New hours at Maido Essential Japanese ... and why you should care.

As is often noted in this space, Maido Essential Japanese is one of my favorite Louisville eateries, both in terms of food and beverage. It is one of the few Asian places you'll ever see that has a beer list that evinces design, and one that generally features both hop-laden American craft beers alongside expressive Belgians.

Following is a communique from owner Jim Huie. Read all the way to the end to see what Jim's hoarding.

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Due to the recent huge increase in the price of rice and some other goods, we will no longer be open for lunch (not worth it to do the buffet).

We will, however start opening at 4:00 p.m. today (Monday, May 19th). We will have happy hour from 4:00 p.m. - 6:00 p.m. Closing times will not change and we will still be open at 1:00 p.m. on Saturdays.

Also, we will be coming out with a new menu today, and there will be some new items available. For all you Hopheads, we still have plenty of Bell's HopSlam available in bottle form, and will be tapping a keg sometime later this year.