West Lexington's dinner side near Keeneland: wood-fired pizza, smoked Southern plates and Azur's patio on race weeks.
Azur Restaurant & Patio reworks American classics near Keeneland in Beaumont, a Lexington fixture since 2005 known for Tim Perkins' bourbon fried chicken.
Signature: Bourbon fried chicken, Woven shrimp
Tip: Sunday brunch runs 10:30-14:00. Ask for the patio in racing season; it books out on Keeneland weekends.
Azur Restaurant & Patio reworks American classics near Keeneland in Beaumont, a Lexington fixture since 2005 known for Tim Perkins' bourbon fried chicken.
Signature: Bourbon fried chicken, Woven shrimp
Tip: Sunday brunch runs 10:30-14:00. Ask for the patio in racing season; it books out on Keeneland weekends.
Crust fires artisan pizza and pasta in Beaumont Centre, restaurateur Kuni Toyoda's 2025 revival of the wood-oven room Lexington lost during the pandemic.
Tip: The charcuterie with Kentucky country ham nods local before the Neapolitan-leaning pies arrive.
J. Render's Southern Table & Bar smokes barbecue plates and pours bourbon in Beaumont Centre, west Lexington's full-service Southern table since the 2010s.
Tip: The kitchen closes an hour before the bar every night; Sunday service starts at 10:00 with brunch dishes.
Floating Lotus Kitchen packs South Elkhorn Village lunches with French-Thai comfort food, the family-run Lexington cafe behind the turkey gouda jamwich.
Signature drink: Coconut carrot soup and a house sandwich
Tip: Lunch hours only and closed Mondays; Saturday opens early at 09:00 for the weekend soup pots.
Great Bagel & Bakery stone-mills organic flour in-house on Boston Road, hand-shaping the bagels Lexington's south side lines up for every morning.
Tip: Everything runs 07:00-14:00 daily; the milling happens in view, so ask which grain went into the day's bake.
Worth the queue: Hand-shaped bagels
Azur Restaurant & Patio reworks American classics near Keeneland in Beaumont, a Lexington fixture since 2005 known for Tim Perkins' bourbon fried chicken.
Signature: Bourbon fried chicken, Woven shrimp
Tip: Sunday brunch runs 10:30-14:00. Ask for the patio in racing season; it books out on Keeneland weekends.