Lupo Brings Wood-Fired Craft Pizza to Butchertown

There are some restaurants worth writing home about, and then there are the places that you write to the whole internet about. Lupo is one of the latter.

Last week we stumbled into Lupo, Butchertown’s newest pizzeria and Italian restaurant, with no expectations and only the slightest idea about what we were about to experience.

Going in we knew two things, 1. they had wood-fired pizza and 2. Max Balliet, owner of Holy Molé taco truck, was the chef – so it had to be delicious. But for all we knew, we were about to spend $40 on a pumpkin and lamb topped pizza.

Thankfully, that was not the case! Lupo’s pizzas were not only some of the best we’ve ever had, but ranged in price from $12-$16, which in my book makes them extra tasty.

In addition to tasting amazing and being reasonably priced, for a Tuesday night, the atmosphere was also very cool. Lupo is located in a renovated 1860s shotgun house on Frankfort Ave. and has a very casual vibe with a cool vintage, yet vibrant, aesthetic.

And the staff seemed super friendly, accommodating, and composed – and that’s saying something because it was opening night and the tables began to fill up quickly.

The Meal

So if you haven’t already made your next dinner plans for Lupo yet, then prepare to, because we haven’t really gotten to the best part yet. The food.

We started with Porchetta and honestly, the meal would have been worth it even if we stopped there. Lupo’s Porchetta was everything a good Porchetta should be – melt-in-your-mouth tender, savory, and full of pork flavor.

Of course, we didn’t stop there. We ordered the Sting Like a Bee with its spicy local honey and the Salsiccia. The dough was light and chewy and had just the right amount of crispness to hold the fresh mozzarella, sopressata, charred radicchio, and house fennel sausage.

We even made the strange (but absolutely delicious) request of adding egg to the pizza, and they were able to shave cured egg yoke on top.

Seriously, the food was so good we almost forgot to stop and snap a photo.

Unfortunately, we were way too stuffed to try their handmade pasta or sweets, but the table next to us was definitely relishing in their Carbonara and Buttermilk Panna Cotta with blueberry basil sauce.

This might be a little premature, since we’ve only ate at Lupo once so far, but Lupo may be one of the best pizza places in Louisville – especially for wood-fired craft pizza.

It’s exciting to see Butchertown get new (and delicious) restaurants opening. The area is beginning to trend again, and the future is bright with plans for the Louisville City FC soccer stadium and the Waterfront Botanical Garden in the works.

If you are looking for pizza on Frankfort Avenue or you’re craving handmade pasta, you should head straight to Lupo.