Restaurants in Owensboro

Patticakes' menu features sweet and savory flavors and more than 30 different panini sandwiches. The egg-, ham-, onion-, and pepper-stuffed Western Scrambler panini ($4.95) and the sweeter apple-pie panini ($4.50) satisfy bready cravings, and fast-breaking specialties, such as the vanilla-infused cinnamon-bread Sunnyside french toast ($4.49) with a side order of Patticakes' fresh-baked cinnamon rolls ($1.99), make traditional meal lovers smile. Herbivores and herbivoyeurs can dive fork-first into various salads, such as the corn and avocado salad, which is rich with spinach, turkey, bacon, and veggies and is drizzled with a honey-gorgonzola vinaigrette ($5.99, whole). If a full meal isn't on your to-do list, the cozy café—with its candy-colored pastel walls and dog-friendly atmosphere—is a welcoming place to pop in for an impromptu slice of Patticakes’ homemade pie, whose selection rotates daily.

Steinert's Grill & Pub features eclectic pub favorites with an emphasis on southern, German, and Irish cuisines. For a Bavarian appetizer via the bluegrass state, try the kraut balls ($5.95), delightfully brazen deep-fried balls of sauerkraut served with thousand-island dressing. The open-faced Horseshoe sandwich (grilled chicken breast covered in homemade fries, bacon, and cheddar-cheese sauce, $7.95) and the slow-cooked, rib-rubbed beef Brontosaurus Ribs dinner ($15.95) will have you sated and pining for leopard-print-clad ancestral days. Or flaunt your sharing skills with a crispy Steinert pizza. Take a look at the oft-updated selection of Daily Specials to impress your dinner companions with your powers of foresight.

• For $7, you get $15 worth of barbecue and beverages for dine-in. • For $20, you get $40 worth of barbecue and beverages for catering or carry out.

The Ohio River courses past Edgewater Grille, providing a scenic backdrop for the eclectic culinary offerings inside. From piping-hot pizzas delivered straight from a wood-fired brick oven to blackened scallops nested on a bed of capellini, Edgewater Grille’s expansive menu proves that variety is the spice of life and the key to a good meal. Outdoor deck space facilitates alfresco dining in the warmer months, letting patrons pair fresh air with freshly baked desserts or wine and drinks from the full bar. With ample seating and multiple private rooms, Edgewater Grille is a prime spot for events such as weddings or Frankenstein support groups, and its chefs cater parties large and small with a smorgasbord of seafood, steaks, sandwiches, and pastas.

Though ghosts may or may not still haunt the halls of the old Meade County Jail, the ambrosial scent of pizza certainly fills the air, drawing living visitors to the ancient hoosegow. Housed in a weathered brick early 20th-century building that once famously locked up Hank Williams Sr., Jailhouse Pizza surrounds its guests with rich history. Its rickety metal cell doors and old-school vintage advertisements mingle with the wanted posters, faded photographs, and antique appliances such as 2009 cell phones found throughout the restaurant. Toppings such as classic pepperoni, olives, or sausage dot the landscapes of pizzas, as well as inventive flourishes such as spicy buffalo sauce, baked spaghetti, or sliced fried chicken. Tangy marinara and creamy cheese meld in oven-baked calzones and Stromboli, examples of the eatery's many Italian options.

A playfully spooky atmosphere permeates space, whether there's a birthday party with a private sleepover amid the century-old jail cells or a hunt for clues of the mysterious resident ghost, Bigsby. The Prisoner's Pardon Pizza Challenge dares truly courageous visitors to participate in a 60-minute two-person race to finish a 30-inch pizza, with winners earning a free meal and their picture on the coveted Hall of Fame.

At Lorenzo's Bistro and Bakery, the bakers make their own dough from scratch for crusty breads baked on the hearth. Every day, visitors can stop in for the warm baguettes, challah, and french bread, as well as daily specials such as Sunday's cracked-wheat loaves.

But the bread is just the start of the culinary journey, which executive chef Wess Rose executes with an eye toward contemporary American dishes and Euro-American influences. Elegant steak, seafood, and pasta join surprise touches, such as the chefs' take on a louisville hot brown—smoked shaved turkey breast atop fresh challah bread topped with tomatoes, cheddar jack mornay sauce, crispy bacon, and chives. Charbroiled salmon fillets glisten with raspberry barbecue glaze, and marinated portobellos and vegetable medleys stuff puff pastries to create vegetable wellingtons, which are topped with pesto and feta.

In the restaurant's foyer, the staff mans a market where people can grab cups of coffee or pick up ready-to-eat entrees to take home. In addition to the breads, customers often drop by to pick up muffins, scones, and sandwiches for meals on the go that are tastier than oatmeal in a tube.