Restaurants in Lexington-Fayette

The Soup Kitchen takes good old-fashioned soup and crusty bread to the next level. Over the last 28 years, pot-stirring chefs have diligently perfected their recipes for more than 125 soups, a handful of which are available every day alongside fresh-baked bread. Deli sandwiches, salads, and sides are also available, such as loaded potato salads, fresh-sliced pastrami sandwiches, and grape-pecan chicken salad.

Originally a 19th-century preparatory school for girls, Science Hill Inn now schools patrons on fine southern cooking served inside a warm-hued dining room laden with chandeliers and white-linen-draped tables. Inside the bustling kitchen, chef Ellen McCarty—who once showcased her skills by cooking for Julia Child—pushes the culinary envelope, stamps it, and mails it to Tastytown with dishes such as grilled salmon topped with a cucumber-dill sauce, marinated chicken breast splashed with a pineapple salsa, and Carolina shrimp and grits. Desserts, such as brown-sugar pie and biscuit pudding slathered in bourbon sauce, can be enjoyed with glasses of wine to cap off meals.

In the middle of July, alfresco diners at Le Deauville might dive headlong into a Bastille Day celebration, watching as servers light red, white, and blue cupcake towers with sparklers or mediate street-side matches of pétanque. Though they bathe their sidewalk bistro in patriotic colors on state holidays, the staffers also immerse visitors in French culture year-round. Chefs populate seasonal menus with traditional French dishes such as steamed mussels in tomato and herbs, roasted rack of lamb with bordelaise mint sauce, and sea scallops with wild-mushroom risotto. They sometimes augment these dishes with globe-hopping guests including Caribbean lobster and Spanish mackerel, introducing new flavors to French preparations without having to pass sushi off as really, really strange-looking ratatouille.

In warm weather, servers ferry these dishes to sidewalk tables draped in white tablecloths next to the restaurant's French-door-covered façade, which is illuminated each night by strings of colored light bulbs. Gray tiled floors inlaid with intricate designs spread out inside, running between dark-wood-paneled and exposed-brick walls. Here, patrons gather at café tables or sidle up to an old wooden bar, where servers pour from a full stock of beer, wine, and spirits.

Jerry's Restaurant opened in 1961, and since then it's served family-style meals, which incorporate some of the 15+ vegetables the kitchen uses. The team cooks breakfast, lunch, dinner, and whatever meal humans think up next. Their food ranges from cheesy spaghetti and lemon-pepper chicken entrees to potato skin and onion ring entrees. Jerry's serves the popular J-Boy sandwich—a double-decker cheeseburger with a special sauce—and even a hot fudge cake.

Inside Masala Indian Restaurant’s kitchen, chefs infuse a savory mix of spices, or masala, into their halal and kosher Indian dishes. They roast marinated bits of chicken and skewers of minced lamb in a tandoor-style clay oven, and bake eight types of indian bread whenever the absorbent accompaniments are ordered by customers or demanded by a booming voice in the sky. Other table-toppers include more than a dozen vegetarian dishes brimming with fresh vegetables, homemade cheese, and lentils.

The neon glow of televisions and beer signs makes up most of the light inside Hoopsters Sports Bar & Grill. The space has sheltered diners from the light of day since 1994, keeping the bar dimmed to movie-theater levels to help diners enjoy the technicolor action of their favorite sports teams. When televised competition fails to entertain, the staff instead augments their selection of burgers and sandwiches with Tuesday-night trivia contests, Friday-night karaoke, and Saturday-night DJ-driven dance parties. Sunday even has a special designation as the staff flips over all channels to view NASCAR contests and speaks only in motor sounds.