Bone-in chicken brined, dredged and fried in a cast-iron skillet, the dish Kentucky exported to the world. Lexington kitchens fold it into everything from bourbon-glazed dinners to hot chicken sandwiches.
Kentucky's fried chicken tradition predates the franchise era by a century, built on Sunday-dinner skillets, buttermilk brines and lard. The state's most famous son industrialised it from a Corbin service station in the 1930s, but the dish never left home kitchens. Lexington's current wave runs from Azur's bourbon fried chicken with cream gravy to Distilled on Jefferson's house-brined bird with chow chow and rosemary jus.
3 editor picks for Skillet-fried chicken in Lexington, ranked by editorial score. All Lexington signature dishes · Skillet-fried chicken across every city.
Distilled on Jefferson ★ 4.4
jefferson-street · 157 Jefferson St, Lexington, KY 40508
Distilled on Jefferson pairs farm-to-table Southern cooking with a deep bourbon bar on Lexington's Jefferson Street restaurant row, in business since 2014.
Azur Restaurant & Patio ★ 4.3
beaumont · 3070 Lakecrest Circle, Lexington, KY 40513
Azur Restaurant & Patio reworks American classics near Keeneland in Beaumont, a Lexington fixture since 2005 known for Tim Perkins' bourbon fried chicken.
The Blue Heron Steakhouse ★ 4.1
jefferson-street · 185 Jefferson St, Lexington, KY 40508
The Blue Heron Steakhouse grills premium beef, oysters and fried chicken on Jefferson Street, Keith Clark's clubby corner of Lexington's restaurant row.