Frankfort Avenue attracts pedestriansBy By Erin Mccoy

Bardstown Road may be bustling at all hours of the night, but it’s not the only busy street in town. Much of the window-shopping, bar-hopping crowd looking for a change of scenery has found Frankfort Avenue to be a pleasant alternative.

Frankfort Avenue runs from just east of downtown through the Crescent Hill neighborhood until it turns into Shelbyville Road. Old houses and local businesses line the street where pedestrian traffic and nightlife are growing every day.

Gary Heine is co-owner of Heine Brothers’ Coffee shop, which has a store on Frankfort Avenue in addition to its three locations on Bardstown. He said he chose the sites for his stores based on the neighborhoods surrounding them. “They’re old, funky neighborhoods where people walk around and people live and people like to gather, see their friends, meet new friends – and that’s really what we’re about.”

Heine Brothers’ moved to Frankfort Avenue 11 years ago, and since then, Heine said, renovations and an influx of new shops have made it a much livelier street. “It’s really nice that it is being discovered,” he said.

John Johnson, owner of the Wine Rack, a store with specialty wines and alcoholic beverages on the 2300 block of Frankfort Avenue, has also noticed the change. “In the three years since I opened this business the traffic has grown, and the popularity has definitely grown.”

Johnson is a member of the Frankfort Avenue Business Association, which is responsible for organizing the Frankfort Avenue Trolley Hop on the last Friday of every month. Four or five trolleys run the circuit from 6-10:30 p.m. Businesses keep their doors open to attract new customers, who flock from all over the city to see what the strip has to offer.

“It’s about making it more fun to come out and shop and dine on Frankfort Avenue and see all the small businesses that are here that make the area charming,” Johnson said.

Don Burch, owner of Frankfort Avenue’s Quest Outdoors, which sells outdoor gear, said the Trolley Hop is designed to help local businesses flourish. “We consider Bardstown Road and all the unique places in Louisville as complementary to what we’re trying to do. We see them as allies,” Burch said.

One trolley stop near the very end of Frankfort Avenue lets people off right in front of the North End Cafe, a restaurant, bar and Spanish tapa bar that features musical late nights on weekends.

Jessica Dawkins, a manager at North End, said North End and the RED Lounge offer some of the few nighttime bar environments on the street.

“I used to live on Frankfort Avenue and I miss living on it,” Dawkins said. “It was nice to walk up and down anywhere, you know, going up to Nancy’s Bagel Grounds to get coffee in the morning or grabbing a bite to eat at the Irish Rover. I like the mix of food on the street. When I think Frankfort Avenue, I think shops and restaurants, not necessarily bars.”

“It’s not like Bardstown Road,” said Christopher Seckman, owner of North End. “It’s not as busy, but there’s all the same amenities here. There are coffeeshops – it’s an oversaturation – restaurants, some bars, but it’s not as populated.”

North End Cafe draws in a good mix of customers because of its location where blue collar and white collar neighborhoods collide, Dawkins said. The bar is open until midnight Sunday through Wednesday and stays open until 2 a.m. Thursday through Saturday. The crowd is different each night, she said.

On Thursday nights, DJ Sam Sneed draws in the under-27 crowd, among them many U of L students, and Friday nights Kim Sorise of 91.9 WFPK hosts “Global Grease with Kim Sorise,” drawing predominantly listeners over 27.

Frankfort Avenue seems to be ever-expanding, and business owners in the area are excited about the buzz it’s generating. Sure, it’s no Bardstown Road, but the business owners seem to like it that way. “Frankfort Avenue just seems like it’s more serene, but still offers all the things that the Highlands do,” Dawkins said.