Blue Door Smokehouse is a barbecue restaurant in Warehouse Block, Lexington.
Editorially verified August 18, 2026 by Lewis Vaughan, TableJourney editor. Source.
Signature dishes: Brisket, Pulled pork
Tip: Go before 13:00; when the brisket sells out they close, whatever the posted hours say.
Address: 819 National Ave, Lexington, KY 40502
Joe Bologna's has baked pizza and garlic-butter breadsticks inside a stained-glass former synagogue since 1973, a Lexington institution near the UK campus.
Signature: Garlic breadsticks, Pan pizza
Tip: The garlic breadsticks are non-negotiable; go before 18:00 on UK game days or expect a long wait.
Athenian Grill plates gyros, spanakopita and baklava on South Ashland Avenue in Chevy Chase, the sit-down home of Lexington's favourite Greek kitchen.
Signature: Gyro, Spanakopita
Tip: Open 10:30-21:00 daily; the gyro bowls travel well if the small dining room is full at lunch.
Corto Lima presses its own corn tortillas downtown at Short and Upper, Jonathan Lundy's Latin American kitchen and Lexington's standing margarita champion.
Signature: House-made corn tortillas, Margaritas
Tip: No reservations; seating is first come, first served. Closed Tuesdays, and Monday is dinner only from 17:00.
Stella's Kentucky Deli ladles farm-sourced burgoo and builds sandwiches in a Jefferson Street cottage, the daytime stop on Lexington's restaurant row.
Signature: Kentucky burgoo
Tip: Daytime only, 09:00-15:00. The weekend brunch menu is small; arrive before 10:30 to dodge the queue.
Columbia Steak House has fed Lexington since 1948, still broiling the garlic-butter Nighthawk Special with a Diego salad and frying its famous lamb fries.
Signature: Nighthawk Special, Lamb fries, Diego salad
Tip: Order the Nighthawk Special with fried banana peppers; the Richmond Road room keeps the old-school feel.
Doodles Breakfast & Lunch fries beignets and dirty shrimp and grits in a converted North Limestone petrol station, Lexington's morning-queue daytime cafe.
Signature: Dirty Shrimp & Grits, Pigs & Puffs
Tip: Closed Mondays and the kitchen stops at 14:00 sharp; the Pigs & Puffs bacon beignets sell out on weekends.
