A First Look at Murray’s Creole Pub

Chef Lawrence Weeks opens Murray’s Creole Pub, his own homage to the British pub.

Louisville chef Lawrence Weeks has long harbored a fascination for British pubs. As an industry veteran, he often pays close attention when dining at other restaurants, and after many visits to London, specifically the Devonshire pub, he recognized a certain uniqueness to the space pubs create. “People go there to actually find community,” he says. “You don’t see a lot of phones out. You see people chatting, whether it be 2 p.m. or 5 p.m. after everybody gets out of work. It’s really like a gathering place, and not just a place to go to drink.”  

Friday, December 12, along with partner Thomas Wavid Johns, he opens his own rendition, Murray’s Creole Pub in Louisville’s Deer Park neighborhood in a space once occupied by brewpub Pints & Union. The two-story space called to Weeks, both for its lived-in comfort and for its footprint—often, British pubs are considered third spaces with a communal bar downstairs for drinks and lighter fare and a slightly more formal, but still-casual dining room space upstairs.  

“Downstairs, you might have a Scotch egg and a pint but upstairs you can find more refined dishes,” he says.

Weeks, who recently parted ways with restaurants North of Bourbon and Enso, is known for showcasing his Creole and Cajun roots, as well as for connecting two cultures into one concept by highlighting their similarities. This concept marries a British pub with Creole influence.

“I’m a person who heralds tradition. I want to hold on to the things that are old and celebrate them, instead of moving past it and finding a new thing,” Weeks says. “There are pubs in London that have been around longer than America’s been around. How do you make a space that feels like that? As soon as I stepped into this space, I knew it could work here.” 

Murray’s downstairs remains mostly unchanged except for some updated design elements. That’s where you might catch a soccer match on TV, enjoy canned and kegged beers, and nosh on fish and chips, a pub burger, or duck nuggets. Upstairs, which will open soon, the vibe is slightly more sophisticated and refined with some nods to voodoo lore. That’s where you might find a tasting menu plus a few items served a la carte with wild game dishes playing a role, plus a more advanced cocktail program with an emphasis on clarified cocktails and other more complex drinks. Throughout the building, Weeks is aiming to keep sustainability in mind such as minimal ice usage and canned and bottled drinks. “If you want less fussy, go downstairs. If you want white tablecloth, go upstairs,” he says. 

As for the third space element, Weeks wants to encourage the same neighborhood gathering that happens in British pubs throughout the day and night. “We’ll have a crazy happy hour, similar to The Devonshire where they get so full that everybody stands outside on the sidewalk,” he says. “We kind of want to encourage that behavior.”

Murray’s Creole Pub Opening Menu

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