In 2007, owner Eric David Gould opened Smoketown USA in a Civil War-era building located right in the heart of Louisville. The restaurant quickly gained in popularity for its delicious barbecue fare and a curious assortment of what the owners describe as “yard sale items” for sale throughout the dining room. Even the tables and chairs have a price tag!

If you just come for the food, Smoketown USA’s stick-to-your-ribs menu of barbecue sandwiches, marinated chicken, seafood, and half slabs of pork ribs won’t disappoint. The kids' menu even offers one free kids' meal per adult, so you can feed the whole family for a low price. Enjoy looking around the eclectic knick-knacks throughout the restaurant while you wait for your food at Smoketown USA, one of Louisville’s most unique eateries.

Smoketown USA is open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesdays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.

Smoketown USA
1153 Logan Street
Louisville, KY 40204
(502) 409-9180
www.smoketownusa.com
www.yelp.com/biz/smoketown-usa-louisville

CC-BY-SA-2.0/Flickr/stu_spivack

Hillbilly Tea is a hip and trendy dining destination in downtown Louisville. Exposed brick walls add a sense of warmth to the open, light-filled dining area, while recycled burplap menus are positioned next to antique oil lamps on the eatery's reclaimed wood tables. The dining room is likely to host 20- and 30-somethings catching up with friends over herbal tea or an artisanal cocktail—served in a mason jar, of course.

As for the food, expect homestyle fare with a gourmet twist. Hillbilly Tea is the kind of place that serves smoked catfish over a bed of arugula, and cornbread is offered to sop up paprika gravy on the braised beef shank. Vegetarians have more than a few options from which to choose, while brunch sees hungry diners arriving with a craving for the eatery's dish of gravy-laden poached eggs over buttermilk biscuits. Regulars insist you don't depart before savoring a spoonful of the restaurant's bourbon bread pudding.

Hillbilly Tea
120 S. First Street
Louisville, KY 40202
(502) 587-7350
www.hillbillytea.com
www.yelp.com/biz/hillbilly-tea-louisville

CC-BY-2.0/Flickr/Caelie_Frampton

Although many people think that Halloween is simply a children’s holiday filled with spooky fun, others believe that October 31 stems from something more sinister. So what is the real truth about Halloween? Here are a few facts that you may not know about the year’s scariest (and sweetest!) holiday.

1. Halloween’s origins can be traced back as far as 2,000 years. The holiday stems from a Gaelic festival called Samhain, which translates into “summer’s end,” an apt name for this favorite fall celebration. Samhain was a time for the community to gather resources for the coming winter months.
2. Halloween was far from sinister. Although Halloween and its predecessor Samhain held a few supernatural and pagan aspects, it was overall a very peaceful and community-oriented holiday.
3. Halloween costumes derived from All Saint’s Day. While we wear costumes for Halloween these days, the costume aspect actually derived from All Saint’s Day, not Samhain. Druid leaders wore traditional costumes made of animal skins to celebrate All Saint’s Day, and because the two holidays fall so close together, they merged with one another over the years.
4. The tricks led to the treats. In the 1920s and 1930s, American youth turned Halloween into rowdy block parties filled with acts of vandalism. In an effort to make the holiday more wholesome, community leaders attempted to ply children with sweets given out by neighbors, which eventually led to what we know as trick-or-treating.

Twenty Interesting Things About… Halloween [The Pioneer Woman]
13 Facts You Never Knew About Halloween [Business Insider]
History of Halloween [Live Science]

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