For our capstone project and being a part of the booze crew in our Online Journalism class we chose to figure out just what the Bambi Walk was all about in the city of Louisville. After many interviews of friends, college students, Louisville natives, and bar owners/managers we found out exactly what the Bambi walk included and whether or not such a pub crawl actually existed in this city.
Being a Louisville native my entire life, I have heard through my older brother and his friends that it is an impossible pub crawl that starts out at The Bambi Bar on Bardstown Road and it stretches all the way into the Highlands and stops where Baxter Ave merges to 2nd street or Downtown at a bar called Phoenix Hill Tavern. Their stories always seemed to include someone’s twenty first birthday and the point was to drink enough alcohol to not remember the walk. At the first stop (Bambi Bar) one is to order a drink with alcohol, consume it, pay the tab, and then proceed down Bardstown road to the next bar where this process is repeated. There is no set amount of bars that one is to consume alcohol. What we do know is that from Bambi Bar to Phoenix Hill Tavern there are so many bars along the way (twenty or more if you count all the restaurants that serve alcohol [roughly 11-15 if you don’t]) that it would be next to impossible to have a drink at every bar without regurgitating, passing out, or not being allowed to enter some of the bars because the bouncer(s) finds you unsuitable to be a patron of their bar.
Some of the bars that we heard while interviewing people include and are not limited to the following: Bambi Bar, Kerns Korner, Cumberland Brews, Highlands Tap Room, The Backdoor, Akikos, Chill Bar, Cahoots, Wicks, Oshea’s, Flanagan’s, Baxters, Molly Malones, and Phoenix Hill Tavern. This list consist of 14 bars and give or take a few along the way it would be quite a feat to have a cocktail at all of these places without ending up on your face.
During some of our interviews we heard of some interesting rumors that some may have never heard about the Bambi Walk that made it even more of a drunk fest than an actual sanctioned pub crawl. A former University of Louisville student who we interviewed said that you start on the side of Bardstown road that Bambi Bar is located and have a shot at every bar on that side of the street. After you reach Phoenix Hill which is on the opposite side of Bambi Bar, one is to venture back towards the Bambi Bar on the opposite side of the street consuming a shot at every bar on the way back. We have heard from other sources that there are certain drinks to consume at each bar. Some have told us that if they serve alcohol then you are to get a drink there regardless of whether it’s a nice restaurant or not. We’ve heard that a shot is to be taken at every bar and not a beer or cocktail. Some have told us that the bar must be more of a club than restaurant to be a part of the Bambi Walk. The list goes on and on about rumors concerning this escapade.
The fact that there are so many rumors and no actual rules or regulations to this adventure makes it seem like the best thing to do is to make your own list of bars to attend along the way, set aside about 4-8 hours to complete this journey, and don’t wear your Sundays best in an attempt to complete the Bambi Walk. According to google maps, it is roughly a three mile trek and that alone (without drinking a beverage at each bar) would take an hour or more of walking. If you have a friend who is about to turn twenty one and you are unsure of where to celebrate tell them about the legendary Bambi Walk and be sure to build it up as the greatest thing Louisville has had to offer since horse racing was invented.
Thoughts by Kristin 