Where to eat in Lexington?

[nelson]

I go to Lex 2-3 times per year. Here are my favorites (many have already been mentioned - giving them another endorsement!):

Breakfast/Lunch - Wallace Station or the Track Kitchen at Keeneland

Dinner - Dudley’s, Heirloom (love it!), Blue Heron (was just there this past Saturday - so good!). Some suggestions not yet mentioned: Woodford Inn in Versailles, Ramsey’s Diner (casual, order the “Meat & Three” where you choose a protein and 3 sides from long lists of choices - great drink specials too!), and finally, Distilled (the new restaurant from the owner/chef from Heirloom (it is housed in the Gratz Park Inn in town - went there this past Friday and it was wonderful).

Have a great trip! In my humble opinion, Lex is the best place on earth!!

[keepthelegend]

Lexington is amazing for food. Here are my favorites. No order

Table 310
Dudleys
Tonys Steakhouse
Distilled
Coles on Main
Le Deauville
Yamaguchis (check their Facebook page out…very authentic japanese, but it’s like a secret club…no sign on the door, no phone number)
Tomo (sushi)
Nagasaki (sushi)
A La Lucie
Village Idiot
County Club
Enoteca
Nick Ryans
Holly Hill Inn
Black Tulip
Bombay Brazier (indian)

[Madaket]

Merrick Inn is fabulous and it is not a chain so it is only in Lexington. A little pricy but well worth it!

[beaujolais]

Well, the trip was great. It is an amazing area. The people/the voices which reminds me of lots of great horsemen that I’ve either known or just heard on the television, were wonderful, too.

I do understand how Nelson said above, “Lex is the best place on earth!!”

Keeneland - OMG - too good to be true. I went to the workouts one morning and they had a crew of people out with rags cleaning the seats and everything! Many, many green jacket people greeting, holding doors, ushering, etc. Shuttles taking you from the parking lot to the track. Kinda of mind boggling how right they try to do things. (Is there any other race track that does things like this?) I mean - WOW.

I think I only ran into one or two, at the most, pipe smokers and no cigarette smokers at the workouts and at the races. I get really sick around cigarette smoke so this was Huge. People in town didn’t smoke much either (and they say Kentucky has the most smokers out of any U.S. state?). Some people get a little dressed to go to the races at Keeneland, it seems. Just spectacular.

And on the road, the Kentucky drivers don’t tailgate, like where I’m from.

In keeping with this thread, we ate at Ramseys (neat Kentuckian (?) type food/style), Red State BBQ (very nice), the track kitchen (fun), Gumbo Ya Ya (creole/cajun, fantastic). At the track, we got a Burgoo (excellent) and they make really nice drinks, too.

They must take superb care of the barns and track, too, I guess?

I very much do wish there was a bit more standardbred activity, though. I visited the Red Mile which is off season right now and has a very short meet when racing.

[LaurieB]

Thanks for the update, sonomacounty. I’m glad you had fun!

[Zu_Zu]

Love this thread ~ so many ideas !!! Thanks !!!

Love this thread !

Thanks to ALL for so many new dining ideas ~

[Beaver_Breeze]

[QUOTE=sonomacounty;8110901]
Well, the trip was great. It is an amazing area. The people/the voices which reminds me of lots of great horsemen that I’ve either known or just heard on the television, were wonderful, too.

I do understand how Nelson said above, “Lex is the best place on earth!!”

Keeneland - OMG - too good to be true. I went to the workouts one morning and they had a crew of people out with rags cleaning the seats and everything! Many, many green jacket people greeting, holding doors, ushering, etc. Shuttles taking you from the parking lot to the track. Kinda of mind boggling how right they try to do things. (Is there any other race track that does things like this?) I mean - WOW.

I think I only ran into one or two, at the most, pipe smokers and no cigarette smokers at the workouts and at the races. I get really sick around cigarette smoke so this was Huge. People in town didn’t smoke much either (and they say Kentucky has the most smokers out of any U.S. state?). Some people get a little dressed to go to the races at Keeneland, it seems. Just spectacular.

And on the road, the Kentucky drivers don’t tailgate, like where I’m from.

In keeping with this thread, we ate at Ramseys (neat Kentuckian (?) type food/style), Red State BBQ (very nice), the track kitchen (fun), Gumbo Ya Ya (creole/cajun, fantastic). At the track, we got a Burgoo (excellent) and they make really nice drinks, too.

They must take superb care of the barns and track, too, I guess?

I very much do wish there was a bit more standardbred activity, though. I visited the Red Mile which is off season right now and has a very short meet when racing.[/QUOTE]

I’m very glad you had fun. As for the smoking in Lexington, bear in mind that one cannot smoke in restaurants in Fayette County. I am allergic to smoke, so the change (which happened a few years ago) has been fabulous. You really notice the difference when you go to a county that allows it.

If you don’t think KY drivers tailgate, you either got lucky, or it’s incredibly scary where you live. They are the worst I’ve ever encountered, particularly in bad conditions.

Do try to come back during Grand Circuit racing, if you’re a fan of the Standardbreds. The Red Mile is being renovated, and I can’t wait to see how it turns out. Grand Circuit racing is great fun.

Hope you can come back soon!

[beaujolais]

Thanks Laurie! Keeneland is along the lines of “pinch me cause I’m not quite sure this is real/too good to be true”. It reminds me of when racing used to get families that got dressed a bit and went to the races for a wholesome day out and racetracks got big crowds. It made my heart happy as I thought those days were long gone/never to be seen again.

Does anyone know where I can find the original prospectus by Mr. Keene, “Keeneland: A Model Raceway”? I know it was on the net somewhere but I can’t find it.

I’ve lived in both California & NY, more recently NY. At Aqueduct/Belmont, it feels like everything is coated in 1/4" of cigarette smoke/nicotine or something like that, besides smoke being most of the air you get to breathe in. We now just go to the restaurant, for the most part, to get away from the smoke. Or I try to aim for a windy day as that blows the smoke away some and I can go trackside, for a bit at least. I often feel sick for a day or so after this.

I even asked a Keeneland usher how they kept the people from smoking and he said that if they do, they ask them not to. He said they are allowed to smoke on the lower level. But, they basically didn’t. AWESOME!!!

BB: The NY thing explains the tailgaters, I suppose. Now, I didn’t find any KYers in tricked out cars with their windows down blasting music either! Or racing to the red lights, also, and lane dodging.

Question: There were lots of little streams and ponds throughout your beautiful landscape everywhere. Lovely. Are these runoff, as there were recent big rains or are they usually there? Also, some of the rivers were a brownish color. Are they normally that or was it due to the recent big rain? Just wondering. Thanks.

[Beaver_Breeze]

@sonomacounty;8111659

BB: The NY thing explains the tailgaters, I suppose. Now, I didn’t find any KYers in tricked out cars with their windows down blasting music either! Or racing to the red lights, also, and lane dodging.

Stay a while. We have all of that, but without the NY (or Atlanta, where I came from) skill level.

[QUOTE=sonomacounty;8111659]
Question: There were lots of little streams and ponds throughout your beautiful landscape everywhere. Lovely. Are these runoff, as there were recent big rains or are they usually there? Also, some of the rivers were a brownish color. Are they normally that or was it due to the recent big rain? Just wondering. Thanks.[/QUOTE]

Hard to know about the “little streams and ponds” (whether they are usually there) without knowing the exact locations. We have plenty of both, however, especially creeks/streams. The brownish color is from the excessive rain, without question. That’s our soil washing away!

[beaujolais]

Thanks so much, BB! (You’re right, I probably didn’t put forth the best question.)