Hillbilly Tea

My Brother-In-Law that lives in Georgia was up in Louisville for a conference so we jetted down from Indy to meet him for dinner. It was cold and we wanted to go some place cool, non-chain, and close to his hotel. Up popped Hillbilly Tea on my app. Thank goodness for Yelp.

The guys made fun of us gals for choosing Hillbilly Tea. The menu is on a piece of burlap and the tea menu on a cedar board. Delightful. Cue more snickers from the fellas. Lots of beets, Brussels sprouts, and other "hipster" good things. Cue more snickers and cracks from the "meat and potato" brothers. However, when the food started rolling out, they quickly changed their tune. Here is what made them believers:

White bean and Sage fritters. Good, but not my favorite part. Best was yet to come.

We had the Pearl's tea and Minty green tea. Both delicious -- served by the pot, loose leaf through a strainer. Mine got over-steeped toward the end, but the server gladly got me new hot water for another batch.

Twig tea infused popcorn ... Ask for it. Free with meals.

Hunter's Stew ... Get it. Kielbasa, beef, hearty veggies, touch of sour kraut that is not overpowering ... So warm and so so so tasty. (Bite 1 of this magic is where minds started a-changin'...)

Our fellas decided on the Pork Jowl and Beef Shank dinners. This is where they really began to eat crow. The table was silent as they exchanged glances. I chucked to myself. The Jowl was served over a bean succotash with slaw. I didn't care for the pork personally, but that slaw/succotash combo... Dang. BIL even ordered a side of just that. The shank was served over their version of cornbread (pone). Tasty!

Us gals opted for the beet salad and roasted pumpkin salad. Both really good. Dressing made me want to lick my plate.

Service was top-notch. The hip manager even came by the table to check in. He mentioned the menu changes seasonally. Nice.

All I can say is that by the end of the meal the BIL was considering coming back the following morning for brunch. Thank you for an amazing experience, Remy and Hillbilly Tea! I will definitely return when I am in Louisville.

First off, I would have ordered one of the adorable earthy/hipster-esque waiters had they been on the menu...but, I'm guessing you're not here to find a tall order of flannel and thick frame glasses?

Alright, alright. Where to start. I would have set up my own room in the corner of this place had they let me - everything about the interior and exterior of the space makes you want to spend the entire afternoon sipping tea, ooing and ahhing at the clever decor and stuffing your face in corn pone with dollops of honey. I would literally make a day trip to Louisville just for this business. No joke. It will happen one day - soon.

Signs that this business is a winner: first I bookmarked it on Yelp after seeing all of the raving reviews; second, my coworker recommended it without knowing I had already bookmarked it; third, I'm telling you this place is crazy-awesome. What more do you need to know? ;)

My order:
-mint green tea (served by the pot - also known as adorable bonus points) -delicious
-corn pone: think of it as a dense cornbread with a crisp outside. Request to have it served with honey. Besides, everything tastes better with honey.
-butternut squash soup
-white bean and sage fritters (chunky, served with a creamy dip whose ingredients I can't seem to recall at moment) - bottom line: delicious

Other highlights:
-plentiful tea infused cocktail options
-free wifi
-even the bathroom was cute

Hillbilly Tea describes itself as "an Appalachian tea café featuring its own brand of organic teas, mountain inspired tea cuisine & tea hooch!"

It has definitely been on my list to try for a while.

I went to Hillbilly Tea with my friend Erin as part of our Saturday brunch ritual recently.

We sampled a couple of their teas -- the Smokey Mountain Chai is excellent! -- along with a lovely lavender pound cake, bacon, granola, fruit and biscuit with honey.

And I couldn't help myself from snapping some photos. The interior is to die for with its mix of mason jars and antique silverware.

I also want to go back and try more of the teas, which carry such names as Well Water, Pearl's, Twig, Swamp, Darling, Wild Daisy and Horny Goat.

Hillbilly Tea is worth a meal if you haven't tried it yet.

Like Steve W., I, too wish I could bring this place back to Milwaukee. Our lunch was fantastic. They use a lot of local produce, have a huge selection of teas, and all of their desserts are delish and made in-house. The service was fabulous and attentive, without being all up in our grills. The rustic decor was welcoming and cozy.

We shared the spicy cheese spread and I refrained from licking the plate. I'm so well behaved! I also got the cauliflower soup, butternut squash salad, and mint green tea. It was all really good. My husband got a cornish hen and raved about it.

We were pretty full, but wanted to enjoy dessert, so we got some to go - strawberry cake with orange buttercream frosting, a chai chocolate chip cookie, and a cupcake with macha icing.

This is a must if you're in Louisville.

hillbilly tea has such rave Yelp reviews that I couldn't wait to check it out. I was not so impressed based on this first visit.

I went in with a party of 8 for a celebration dinner. The dinner menu was surprisingly limited. One of our party was accidentally given the much broader lunch menu but when the server realized we had that menu it was quickly replaced, lunch options were clearly out. Hmm. They certainly have a large variety of tea, and the 'bottomless' option clearly is the best value for your money. I hope that you like tea because that was practically your only option and please don't go looking for a beer as they apparently don't have their liquor license or have chosen not to serve alcohol in any form. There were rumors at the table that the exotic fruit tea tasted heavily like bar soap but I kind of liked it, to each their own.

The frog legs - which I was looking forward to - were over-battered and amazingly bland. There were leftovers because no one went back for seconds. The cheese and honey appetizer had a nice selection of sharp cheddars but really, it's hard to screw up a cheese plate. Despite limited options, dinner had some distinct highlights including the Roadkill Stew and the Moonshine Porkchop. Those two dishes, the braised greens and the grilled sweet potatoes allow me to give hillbilly tea 3 stars.

We weren't aware but they close at 9 on Friday nights. At 9:01 as we were wrapping up the entire staff sat at the front counter and waited for us to leave.

Maybe I came in on the wrong night or had slightly skewed expectations. Based on the glowing reviews I see I'll try these guys again, at lunch time when I can again have access to the super secret early menu.

Interesting side fact: the women's bathroom had a table and 4 chairs right in the middle of it. No partition between it and the bid'ness side of the bathroom. Curious, but if group bathroom runs are your thing you are in luck.

I wanted to try a different place for Sun brunch so I decided to go to Hillbilly Tea. The 1st level looked funky and the second level with the wooden chairs and tea platters made me think of "Jed Clampett".

I tried the tofu veggie omelet along with a scone. When I got my tea in a pot, I began to pour it into my glass cup and the cup shattered from the heat!!! Hot water went everywhere and I narrowly missed getting scalded.

The staff were helpful in cleaning it up and brought out another set. I did require the have my tea already in a new cup which they did.

The tea was not what I expected but I enjoyed it anyway. The food was very good and I enjoyed that a lot. If you check in here then you will receive 10% off your check.

The staff were friendly and courteous. They did apologize for the mishap and let me have my tea complimentary for the incident.

With a name like Hillbilly Tea, how can I resist?

Cloth menus, vintage, re-use, revamped original creaky wood floors, chairs, benches, old toilet and ladder - the downstairs being the tea shop and upstairs the restaurant, this is a very cool, cozy, rustic space. Plenty of sunlight floods in adding to a natural and warm appeal. It's like eating in a old barn with the health inspector's approval. From a visual standpoint, this was a very unique experience and something highly appreciated.

On to the food!

I have to say, the portions looked deceivingly small, but they pack a punch and you can taste the love. I would say if you go with a bunch of people, try to do it tapas style to try as much as you can without OD'ing.

I might be a biased, but I ordered the pork and pone and that was DE-LI-CIOUS! It's a very sweet BBQ and mighty fine shredding sitting on a grilled hybrid of cornbread/polenta and finished with purple slaw.

Sides are on the side! (when you go, you'll know)
Roasted cauliflower side was crunchy, creamy and hot from the oven. I don't think you can go wrong with any entree after stealing bites from everyone else. Food is just done incredibly well. All washed down with some iced black tea with sweetner on the side. (the syrup had a mild minty taste? either way, it's a bit different)

The name of this establishment alone piqued my curiosity, so I had to stop by for brunch before heading back to Indiana. When my friend and I arrived shortly after they opened at 10a, we were the only customers. We were greeted and given two options of a place to sit. We opted for the table with the comfy, cushy blue chairs. Our waitress was pretty nice and helpful.

I was intrigued by the tea selection. I'm a sucker for a quality loose leaf tea. They were out of the hydrangea, so I ended up ordering the Horny Goat tea. I loved the unique presentation. A simple white tea pot and cup on a wooden base. The tea itself was just ok. It wasn't as unique as I hoped.

I wasn't sure what to order to eat. Nothing on the menu really stood out to me, so I ordered the skillet pancake. They normally offer a specialty pancake, but not on this day. The skillet pancake was a regular pancake with bourbon syrup with a sids of potato hash. Wowsa! This pancake was absolutely delicious. I love the crispy edges and lightness of the pancake. Mmmmm! So good. The sweet potato hash was delicious, but I wish the portion size was larger for the price.

This place is pretty solid. Interesting atmosphere with unique offerings. It's definitely worth checking out!

I love tea. I love the South. Hillbilly Tea is a unique twist on those two things. They have a wide variety of teas to try and a wide variety of teas infused into their dishes. My favorite part of this is that they take Southern cuisine and also embrace vegetarian options! Which is wonderful.

The ambiance is your grandmother's house in Appalachia. It will make you smile and feel right at home. Check out Hillbilly Tea when you get a chance, you won't be sorry.

Simply delicious. This way far and away my favorite restaurant while visiting Louisville.

The website was a little difficult to understand. It said Hillbilly Tea has brunch on Fridays & Sundays. That "&" is suposed to be a "-" as they are open for Saturday brunch. We got there right when it opened - 10am. I was glad we did. It started filling up with people who had completed the Color Run that day.

We were a group of 6 and we were sat right away. The napkin was closed wit ha clothes pin and the menus were printed on fabric. So adorable!

I started with a mason jar of sweetened green tea, and it was great. So very refreshing. Do beware if you get there early in the day that all of the teas may not be brewed yet. A friend of mine ordered a tea and it wasn't brewed until we were nearing the end of our brunch.

To eat, I took the recommendation of other reviewers and ordered the ham and sweet potato hash. It was just phenomenal. My husband had a duck burger, and when i gave him a bite of mine, he said I definitely made the better choice.

I highly recommend this great place!