Le Gallo Rosso

Shocking! My wife and I ordered spaghetti and lasagna with salads. When both of our salads were delivered, we found BLACK yuck throughout all the leaves and the cucumber was slimy. The waiter spoke to the owner and returned with the explanation that «it was just moisture». Look that up on the web to see how long it takes for moisture to turn salad black.
We were the only customers, and they didn’t offer a discount nor did the owner come out and apologize.
You make the decision as to if you want to trust the rest of the food to be «fresh».

One of my go to places in the Highlands. Pretty good Italian food with huge portions. Make sure to sit out front for the people watching!

Amazing food and dining experience here. Our waiter James… the best. Beautiful salad and food items. Thanks folks. A most memorable experience. And we took a look at the upstairs bed and breakfast facility. Beautiful. I plan to stay here next visit to the area.

one of the best restaurants in Louisville. the pan seared scallops are amazing. The owner/​chef was super nice and very helpful. If you are looking for a small cute restaurant with fantastic service and great food on Bardstown road there is no place that compares.

Looking through the few low ratings and see whiners. This place is absolutely my favorite Italian place in the nation. It’s a small intimate place so I wouldn’t recommend large parties like some one star clown that had 18 people. I actually made reservations last year for a party of 8 for my birthday and everything went great. We even had an additional two people show up and they were accommodated no problem. I do not mind waiting or slow service. I enjoy the dining experience and have never had a bad one here. The food is incredible and of a quality I have rarely seen matched in Louisville.

Let me preface this review by saying that I don’t believe I have ever written a restaurant review this critical. Even though the food was pretty good, the smoky room, inattentive staff, and 3 hour wait made this a horrible evening. I was so upset that I wrote the restaurant a letter, but never got a response from them.
After one good prior experience with a quiet pleasant dinner at this restaurant, we decided to take some friends here for a relaxing small birthday celebration — a table of 5. We had a reservation, and were seated in the back room adjoining the kitchen.
We were greeted by a pleasant young woman who we could see was somewhat tentative, and admitted that after some training, this was her first night working as a waitress. We ordered some appetizers and a bottle of wine, and were served in a reasonable period of time. The food was tasty and appetizing.
A table of 4 was seated next to us while we were eating our appetizers, and was greeted by a more experienced appearing waiter who immediately informed the table of the specials for the evening.
When our waitress returned to get our orders for entrees, we had to ask to find out about the special offerings. Shortly after we ordered, we noticed that the smoke from the kitchen had become noticeably worse to the point that several of us had difficulty with breathing and watery eyes.
The table adjacent to us was served promptly, and they ate their food and left while we continued to wait for our entrees for well over another hour to 90 minutes. Our waitress came over rarely, and the diners at our table each got up at different times to get fresh air and to escape the oppressive smoke from the room. We appealed to the waitress to get our food or at least move us to a different table in a different room. She said there were no tables available, but the restaurant was not more than 60% full at that time. The more experienced staff and the woman at the cashier completely ignored our pleas to get our food for us or move our table.
We had no complaints about the food, but we were in the restaurant for at least 3 hours, begging for our food and relief from the smoke. When we finally got asked for our bill, we were relieved that we could finally get out of that place, but no… the waitress disappeared for another 20 minutes. Why? Because the cashier explained that the check was hand written and hand calculated. When we tried to tell her how bad our experience we had, there was no one there to accept any responsibility.
Since their website does not accept any type of input, I took the time to mail them a 2 page letter documenting our experience, and I sent them a copy of our receipt. It has been 60 days, and there has been no response. If I had gone to a McDonalds, Olive Garden, or Macaroni Grill, there would have been someone to talk to about the experience.
Needless to say, we were embarrassed to take our friends to this place with terrible service, unbreathable air and uncaring attitude. I would never recommend this place to anyone.

Found out about this restaurant/B&B while in Louisville and looking for last minute lodging. I really enjoyed both the food and the room but the service leaves much to be desired. The pro/​con list:
Pro:
1. Very good food
2. great atmosphere
3. the apartment was quiet large and quaintly decorated.
Cons:
1. Very spotty customer service. I made the reservation in person because no one was answering the phone, but for the next two days when I called to find out check-​in time and other general info, no one ever answered the phone or returned any of my messages. In addition When we went down for the complimentary breakfast, no one was there except a cook doing prep work in the kitchen. Luckily a waiter showed up and took care of us but it was about 30 minutes before we received our food.
Because of its location and the space of the apartment I would stay there again but i hope they actually answer in the future when I need. to make a reservation.

My husband and I saw great reviews and were excited to try Le Gallo. We called on a Saturday at 1:30 and left a message for reservations for two that evening. As I have never made reservations here –I didn’t know the protocol and was assuming I’d get a phone call letting me know if I had a reservation for that evening.
I never received a call and my husband and I showed for our reservation that evening only to be turned away by a very rude worker. With the worst attitude she says, «Well, I called you». «Sorry» I say, holding my phone, «I don’t have any missed calls or messages.» Defensively she replies,” Not only did I call you I left a message.“
It disappointed me to be rudely treated by the young lady on our first and only visit. I at least would have expected an «i’m sorry». I was expecting great service and food instead we not only were unable to try Le Gallo but were greeted with bad attitude

Excellent meatballs stuffed with mozzarella at an affordable price. When I was last there, it was BYOB. Even more affordable!

Magnificent place!
If you think the Olive Garden, Carrabba’s or Macaroni Grill are good Italian food, then please stay away. You will think it is overpriced, cramped and missing bottomless salad, bread sticks and soup.
However, if you do not fall into the grouping of such people above, try it!
Let me start with their salads… no…my favorite salad. The bistro salad. It comes all wrapped up in a slice of cucumber that you cut up and mix as you wish with your favorite, in-​house dressing (except for the Italian… the don’t make that one themselves for some reason). Don’t tell anyone, but I sometimes find myself licking the plate because I love their honey dijon dressing so much.
The spaghetti and meatballs, if you’re into that kind of thing, while not my favorite on the menu, is pretty damn good. It’s not a spicy meatball… it’s a ginormous meatball. A ginormous meatball stuffed with mozzarella. How can you go wrong with that?
I usually don’t order pasta there, so let me quickly list my favorite entrees.
Roasted Lamb Shank, Pork Chop, Beef Tenderloin Medallions and Saltimbocca Chicken, but not in that order.
Anyway…great place, cozy atmosphere, great service and excellent food. That’s all. I’m done. Thanks for reading and have a nice day.

Romantic, intimate setting. We went for Sunday brunch which pleasantly brought back memories of trips to Mediterranean countries. Including the relaxed nature of the service, which my wife and I enjoy. Thick cut sausage (not tiny sausage links), eggs poached in light, tomato-​based mushroom sauce. But there are omelets, pancakes, eggs & bacon to choose from as well. Absolutely delicious. The name is Italian, but the surroundings reminded me of being back in a French bistro and the breakfast maybe even those I’ve enjoyed in Greece and Turkey.
Keep doing what you’re doing Le Gallo Rosso. You’ve recreated a unique experience here in Louisville. A pleasant surprise!

Great atmosphere. Set in two rooms of an old house on Bardstown Rd., the décor along with the friendly staff gives you feeling of feeling of being a guest at a family dinner in Italy.
Because this was our first time there, I can only give a limited evaluation of the menu. We started off with the Spinach, mushroom, and feta cheese flatbread, which was excellent. Homemade dressings made the salads unique. My wife had the veal parmesan, which had a little too much breading, and not enough sauce, which was easily corrected. I had the spaghetti and mozzarella stuffed meatballs, which I was told is one of the house specialties. Normally I don’t order spaghetti when I am out, but boy am I glad that I did. It was excellent.
The presentation of all the dishes was excellent, which at most restaurant means that the portions are tiny. But not here. The entrees are huge. At least half of the meals came home with us.
The real highlight of the meal was the tiramisu dessert. It was the best tiramisu we have ever had, and we have had a lot of tiramisu.

Very good standard Italian food. Friendly service. Maybe a little too friendly. But you expect that in Louisville, right? It IS the South!
The restaurant is located in an old house right on Bardstown Road. Apparently the chef/​owner lives upstairs and it’s also a B&B.
It’s a very charming setting but parking is a bit iffy — the lots in the back are kind of odd. Lots of street parking in the area, though, so really not as much of a problem as it could be.
On my visit I ordered a stuffed chicken special, which was very good, plated beautifully and served with care. Huge portions here, so be prepared to take some home if you don’t have the biggest stomach ever.

I’m a little bit of a control freak. When one of my running mates picked out a restaurant for our pre-​marathon carb dinner, I had to check it out to see if it was indeed our best option — she chose well.
Located in an quaint section of Louisville, Le Gallo Rosso is adorable. It occupies the first floor of an old converted Victorian home and is a series of small rooms. There are also a few small tables on part of the front patio and the upstairs houses The Roost Inn, a small B&B.
I’ll dispense with the main negative first; I don’t think this restaurant is ideal for parties larger than six. Our group of 15 was seated in a middle room at two tables. Service was extremely friendly and pretty attentive, but I don’t really think the kitchen is set up to accommodate large groups. We arrived close to 6, about an hour into the dinner service (per the website). Initially, there wasn’t enough bread ready to serve our starving crew and they ran out of ice at one point. After what seemed like an inordinate amount of time, our salads came out; the plating was beautiful, little salad bouquets, but delivery was a bit staggered. The one person who upgraded to a specialty salad got hers well after the rest of us. The entrée pacing was worse, to the point of being awkward. Plates were delivered with seemingly no rhyme or reason; the lucky few served first felt awkward eating before everyone was served, but no one wanted them to eat cold food. Fortunately, the quality of the food allowed us to mostly overlook the timing problems.
A friend ordered the calamari appetizer, and *forced* me to help him finish it. I enjoy calamari, but was not impressed by this dish and it’s unusual preparation. The dish was comprised of sauteed calamari over cappelini pasta with olives, red onion and peperoncini. Overall, I found the dish to be light on calamari, the sauce lacking spice and the onions, olives and peppers to be an odd accompaniment; I’d give it a C. The entrée menu is on the smallside, but there are a long list of daily specials. I wish they printed the specials because it was hard to remember all of them. All of the entrees come with a side salad and for a few dollars more you can upgrade to one of the specialty salads. Not wanting something heavy before our run, I opted for the cappelini pomodoro. My meal was good, the sauce fresh and garlicky — just how I like it; I would give it a B+. I didn’t taste and of the other entrees, but a few of my friends were talking about their meals, especially the stuffed chicken special, a few days afterward.
The liquor menu is strictly wine and beer, and the beer list is small — Peroni, Moretti (I think) and Corona. I didn’t see the wine list, only the non-​runners were imbibing and they stuck to Peroni.
Overall this is a solid Italian option and prices seem reasonable, but as I said before I wouldn’t return with a large group. My only other suggestion is that they need to upgrade the bathroom off the center dining room — it’s very worse for wear.

I don’t know if they have expanded since last time I was there, but I loved how tiny and hidden away this place was – and couldn’t believe how huge the portion was – especially for the price! I had the lasagna and thought: maybe this is where the Cheesecake Factory got their ideas on portions. This is just one of those places that I think on fondly as a place that surely not too many people know about since it’s tucked away behind a house on Bardstown – there’s not a lot of fanfare and wild gimmicks to get you back there, which I love. And it made me feel like I was in Europe in a little family place that only the locals know about. Charming, quaint, intimate and great food. Yay for all of that.

We’ve known Chef Annette for a while; she has a lot of experience cooking at a number of fine dining establishments and throughout her time as a chef, has received a number of well-​deserved accolades.
The restaurant itself is in a cozy little blue house on Bardstown Road, attached to an upstairs B&B. It’s very intimate, and perfect for a romantic evening. The wait staff is always friendly, engaging, and knowledgeable, and they have some great wines in their selection, as well.
Writing about how good the food is really doesn’t do it justice, but I’ll give it a go, anyway. Regardless of what you order, it’s going to be great. Chef Annette has some fantastic items you won’t find at other Italian restaurants, like Scallop Fajitas and other dishes you won’t find on the regular menu, like Sea Bass. I will tell you this: if you’re at Le Gallo Rosso, and one of the specials is Sea Bass… get it.

Get it, get it, get it.
You cannot say that you’ve had good sea bass until you’ve tried Chef Annette’s recipe. It’s a magical dish that should probably be delivered to your table by a waiter riding a unicorn, but A.) it would break from the restaurant’s cozy, homey feel and B.) unicorns aren’t real. But this sea bass is very real, and it’s as good as it gets. And if you like lasagna, then get it here. If you’re Italian like me, this will give you Ratatouille-​like flashbacks to the food your mother or your grandmother made.
Le Gallo Rosso has spoiled me. If I’m in Louisville, I really can’t go anywhere else for Italian food. Vincenzo’s and Come Back Inn are really good, don’t get me wrong, but nowhere else in the city is like Le Gallo Rosso.

Good Italian food, little pricey, and the atmosphere was a little cramped for me. If you want good Italian though, you can’t go wrong.

This is a nice Italian spot tucked into a little house in the Highlands on Bardstown Rd. The chef/​owner lives upstairs and also runs an on-​site bed and breakfast with 3 rooms.
Our server was super nice although a little socially awkward. And he was well informed about the menu selections and wine choices. They had a great wine, off list, that they had limited cases of and were selling for $ 4 a glass. It was good and I appreciated the pricing.
The salads that accompanied our dinner came out in beautiful presentation and were very tasty. Bread was warm and chewy and served with a lovely tomato and spice olive oil. We had seconds.
For the main course I ordered the Spaghetti and Stuffed Meatballs. The portion was enough for 3 meals and I left with the leftovers to prove it. The meatballs were the size of baseballs (no joke) and were absolutely delicious. Spaghetti was also well prepared and the sauce was good.
Overall cute spot, great food, great wine.
A few things I’d change:
1. The bell on the front door is better suited for a retail shop. It is loud and rings for a very long time — not conducive to a quiet restaurant atmosphere. We sat in the back away from the bell but could still hear it. I wouldn’t want to sit in the front room, closer to the noise.
2. There is a religious picture of the chef in the entryway. She is in a white service gown and a passage about «Jesus Christ Our Lord» is painted on the wall behind her. This was off-​putting and, in my view, inappropriate for a business, especially in a neighborhood as liberal and spiritually diverse as the Highlands. That is just my two cents and it likely won’t stop me from going back. But I do find it a little odd.

Just moved back to Louisville after many years away in Atlanta. La Gallo Rosso was one of the first places I was able to visit upon coming back and all I can say is «wow»!
Great Italian food, with great service and atmosphere!
If you go and you are hungry, try the lasagna! It is fantastic!
Great value too and couldn’t beat the great way we were treated by the staff and server!

Four stars: mostly for the potential and to encourage this type of small restaurant.
The good
–My lasagna was delicious and there was enough to bring home two more meals.
–The prices were reasonable for such a small restaurant.
–The quaint atmosphere reminded me of a small restaurant in Europe (it’s the antithesis of Buca di Bepo).
–Our waiter was fantastic.
–The side salads had an interesting presentation.
The bad
–My lasagna was lukewarm at best.
–Louisville’s bizarre liquor laws prohibit a restaurant of this size from serving wine or liquor.