Richmond Road exploded from a quiet country lane to a six lane connector route when I-75 was built and the closest Lexington came to it was the interchange five miles east of town. Today there are more restaurants along Richmond Road than along any other Lexington route. Most of them are chains, but there are some outstanding locally owned independent outlets. You do have to navigate access roads, strip malls and heavy rush hour traffic, but it's worth it to get to these very good restaurants. There are three lakes along Richmond Road, and the photos here are taken on those lakes. |
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Applebees has three Lexington locations. Pictured here is the one at Lexington Mall. They have one page of items with less than 550 calories, and a "2 for 20" deal where you pick one appetizer and two entrees for $20. Yes, there are fried items. However, there are plenty of soups, salads, pastas and fajitas, under the seafood menu you can get your tilapia and shrimp grilled., and five of the six chicken entrees are grilled. One of their best entrees is a Fajita Combo : grilled steak and chicken fajitas on a cast iron skillet with Southwest rice, guacamole, pico de gallo, caramelized onions, and green peppers and Jack Cheddar Cheese. The steak menu offers six entrees priced from $10 - 15. Among their appetizers we like the Queso Blanco : white queso blended with fresh tomatoes, red onion, cilantro, roast pablanos, jalapenos and chips. There are also Wonton Tacos : pulled pork stuffed in crispy wonton shells and topped with crunchy Asian slaw. The dessert menu features strawberry cheesecake, chocolate mousse and a hot fudge sundae. Beverages include the usual beers, margaritas and mixed drinks. Kendall Jacksons are probably their best wines and they offer several good sangrias. |
| Arirang Garden is Lexington's
upscale Korean restaurant. Prices are in the $15-20 range and the menu is
extensive. The food is excellent and the decor very classy. If you have
more than two in your group, they will cook your order at your table. The
traditional Korean array of side dishes accompanies each dinner, and among
the sides will be rice and various vegetables. You can get beef, pork, chicken,
squid, shrimp or tongue fixed in various ways. There's a Friday and Saturday
All You Can Eat Buffet beginning at 3 pm. The lunch menu offers various
casseroles and soups for $8. They consider Korean Barbeque their specialty. |
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Bob Evans uses a down home country America theme, giving old fashioned farm cooking a 21st Century twist. Breakfasts are so bounteous they have a cult following; in every town there is a group of people who begin every day at Bob Evans. Lunch is very traditional, but it's Dinner where Bob Evans really shines. Of appetizers, we like their Blue Ribbon Apple Pie Fries, Country Fair Cheese Bites and Loaded Baked Potato Bites (breaded and fried potatoes stuffed with cheddar cheese, sour cream, bacon, scallions and buttermilk ranch dressing). Deep Dish Dinners, Deep Dish Pastas and Slow Roasted Dinners put you in mind of big family Sundays out on the farm. Soups and salads are excellent, and the open face sandwiches are the best still being commercially served of what was once a staple in every small town restaurant in the country. The Meat Loaf (made with sausage and Angus beef) is outstanding. This may be the best of all chain restaurants. |
Lexington has two Chili's locations, with the Richmond Road restaurant shown here.
The appetizers are mostly fried but we really like the Southwestern Egg Rolls (six flour tortillas filled with smoked chicken, black beans, corn, jalapeno, Jack cheese, red peppers and spinach, served with avocado ranch dressing), and there's a hot spinach artichoke dip served in a hot cast iron skillet with fresh warm tostado chips). One of Chile's claims to fame is its Chicken Green Chile Soup (rice, green chiles, lime, avocado, cilantro, and tomatoes), but there's also the Chicken Enchilada Soup and a very good Terlingua Chile (slow cooked with beef, onions, chiles and cheese). Eight salads include the Caribbean (pineapple, mandarin oranges, cherries, green onions, cilantro, grilled chicken or shrimp, and honey lime dressing) and Quesadilla Explosion (grilled chicken, cheese, corn relish, tortilla strips, cheese and citrus balsamic dressing). Chile's other claim to fame is its 11-entree Grill Menu : Chicken or Beef Fajitas, Buffalo Chicken Fajitas, Steak/chicken/garlic/lime/shrimp Fajitas, Southwestern Quesadillas, Salmon, Monterey Chicken, Margarita Chicken, Cajun Pasta, Classic Sirloin, and Flamed Ribeye. The menu includes very traditional sandwich, burger, taco, dessert and beverage pages. |
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The Chop House offers seafood, chicken, ribs,
and pasta. But most of all they offer steaks as good as any in town. Among
their appetizers, we like the Fried Green Tomatoes, served over cheese grits,
and Portabello Caps with lobster, crab, shrimp, onion, and jack cheese.
Friends who ordered Lobster Alfredo with blue crabmeat, shrimp, Alfredo
sauce, green onions, peas, mushrooms, garlic, tomatoes, and fettucine raved
about it. We think the Blue Crabcakes are as good as anything at the better
seafood restaurants. But the steaks still reign supreme. They're USDA Premium,
grain fed, heavily aged, and as usual The Chop House has developed its own
unique seasoning. The ovens here are Montegues, which they fire up to 1500
degrees. They offer 16 cuts, from an 8 oz. Prime Rib to a 20 oz. T Bone.
And the minted Lamb Chops are pretty good, too. |
| Cerito Lindo has the most downtown location
of any full scale Mexican restaurant. It's in a converted McDonalds building
on Main Street just on the eastern edge of the business district. The
appetizer list is pretty standard, except for one spectacular exception
you HAVE to try : Octopus. You can order it two ways : with shrimp, or
on a bed of rice. No other LexMex restaurant offers it. Cerito Lindo also
offers a unique dessert : Chocolate Chimichanga. A flour tortilla is stuffed
with chocolate, baked, topped with whip cream and honey, and served with
ice cream. The result is obscenely delicious. In between appetizers and
desserts, the menu is very traditional : fajitas, burritos, enchiladas,
soups, salads, and chile pablanos. The Seafood Enchilada is especially
good. There are three T bone steaks plus Carne Asada, which is a Mexican
version of pepper steak. Perhaps because of its downtown location, Cerito
Lindo does a good lunch business and offers a separate menu. That menu
includes four breakfasts: Huevos Rancheros, Huevos Chorizo,
Huevos a la Mexicano, and Huevos con Jamon. El Grande Burro is probably
the most food in one order on the lunch menu. They've offered live music
on several of our visits. |
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Columbia's has been a Lexington
landmark for 60 years. Their North Limestone original location is famous and has been visited by sports and movie stars, musicians, politicians and other celebrities. However, the Big Secret is that this Richmond Road facility is much nicer. You can see a small open air deck facing the road, but the classy atmosphere is the roofed brick patio behind the trees to the rear right. In colder weather the inside has lots of stone and timber, crackling fireplaces and romantic little niches. The famous entree is the
Nighthawk Special. For $15 you get a beef tenderloin broiled in garlic butter,
served with baked potato and Diego salad. The special is named for The Nighthawk,
Tom Kindall, a midnight to dawn disc jockey on WVLK, voice of rock and roll
in Kentucky for 40 years. Kindall is long retired, but the special named
for him is in its 50th year. However, the Nighthawk isn't the only thing
special on this menu. There are five other steak entrees plus steak fries.
Columbia's offers the best Australian wine list in town and the soup of
the day is always good. Appetizers and salads are just average, but save
room for a piece of the Kentucky Silk Pie, a lingering taste of the Old
South. |
| Durango's is the oldest family run Mexican
restaurant here. It has lasted 35 years by keeping its menu simple and
doing an outstanding job with classic items. This is down home Peninsula
cooking, heavily seafood oriented. Many Lexingtonians rank these Chile
Rellenos the best in town. They are tightly stuffed banana peppers cooked
in a tomato sauce. Durango's soups are great, especially their Caldo de
Pollo (chicken/vegetable/ rice) and Caldo de Camarones (shrimp/vegetable/rice).
House Specialties include Camarones Durango (shrimp shishkebab with peppers,
onions, tomatoes, lobster sauce and rice pilaf) and Filete de Pescado
(grilled catfish marinated in olive oil and garlic). There are five Vegetarian
Plates, including Vegetales Fajitas (grilled vegetables with guacamole
and sour cream), and Burrito de Vegetales (tortilla filled with grilled
fresh vegetables, sour cream, cheese and tomato sauce). Durango's also
offers five great Mexican style steaks. |
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Fazolli's offers a full menu of Italian fast food, although the manager takes issue with the phrase. He insists he serves "Italian food, freshly prepared, fast." It gets its menu and basic ingredients from the corporation, but the pastas, sauces, breadsticks and salads are prepared during the day and the main dishes are not placed in the oven until you order them. Fazolli's carries all the traditional Italian favorites and adds a few unique twists of their own. The core of the menu is the eight pasta entrees baked and served in a white ceramic casserole dish. Of this core, we think their best are their Spaghetti & Meatballs, Chicken Parmiagano and Rigatoni Romano, although we have friends who swear by their Ravioli & Meat Sauce. You might consider the Sampler Platter, which includes a small portion of several major entrees. The Sliced Italian Sausage & Pasta, and the Tortellini & Sun Dried Tomato Rustico are newer creations which have found a loyal following. Fazolli's offers the usual Subs, Pizzas, and desserts like Italian Lemon Ice. |
| Furlong's is a great seafood
restaurant masquerading as a friendly neighborhood hangout. It shows a strong
Louisiana influence. Among appetizers, we like their Bite Sized Catfish,
Grilled Andouille, and Fried Crawfish Tails. There are creative salads like
Crawfish Caesar. Furlong's offers four soups, all delicious : Crab
Com Bisque, Red Beans and Rice, Jambalaya, and Seafood Gumbo. Their house
specials are superb: Crawfish Etouffee, Crabmeat Augratin,
and Broiled Seafood Platter. Entrees include 24 seafood items. The Froglegs
(sauteed or blackened) and Grilled Amberjack are the best. There are five
pasta entrees, the best of which is the Crawfish Pasta. However, the best
item on the set menu may very well be the Catfish Stuffed With Shrimp &
Crabmeat. With each meal you get a baked potato, Furlong Salad and two of
10 side items, the best of which are usually the green beans, zucchini and
corn pudding. This latter is misnamed. It's really creamed corn. But it's
still delicious. Save room for Homemade Bread Pudding, one of the best desserts
in town. |
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The Golden Buffet started out as a Chinese restaurant but added foods from Japan, Italy and America until it offers Lexington's most cosmopolitan buffet. You can order from the menu, but with 180 items on the line most people choose to assemble their own dinners. Exactly what is placed on the line each day is hard to predict. On the regular menu, we really like their Hot & Sour Soup and whatever they offer as The House Special. Their Scallop & Beef is worth ordering, but the Seafood Delight at $10.25 may be their signature item (lobster, shrimp, scallops, crab stick, baby corn, mushrooms, carrots, snow peas, broccoli and Chinese vegatables). As at any good Chinese restaurant, there are half a dozen Beef, Pork, Seafood, Chicken and Moo Shu items, plus three Sweet & Sours, seven Fried Rices, four Chow Meins and five Egg Foo Youngs. A REAL BARGAIN. |
| Hananoki bills itself as a Steak House and
Sushi Bar but as a regular restaurant it does quite well. There are three
classic steak dinners, three seafood dinners, one chicken and one vegetarian
dish, and three steak - fish mixtures. Then there are 17 rolls, a Japanese
item which is a good lunch or , if you combine it with an appetizer and
soup, a light dinner. For examples, the Wildcat is a hefty mix of shrimp,
crab, masago, avocado, cucumber and seaweed for $9; and the Sunrise is tuna,
salmon, yellow tail, masago, avocado, cucumber, soy bean, and lobster salad
for $10. Lunch weekdays 11:30 - 2 pm. Dinner 4:30 - 9:30. The address is
misleading. Hananoki really faces down on Richmond Road from a high bluff,
next to Mia Mexico. To get to it, turn North onto Man o War, then look for
the first right turn. That takes you up behind the restaurant. |
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Mi Mexico has two locations in Lexington.
The one pictured and reviewed here sits high on a bluff overlooking Richmond
Road. Mexican restaurants as a group have very colorful interiors, but none
compare to Mi Mexico. The furniture, walls, ceilings and floors are all
painted in bright glossy hues. Your senses are thoroughly awakened before
the menu ever arrives. It is, however, a great menu. The Stuffed Jalapenos
are a good start. But they offer several items you just can't get anywhere
else. The Pina Rellena is really unique. It's a pineapple half stuffed with
shrimp, scallops, and pineapple chunks, cooked in red sauce, topped with
Monterey Jack Cheese. The Caldo de Camaron, made only on weekends, is a
shrimp vegetable soup. Their Hawaiin and Pineapple Fajitas are a rare variation
in this category. They also offer seven Vegetarian entrees. |
| Miyako has the most extensive teriyaki menu in town
with seven dinners, and offers two tempuras (battered and fried dishes)
as appetizers and four more as dinner sides. Its raw sushi menu features
squid, sea urchin and octopus. Cooked sushi includes Tako, Smoked Salmon,
Ebi, Tamago and Unagi Kani. Miyako's Sushi specialty is its Dancing Tuna
Roll, spicy tuna wrapped in seaweed and tart rice, topped with seared tuna,
wasabi sauce, scallions and masago. Heavy with wood, the decor conceals
the fact six lane Richmond Road is only feet from the building. The Plum
Wine is the best beverage on the menu. |
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If you're hungry and not worried about a diet, O'Charley's is where you come. They make great use of cheese, bacon and other hearty ingredients, beginning with their outstanding soup rotation. Best are probably the Three Cheese Broccoli, Chicken Harvest, and Overloaded Potato Soup (two cheeses, potatoes, and hickory smoked bacon). Our favorite appetizer is the Three Cheese Shrimp Dip (shrimp, Asiago cheese, sun dried tomatoes, Monterrey Jack and Cheddar served with warm, freshly made tortilla chips). They offer six flashy salads, such as the Black and Bleu Caesar (blackened grilled sirloin cubes with bleu cheese on romaine lettuce and tomatoes) and Pecan Chicken. There are Southern Grilled Chicken Tacos, Baby Back Ribs, seven kinds of steak, five pastas, Caramel Pie and a solid beverage list including Beringer and Ecco Domani wines, Killian Irish Red Beer and Belgian Blue Moon Ale. OCharley's very best entree may be the Cedar Planked Fish. They fire grill 9 oz. filets of either Tilapia or Salmon on a cedar plank with lemon seasoning. |
| Perkins Pancake House was one of the most popular stops in Lexington when it was adjacent to the UK campus, but it was bought out to make room for research facilities. In its new location, it's still pretty busy, especially in the mornings. Obviously, the menu focuses on every imaginable kind of pancake and their syrups, toppings and sides. We're pretty big pancake conneisseurs, and we think they have the best in town. We especially love their Potato and Blueberry Pancakes, but the basic short stack of Classic Buttermilk Pancakes allows you to experiment with their syrups, such as Maple, Apricot or Twinberry. Their Belgian Waffles, especially topped with Strawberry or Blueberry Toppings, are very light, almost foamy. We like waffles, but often they're too heavy, a problem Perkins avoids. The French Toast is batter dipped in a mix of eggs, cinnamon and vanilla before being grilled golden brown. Perkins uses a French bread which they bake themselves so, like the waffles, their toast is very delicate. There's a whole page of Omelettes, featuring everything from ham, bacon, sausage and border grilled chicken to onions, celery, peppers, cheese, and broccoli. Perkins also has a page of various scrambled egg dishes, wrapping them around hash browns, sausage, bacon and cheese. For something different, try the New Orleans Eggs Benedict. |
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Sonic is a retro drive in restaurant where for half an hour or so you can pretend you're back in the 1950s. They even have girls on roller skates coming out to take your order and carrying your food out on trays which hook onto your car window. The menu is the classic burger, fries, shake and ice cream, although they've updated it a little with Nachos, Onion Rings and Chicken Nuggets. They play Golden Oldie music over the speakers. On Fridays and Saturdays it's a frequent stop for guys cruising Lexington in their restored 50s and 60s cars, so you might want to bring your camera. If you walk over from one of the dorms or nearby student apartment complexes, there are a few picnic tables set up under the canopy so you can sit outside and enjoy the ambience. Sonic has several outlets in town. This Richmond Road version is the newest and features a more modern design, which will impress some and disappoint others. |
| Sutton's is an upscale Italian restaurant which operated in Danville for two years, closed that outlet and reopened in Lexington in May 2010. Keeping with the modern trend, they feature a shorter menu and focus on quality. The inside is quite classy but there's a three season roofed brick patio along the left side of the building. Of their appetizers, we like the Crab Cakes and the Meatballs. They've added a brand new Wedding Soup for their Lexington debut, a chicken soup with sausage, spinach and Parmesan cheese. You have to pay $4 to add the Salad Bar to your entree, but it's a good salad bar and worth it. Of the entrees, we like the Scallops (broiled in garlic butter, lemon and white wine), Tilapia (broiled), and Treasure Chest (shrimp, scallops and tilapia for $17). There are the usual classics : Ravioli Americana(stuffed with spinach, mushrooms and tomatoes in lobster brandy cream sauce), Ravioli Marinara (stuffed with cheese and spinach with marinara and basil), and Pasta Giovani (chicken, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, sun dried tomatoes, black olives, garlic, capers, red pepper, basil and penne pasta). There are three steaks, ribs and tenderloin tips. Chicken includes Gorgonzola, Parmesan and Fiorindo. |
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Taj India is the latest incarnation at the old Oriental Garden / India Palace location. Taj opened in 2009 and has already developed a loyal following. They lured longtime Lexington chef Benny Head from his former UK campus location, and offer a Northern India menu. The decor has a regal ambiencewith ornate chandeliers, a waterfall and rich wall hangings. The lunch buffet (seven days a week) is spectacular, with over 20 dishes and various tandoor baked breads and other sides. Lexington has eight good Indian restaurants, but the Chicken Tikki Masala, Saag Paneer and Tandoori Chicken here are as good or better than any of them. Among appetizers, we like the Lamb Kebabs. They offer eight good vegetarian dinners. The Tandoori Mixed Grill is a great way to sample the variety of their menu. Goat Curry was new to us, and we found it quite unique and tasty. Although their Rice Pudding is the traditional dessert, we were more impressed with the Mango Pudding. This is not a good location, out of sight of Richmond Road, on a dead end street. Both their predecessors were really good, developed a loyal following, but never attracted enough walk in or drive by traffic to survive. We hope Taj India makes it. |
| A "road house" was a restaurant out on the highway far from any town where travellers could stop for a long break, order a hearty meal, and spend half an hour at the bar while they fixed it. A road house tradition was bowls or baskets of peanuts at the bar where men could shell them and toss the shells on the floor. Texas Road House tries to honor this tradition with its emphasis on steaks, ribs and beer for the men and chicken and seafood for their families and, sure enough, lots of peanut shells on the floor. Texas Road House really does do a fine job with steaks for a lower price than most steak restaurants. But this is their reputation, and people tend to overlook their other entrees. The ribs, seafood and chicken here are competitive with the restaurants specializing in those foods. Even the soups are good. |
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Waffle House is famous for their waffles but ironically their menu features everything else. They promote their Steak & Eggs, Pork Chops & Eggs, Grilled Chicken & Eggs, Omelettes (Cheesesteak, Chili Cheese, Jalapeno and Ham & Cheese), Egg Sandwiches, Hash Browns and classic EggsnBacon or Ham & Egg plates. They're also pretty proud of their biscuits, sausage and bacon sides. Then, over there in the corner, they get around to their Waffles. Their basic is the classic Butter Milk Waffle. There are Double Waffles and Waffles With Sausage or Ham or Eggs. You can pick from Pecan, Chocolate Chip, Blueberry and Strawberry. Actually, we regret the evolution of Waffle House. Way back there, they served ONLY waffles, two pages of every variation imaginable. We could try waffles here we could never find anywhere else and couldn't fix ourselves. Now they've diversified, but the waffle choices are narrowed. Luckily, they still do a good job, with waffles and everything else. |
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