Nightlife in Nicholasville

J.D. Legends nourishes entertainment-hungry families with a massive facility stocked with bowling, a restaurant offering Southern-style fare, a bar, and an arcade. The 24-lane bowling alley features a new-and-improved scoring system to better capture lane-skipping curveballs and light-speed strikes. During open-play hours, shoes gently cradle the feet of their temporary masters as lanes brace themselves for the hurtling of bowling balls down their slender midsections. The lanes frequently host themed parties and events, including cosmic bowling every Friday and Saturday night.

The facility’s art-deco carpeting and citrus-colored decorations invigorate bowlers with game-enhancing visions of early 20th-century French heydays and afternoons spent lazing about under yellowed skies.

A nationally acclaimed comedy club, Comedy Off Broadway serves up live laughs every Friday and Saturday and many weeknights thanks to a plethora of nationally recognized comedians. Upcoming joke jockeys include comedic melodeer Tim Wilson (December 1–11) and Boston Comedy Festival winner Dwight Slade (December 29–January 1). Choose from the following rib-tickling options, each of which requires a one-drink minimum (alcoholic or non-alcoholic):

Established by the owners of Shamrock Bar & Grille and featuring 29 flat-screen TVs and a game room, The Cellar nourishes bellies of all ages with a menu marked by dressed-up salads, sandwiches, and entrees. Make hands feel giant with an order of mini brauts ($5) before making nice with a made-to-order Cellar burger ($8) or one of many sandwich selections. The entree section includes salads, steaks, seafood, and a mouthwatering full rack of barbecue baby-back ribs ($20). The parmesan-pressed chicken breast ($12.50), like any streetwise debutante, surrounds itself with a bounty of bow-tied tasties and goes well with myriad bourbon varieties.

Winchell's Restaurant & Bar sates hungry sports fans with an array of southern-inspired meaty entrees, breakfasts, and a fleet of TVs. The breakfast menu entices customers with a three-egg, bacon, and cheddar omelet ($7.99) and the breakfast sampler, piled high with three eggs, biscuits, and gravy, accompanied by fries and a choice of meat ($8.99). The dinner menu, rife with hearty options such as open-face beef brisket ($8.99) and Maker's-Mark-marinated pork chops ($14.99) respects the fact that a meal should include a sizable mound of goodness and offer several plates, like a baseball field made of tasty beef. Broadcasting Wildcats games and participating in Kentucky Proud, Winchell's supports the community by cheering on local teams and sourcing fresh, local ingredients. A healthy drink menu slakes thirst for domestic and imported brews and wines.

Friends Again Grill & Tavern slings classic American pub fare, frosty brews, and entertaining diversions seven days a week. The menu showcases appetizers such as handmade potato skins ($5.99) and fried pickle spears ($5.49) to stir languid taste buds from their slumber as gently as a wake-up call from Enya. Pound down protein with the beer-cheese burger ($7.99), an angus chuck patty topped with beer cheese, or show reverence for poultry with the homemade chicken-salad sandwich ($5.99). Serious sit-down diners can peruse the tavern’s triumphant platters, such as the classic Hot Brown, a slice of bread topped with ham, turkey, cheese, bacon, and a special sauce ($7.99). Friends Again's staff also pours a full bar’s worth of cocktails and brewskis for game night, date night, and discovering your inner Herbert Hoover night.

Bartenders dart about behind the lengthy wood bar at Patchen Pub, pouring pitchers of draft beer and stirring up mixed drinks. Servers parade out from the kitchen onto the sunny upper and lower decks, balancing trays of housemade wings, overstuffed deli sandwiches, and juicy Black Angus beef burgers. Meanwhile, carousers compete in lively games of darts and pool, pausing only to steal nibbles of nachos or order second rounds of drinks.