Mel’s Garage Kitchen + Bar is Bardstown’s newest burger joint: a converted filling station on West Stephen Foster Avenue turning out double smashburgers, $1 wings, footlong hot dogs and $10 cocktails. It opened in December 2025, stays open seven days a week (until 10 p.m. on Friday and Saturday), and most plates land between $12 and $18. Go when you want a cheap, loud, kid-friendly meal after a day of distillery tastings, not a white-tablecloth dinner.
What Mel’s Garage is
The building started life as a gas station and repair garage, and the owners leaned all the way in. Expect car memorabilia and vintage tools on the walls and a menu with names like Gearhead Smash, Grease Monkey and Pit Stop Chicken. Michael Lauricella and Emily Marrs opened it after three months of work, and “Mel” comes from their initials, according to the Kentucky Standard’s opening story. The same couple has run Marcella’s and the After Hours Cafe on North Third Street since 2023. Marrs designed a bigger menu for Mel’s, and the Standard reported people waiting in the parking lot when it opened, drawn mostly by word of mouth.
What to order at Mel’s Garage
The online menu is long, so here is the short version, with posted prices from September 2026.
| Dish | What you get | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Classic Smashburger | Two crisp-edged patties, American cheese, house sauce, a side | $15 |
| Gearhead Smash | Two patties, sidewinder fries, beer cheese, candied jalapeno, bacon | $17 |
| Bacon Jam Burger | Two patties, cheddar, sweet-smoky bacon jam | $17 |
| Buck Wings | Jumbo fried wings, sauced, with ranch or blue cheese | $1 each |
| Seattle Dog | Footlong Angus dog, cream cheese, grilled onions, candied jalapenos | $16 |
| Chicken Fried Chicken | Fried breast over mashed potatoes and brown gravy | $18 |
| Ribeye | 8 oz ribeye with two sides | $21 |
| Brownie Sundae | Warm brownie, vanilla ice cream, hard-shell chocolate | $8 |
Smashburgers are the headline. Two thin patties pressed hard on the flat-top for lacy, crisp edges is the whole point, and the Gearhead is the one to photograph: a burger with fries stacked inside it, plus beer cheese, which is about as Kentucky as a garnish gets. The Classic is the right call for purists, and the Burger Bowl ($14) puts the chopped patties on lettuce if you want to skip the bun.
Wings are sold by the piece, so a table can order a dozen to share without committing to a platter. Sauces include Bardstown Buff (the house buffalo), Sticky Pickle, Carolina Gold, garlic Parmesan and sweet Thai chili. Cauliflower wings ($9.99) are the vegetarian version.
The footlong dogs are the sleeper hit. The Seattle Dog comes with cream cheese and candied jalapenos, the Sonoran Dog ($18) is bacon-wrapped with beans and pico, and the Chili Cheese Dog ($16) uses Marcella’s beef chili. Fried green tomatoes ($12) with red pepper jelly and garlic cheese cubes ($11) cover the starters.
If someone wants a plate rather than a sandwich, the 8 oz ribeye at $21 with two sides is the best value on the menu, and the bourbon-glazed chicken ($19) is a nod to the town. A lunch menu adds lighter picks such as a catfish po’ boy ($12) and a half club ($10).
Menu prices here come from Mel’s online ordering page, which can differ slightly from the printed menu in the dining room.
The bar
The ”+ Bar” is real. House cocktails with car-themed names (Passenger Princess, Tailgate Tease, Taillight, Sunday Driver) are $10, as are the Old Fashioned, a blackberry Old Fashioned, a Manhattan and an espresso martini. A frozen Redline margarita runs $15. Domestic and import beers are listed at $3, and glasses of wine at $5.
The bourbon side is pours rather than a library. Shots and pours run from Jim Beam ($8) to Maker’s Mark and Four Roses Small Batch ($12), Green River Full Proof and a local Old SteelHouse pour ($15). It is not the place for a rare-bottle flight. For that, head downtown to the best bourbon bars in Bardstown, or taste at the Old SteelHouse tasting room itself.
When to go and how it works
Mel’s posts hours of 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. That makes it one of the easier answers to a question that catches visitors out: where can you eat on a Sunday or Monday night in Bardstown, when several downtown dining rooms are dark.
- Lunch on a weekday is the calmest time.
- Friday and Saturday evenings are the busiest, with plenty of locals.
- The site takes online orders for pickup, handy if you are heading back to a rental or a campsite.
- No table reservation system is published, so treat it as a walk-in spot and call (502) 773-6970 for a big group.
Mel’s also runs a catering menu of slider trays, tender platters and pasta pans, including a party package that needs 24 hours’ notice, which is useful for a bachelorette house or family reunion.
Where it is and parking
The address is 607 West Stephen Foster Avenue, on the west side of downtown. From Court Square it is about half a mile, roughly a 10-minute walk past the Basilica of St. Joseph Proto-Cathedral, whose Greek Revival front is worth a stop on the way (check the parish site for Mass times before you step inside). As a former filling station, it has its own parking lot, so parking is easier than in the downtown grid. If you are having more than a beer, walk or have a driver.
Honest caveats
Mel’s is young. It had no TripAdvisor reviews at all when this page was checked, and its Yelp page is still building up a track record, so you are betting on the owners’ reputation from Marcella’s and the strong local welcome rather than a long review history. A few other things to know:
- This is a casual, counter-style menu with fried food at its core. Light eaters should look at the salads or the burger bowl.
- The phone number on the website differs from older listings. Use (502) 773-6970.
- Prices are fair for a sit-down burger with a side, but $16 to $18 hot dogs are not fast-food prices.
Pair it with
Mel’s is a natural second stop on a family day: a morning at the Civil War museums or the state park, then burgers here while the kids play with their Hot Wheels cars. Ideas for the rest of the day are in Bardstown with kids and family-friendly restaurants. For adults, it makes a cheap dinner between an afternoon distillery tour and a nightcap downtown. If you are building a budget trip, the list of cheap eats and casual spots puts Mel’s next to the town’s other burger options, and the ranked best restaurants in Bardstown shows where it fits against the dinner rooms.
