Street food$Mon-Sat 11:00-23:00; Sun 12:00-21:00
Wing KYng fries wings in more than 45 sauces from its Greyline Station counter, TO Williams' 2017 venture grown into a late-open Lexington favourite.
Try: Wings in 45-plus sauces
Tip: Ask for the Dirt Bowl Classic sauce, named for Lexington's summer basketball league, and expect a fresh-fry wait.
Street food$Sun-Thu 12:00-21:00; Fri-Sat 12:00-22:00
Crank & Boom scoops Toa Green's small-batch ice cream in the Distillery District, the dessert window Lexington hits between Manchester Street bars.
Try: Kentucky-made small-batch ice cream
Tip: The bourbon and honey flavour is the local order; the Clays Mill shop covers the south side when queues run long.
American$Tue-Sat 11:00-20:00
Bert's SpeakCheezy builds Prohibition-named gourmet grilled cheeses like the Hotsy Totsy on Liberty Road, the food truck that earned a Lexington storefront.
Signature: The Hotsy Totsy
Tip: Tuesday to Saturday only; the Blind Pig and Dizzy Dame rotate with seasonal melts, so order at the counter and ask what is new.
Hawaiian$Tue-Sun 11:00-21:00; closed Mon
Big Kahuna grills Hawaiian barbecue plates and stacked burgers on Liberty Road, the Lexington original that later added a second Clays Mill Road shop.
Tip: Closed Mondays at both shops; the Liberty Road original keeps the shorter queue at weekday lunch.
Cajun$chevy-chaseMon-Sat 11:00-21:00; Sun 12:00-20:00
Bourbon n' Toulouse ladles etouffee, jambalaya and gumbo over rice on Euclid Avenue, Lexington's counter-service Cajun habit and a family business since 2004.
Signature: Crawfish etouffee, Gumbo
Tip: Order at the counter and grab a porch table; vegan and gluten-free pots are always on the board.
Mexican$Mon-Sat 10:00-21:00; Sun 10:00-16:00
Tortilleria y Taqueria Ramirez presses corn tortillas behind a grocery counter on Alexandria Drive, and Lexington queues across town for the burritos.
Try: Burritos on fresh-pressed corn tortillas
Tip: Buy a warm stack of tortillas to take home; the counter moves fast even when the queue reaches the aisles.