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North Lime Donuts
Now with two locations North Lime Coffee & Donuts features a variety of creative and eclectic donut flavors. Photo by Sarah Jane Sanders.
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Old San Juan
The authentic Cuban eatery Old San Juan boasts one of the city's best Cuban sandwiches. Photo by Theresa Stanley.
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Nat's
With a small, carry-out-only downtown storefront, Nat's offers some of the city's most flavorful Thai food. Photo by Theresa Stanley.
While the Lexington dining scene is certainly delicious and diverse, it isn’t always affordable. But the sheer number of restaurants in our area means a few of them, at least, have to be affordable, right? In this follow-up from “Cheap Eats: Part I,” which came out in August, we’ve outlined 20 great spots to find good grub on the cheap. Whether offering reliable bar food or first-rate pho, each of these places stands out as an essential affordable restaurant in Lexington.
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Tortilleria y Taqueria Ramirez
1429 Alexandria Dr, Lexington, KentuckyCarne Asada Burrito: $5
In the elaborate burrito bracket featured on Nate Silver’s “Five Thirty-Eight” blog in 2014, Ramirez’s carne asada burrito was named Best Burrito in the South by a “landslide” – and in fact only missed Best in the Nation by one point...
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Maria's Kitchen
Pork with Green Sauce Burrito: $2.25
Recently relocated to the former Willie’s spot on North Broadway, this restaurant began as a literal shack two doors down...
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Old San Juan
Cubano Sandwich: $6.99
I’ve been eating here for more years than I care to count. This tiny Cuban restaurant hides in a dumpy strip-center on Malibu Drive and serves, what I consider to be, as good of a Cuban sandwich as you can get just about anywhere...
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El Rancho Tapatio
Pozole: $8.99
At first glance, Tapatio is your typical Americanized Mexican restaurant. What really sets it apart is the quality recipes and the addition of authentic Mexican staples to the menu...
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5
Rose & Jim's Bar & Grill
2461 Georgetown Rd, Lexington, KY 40511 , Lexington, KentuckyBurger & Fries: $8
Located on Georgetown Road about 10 minutes outside downtown Lexington, Rose & Jim’s is a time capsule. When you walk in the door, you are transported to the quintessential dive bar of the ’70s, with prices to match...
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Charlie's Seafood
Charlie’s whitefish special: $9.75
Sneaking just under our $10 limit is the fish fry at Charlie’s. This Lexington tradition is worth every penny, as is evidenced by the line out the door. You get hush puppies, tartar sauce, fries and two massive slabs of fried whitefish.
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Charlie Brown's
816 Euclid Ave, Lexington, KY 40502 , Lexington, KentuckyBlack & bleu burger: $7.30
First, let your eyes adjust to, what might be, the darkest bar … ever. Once you can see again, you’ll find bookcases full of books, fireplaces, garage sale couches and a great jukebox. The crowd is college kids, regulars and neighbors...
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Spalding’s Bakery
Original glazed doughnut: 80¢
Why would I send you to a cash-only, long line, un-hip, sell-out-early doughnut shop? Because of the deep-fried beauty that is its glazed doughnut. This baby is not your perfectly-round glazed doughnut...
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North Lime Coffee & Donuts
Cinna Monkey: $1.10
North Lime is the polar opposite of Spalding’s. Hip, fun and creative, it veers toward the more eclectic doughnut flavors, such as peanut butter chocolate stout, chicken waffle, bourbon spiked eggnog, banana pudding and s’mores-filled...
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Magee’s
Chocolate Croissant: $3
Magee’s is perhaps Lexington’s most well-rounded breakfast bakery. In addition to delicious doughnuts, its menu features breakfast sandwiches, pancakes, omelets and chicken biscuits...
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Nat’s
Basil Beef: $9.99
Let me put this as simply as possible … If you want the most authentic Thai food in Lexington, go to Nat’s. Nat’s is, well, Nat Yuttayong. He preps, takes your order, cooks your food and cleans up. A one-man-show, Nat’s restaurant is likely smaller than your kitchen and can only hold about three people in line to order at a time...
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Mandarin Café and Sushi
Zandale Shopping Center, 2220 Nicholasville Rd #102, Lexington, KY 40503 , Lexington, KentuckyBangkok Bowl (rice): $9.30
Mandarin is a hidden gem of a Chinese and sushi restaurant that also embraces Japanese, Thai and Korean fare. The Bangkok Bowl is a bowl of hot beef and potato curry over rice garnished with peanuts and cucumbers...
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Jasmine Rice
Pad See Ew: $7.99
Jasmine Rice cooks the dishes of Thailand, Vietnam and Laos, and it does it well. Tucked in a tiny strip center on Winchester Road, it can be easy to miss. But that would be a mistake. This is a place to go for the food...
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J.A. Laub Photography
Sav’s Grill
Leaf & Beef: $6.50
Mamadou “Sav” Savané was raised in Guinea, West Africa, and learned how to cook from his family. His restaurant continues the tradition of these recipes and gives us a flavor we have never seen in Lexington...
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Athenian Grill S. Ashland Ave. Location
Classic Gyro: $7
It’s really difficult to pick a favorite at Athenian Grill because there are so many amazing dishes. I’m picking the Classic Gyro simply because everyone knows roughly what to expect from a gyro. But this is better...
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Sahara Mediterranean Cuisine
Lunch Special: $7.47
Sahara’s lunch special may be the best lunch deal in town. Less than eight bucks gets you a meat (schwarma, kabob, kufta, chicken, falafel etc.), hummus, Greek salad, garlic sauce and pita bread...
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Photo by Theresa Stanley
Indi’s Fast Food
Dinner Box: $7.35
With the recent proliferation of hot chicken in the city, Indi’s still deserves lots of love in the soul-food, spicy chicken world. The restaurant’s neon “NOW FRYING” sign beckons me each and every time I drive by its North Broadway location...
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Joella's Hot Chicken
Quarter Chicken Plate: $9 (dark meat) $9.50 (white meat)
If you’re not yet familiar with hot chicken, it’s a brined fried chicken brushed with an oil-based paste generally made with cayenne pepper. It is served with pickles on white bread. Originating in Nashville, it is not a buffalo chicken, as it is less salty and tangy...
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Sorella Gelateria
591 W. Short St, Lexington, Kentucky 40507Gelato Flight (six flavors): $7.50
Lexington finally has a proper gelateria. In a quaint shop on North Lime across from Sayre School, sisters Alma Kajtazovic and Selma Sulejmanagic create their magic. The gelato is made daily, from scratch, one pan at a time, with the goal of selling it by the end of the day...
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Crank & Boom Craft Ice Cream
Root Beer Float: $5 or $7 (spiked)
Something for the kids, something for the adults. The thing that sets C&B apart to get a dessert is that it’s also a cocktail lounge of sorts. Set in the Distillery District, this family-friendly ice cream shop also serves prosecco floats, cocoa porter floats and spiked root beer floats (I like it with bourbon & honey ice cream)...
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