Inside MeeshMeesh Mediterranean restaurant in Louisville, Kentucky
Take a look inside MeeshMeesh Mediterranean restaurant in Louisville. Chef Noam Bilitzer was recently nominated as a James Beard Award Semifinalist.
MeeshMeesh Mediterranean has been named one of the top 100 restaurants in the country.
The popular NuLu restaurant was recently named No. 29 on Yelp’s Top 100 US Restaurants 2026, which showcases the highest-reviewed restaurants, diners, fast-casual spots, food halls, and more around the country, ranked by the Yelp community.
MeeshMeesh, 636 E Market St., boasts a menu that draws from the culinary roots of Palestine, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, Syria, and beyond, and is known for its Levantine-focused dishes, including za’atar fries with garlic confit, herb falafel, mushroom hummus, and crispy cauliflower, with sunflower seeds, currants, toum (a garlic sauce), and amba (a grape-based sour condiment).
The spot is just another nod on a long list of accolades for MeeshMeesh, whose chef, Noam Bilitzer, previously told the Courier Journal was his “love letter to Jerusalem and Kentucky.”
The chef was recently named a semifinalist for the 2026 James Beard Awards, after being named a finalist in the “Best Chef: Southeast” category in 2025. MeeshMeesh also previously landed on a best new restaurants in America by Yelp list.
In early February, Bilitzer opened Mill Iron 4 at 1758 Frankfort Ave., the former location of the now-closed Ensō, alongside Dustin Olsen, Red Hog’s former pitmaster, along with North of Bourbon’s owners, Stacy and Daniel Holyfield and Eric Jennings. Bilitzer has ties to Red Hog, as he previously worked as the restaurant’s executive chef before opening MeeshMeesh.
Mill Iron 4, which is driven by a “passion for the crafts of whole-animal butchery, live-fire cooking, and genuine hospitality,” as the Courier Journal previously reported.
MeeshMeesh, 636 E. Market St., is open 5-9 p.m. Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday and 5-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday. It’s closed Monday-Tuesday.
Reach food and dining reporter Amanda Hancock at ahancock@courier-journal.com.
Dining and Cooking