but once we got a table it was fine. It’s a little strange in that you order at the counter and then take a seat while they bring it out. So if you want another beer or more food you have to go back and wait in line to order again. But there was never a very long wait, and the system seemed to work fine.
The craft beer selection here was excellent with some really interesting and rare beers on tap. When we were there they were having a Founders’ tap takeover so we tried a good smoke beer and also a sour.
The food we had was awesome. The Pretzel Bread with Beer cheese was recommended by other reviews and exceeded our expectations. Also the Shittake mushroom sliders were to die for! The portions aren’t huge, but the food and beer is very tasty.

I guess if this is has been my go-​to bar for three years now, it’s time to review it.
When I moved to the neighborhood, I was hesitant to fall in love with Holy Grale for several reasons. First, it puts a big dent in your wallet, especially if you want to make a meal of it. Second, the bartenders and servers tend to be cold. Third, it was just too damn small, so you weren’t sure you’d even two seats together. And finally, with the proliferation of locally-​made craft beer, it sometimes disappointed me to see Holy Grale tap so many imports.
Since then, they have expanded to the patio and choir loft. The rest of the picture is still exactly as I put it. Basically the only thing that has changed is that my perspective.
Tyler and his crew do such a fine job bringing in great beers from just about everywhere, it’s enough to forget the other inconveniences. There are a lot of great beer bars out there, but it just blows me away that one this exceptional is three blocks from my doorstep. And they put a lot of care into everything they do, including the menu, with the possible exception of being friendly. The bottom line is that whatever you consume here is created with the hope that you’ll find it special. And that right there is why Holy Grale and its companion Gralehaus are special.