Only at Mia's will you find a life-sized Barbie doll head, Dorothy's ruby slippers from the Wizard of Oz, and a bronze-colored Buddha all resting on the same shelf, but that's part of what makes it so fun. And now that the restaurant has upgraded to a new and improved location, business has never been better.
Owned by Mia Mobelini and Marybeth Tolson, the restaurant and bar relocated to the corner of Limestone and Main Street less than two months ago from its former home across from McCarthy's on South Upper Street, and it's been the talk of the city ever since.
"We are still the same people, still serving the same great food. We're still friendly and have good drinks - we're just in a more upscale location," said Tolson, remarking how the restaurant was now in the midst of the "crossroads of downtown."
Mia's proves its motto of "simply fine food and drink" with old menu favorites, such as the Kentucky Hot Brown and Tolson's gourmet pasta dishes, but it also offers something new for regulars with specials that vary on a daily basis. And, if you're in the mood for the Mia's atmosphere but can't find something that strikes your fancy on the menu, the staff might just grant you a special order request.
"We have some people that eat here three times a week, and we have some people that eat here seven days a week," Tolson said of the reason for the menu's diversity, adding that they try to incorporate locally grown foods whenever possible. "We try and keep our specials completely different so people can have a double cheeseburger one night, and sushi the next."
On an early Friday summer evening, several regulars gathered at the bar to enjoy a relaxing after-work cocktail or their favorite sandwich and fries. A mix of eclectic rock and jazz filtered through the restaurant as the customers joked and gossiped and engaged in the kind of excited conversation that comes with the start of the weekend.
The vases and bowls of flowers placed on the windowsills and bar of Mia's are accompanied by other more unusual dÈcor, such as an overhead nook stuffed with a variety of plants, an old, brass-toned cappuccino machine, a colorful portrait of a man, and a bright yellow sign leaning against one wall bearing a stick figure and the words "children playing."
"I don't think we would have sought out to move anywhere, but everything has worked out for the best," said Tolson of the new location, which was chosen after the original South Upper restaurant was designated for demolition to make way for the CentrePointe development project.
"There's a little more foot traffic with all the businesses around the corner, so that's different," added Mobelini, referring to other nearby restaurants, such as Bang, Giacomo's, and A La Lucie.
While some people may view the increasing number of restaurants popping up around downtown as more competition, Mobelini and Tolson just see it as different businesses feeding off each other.
"I don't think it's competition," said Tolson. "I think people go to one place for dessert, and one place for appetizers. It's fun for everybody. Personally, I like to eat like that."
"There's enough for everybody," added Mobelini." What's it called? Progressive dinners. That's a lot of fun; it's like a big city. I feel like this is like a little borough in New York. I used to live in Brooklyn Heights, and it's like you get those little communities, and it's a lot of fun. The people that live in Park Plaza have told us, 'Wow, this is so metropolitan now.'"
Mobelini and Tolson stressed that Mia's offers more than just good food and drinks. The hot spot is also known for its karaoke on Monday nights and live bands that play nearly every weekend.
"All the businesses around here are happy we're here, and we're filling a void," Tolson added. "This restaurant has been empty for a long time."
The space which Mia's now occupies was formerly a contemporary restaurant and bar called Annabelle's, which closed more than a year ago.
"(This building) was a great place to start out with, but we brought a little more color and light to it," said Tolson, as she pointed out various pieces of local art (almost all of which is for sale) on the walls and an unusual sculpture on the third floor of the restaurant. "We're a little more eclectic, and (Annabelle's) was a little more streamlined and conservative. But we're trying not to overdo it."
"Every day, we're still adding more to it," added Mobelini. "But we're trying not to be so gaudy (as the old Mia's). We were playful down there. Really, there are so many windows here that there's not a whole lot of room for (art on the walls). But we're trying to put in a lot of local art whenever we can."
Mobelini and Tolson have been separately involved in the food business in various cities for the majority of their professional careers, and when they both moved to Lexington and realized they had similar goals upon meeting in 1999, they decided that opening a restaurant together just made sense.
In explaining their individual roles and strengths, Tolson said with a laugh, "Mia has a lot more chef experience than I do - I'm the bar wench."
"But we're both pretty much everywhere," Mobelini chimed in. "One goes one way, and the other goes the other way. Wherever there's a hole, the other one tries to fill in. Wherever there's a need, one of us runs that direction."
It wasn't surprising that Tolson, who is hard to pin down as she constantly flits around the restaurant to greet her customers, loves the people aspect the most about her job.
Mobelini's favorite part of the restaurant business is slightly different: "I love the energy here - everybody is just really excited," she said.
It's hard not to be excited when you enter an atmosphere like Mia's, which exudes a laid-back friendliness that can't quite be explained unless you've been there.
Tolson gushed about the upstairs of the restaurant, which will soon be capable of hosting several private parties at one time, complete with an additional bar.
"It's a dining room right now, but we're going to put a bar top and a piano up there," said Tolson. "We're super excited about it. A lot of local theatre people already have plans to do dinner theatre things up there and before and after shows."
The space, which will still be open to the public during renovations, seats around 100 people.
When asked why their partnership worked so well, aside from being able to finish each other's sentences, Mobelini and Tolson shrugged.
"We're a lot alike, but a lot different," said Mobelini. "We don't know why it works."
"She's probably more business-minded than I am," Tolson suggested.
"More anal, you mean?" Mobelini added with a laugh.
"One of us has each end of the spectrum covered Ö she's more of a thinker, and I'm more of a doer," Tolson concluded.
One of Mobelini and Tolson's favorite aspects of Mia's new location is its spectacular view of the courthouse fountains.
"One of our regular customers says we're as close to the Bellagio as we're going to get with the fountain over there," said Tolson.
"Yeah, a lot of people are really excited about just being able to sit and look out the window - especially at night when the lights are on and the water is going," added Mobelini. "It's just soothing."
Above all, the most important thing to know about the new Mia's is that its business philosophy is still the same: "The lights are on, and the doors are open."
In the words of Mobelini, "We wanted everyone to feel like they were in our living room when they opened the door."