Lexington, KY - A fairly recent addition to the Lexington dining scene, Sutton's bills itself as "an Italian restaurant with an American pub," and the menu reflects this coupling -
classic pub fare, like chicken wings and cheeseburgers, paired with a variety of Italian dishes, such as oven-fired flatbread pizzas, pastas and chicken marsala.
Casual and comfortable, Sutton's, a local, family-owned restaurant, has ample seating in the dining room, as well as in the bar area; a few big televisions are peppered throughout the premises. As far as the service goes, my guest and I were very impressed with the wait staff's assistance and the manager's interest in our satisfaction.
Looking over the appetizer menu, which includes a dozen items, we elected to go with an order of calamari ($9) and meatballs ($8, made from a "family recipe," according to the menu). Other selections included steamed mussels ($10), sausage links ($8) and "pepperoni pups" -
mozzarella balls stuffed with pepperoni ($7). Both of our choices were very tasty, and the calamari was even served with fried banana pepper rings.
Deciding what to order for our entrees was difficult, as we both see-sawed between pizza, pasta, chicken and seafood dishes, and steak. We finally caved and asked our server for a few recommendations, which she offered quickly: seafood pasta ($14) and pasta giovanni (mushrooms, artichokes, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, capers and other goodies tossed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar, $12). Since the calamari was certainly up to snuff earlier, I went with the seafood pasta, but my guest went with her initial attraction and ordered the penne alla vodka (the sauce is a mixture of marinara and vodka, served with sausage, $12). Other pasta dishes include "fra diavolo" ($14, penne tossed in lobster sauce topped with scallops and shrimp) and pasta carbonara ($12, penne pasta with Italian ham, snap peas and sun-dried tomatoes). The vodka sauce was an interesting mixture and went well on the pasta; the seafood pasta, which included mussels, calamari and shrimp in a white wine sauce, did not disappoint.
Other entrees that caught our eye were the chicken fiorindo ($13, baked chicken stuffed with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes and Italian cheese) and the Tuscan ribeye ($17, marinated in olive oil, garlic and rosemary). They also have nearly a dozen sandwiches (all priced around $8), and I'm excited to come back and try their stromboli for lunch.
To accompany dinner, Sutton's has about two dozen varieties of red and white wines, including a handful from locally owned Jean Farris Winery. Wines are available by the glass ($5 - 9) or the bottle ($18 - 34). For hump day, Sutton's offers "Wine Down Wednesdays," where bottles are half off.
Our bill, prior to tipping and tax, came to $70, and included two entrees, two appetizers, a dessert and a few glasses of wine -
an excellent price to pay for an evening of well-prepared Italian food in a casual atmosphere.
Even though the restaurant is plopped in the middle of a parking lot off of Richmond Road, Sutton's nice patio will be an enticing destination for many diners as the evenings begin to warm up.