New food stall opens at Ten20 Brewery from team behind this upscale Louisville restaurant

As the newest food vendor opens this week at Ten20 Craft Brewery in Butchertown, patrons will also be introduced to a new character.

Painted on the wall of the small indoor food stall, you’ll see a friendly cartoon opossum offering two thumbs up, a wink, and a long swirly tail.

The gray creature’s name is Richy, thus inspiring the name for the eatery, known as Richy'$. It opened July 31 inside Ten20, taking over the former spot of Happy Belly Bistro, and coming from the crew behind Decade, the upscale restaurant a short walk away at 1076 Washington St.

While Richy may be fictional, the character ― and eatery ― was inspired by a real person.

When Andy Myers, a co-owner of Decade, thought of opening a food concept with Ten20, the experienced Louisville chef thought of his brother-in-law, Nicky Anzalone.

Anzalone, 39, who has Down syndrome, lives with Myers and his wife, Stephanie. Anzalone also works weekly at Decade.

“I love him and I love hanging out with him,” Myers told the Courier Journal. “I always wanted to figure out a role for him.”

In honor of Anzalone's love for food —"he’ll eat anything," Myers said — and because “opossums are awesome, like him,” Myers said, the idea for Richy’$ was born.

“Richy is Nickey’s spirit animal,” Myers said.

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The menu of “backyard bites” was partly inspired by Anzalone’s favorite foods as well as a desire from Decade’s three owners to offer a more casual food option in the neighborhood.

The 22,000-square-foot Ten20, 1020 E. Washington St., often draws soccer fans from the nearby Lynn Family Stadium.

“We’ve captured a small amount of the audience in this neighborhood, but I think from the get-go, we got a reputation of being more on the fine-dining side of things, which I don’t think we are,” Myers said. “We did want to have something that’s much more casual and at a lower price point, something fast and easy for people.”

The menu will launch with six items, including St. Louis-style barbecue ribs, a bratwurst on a pretzel bun made with pork sausage or Beyond Meat, smoked chicken wings, a pulled pork slider, and a simple salad with leafy greens, herbs, berries, radishes and parmesan cheese with citrus dressing.

A few side items are available, plus a small kids section of the menu ― "for Lil’ Richy’s" ― includes a plain brat, beef, and cheese tacos.

Myers said he drew on his years of experience working at Holy Grale, the beer-focused restaurant at 1034 Bardstown Road in the Highlands. He also wanted to build a menu differing from Ten20's other food option, MozzaPi.

“I started thinking about if I were down here, what would I want to eat?” he said. “Primarily, it’s food that intentionally pairs well with beer."

Richy'$ is open from 5-9 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday. It will likely extend its hours in the future, Myers said. Food items infused or purposefully paired with Ten20's beers are also planned.

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Plus, visitors should look for regular sightings of Anzalone, who plans to work there often alongside Myers.

"We have high hopes for it," Myers said.

Some of the food items at Richy’$ are featured in this week’s installment of The Courier Journal’s video series called “Best Thing I Ate This Week.” You can follow along each week by visiting Instagram.com/courierjournal.

Reach food reporter Amanda Hancock at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Louisville Courier Journal: Richy'$ food stall opens inside Ten20 Brewery in Butchertown