Mike Linnig's: serving up seafood since 1925
Tucked into Valley Station in the southwest corner of Jefferson County, Mike Linning's has been serving up large portions of fried seafood in a down-home setting for more than 80 years.
The restaurant stays true to its roots: There's nothing fancy about Mike Linnig's. The seafood restaurant began in 1925 as a fruit and vegetable stand, but soon founder, Mike Linning, was selling sandwiches and soft drinks. It wasn't long before Mike Linning's became one of the best-known and popular seafood places in the Louisville area. The inside still looks like a hunting lodge or a taxidermist's dream: There are plenty of mounted animal heads on the wood-paneled walls and other stuffed creatures spread around. Patrons order outside before entering the casual eatery and then go inside the restaurant to pick up their orders.
Some eat inside in air-conditioned comfort; however, most of the seating is outdoors at concrete tables. Located near the Ohio River, Mike Linning's draws its share of those hungry for enormous platters of seafood: fried whitefish, catfish, oysters, clams, shrimp, scallops, alligator and the house specialty, frog legs. The restaurant sells several domestic and imported beers and — especially ideal for hot summer nights — frozen margaritas and strawberry daiquiris ($3.36).
Mike Linnig's is an old-fashioned kind of place: Nearly everything comes fried. It still sells turtle soup ($4.35 for an eight-ounce cup or $5.55 for a 12-ounce bowl) in addition to the ubiquitous clam chowder and oyster stew and some other soups. Its features are crunchy fried whitefish ($7.95 for the an enormous two-piece sandwich, $11.85 for the platter, which has French fries and cole slaw), frog legs ($11.95 for an order, $15.85 for the platter), pan-fried oysters ($11.95 for an order, $15.85 for the platter), fried clams ($8.95 for an order, $12.85 for the platter) and alligator ($11.75 for an order, $15.65 for the platter). A few items are available broiled, but the menu definitely emphasizes breading and frying.
You can get a grilled chicken sandwich ($5.45), hamburger ($4.15), ribeye sandwich ($5.45) and some other items not from the sea. But why would you?
The recurrent lunch special is a one-piece fried fish sandwich, your choice of French fries or coleslaw and iced tea or a soft drink for $7.25. It's served 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
Each year, Mike Linning's closes just before Thanksgiving and reopens in late January.
Mike Linnig's caters office meetings, company parties or picnics or other gatherings. For more information, call (502) 937-9888 or (502) 937-1235. The restaurant also has private rooms for parties, reunions, group meetings or rehearsal dinners.
Mike Linnig's tartar sauce is popular enough that you can buy it at local grocery stores. You can buy it in a pint jar ($2.95) right at the restaurant, as well as a 12-ounce jar of the house cocktail sauce ($2.65)
- by Ivonne Rovira, Louisville Reporter for HelloMetro
(Click to leave a message)
Ivonne RoviraA graduate of the prestigious Columbia University School of Journalism in New York City, Ivonne Rovira worked as a reporter for the Miami News, The Miami Herald and The Associated Press. She has written articles for The National Catholic Reporter and The Courier-Journal. For more than 15 years, Ivonne wrote and edited articles aimed at middle-school children.
