Located in a little shopping mall on Factory Lane off of LaGrange Road in the Pewee Valley area, Load It! is one of Louisville’s newest restaurants offering customers of all ages a unique adventure, both in flavor and in experience.
Husband and wife duo Allen and Jasmine Cartwright opened Load It! together after J. Cartwright first had the idea for a loaded potato themed restaurant.
“I love baked potatoes, so I’m like, ‘I wish I could get a baked potato somewhere that I can just load whatever I want,’” J. Cartwright said in an interview with WLKY.
When customers first walk into the restaurant, they will be able to quickly notice its unique neon signs and futuristic yet retro paint style with friendly, vibrant staff ready to help. And help is what customers will need when it comes to choosing what to eat.
Load It! offers an extensive menu. One option includes a fully customizable meal and the opportunity to pick from different toppings and three bases. Bases include spuds, fries and tortilla chips, with an array of toppings to add on, like bacon, cheese, chives and sour cream.
The menu also features specialty items, called signature loads, where customers can choose their base. Some of their signature loads include BBQ pulled pork feast, surf and turf and cheesesteak sizzle, among other options. However, if you aren’t looking to eat a full meal, Load It! offers other smaller plates, dubbed light loads, including salads and flatbreads. For parents out there, a kids menu offers options for picky eaters. Vegan options are also available.
The popularity of loaded potatoes, or spuds, is expanding due to the social media influence of two food trucks in Europe, Spud Bros and Spud Man. Both food trucks have gained social following due to their point-of-view style videos of making loaded spuds for customers. Spud Bros has recently expanded into franchising with their restaurant Spud Bros Express.
With bold flavors and fresh ingredients, fountain drinks and a full bar, Load It! is sure to satisfy all family members. And people should feel more than fortunate that Load It! is bringing the loaded spud phenomenon to Louisville.
During the most recent NTI days we took the opportunity to eat an early lunch at Load It! As the first customers of the day, we were quickly greeted by the staff, who gave us a rundown of the menu and offered their recommendations. We each ordered our spuds—-one build-your-own and one specialty spud, the BBQ pulled pork feast. Both were quick to come out hot and ready within a few minutes. While the price is a bit high, the spuds are loaded with toppings, providing customers with a hearty meal and plenty of potential leftovers.
Our first order was a build-your-own loaded spud. The toppings we chose included mac n’ cheese, bacon, pico de gallo, green onions, red onions, cheddar and mozzarella cheese and sour cream. Overall, picking your toppings and having them built right in front of you offers a quick and interactive experience for the customer. The spud was huge and provided plenty to take home afterward. One thing to mention is how fresh their ingredients were; the tomatoes and onion had the perfect crunch and offered plenty of flavor to the spud. The only thing we may not add again would be the mac n’ cheese topping. While usually mac n’ cheese is served hot, Load It! serves it as a cold topping, which adds an unusual texture and temperature combo to the spud.
Our other order was the BBQ pulled pork classic, with a spud as our base. The toppings included pulled pork, coleslaw, baked beans, BBQ sauce, sour cream, cheese and chives. Essentially, we were eating an actual BBQ plate packed into one spud, which does sound like quite a lot of food. In hindsight, however, it is ingenious and inventful as bite after bite offered flavorful explosions. While we will say it was a unique loaded plate, the one thing it could use without is the coleslaw. We thought it was far too sweet compared to the other savory toppings.
Despite our minimal critiques, we have nothing but great compliments to say about Load It! It truly is a great place to dine and have a unique, filling meal, something that the Cartwrights enthusiastically express too.
A dream that has been four years in the making, the Cartwrights are excited to be working at the restaurant. They can often be found doing both maintenance work and happily helping customers choose which toppings they want to load their bases with.
“Endless nights in here, cleaning, putting things together. You know, helping paint, just do[ing] different things, it just feels amazing. I think it’s almost like we haven’t quite let it sit in because we are all so busy and just trying to kind of make it go well,” J. Cartwright said.
Because Load It! is still in their soft opening, they are yet to have a grand opening. However, the official opening day will be here soon, as will the opportunity to grab some loaded spud(s), fries or tortilla chips of one’s choosing. Load It!’s hours are from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday and from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Load It! is also now available on Grubhub for delivery. They also update their Facebook page regularly with information and resources for the restaurant. Happy loadings!
