Lexington Restaurants

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I LOVE this place. It's Carribean food at its best. Although the service is a little slow, and the food pricey, the taste all makes up for it. You should definitely go in the summer when you can sit outside on the patio. They usually have live reggae bands on the weekends.

Favorite Dish: Let's see...the coconut shrimp? Or the chicken breast stuffed with shrimp and spinach? The black beans and rice? Or the maccaroni and cheese? No, no, the rum berry cake. Oh, heck. It's all good. PS- try the B-52 as a shot fave. Not made with absinthe like in Czech, but still pretty darn good.

Oooh, oohhh, ohhh. This is the place that you eat at when you want to forget that you're in Kentucky. VERY European. Could have something to do with the fact that the owner is Russian. Check out the gift shop with lots of international stuff.

Favorite Dish: Baked Brie & Fruit Chutney
Little Italy SB--Fresh mozzarella, roma tomatoes, basil with a touch of olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Hungarian Goulash--Traditional braised beef, tomatoes, peppers, paprika (also served as a wrap)
Gypsy Stew--Colorful stew of chicken, beef, and lamb, with mushrooms, olives, peppers, squashes, tomatoes, and herbs on a bed of brown lentils.

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This is a great place for regional food in a beautiful, Victorian setting. My mom likes the Kentucky Hot Brown and claims that it's the ebst to be found. I personally like the shrimp. For brunch you can have a great Hawaiian chicken salad, complete with little banana nut bread muffins.

Favorite Dish: The famous Kentucky Hot Brown (what my mom always orders):
A Kentucky tradition. A lunch portion of sliced breast of turkey smothered in a rich cream sauce, topped with cheddar cheese, crisp bacon and tomatoes broiled to a golden brown. It's rich, so be warned!!

Coconut Chicken:
Strips of chicken in a coconut breading, served with honey mustard sauce for dipping. NOt really comparable to Atomic Cafe's coconut shrimp though.

Golden Fried Shrimp:
Select shrimp, butterflied and lightly breaded then deep fried. Served with cocktail sauce and steak fries. This is pretty good. Had it a couple of times. My friend Bobbie Sue claims it's the best she's ever had.

deSha's Sampler:
Sampler includes potato skins, stuffed banana peppers, and coconut chicken. I'd go for this if you weren't sure what you wanted. The stuffed banana peppers are pretty good, too.

Filet Mignon:
Cerified Angus Beef tenderloin filet char-grilled in a garlic butter with sauteed mushrooms and a Cabernet bordelaise. But then again, I love filet mignon so I am a little biased.

Also noteworthy: the stuffed mushrooms.

If you want the quality, but not the price, of a la Lucie, then this is the way to go. Until recently it was owned by the same people, but with a totally different atmosphere. The inside looks like an old diner-albeit an upscale one. We've always had good service there and the food has been terrific. Don't let the fact that it is located in a strip mall throw you off.

Favorite Dish: Some of my faves:

White Lasagna layers of noodles and cheese, with chicken and mushrooms. It is very, very rich so eat slowly. The only bad thing is that sometimes there isn't room left for dessert.

Angel Hair Pasta with fresh tomatoes, basil, and a touch of garlic, topped with parmesan cheese. This one is good, too, and a little lighter.

Thai Cobb coconut shrimp with avocado, cucumber,mango, rice noodles, and a green curry dressing over mixed greens.

For a chain restaurant, you can't beat Carraba's-especially since I've figured out that there is a secret to it. In the beginning it was hard for me to find something to eat there because the dishes were so huge that I could barely get through a third of it before I was full, much less get to the dessert. All of the dishes were really detailed, too, and sometimes I just like a nice plate of pasta with plain marinara sauce. Then, after about three or four visits I figured out that they do SIDE portions of all of their pasta. You would think that a side item wouldn't hardly be bigger than a small ice cream dish, but it's not. It's about the size of a normal dish of pasta from any other restaurant-and it's only $3.95. You can still order a side salad or a (huge) bowl of soup if that's not enough.

Favorite Dish: They have the best dessert ever-the Dessert Rosa. It's wonderful. Layers of soft yellow cake, strawberries, cream, pineapple, bananas...all topped with a chocolate covered strawberry. Wonderful...

There are many good things to be said of Bella Notte’s. I am a huge lover of Italian food and honestly am really hard to please when it comes to eating it. That’s because I’ve eaten a lot of it and had the real thing in Italy and Croatia and tend to know what I like and how I like it. But Bella Notte’s almost always gets it right. Although it’s located on one of the busiest streets in Lexington and looks like an average chain restaurant from the outside, the quality of the food is always top notch. The minute you walk in the doors the aroma of freshly baked bread, light marinara sauce, and oregano hits you like a sledge hammer. If you’re not hungry when you go there, you will be as soon as your senses take over. The decorations are whimsy and tasteful, the service good, and the menu extensive and reasonably priced.

Favorite Dish: One of my favorite things is the free bread that comes with the meals. I usually end up taking an extra loaf home with me. It’s a little hard on the outside and really soft on the inside and I’ve never had a loaf that wasn’t warm. For main dishes I tend to either go with the pizza margherita or penne arrabiata. The arrabiata is too spicy for some people, but if you like a little kick to your pasta it will definitely add something. Sometimes I order plain penne pasta covered in tomato basil sauce which is a little like a mixture of alfredo and marinara. It’s only listed on the lunch menu, but if you ask for it they’ll fix it anytime of the day. The tiramisu is really good for dessert.

This is the place that you used to go to whenever you wanted to impress someone. mostly because it is expensive. Since we've had a lot of other nice ones go in during the past few years, they've had to punch up their game a bit. It's still a very elegant dining experience.

Favorite Dish: Some of my favorites:
Artichoke and parmesan souffle $6.75

Fried lump crab cake taco
with avocado, sour cream, and chile sauce $9.95

Sauteed escargot and wild mushrooms
in a garlic red wine sauce on pastry $9.95

Steamed mussels in tomato and white wine broth $7.95

Lobster cocktail with drawn butter
and cocktail sauce $15.00

Barbecue shrimp and jalapeno chiles
served with creamy polenta $9.95

French Onion en croute $4.25

Fresh arugula, strawberries and goat cheese
tossed in a hazelnut dressing $6.50

Sliced fresh mozzarella and tomatoes
drizzled with balsamic syrup $5.95

Pan Roasted Veal Chop
with morel mushroom sauce, sauteed spinach and bleu cheese noodle cake $28.95

Boneless Chicken Breast
stuffed with basil, brie and sun dried tomatoes, baked in pastry and served with hollandaise $17.95

Filet of Beef Tenderloin
served with lobster mashed potatoes, red wine sauce and garnished with onion crisps $25.95

Buttermilk Fried Quail
served with corn mashed potatoes and cream gravy $22.95

Fried Lump Crab Cakes
served on a bed of dirty rice with New Orleans Creole sauce $20.95

Seafood Casserole
lobster, shrimp, sea scallops and mussels baked in a rich mornay sauce $20.95

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I’m usually not up for chain restaurants, but Chili’s is typically my exception. I really have a thing for their southwestern egg rolls and their garden burgers aren’t bad either. Usually, the only time we end up eating there is after we’ve been to a concert or late movie showing in downtown Lexington and most other places have started closing. Let’s face it, Lexington has no shortage of good restaurants and we like to frequent them as much as possible. But for a late night eatery, I have never gone wrong at the Chili’s on Richmond Road. Consistency says something.

Favorite Dish: The last time I ate there I had a tomato basil penne pasta dish with grilled chicken strips. It was wonderful. I was there during happy hour so my guest and I both had strawberry margaritas. For dessert we split a chocolate volcano type of cake. In Austria it would be called a “mohr imd.” I love them. Everything was really good and we left so full we could barely walk.