From A to Z: Want to find new restaurants in Louisville? Try the alphabet challenge

Here's one way to solve the dreaded "what do you want for dinner" debacle. Let the alphabet decide.

The social media-fueled restaurant challenge is as simple as A to Z. Well, except when you have to find restaurants starting with “Z.” Or “X” or “Q.”

The idea involves picking restaurants starting with corresponding letters of the alphabet, like Applebee's for  “A,” Burger King for “B” and so on, and likely began as a way to liven up the dining-out experience.

A Google search shows evidence of the challenge starting around 2017, according to blog posts across the internet. Countless people have taken part.

Ashley Kratz kicked off the “adventure” with her husband in 2021 as a way to try new-to-them restaurants in their hometown of Louisville. Kratz, along with many other participants, would purposely avoid the fast food or national chain references above. Instead, the goal is typically to stick to independent eateries and support the local restaurant scene.

Kratz said it was sometimes a struggle for her and her husband, Michael Lewis, to pick restaurants outside of their familiar favorites. The back-and-forth might sound familiar.

“We fell into the conversation many people have,” she said.

It might sound familiar.

“Where do you want to go to eat?”

“I don’t know. Where do you want to go?”

And so on.

Then, the alphabet came to the rescue.

Kratz and Lewis took on the challenge with a few parameters. They agreed to try one restaurant a week. And it had to be somewhere they hadn’t previously visited.

"It opened us up to places we never would’ve gone to before," Kratz, who lives near St. Matthews, said. “It felt special for us the whole time. It was something we didn’t typically do.”

There were a few challenges within the challenge, like when Kratz tested positive for COVID-19, though, but the couple made it work. They ordered takeout for Time 4 Thai for “T.” Then a couple of weeks later, it was time for the dreaded “X.”

That’s when she consulted the popular Facebook group, Louisville Take Out, which is centered around area restaurants and where chatter around the challenge happens almost weekly.

Scrolling through the social media group, dozens of posts reference the alphabet challenge going back to at least 2021. Participants in the challenge such as Kratz go to the group, which has more than 95,000 members, when seemingly stumped on a letter, posting some version of the question, “Does anyone know of a restaurant starting with the letter…?”

Many such posts have at least 100 comments, showing just how popular the topic can be.

“I’ve seen it pop up several times,” Kratz said. “I think it got really popular because people want a reason to break out of the routine and this kind of forces you to do that.”

That’s what drew Sarah Veal to the challenge, which she heard about via social media.

“We tend to pick the same things over and over,” she said. “It’s a good way to get out of our comfort zone.”

Veal and her husband, Chris, also opted for the twist of trying restaurants they’d never ventured to before.

The couple, who live in Middletown, aim to check one restaurant off each month and double down on the occasion as a “date night.” They’ve made it pretty far, as the duo recently scratched off “R” with a visit to Ricky B's Club Cafe at 2901 Brownsboro Road. The restaurant, which features live music and a dance floor, was a fitting location for Sarah Veal’s 56th birthday.

Usually, they spend a few minutes researching on sites like Yelp or local media outlets to find a restaurant with the next letter on their list. They've also asked the Facebook group, where members will chime in with ideas such as Agave and Rye for "A," Queen of Sheba for "Q," Week-End Burgers for "W" and Zanzabar for "Z."

“We absolutely let the alphabet determine where we’re going,” she said. “For us, it’s the unknown that’s kind of fun.”

“People get bored and they pick out the same places,” she added. “It makes it more exciting to look forward to a new place you haven’t been to.”

Some of their favorites, so far, include Del Frisco’s, the steakhouse on Whittington Parkway, and Game, the Irish Hill eatery known for serving exotic wild game, from kangaroo to bison to camel.

When the Veals have struggled to find a restaurant with the corresponding letter, they make it a “wildcard” and try out a new dining spot no matter what letter it starts with. Overall, Sarah Veal said it’s been relatively easy to find restaurants matching the alphabet in Louisville.

“I just feel like we’re spoiled here,” she said. “ Whenever I travel, the food is not as good as it is here. We’re lucky to have so many options.”

Except for, yes, options that start with “X.”

Kratz said she’s still looking for one and is willing to go anywhere within 50 miles. Even though she completed the challenge in 2022, she has considered doing it again.

“It was a blast, it was a lot of fun,” she said.

Part of the fun included posting about each stop on her personal Facebook page, complete with where they went, what they ordered, and a rating out of 5 points.

“It was fun even for our friends to go along the journey with us,” she said. “And maybe from our experience, others decided to try out a new restaurant too.”

Reach food and dining reporter Amanda Hancock at ahancock@courier-journal.com.

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Louisville foodies use alphabet challenge to try new restaurants