Lingonberry glaze on meatballs? This Louisville slider bar is serving food you must try

It was during a trip to Door County, Wisconsin that I first learned about lingonberries. The tiny red tart berries are a common accompaniment to Swedish dishes — and Door County is home to a large number of Swedish descendants. Though this is not the case in Louisville, we do have access to some Scandinavian fare.

Oskar’s Slider Bar offers everything from meatballs with a lingonberry glaze to Skagen Smørrebrød, which is cold shrimp and crab salad with fresh dill and roe that’s served open-faced on rye toast. The restaurant is owned by husband-and-wife duo Jesse and Liz Huot, who are also the forces behind Grind Burger Kitchen.

As Liz explains, both she and Jesse have Norwegian heritage — and during trips to North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, they fell in love with the heavy Scandinavian influence they’d see at various restaurants and bars.

“It really kind of rustled up all of this energy (between) Jesse and I,” she told The Courier Journal. “We thought, how can we create this and bring it to Louisville?”

Liz says they knew they wouldn’t open a wholly Scandinavian restaurant, as the cuisine isn’t easily translatable to how most Louisvillians dine. Instead, they created Oskar’s Slider Bar, an American-influenced slider bar that focuses on Scandinavian flavors. The Poplar Level eatery — which bears the same name as the couple’s son — has been serving the community since December 2017.

“We … incorporate elements (Scandinavian cuisine) to bring people in,” Liz said. “If you want to just get four cheeseburgers, go for it. But if you want to get some skagen, or … some Swedish meatballs, you can do that, too.”

Liz says customer favorites include the corned beef sliders, which are served with house kraut and Swedish mustard mayo; and the venison sausage sliders, which are made with spiced venison and pork sausage patties that are topped with Swedish mustard and onions that have been caramelized with tart cherries.

“(And customers) obviously love the cheeseburger,” she added. “We make a good cheeseburger.”

The smoked halloumi slider — served with pickled red onions and tahini sauce — is also an Oskar’s guest go-to.

“It is not Scandinavian,” Liz said, “but we wanted to do something that was a little more adult than regular grilled cheese. … It’s one of our most popular sliders.”

These favorites have been on the menu for a while. The tater tots, however, are a new addition — the bite-sized cylinders recently replaced French fries.

“It is tater tot drama USA sometimes,” Liz said with a laugh. “People who want the fries back are the loudest, but we hear just as many people talk about the tater tots, (saying) they love them.”

She explains that the constant rinsing and draining of potatoes for the freshly made fries was causing problems in the kitchen. Exponential amounts of starch going down the drain created constant plumbing issues — so they made the switch to tots.

Though some of Oskar’s fans might be mourning the loss of fries, they might be happy to hear about other recent and pending changes.

“We just hired a new chef,” Liz exclaimed. “I brought her all the way from Fargo, North Dakota. She’s part Sami … which is an indigenous folk from the Nordic countries. She has this really unique perspective on food … so we’re really excited to have her.”

In addition to adding chef Kathryn Fink to the team, Liz and Jesse are bringing back Gravlax — a Nordic dish made with cured salmon — which was removed from Oskar’s offerings during COVID.

“We just didn’t have the capacity to cure fish (then),” Liz said.

They are also planning to bring back Nordic Metal Nights, a regular event that features a late-night menu and drink specials, paired with a Scandinavian metal music playlist. Food offerings for these nights might include venison hand pies or chislic, which is a South Dakota kabob-like dish.

“(We’ll have) just little finger foods,” Liz said. “At that point in the night … not very many people want a huge, heavy meal. … It was really exciting to do (these events), but we really only got to get our claws in it for a little bit before the pandemic hit.”

One thing that has been a constant on the menu is aquavit, a centuries-old Scandinavian spirit. Distilled from potatoes or grains, it’s typically flavored with caraway and other aromatics like citrus peel and whole spices.

“We’re the only Aquavit bar in Louisville,” Liz said. “Basically, it’s very similar to a gin. … Currently, we carry eight different aquavits. … it’s a pretty rare find in Louisville (and) in the United States.”

Whether guests are interested in heading to the restaurant for some uncommon aquavit, one of the tried-and-true menu favorites, or a unique weekly special, Liz says it’s worth the drive.

“I know that Oskar’s can seem kind of out of the way from where the other food hubs are,” she said, “but … it’s a great neighborhood spot. It’s fun — you can come bring your kids (and) have a beer, and it’s not weird. … It’s the restaurant I would go to, so we brought one here.”

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Know a restaurant that would make a great feature? Email writer Lennie Omalza at aloha@lennieomalza.com or Lifestyle Editor Kathryn Gregory at kgregory@gannett.com.

Oskar's Slider Bar

WHAT: This is an American-influenced Scandinavian slider bar that focuses on bringing Scandinavian flavors to American classics. It also boasts the only Aquavit bar in Louisville.

WHERE: 3799 Poplar Level Road

SERVICES: Indoor dining, outdoor seating, carryout, and delivery via Doordash; Tuesday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 8 p.m.; closed Monday

CONTACT: oskarssliderbar.com, 502-395-9010

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Oskar's Slider Bar in Louisville serves Scandinavian inspired burgers