Chow Roadtrip to Lexington, KY

I travel between Chicago and Lexington frequently (passing through Indianapolis, Cincinatti, Louisville, and Lexington). That said, I usually do so at a whirlwind pace, not stopping to smell the roses (or sample the chow) in any of the aforementioned cities. In short, I'd like to slow things down a bit...and need your help in the form of reccomendations.

I'm generally looking for all manner of restaurants, BBQ shacks, holes-in-the-wall...assuming the food is chow-worthy. I'd like to steer clear of expensive and/or involved dining (since I'd still like to get to where I'm going in a somewhat reasonable time).

Thanks!

I can mostly help you with Louisville and a little bit of Cincinnati.

Mike Linnig's, 9308 Cane Run Road, on the outskirts (to put it mildly) of Louisville, is a one-of-a-kind place if you like fried fish, cold beer and turtle soup. Although it's open all year, you really want to go there in warm weather so you can sit outside and people-watch.

If you don't want to go all the way out to Linnig's, try Cunningham's, 630 S. Fourth St., in Louisville. It's not the original location, which was a notorious saloon, bordello and betting parlor, but still a local favorite. They have a pretty complete menu but the fried fish sandwich and turtle soup (do you sense a theme here) are the traditional picks.

Okay, one more fried fish joint. If you're in a hurry, Moby Dick is a fast food fish place all over Louisville that makes a mean, you guessed it, fried fish sandwich. (No turtle soup.)

The Bristol Bar and Grill, 1321 Bardstown Road, was a favorite of mine when I lived in Louisville, as much because there would always be someone there I knew as for any other reason. There are three locations, but this is the original. Certainly more upscale than any of the above but not fancy. Fare is burgers, pastas, salads, but they do make a hot brown, which is a Louisville original. You could have one at the Brown Hotel downtown, where it was created, but just about every Louisville restaurant serves it. The Bristol's is as good as any and it's a neighborhood place, not a hotel. A really great neighborhood at that, interesting shops, beautiful 19th century homes. Nice. I miss it.

In Cincinnati, and even in Louisville for that matter, you have to hit Skyline, Empress or Gold Star for some chili and or coney dogs. In the chili department, I recommend a four way with onions, which is Cincinnati style chili sauce (sweet, not hot, with cocoa and cinnamon along with the expected spices) on spaghetti topped with shredded cheddar cheese and raw onions. Hot sauce is available on request (and a good addition). Just FYI, a four-way can have beans in lieu of raw onions. A five-way has both. The coney dogs are small, so get several, likewise topped with chili sauce, cheese and onions.

That's it for me, and since I'm in that region with regularity myself, I look forward to seeing the suggestions of others.

I've tried Skyline chili in Cincy, as well as Graeter's (sp?) ice cream, both of which were fantastic.

Your Louisville post is interesting: what's a hot brown?

I will look it up but I think it is a turkey and gravy.Just looked it up and saw variations,but it is turkey and mornay sauce.

Essentially a turkey open face sandwich topped with mornay (cheese) sauce. On top there's a couple strips of crisp bacon, and some kind of garnish like a stalk of asparagus or a slice of tomato.

Here is the Official Recipe from the hotel where it was invented.

One of my very favorite restaurants anywhere is in Louisville -- Lynne's Paradise Cafe, on Bardstown Road (don't know the exact address, but you can find it on Jane and Michael Stern's roadfood.com website). It's a delightful, eclectic place with great food (oh so rich hot brown sandwiches, for instance, great milkshakes, fine southern biscuits, very nice trout with pecan coating, and all manner of other yummy offerings.) They're open for breakfast, lunch and dinner, and we ate there for all three meals (different days) on a trip to KY not long ago. For breakfast on weekends there is often a wait, but they have a big parking lot with comfy chairs and free coffee there for everyone waiting -- just a nice place to bring the morning paper and hang out. I often wistfully recall breakfast at Lynn's when my tummy's rumbling in the morning.

Because of Erik's link to it, I guess I'll revive this as the Hot Brown thread.

I had a funny experience in Bardstown, Kentucky, not long ago. I was there for a whiskey-related press event with other whiskey writers, some of whom were visiting Kentucky for the first time. We went to Kurtz's (naturally) and rather than letting us order from the menu, they just pre-ordered Hot Browns for everyone. I recall several of the Brits being quite taken aback by it, not knowing what to make of it, sort of poking at it at first, then finding it quite rich, so much so that some of them were foolish enough to pass on the bourbon bread pudding dessert.

I drive that route once a year to Western North Carolina.

About an hour south of Lexington is a restaurant that arguably serves the best fried chicken in the world (well, maybe not, but the debate between Hecky's and Evanston Chicken Shack fanciers will seem irrelevant). The restaurant is Jean's, located in Mount Vernon, KY (exit 59 off I75, on a hill overlooking the interstate on the northeast side of exit 59. They serve pan-fried chicken as is the tradition in much of the rural south. And pie!

The Renfro Valley/London/Corbin area is known for its fried chicken. Colonel Sanders hailed from Corbin and London hosts the World Chicken Festival and Corbin has a museum for the Colonel.

Other places in the area have their partisans (Ruby's, Charcoal House), but I recommend Jean's. It's only an extra hour to heaven.

In Louisville, try: Mark's Feed Store 11422 Shelbyville Road, Middletown (502) 244-0140. Some of the best BBQ ribs I've ever eaten. Also, try the deep-fried corn-on-the-cob; you won't believe how delectable corn can taste (and not at all greasy). Have fun.

We had a Saturday night reservation at Holly Hill Inn. It's a little north of Lexington in a town called Midway, but it's a quick drive from the city. We showed up a little early and enjoyed a drink on their patio. It was a beautiful night and the patio had a lot of southern charm to it.

The restaurant itself is a converted mansion. They have three or four rooms where tables are setup. They offer a 5-course tasting for 55 dollars so we went with that. The cool part about it was that each course has 2-3 options, so it wasn't a fixed menu, you could essentially pick and choose all your favorite options off the menu. Also they offer a three wine pairing option for 20 dollars.

They have a farm-to-table focus and I appreciated that the preparations were very simple, intended to highlight the ingredients. One salad was described as

"Walt's Power Salad of Health - More than 20 varieties of sprouts and shoots with jicama, red cabbage, spiced pumpkin seeds and pumpkin seed vinaigrette"

This was like a mouthful of garden in every bite. It was crisp and had great textural contrast. Other highlights included the fresh soft-shell crab and veal sweetbreads both served with mild and sweet asian dressings. The breading on the sweet breads was crunchy with a nice assertive pepper flavor.

After three courses, we were really enjoying our meal and were getting a little full (and a little tipsy from the excellent wines), and all of a sudden the service disappeared. Apparently there was a large graduation party in the room next to us, and for over a half hour we watched as a constant stream of food passed through our room on its way to the party. Finally the waitress came up to us to ask how we were doing, and we told her we'd like our next course. She apologized ran into the kitchen, and ten minutes later returned with our entrees. As an apology she gave us full portions which we thanked her for but really we were already full and didn't really want the extra food. Nonetheless I appreciated the gesture.

The entrees were the squab (prepared medium-rare) that was served with a generous portion of seared foie gras and the pork roast with smoked paprika and clams. These dishes felt kind of heavy after 3 courses of eating, and the long wait between courses and extra helpings kind of made matters worse. I probably would've enjoyed them on their own, but as a cap to a 2 hour meal, they were somewhat overwhelming.

At that point we were feeling exhausted so we quickly ate our desserts and took off. Up until the long pause everything was going very well. They attempted to make it up to us, but unfortunately the mood of the evening was lost. I have to assume given the effort they put into their food and the obvious contrition of the waitress, that the graduation party really caught them off guard that night. I wouldn't hesitate to suggest this restaurant to a friend because the setting is uniquely charming, the food was prepared with a lot of care and excellent ingredients and it's an excellent value (at least by Chicago standards). Just be ware that if it looks like they've forgotten about you, it may very well the case.

For breakfast we went to Ramsey's Diner, which I understand is something of a Lexington institution.

They offer a special breakfast that includes as many of the following as you want: 5 eggs, toast, pancakes, hash browns, sausage and bacon. It's not every day that a restaurant explicitly gives you the option of ordering less than the full amount, now that's southern dining. The special was solid though not spectacular. The pancakes are made by the waitresses on an electric griddle that is sitting on the bar. The bacon is crispy and the hash browns crunchy. Solid breakfast overall.

I couldn't help but order the Hot Brown, which I read about before the trip as a Kentucky specialty. Ramsey's version has a couple pieces of toasted white bread, slices of turkey and ham, covered with a nice thick white gravy and heart-stopping layer of melted cheese and two slices of crispy bacon as the cherry on top.

Pictured: Hot Brown


It's rich, it's greasy, and it's good. I can't say I'd order something like this too frequently. But next time I'm in a southern diner and they have a specialty sandwich, I'll definitely order it. Ramsey's also has an affiliated pie company called Missy's Pies. The special was a lemon cream pie.

Pictured: Lemon Cream Pie


The pie had a crunchy and thick graham cracker crust and a layer of lemon cream cheese topped with a layer of lemon sour cream. The lemon flavor was nice and tart and contrasted beautifully with the thick crust. I wish I had time (or capacity) to try more of those pies, this was in the same class as Hoosier Mama.

Every time I've driven to Kentucky or southern Ohio and pass through Indy, I invariably stop at Shapiro's.

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=2909

It's literally 30 seconds from the freeway, and as good as these photos make it look. It's been a few years since the thread has been updated (partially my fault) but since it's been around for over a century I'm guessing things haven't changed much since '07.

Bumping this thread--decided to head to Lexington this weekend for the first round of NCAA games and need some recs for places to eat. We're traveling with the kids (teen boys, notoriously picky eaters) but, as usual, hope to find some spots that will provide them with the chicken fingers, hotdogs, grill cheese, or pizza that they require (and they are not above ordering off the kiddie menu to get 'em so as long as the place has that, we're ok) while still providing the adults with a (better than) decent meal. Any suggestions? i've reviewed the two threads on the area and have some ideas but would love any updates/new ideas. TIA!!!

Picky eaters can be accommodated quite nicely here in Lexington . Any idea where you will be staying? Not that important as you will have a car and nothing is too distant, but I can tell you places very close to wherever you stay if I know.

For lunch or dinner I frequent Ramsey' Diner (multiple locations, I go to Tates Creek one). It;s my 9 year old's favorite for chicken fingers and fries. It is a meat and three for dinner and meat and two for lunch. Food is consistently good, terrific vegetable choices. I often get the cajun fried catfish or chicken n dumplings. I love the sauteed spinach, fried okra and kale greens. Okra corn and tomatoes is another great veg if they have it but may not be on menu this time of year. They always have a veg of the day and be sure to ask if server doesn't volunteer it. They have a large selection of homemade pies although I'm typically too full after dinner there. From 4-7 every day is happy hour which gets you two for one cocktails (not 2 x 1 for beer or wine though). So if you ordered a Woodford on the rocks they bring two to the table for double fisting. Can be quite crowded at peak dinner and lunch times on weekends but wait isn't usually too bad. Although I always go to Tates Creek location, Woodland Ave. is closest to Rupp.

http://www.ramseysdiners.com/

Along the same lines as Ramsey's is Winchell's on Southland Drive. TVs everywhere for game watching and big portions of country cooking by two local boys who graduated from Culinary Institute of America and came home to make good. I don't see anything on the menu that would lead me to believe these guys got a top notch culinary education, but the food is good and plenty of it. They make a killer Hot Brown and the jalapeno cheese grits are amazing. Their white sausage gravy is absolutely amazing, be sure to specify white not brown if ordering mashed potatoes and gravy . They have great fried chicken as well as a terrific country fried pork chop. Specials on board as you walk in are often very good too. Across the street and a bit west of Winchell's is Marikka's, a bar with the largest beer selection I've seen in Kentucky. There is an adjacent German restaurant, same name and owners, but stick to the bar. At the west end of the same stripmall as Marikka's is Good Foods Cafe and Co-op, kind of what I'd like to imagine Whole Foods first incarnation might have been like. Great hot bar has brunch offerings on Saturday and Sunday mornings, they are often very good, particularly vegetarian offerings.

http://www.marikkas.com/food-bier-menu/ ... beer-menu/

http://www.goodfoods.coop/

http://www.winchellsrestaurant.com/

For breakfast I recommend aforementioned Good Foods Co-op and Doodles on Limestone.

http://www.doodlesrestaurant.com/

A short and beautiful drive through horse farms on Old Frankfort Pike leads to Wallace Station, an absolutely terrific sandwich shop near Midway, KY in Woodford County. Highly recommended if you want to take a 10-15 mile scenic drive.

http://www.wallacestation.com/Wallace_S ... /Home.html

I hesitate to mention ethnic restaurants here because they typically pale in comparison to those in Chicago; however, I'm a huge fan of Panda Cuisine, a Chinese restaurant on Nicholasville Road (quite close to Winchell's, Marikka's and Good Foods). Not to be confused with Panda Express of mall fame (although a free standing Panda Express just opened literally across the street from Panda Cuisine). Panda is right next to Trader Joe's in a strip mall. if you will be here Sunday I would highly recommend hitting their lunch dim sum buffet. While there are a few typical Chinese-American dishes available, there are more great authentic dishes, including a cold bar with some super-funky yet delicious stuff. Think cold, sliced pig's ears, hot and sour lettuce, beef and tendon, etc. Despite stripmall (wow, almost all these places are in stripmalls ) it's a really nice room frequented by Chinese students from nearby UK campus.
http://www.pandaky.com/
Hope this helps, These aren't necessarily the best places in Lexington, but they are where I frequent most, and for good reason. You'll note I didn't mention any BBQ joints, good reason for that. If weather is good this weekend I may smoke a brisket, it will be the best BBQ in town. If I do, I'll let you know, we'd be proud to host your family.

Thomas

Great stuff Thomas--thank you VERY much. We're going for the games on Saturday and won't get in until after 9:00 Friday with the time change. We'll also likely leave after a late breakfast on Sunday to hit the Louisville slugger museum on the way back so, realistically, we have 2 breakfasts and a dinner there. I'd really hoped to work in Ramsey's but I may have to save it for next time.

Do you have any thoughts on Stella's for breakfast? The write ups both here and elsewhere look great. Also, I'm hoping to have a decent dinner and the reality is that a steak place is probably the easiest (if I want to avoid pizza, which I do). Any suggestions there? I saw the rec for Columbia's but they don't take reservations which likely means that will be vetoed. What do you think of Malone's--we're staying at the Griffin Gate Marriott and the woman I've been corresponding with there recommended it. Again, thanks for the great suggestions. I'm looking forward to our trip!

I actually just ate at the Malone's on Tates Creek for my birthday this week. It consistently has great steaks and fine service. I didn't recommend it as it is not likely to impress anyone who frequents Chicago steakhouses. However, because it is like those steakhouses my wife and I really like it and have never been disappointed. We can only vouch for the Tates Creek location (may be listed as Lansdowne on website) but I'm sure the other two locations are just as good. Tates Creek location to me is the one to go to. Definitely leagues above Columbia Steakhouse. One word of caution: do NOT order the potato cakes, a new side item on the menu. A friend had recommended them to me and I should have known better than to trust him lol. Definitely get a reservation.
It has been awhile since I've been to Stella's but it was quite good last time and a really cool old building in a historic neighborhood within walking distance of Rupp. Doodles is within easy driving distance if Stella's is too crowded, but may be too far to walk comfortably. Hope you enjoy the bluegrass! Louisville Slugger is pretty cool and a must see for baseball fans.
Thomas

Malone's
3373 Tates Creek Rd
Lexington
(859) 269-9922

By the way, who are you in town to root for? My wife, son and I take a lot of grief here in Lexington as the rare Kansas Jayhawk fans!

Also to anyone visiting Lexington for the games a good place to try a large selection of bourbons is Paulies Toasted Barrel and is right across the street from Rupp Arena.

To be fair my brother runs the bar but I surely wouldn't send anyone here if it didn't offer a good time. Ask for Harrison and tell him Newman sent you.

Also I would suggest stoping at Vietnam Kitchen in Louisville for lunch on your way back Sunday. Specifically I suggest getting K-8 with grilled pork, a dish they are locally famous for.

Regards,

Newman

Thomas D. wrote:By the way, who are you in town to root for? My wife, son and I take a lot of grief here in Lexington as the rare Kansas Jayhawk fans!

No team in particular--we were looking for something fun to do with my stepsons for the first weekend of spring break and decided Lexington was the most attractive venue within driving distance (Dayton and Detroit being the other options). We purposely got tix before they announced the field figuring it would be cheaper (and would avoid fights by the kids over who wanted to see what team!!)

None of us has been there before so we're definitely excited. And we have a reservation for Malone's Landsdowne for Saturday night--thanks for letting me know it's worth going to!!

Bourbon--unfortunately no Vietnamese or bourbon tasting trips for me this time--traveling with the wrong crowd for either--but I'll file them both away for another time--thanks!!

boudreaulicious wrote:
No team in particular--we were looking for something fun to do with my stepsons for the first weekend of spring break and decided Lexington was the most attractive venue within driving distance (Dayton and Detroit being the other options). We purposely got tix before they announced the field figuring it would be cheaper (and would avoid fights by the kids over who wanted to see what team!!)!

When my mother was alive, there nearly ALWAYS had tickets for the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. There were several years where they would go to Dayton on Thursday and Saturday and Lexington on Friday and Sunday. That was TWELVE games in four days!! And that was after attending the Atlantic 10 Tournament the week before.

As a reminder, Dayton is ALWAYS an NCAA site largely because they are the ONLY site that will make ticket sales GUARANTEES for the 1st Round (and the early Women's Rounds). While the city is very dull (I lived there for five years), there are quite a few interesting tourist attractions (i.e., Air Force Museum, Art Institute, etc.) and food attractions (i.e., Young's Jersey Dairy, Dorothy Lane Market, the Pine Club, etc.) to make it interesting.

You made a great decision to book early as tickets are generally difficult AFTER the field is announced.

turkob wrote:For breakfast we went to Ramsey's Diner, which I understand is something of a Lexington institution.

I couldn't help but order the Hot Brown, which I read about before the trip as a Kentucky specialty. Ramsey's version has a couple pieces of toasted white bread, slices of turkey and ham, covered with a nice thick white gravy and heart-stopping layer of melted cheese and two slices of crispy bacon as the cherry on top.

I've had the hot brown at Ramsey's (original location (don't know if that matters or not)) and the Brown Hotel in Louisville, I far preferred the hot brown at the Brown Hotel.

For breakfast in Lexington, do not miss Stella's Sunday brunch, get there early as place will be packed. One can choose from a variety of southern breakfast specialties. The biscuits and gravy is by far the best I've ever had, nothing has come close.
www.stellaskentuckydeli.com

While no doubt Graeters is good ice cream, when in Cincinnati, I prefer Aglamesis Brothers (two locations, original in Oakley Sqaure) www.aglamesis.com

Brisket can be a bit dry but VERY smokey at BBQ Review in Cincinnati: www.bbqrevue.com
Pit to Plate is my new fave BBQ joint in Cincinnati: 8021 Hamilton Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45231

Just realized I never reported in--probably because I have pathetically little to share. We had exactly one meal in a restaurant in Lexington. Friday night we ate on the road at a certain politically incorrect chicken establishment that will remain nameless. And we ate in the car. You can see what I'm up against here

On Saturday, we got a late start, forgot about the time change and decided to skip breakfast and head to a place that would be broadcasting the early games. We ended up hitting the pizza place, Pazzo's, which was adequate--best part of the meal was an order of pretzels that they made from the pizza dough--pretty delicious actually. Nothing else notable about the place. Our games began at 5:00 and ended after 10:00--we ended up with room service at 11:30 p.m. Kids loved that--never had room service before. I grabbed a Manhattan (note to Marriott-if you're in Lexington KY and you charge $20 for a double shot of Buffalo Trace, you're gonna piss people off) to take up to the room and didn't care about anything after that.

Sunday forecast was calling for heavy snow so we got out of town on the early side, no breakfast (still full from midnight supper) which enabled me to finally get to Shapiro's--which, even eaten in the car, was still delicious

thanks for the recommendations and I will, hopefully, someday get back to Lexington for a few bourbon tours and breakfast at Stella's!

Thanks for the recommendations, Thomas - we were here for Run the Bluegrass last weekend and ate well.

Friday nite when we got in, we went to a Thai place around the corner from our hotel - this was Thai Orchid. Honestly, really wasn't expecting much from a campus-area Thai place named Thai Orchid in Kentucky, but was pleasantly surprised by this mom & pop operation with fresh food, commitments to sustainability, and homemade chili sauce. It's a pretty Americanized version of Thai, and their idea of spicy is not mine, but I had the feeling that they are catering to a fairly inexperienced clientele. We both had the Super Noodle Bowl with egg noodles, pork, crispy chicken, and veggies. We did not try the miso grits, which we on special.

http://www.thaiorchidcafe.net/
1030 South Broadway Ste. 2
Lexington, Kentucky 40504

Went to Winchell's to catch some basketball and ate porkily, as it was after the half-marathon. I had the Funny Farm sandwich, with a country-fried pork chop, bacon, country ham, a fried egg, and pepper jack cheese. Very nice potato chips on the side. Mr. Bubbles had the ribs, which were just OK, and the jalapeno cheese grits, which were very good. Solid bar food, nice selection of sandwiches, Kentucky bourbon ale on tap - just the thing.

http://www.winchellsrestaurant.com/
348 Southland Drive
Lexington KY 40503

Checked out Marikkas for a beer afterwards, college bar atmosphere with friendly bartenders, excellent bottle beer selection (10ish-page list, double sided), very strong on English especially. No Wisconsin beers, though! I was surprised. Very decent prices for the selection.

http://www.marikkas.com/
411 Southland Drive
Lexington KY 40503

Next day was Easter Sunday and as such was a little hit-or-miss in terms of places being open. Tried to go to West Sixth Brewery's tap house, which was closed but looked great from the outside.

http://www.westsixth.com/
West Sixth Brewing Company
501 West Sixth Street
Lexington KY 40508

We did go to Panda Cuisine's Sunday Brunch, with churchgoers coming in after services and tucking into dumplings. Overall, a good brunch experience - staying on top of the fresh dumplings was important - cold bar did have some interesting stuff (pig's ears, hot & sour lettuce, dan-dan noodles)

http://www.pandaky.com/main.html
2358 nicholasville road
Lexington, KY

Tried to go into the Toasted Barrel, but they had live music and we wanted to watch the game. Ended up having a early dinner at Ramsey's, where we had a vegetarian hot brown (for Mr. Bubbles), and I got the fried green tomatoes and four veggie sides, including the tomatoes, okra, and corn, which I thought was delicious. Tomatoes were cut a little thinner than I like them, but nicely breaded. The corn oysters I could have done without. Two for one Bloodys were poured a little on the weak side, but with 2-for-1, we could each have two . Cool little house with different small rooms and a little patio. Did not have pie, which I am sad about now.

http://www.ramseysdiners.com/
496 E. High Street
Lexington, KY 40502 (among other locations)

Thanks again for the recommendations!

I'm so glad you enjoyed it. We are really thankful for Panda, it isn't on par with our favorites in Chicago but miles above any other local Chinese. On the menu, never on the Sunday buffet, is an outstanding lamb with cumin. My son could eat at Ramsey's every day. I always enjoy it, but I'm with you on the corn fritters, I can't stand them.let me know if you should return, I can always come up with more!

a couple spots in the area:

Frankfort, KY.:

1) Rick's White Light Diner - used to be an old tyme burger spot "White Light System"
114 Bridge Street
Frankfort, KY.

http://www.whitelightdiner.com/





not always a bad sign when you have seen Guy has visited:



had some really well fried shrimp as part of a Po'Boy here. - didnt get a very good picture.

2) Rebecca Ruth Candies
112 E. 2nd Street
Frankfort, IL.

http://www.rebeccaruth.com/

Credited with inventing the bourbon ball:







Enjoyed a few items from here, bourbon balls, milk chocolate covered toffee, and Puffamels(marshmallow covered in caramel)

In Versailles, KY.

Decided to check out a local pool hall for a burger and some cold ones.

Wilsons Pool Room
137 Lexington
Versailles, KY.





had a pretty dang good burger here and a few cold drafts.

I'm a native Lexingtonian and travel back there once or twice a year to visit with friends and family. The last few times I've been down there I've been pretty impressed with the food trucks that set up outside the tap rooms that are opening around town. Fork in the Road Mobile Galley in particular seems to have some very inventive and seasonal offerings on their menus.

My wife has several sisters living in Lexington so we tend to travel down there a lot. One of our favorite stops is Yamaguchi's Sake and Tapas. Really great food by really great people. Their website isn't the best so I also recommend checking out their Facebook Page for additional menus and photos.

My brother-in-law also owns a bagel shop in Lexington called Great Bagel. I know I'm biased, but I really dig their product. Before I leave for home, I always stop in for a BMB (grilled pork meatballs with scallions, pickled carrots and daikon, sriracha mayo, jalapeño and cilantro on an egg bagel).

I just spent a week in Lexington and tried a couple of new restaurants. The first night we went to Clawdaddy's at 128 N. Broadway. They sell lobster, crab and shrimp rolls all served on some really nice New England style split top rolls. They also serve lobster bisque. The lobster roll seemed a little bland, but had lots of meat. The bisque wasn't a big hit. Later in the week we went National Provisions, a bakers at 264 Walton Ave that had opened a beer garden in May. They have 5 beers on tap but hundreds upon hundreds of bottled beers available. All of us enjoyed the food as well, I really liked the wild boar sausage with sauerkraut I ordered and the pretzel knots were also a big hit.

In other Lexington food related news, Jonathon at Gratz Park will be closing their doors after dinner service on June 28th. The owners of the Gratz Park Inn decided to not renew his lease and will be bringing in a new concept by the people behind Heirloom Restaurant in Midway. My favorite Lexington food truck, Fork in the Road Mobile Galley, will be opening a brick and mortar restaurant this summer in the old Peppers Distillery building at 1224 Manchester Street. It will be called Middle Fork Kitchen and Bar.

http://www.clawdaddys.net/#&panel1-3
https://www.facebook.com/pages/National ... 18?fref=nf
http://www.jagp.info/
https://www.facebook.com/middleforkkb

Was in Lexington for a wedding this past weekend, and I was able to hit up a restaurant named County Club. Not going to beat around the bush here, this is a seriously good restaurant.

First, some cocktails:

Salt Peanut Old Fashioned Johnny Drum / Demerara / peanut / Regan's orange and Angostura bitters


Bourbon and Smoked Lemonade Johnny Drum / smoked lemonade


And the dishes:

Poutine (with smoked meat) french fries, gravy (v), cheese curds, house pickle


I know the forum's stance on poutine, but I'm a fan, and this rendition was crazy good.

All sauces are made in house, and they're all fantastic as well. They offer
Vinegar
house cultured West Sixth Brewing IPA vinegar, chili flakes, sugar
Sweet
house Kentucky sorghum barbecue sauce
Smoked Habañero Hot Sauce
Mustard
house mustard based barbecue sauce


Smoked Chicken Wings Tossed with sriracha-lime sauce

Some of the best wings I've had.

They also do a daily salad on the specials board, that I did not partake in nor do I know what was in it


Smoked Brisket Sunrise Bakery sourdough, onions and pickles


Smoked Pork Chop mashed potatoes and apple sauce


Smoked Rabbit Rillette



Smoked Wild Boar Baby Back Ribs

The only dish I was disappointed with. Unfortunately, the meat was a bit too dried out.

And there ya go. Beautiful, vibrant and delicious dishes that I would gladly take part in again.

555 Jefferson St.
Lexington, KY 40508
P 859.389.6555
E info@countyclubrestaurant.com
Hours: Tue, Wed, Thur – 5pm-10pm
Fri Sat. 11am – 10pm
Sun 11am – 10pm (Brunch 11am – 3pm)

My 10 year old son has become addicted to the lamb with cumin at Panda Cuisine, adjacent to Trader Joe's on Nicholasville Road. The owner is from Chengdu and they are not shy with the heat, and are pleased when we request it hot. The cumin spareribs have been a revelation, and the owner's suggestion last night of jalapeno chicken (no idea of the name in Mandarin, although I'm sure it's more interesting) was terrific. Tender boneless cubes of chicken matched in number by large chunks (not slices) of jalapenos. Copious amount of sichuan peppercorns added the amazing ability to numb and tingle, doing battle with the heat from the jalapenos. It has been a long time ince I've eaten at Chicago's finest sichuan restaurants. I doubt that panda in Lexington rivals the best in Cook Co., but I'm very happy for having such great sichuan not only here, but in my neighborhood.

Panda Cuisine
2358 Nicholasville Road
Lexington, KY

http://www.pandaky.com/