Byrdie’s at Louisville’s Hotel Genevieve closes permanently after a brief run in NuLu

A high-profile dining concept exits the hotel’s ground-floor restaurant space

Byrdie’s, the French bistro with Southern influences located inside Hotel Genevieve at 730 E. Market St., has permanently closed, ending a run that began with its December 2024 opening in Louisville’s NuLu district. The restaurant occupied the hotel’s primary ground-floor dining space and was positioned as a signature concept for the property.

In the days leading up to Valentine’s Day 2026, diners reported receiving reservation cancellations and encountering unanswered calls, reflecting a disruption of normal operations. Separately, online reservation listings and other public-facing hospitality pages continued to show the restaurant as bookable or operating, underscoring how quickly closure-related information can lag across platforms when a business stops service.

How Byrdie’s fit into Hotel Genevieve’s food-and-beverage lineup

Hotel Genevieve markets multiple food-and-beverage venues, including a rooftop bar and additional in-house concepts alongside its main restaurant. Byrdie’s was promoted as a French bistro anchored by French technique and hospitality, paired with regional ingredients and a bourbon-forward cocktail program—an approach that sought to connect the city’s dining identity with a bistro format.

The restaurant also arrived after a change in the same space: it replaced Rosettes, another concept that closed in 2024. That history meant Byrdie’s opened into a location that had already seen turnover within a relatively short period, a factor that can shape guest expectations and operational pressures for any successor concept.

Ownership and concept background

Byrdie’s was associated with Chicago-based restaurateurs Chef Jenner Tomaska and Katrina Bravo, known for the Michelin-starred restaurant Esmé. In Louisville, the concept was described as French-forward with Southern accents, and it drew attention as one of the more nationally visible chef-linked openings in the city’s recent dining cycle.

What is known and what remains unclear

No detailed public explanation for the permanent closure was immediately available through the restaurant’s primary public channels at the time of reporting. Without an on-the-record statement detailing specific causes—such as staffing, lease terms, ownership decisions, or financial performance—any assessment of why operations ended would be speculative.

What closure means for diners and the property

• Guests with upcoming reservations should confirm dining plans directly with the hotel or alternative venues, since third-party listings may not update in real time.

• The closure leaves Hotel Genevieve’s main restaurant space vacant unless and until a replacement concept is announced.

• For NuLu’s dining scene, the exit marks the loss of a bistro concept tied to a nationally recognized chef partnership, less than two years after it opened.

For businesses that take reservations and rely on multiple online platforms, abrupt operational changes can create a short-term information gap for customers—especially around high-demand dates.

Hotel Genevieve continues to operate and promote its other on-site venues, while the future of the former Byrdie’s space has not been publicly outlined.