The Hot Brown, a regional specialty. Basically a club sandwich with bechemel sauce instead of mayonaise
Ashland, KY
Eats-
Crisps Dairy Treat-1216 Rte 716, Ashland, KY 41102(606) 928-8193-old timey drive in with chili dogs and ice cream
Barbourville, KY
Eats-
Billy’s One Stop– 28 N Ky 3438, Barbourville, KY 40906 (606) 546-6146-Gas station with a chili bun, which is a chili dog without the chili.
Hamburger Hut-640 Old Us Hwy 25E, Barbourville, KY 40906 (606) 546-5240-Ice Cream Joint with burgers and a cooked pork tenderloin sandwich that is not fried like they do it in Indiana.
Bardstown, KY
Unlike Jack Daniels which is in a dry town, Heaven Hills distillary, maker of Evan Williams and more offers tours and tastings – ,Bourbon Heritage Center, 1311 Gilkey Run Road, Bardstown, KY 40004 , p: {502} 337.1000 Admission is FREE!
Cave City, Kentucky
Mystery Spot-
Big Mikes Rock Shop-566 Old Mammoth Cave Rd, Cave City, KY-several attractions rolled into one.
One of the last remaining Wigwam Motels in operation.
Wigwam Village #2-601 North Dixie Hwy, Cave City, Kentucky 42127 (270) 773-3381
Cecilia, KY
Eats-Laker Drive In -10585 Leitchfield Rd, Cecilia, KY 42724 Open Daily 9AM–8PM (270) 862-4183 Home of the Lakerburger, which is sort of like a big mac but with both special sauce AND Tartar sauce. You can get “munchers” or fries or chips with the special. Onion rings look legit. Cant figure out what munchers are. Might be Corn fritters.
Corbin, KY
Eats-
Bubby’s BBQ-2700 Cumberland Falls Hwy, Corbin, KY 40701 (606) 258-9070-Buffet BBQ . Make sure you try the chow chow, a southern relish.
Covington, KY
Eats-a local specialty available only around Cincinnati and Kentucky is called Goetta. Basically, its pork, pinhead oats, and spices. You can get it at Colonial Cottage, Covington or at Price Hill Chili in Cincinnati
Danville, KY
Burke’s Bakery & Delicatessen -Old-fashioned bakery with good donuts. 121 W Main St, Danville, KY 40422 Open daily (859) 236-5661
Frankfort, Kentucky
Eats
Ricks White Light Diner -114 Bridge St, Frankfort, KY 40601 Old Diner now serving Cajun Food
Lily, KY
Eats-
Lily Shop-N-Cart- 4020 E State Hwy 552, Lily, KY 40740 (606) 878-0854-Small town convienece store with House ground chili buns, the regional fast chili dog without the chili and supposedly the best one in the state. Good burgers too.
Louisville, Kentucky
The Record Label Initial records has a website that lists a lot of local music shows that aren’t listed anywhere else.
The local Alternative Paper is The Louisville Eccentric Observer.
The hip part of town is the Bardstown Road area. Its loaded with all your standard vintage clothing shops, record shops, bars and clubs.
One cool record store is EarX-tacy. Its at 1534 Bardstown Road, just south of Eastern Parkway. 502-452-1799
A pretty decent place to stay is the Exective West Hotel. Its very convienient to the airport, downtown, Bardstown Road, Churchill Downs areas, and is very reasonable. They have a hotel limo that will take you on short journeys if you don’t wish to drive. The pool area could use a hot tub, and the exercise equipment was lacking, but they do have an unusual bar in the lobby and chalk blackboards in the Men’s room stalls to discourage graffiti. They are also spitting distance from Six Flags Kentucky Kingdom and their wonderful Thunder Run coaster. (NOTE:Currently Kentucky Kingdom is CLOSED. Investors are hoping to reopen it soon.)
EATS-
Kaelins, where the cheeseburger was supposedly invented. I dont know about that, but it was very tasty. 1801 Newburg Road not far from the Bardstown Road area. 502-451-1801.
Dizzy Whizz Drive-In: 217 St Catherine St, Louisville, KY 40203 Open Daily (502) 583-3828-Home of the Whizz burger with whizz sauce which is like a tartar sauce. Good looking slaw too. Krinkle cut fries. Good looking rings. Since 1947
The Seafood Lady-103 W Oak St, Louisville, KY 40203 Closed Monday and Tuesday. Lunch only on Sunday. (502) 210-9381-Florida style Seafood shack. Recently relocated to larger space. Featured on Triple D.
Nord’s Bakery – 2118 S Preston St, Louisville, KY 40217 (502) 634-0931-Classic donut shop
Jack Fry’s -1007 Bardstown Rd, Louisville, KY 40204(502) 452-9244-Not trashy. Iconic steakhouse
Feast BBQ-909 E Market St, Ste 100, Louisville, KY 40206 (502) 749-9900-classic bbq dishes with tons of vegetarian options like bbq tofu.
Grind Burger Kitchen -829 E Market St, Louisville, KY 40206 (502) 213-0277-Not Trashy Travels normal type of burger joint. But nice buns and crispy patties plus you can get brussel sprouts instead of fries.
Nightlight
O’Malley’s Corner, 2nd and Liberty, 502-589-FUNN-Multi Room club with all different types of music from country to dance to Karaoke.
Headliners gets slightly bigger acts like Kool Keith, Cheap Trick and Fishbone. You can check Ticketweb to see what they have on sale. 1386 Lexington Road- 502-584-8088.
From May to July there are free concerts (well, one dollar concerts) at theriverfront. This years lineup includes such you mean they are still around acts like Eddie Money, War and Blue Oyster Cult.
Live Music-
Highlands Tap Room – 1056 Bardstown Rd, Louisville, KY 40204 (502) 584-5222 Til 4 am
Phoenix Hill Tavern-great touring band venue.
3RD STREET DIVE-440 S. 3rd Street Louisville, KY
Bourbon Hall, formerly Coyotes. -116 W Jefferson St, Louisville, KY (502) 589-3866
Magnolia Bar -1398 S 2nd St, Louisville, KY 40208 Daily til 4 am (502) 637-9052
Zanzabar -Circa-1938 tavern with a wide beer list, Southern-style pub grub, vintage arcade games & live bands-2100 S Preston St, Louisville, KY 40217 (502) 635-9227
Galaxie – 732 E Market St, Louisville, KY 40202 til–1AM (502) 690-6595
PORTAL @ fifteenTWELVE- 1535 Lytle St Suite 102, Louisville, KY 40203PORTAL is a unique event, concert venue and art gallery located within a creative compound.
Other Cities-
Bowling Green, KY
Amusement Park
Beach Bend-Beech Bend is conveniently located in Bowling Green, Kentucky 5 minutes west of I-65 (exit 28). Small Amusement Park.
Tourist Attraction-
Lost River Cave-Seven-mile cave system located in Bowling Green, Kentucky. The Lost River originates outside of the cave and flows into it. Boat Tours Available. Similar to Lost Sea in Pennsylvania- 2818 Nashville Rd, Bowling Green, KY 42101 (270) 393-0077
Lexington, KY
The Local Alternative Paper for Lexington is the ACE Weekly. You can also check outLexmusic and the WRFL calender, as well as Just Go Kentucky. Also check out Whats Shaking.
Live Music-
Al’s Sidecar – 607 N Limestone, Lexington, KY 40508 (859) 252-9104-Live music plus burgers. Most nights til 2 am.
The Burl-375 Thompson Rd, Lexington, KY 40508 (859) 447-8166-In a vintage building built by texaco in a new “entertainment district” 300 person capicity
High on Rose-301 East High Street, Lexington, Ky. 606-388-9999
Yats-on the corner of Bolivar and Upper in South Hill Station, 200 BOLIVAR ST, LEXINGTON, KY.
Cosmic Charlie’s -Funky music club hosting indie bands & jams with a full bar & 25+ tap beers (age limits by event).388 Woodland Ave, Lexington, KY 40508
Phone:(859) 309-9499
The Green Lantern-497 W 3rd St, Lexington, KY, US-bar with occasional live music
Eats-
Parkette Drive In– 1216 E New Circle Rd. Lexington, KY 40505(859) 254-8723 Old timey drive in. Awesome. Fried baloney, onion rings, tater tots, chili dogs, a burger called a po boy. the specialty Big Lex Burger which is two burgers, two slices of American cheese, two strips of bacon, sauteed onions, and barbecue sauce on Texas toast
Missy’s Pies. Classic Kentucky pies. They are in Lexington proper. Take out only and dirt cheap. (859) 253-0449 , 201 1/2 Woodland Ave, Lexington, KY 40502
Holly Hill Inn, 426 North Winter Street, Midway, Kentucky -859 / 846 – 4732. Located in Midway, a good 25 minutes drive from Lex, Holly Hill Inn offers fantastic price-fixed menus in a charming former B and B. They change their menus once a month. Normally I don’t list places like this on this sight, but a 35 dollar prix fix meal is hard to beat anywhere else. Great food and a great deal.
Spalding Bakery (859) 252-3737 -760 Winchester Rd, Lexington, KY 40505-Now longer hours and different location- 6:30 am to Noon closed Monday and Tuesday. The donuts are light, satisfying and show an admirable degree of care. The cream-filled ones are great.
Charlie’s- A hole in the wall place that serves “the best white fish sandwich.” They are not lying, their sandwiches are REALLY good. Charlie’s Fresh Seafood Market (859) 255-6005 928 Winchester Rd, Lexington
J.J. McBrewster’s-Stonewall Shopping Center-3101 Clays Mill Road, Lexington, Kentucky 40503 Monday-Saturday: 11am-9pm (859) 224-0040, western ky cue, smoked goat, mutton, 5 homemade sauces
Tolly-Ho Restaurant-24-hour university-area burger & breakfast joint: 606 S Broadway, Lexington, KY 40508 (859) 253-2007 High Rated burgers, good looking rings, cheese filled tots Since 1971
Columbia Steak House– 201 N Limestone, Lexington, KY 40507-Since 1948 Original location of this steak house known for “Lamb Fries” aka balls.
London, KY
Eats-
Dairy Dart -841 S Main St, London, KY 40741 (606) 864-5051-Ice Cream joint with Chili Dogs.
Weaver’s Hot Dogs- 133 E 4th St, London, KY 40741, (606) 864-9937-Lovely Cafe with chili dogs and the regional chili bun, a chili dog with no dog.
Manchester, KY
Eats-
Pat’s Snack Bar-112 Town Branch Rd, Manchester, KY 40962 (606) 599-0199-Burgers and a good version of the regional specialty Chili Bun, which is a Chili Dog sans dog.
Middlesboro, KY
Eats-
Conley’s -1693 Cumberland Ave, Middlesboro, KY 40965(606) 248-1741 Closed Sunday Daily 10AM–7PM Since 1955. Fries, chili dogs and burgers.
Mount Vernon, KY
Eats-
Back Porch Smokehouse-1797 Lake Linville Rd, Mount Vernon, KY 40456 (606) 256-8504-Grilled Cornbread, Pork bbq, and the regional Soup Beans, pinto beans in a broth.
Mount Sterling, KY
Eats-
Berryman’s Tastytreat -305 E Main St, Mount Sterling, KY 40353 (859) 498-6830-Burgers, Chili Dogs and ice cream.
Newport Kentucky
(Near Cinncinatti, OH)
Live Music
Southgate House -24 East Third Street -Newport, KY 859-431-2201-Incredible, unusual music venue located in an old house!
Owensboro, Kentucky
Eats-
Moonlight BBQ-2840 West Parrish Avenue -Owensboro, Ky Tel. (270) 684-8143-Amazing, astounding all you can eat BBQ buffet featuring BBQ mutton, a regional specialty. Next door is a great ice cream shop called the big dipper.
Live Music-
I have been unable to find a scene here, except to say that your parents favorite singers sometimes play the local Executive Inn Hotel, and that the occasional touring act SOMETIMES hits Kentucky Wesleyan College.
Paducah, Kentucky
You Can’t poo poo Paducah.
Eats-
Bob’s Drive-In Restaurant – 2429 Bridge St, Paducah, KY 42003 (270) 443-6493
Daily 10AM–9PM-Home of the Fiesta burger, which I can’t find a description of, but its a tasty looking burger topped with either a meat chili or perhaps taco meat? Looks good.
Just Hamburgers-2532 Jackson St, Paducah, KY 42003 (270) 575-1926 Since 1971
Kountry Kastle-sorta bbq with char grilled burgers and Castle Neon. They serve their hot dogs sliced on round buns for some reason. 3415 Clarks River Rd, Paducah, KY 42003
Sunday Closed- (270) 444-9216
Parker’s Drive-In Restaurant -Car-hop service but big dining room – 2921 Lone Oak Rd, Paducah, KY 42003Hours: (270) 554-7602 Burgers, ice cream, and cherry cooked bbq.
There is also a branch of Doe’s Eat Place here which started in MS.
Pineville, KY
Eats-
Engle’s Drive-In-235 Riverview Rd, Pineville, KY 40977 (606) 337-6145-Burgers, chili dogs and the regional chili bun, which is a dog less chili dog.
Pikeville, KY
Eats-
Dairy Cheer -A MUST!!! 344 S Mayo Trl, Pikeville, KY 41501 (606) 432-5222, Once a breakaway DQ, then its own chain, they have amazing onion rings, chili cheeseburgers, and its “Home of the original smashburger”
Dorsie’s Dairy Bar -667 Bypass Rd, Pikeville, KY 41501 (606) 432-2270 Daily til 5:30. Slaw dogs, chili dogs, burgers , ice cream.
Ravenna, KY
Eats-
Wigwam Drive-In -419 3rd St, Ravenna, KY 40472 (606) 723-3240 Open 7 days-Home of the country boy burger with 2 patties, slaw, cheese and pickles.
Sandgap, KY
Eats-
Frostyette- US-421, Sandgap, KY 40481 (606) 965-3883-One of the amazing things about the US is that sometimes small little ice cream places make amazing things. The Chili Bun is a regional Kentucky specialty and is served here. Its a chili dog without the bun. Also a great burger here too.
Tompkinsville, Kentucky
Eats-
Dovie’s Cafe-107 W 4th Street, Tompkinsville, Kentucky-great burger joint. They put a raw onion slice and a pickle slice ON TOP of every burger bun. Most days 8:30 to 2 or 3, closed Sunday
Whitesburg, KY
Live Music-
Summit City Lounge- 214 Main St, Whitesburg, KY 41858 Closes 12AM (606) 536-5074
Versailles, KY (outside of Lexington)
Eats-Doughdaddys Donuts-3325 Lexington Rd, Versailles, KY 40383-doughnuts plus a roadside stand of local cheeses and ice cream.
