People in Louisville like to think their restaurants are good (downtown Louisville is the hipster capital of the world and everyone is a foodie), but in general, they're "meh". When I go for a weekend, I basically follow the "
Ed Lee" rule, which is to eat at his 3 restaurants (610 Magnolia - Southern, Milkwood - Southern/Asian Fusion, and Whisky Dry - Fancy bar food). 610 Magnolia is easily the best restaurant in the city and would be a Top 10 in Atlanta.
Outside of the Ed Lee, I'd really only recommend Ward 426 and Bourbon's Bistro. If you need a 4th, try Milkwood (Ed Lee's Southern/Asian fusion restaurant). If you want a good burger place, try Bluegrass Burgers. A decent hot chicken place outside of Nashville is Royal's - but you'll have to wait in line out the door for 30 mins - 1 hour to place an order.
The only touristy thing I'd recommend is Churchhill Downs if there is live racing. I've gone a few times other than Derby and it's still really neat when they have live racing. Definitely worth a visit once in your life. They also have a museum on site (but I wouldn't go just for that). Ali Center is OK to waste 90 mins or so.
The University is terrible and not worth a visit: imagine if Tech banned research and only taught. As a result, the Administration knocked down all buildings and constructed 10 replicas of Skiles - and that's it. That's the University of Louisville. Hell, the library has like 100 books and 30 tables for studying. But the athletic facilities are top notch. They have a rowing facility on the Ohio River that's nicer than our stadium.
