Bristol Bar & Grille announces closure of downtown Louisville location

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — The Bristol Bar & Grille will close another location this weekend.

The restaurant said its downtown Louisville location on West Main Street will close after service Sunday, May 24, according to our partners at Louisville Business First.

According to the restaurant's website, the downtown location was one of the first restaurants to open as part of the city's Main Street revitalization.

The location sits in a prime location near Museum Row, serving as a staple for downtown workers and visitors for more than 23 years.

TJ Oakley, vice president of operations for Bristol, told LBF there were several factors that led to the decision to close the restaurant, including a dwindling lunch business. Oakley said the only outside influence driving any significant foot traffic to the restaurant is events at the Kentucky Center for the Performing Arts.

"That location just no longer makes sense at this time," Oakley told LBF. "There's no opportunity for a long-term lease because (the building owner) doesn't know what he wants to do there. In the short-term, we were going to lose money."

Oakley said the restaurant was only offered a short-term lease when it came time for renewal. He added the company will begin searching for a new downtown location, preferably one that is already set up for a restaurant.

The announcement comes about three months after the closure of Bristol's original location on Bardstown Road in the Highlands after nearly 50 years. It opened in 1977 as the first of three Bristol Bar & Grille locations in Louisville.

The restaurant's Jeffersonville location, inside the Sheraton Hotel on the Ohio River, closed in 2018.

Only the Hurstbourne Parkway location in east Louisville will remain after the downtown closure.