Food History of Lexington

Key eras

1775-1900, taverns of the Athens of the West

Founded in 1775 and flush with hemp and horse money, early Lexington fed travellers through inns and taverns around the courthouse square. The town's saloon-and-market culture set a pattern that survives in Cheapside's bar row, and Henry Clay's name still hangs over a downtown public house near his old law office.

1929-1948, counters and steakhouses

The everyday institutions arrived between the wars: Spalding's Bakery started hand-rolling donuts in 1929, the Chevy Chase Inn opened as a neighbourhood bar in 1933, and Columbia Steak House began broiling its garlic-butter Nighthawk Special in 1948. In the same era, Johnnie Allman's Driftwood Inn near Winchester began serving cousin Joe Allman's beer cheese, and central Kentucky claimed a dish for good.

1973-2000, the local-food generation

Joe Bologna's opened in a former synagogue in 1973 and The Mousetrap opened as a cheese shop in 1976 and made pimento cheese its signature, while Ramsey's Diners built a meat-and-three empire from 1989 on Kentucky Proud sourcing. Rob Ramsey later helped the state create its Buy Local programmes, and Good Foods Co-op gave the movement a grocery home on Southland Drive.

2012-2026, bourbon and the Distillery District

West Sixth Brewing opened in the old Rainbo Bread building in 2012 and the derelict James E. Pepper distillery campus on Manchester Street filled with breweries, a cidery, a whiskey house and music venues. Ouita Michel's kitchens, a Top Chef alum in a hotel dining room and a new wave of chef-owned rooms made Lexington a food destination rather than a stopover.

Immigrant influences

• Mexican: The Alexandria Drive corridor turned west Lexington into taqueria country, led by Tortilleria y Taqueria Ramirez pressing fresh corn tortillas behind a grocery counter.
• Japanese: Tachibana has served sushi and teppanyaki on Newtown Court since 1987, and restaurateur Kuni Toyoda's groups shaped a generation of Lexington dining rooms.
• Korean: Han Woo Ri's soon doo boo and bulgogi on South Limestone feed UK students and families, the heart of a small but loyal Korean food scene.
• Greek and Mediterranean: Athenian Grill grew from a food truck into Chevy Chase's gyro-and-spanakopita standby, while Oasis keeps halal Middle Eastern plates on Chevy Chase Place.
• Haitian: Le Gourmet brought Haitian family cooking to South Broadway in 2025, stewing poulet pane and grilled fish for a growing Caribbean community.

Signature innovations

• Beer cheese: invented at the Driftwood Inn near Winchester in the 1930s, now on menus across Lexington
• Kentucky Bourbon Barrel Ale: beer aged in used bourbon barrels at Lexington Brewing & Distilling Co.
• The drugstore lunch counter: Wheeler Pharmacy still flips Buddy Burgers beside the prescriptions
• Lamb fries: the old stockyard delicacy Columbia Steak House still keeps on the menu
• The pay-it-forward coffee board at A Cup of Common Wealth