Linda Parker is something of a culinary contortionist who truly makes food to order when, where, and how customers want it. Parker operated a restaurant in Versailles for nine years—Addie’s at the Woodford Inn—and created Stein’s as the catering part of the business. In 2019, Parker combined the concepts and opened Stein’s by Addie’s as a standalone restaurant at 450 Southland Drive.
Linda Parker
“My mother’s name was Adelyn (Addie), and she was the inspiration for the importance of family and friends around the same dinner table. My maiden name is Edelstein (Stein’s), so we put them together so people would know we were one and the same,” Parker explained. “It has a warm place in my heart to honor both my parents.”
Unfortunately, the pandemic hit shortly after Stein’s by Addie’s opened, and the restaurant paused operations.
“When it came time to reopen, we opened up as just catering instead of a deli because people were still skittish of coming in, sitting down and eating at a restaurant,” Parker said. “But they were used to coming in and picking up food.”
That initial pivot led to other offerings and business tweaks designed to accommodate diners’ preferences and dietary needs. In addition to freshly made take-and-bake meals available for pick up, Stein’s offers catering for events and offices, fundraising, charcuterie, and sit-down and takeout deli items. Stein’s also offers delivery within Fayette County at no extra charge, and Parker has recently expanded her meal delivery service to cater to college students and homebound adults who desire a hot, wholesome meal at a reasonable price. Requests for gluten-free or vegetarian meals or to accommodate specific food allergies can also be met.
“We allow them to let us know what their dietary restrictions or those dietary wants are, and we accommodate those the best we can,” Parker said.
Take-and-bake meals and sides made fresh and available frozen — including baked spaghetti, lasagna, meatloaf, and chicken pot pie — allow those pressed for time to have comfort food in a hurry, adding on a salad if desired. Entrees come in single, half-pan (3 to 4 servings), and full pan (6 to 8 servings) sizes with prices varying depending on the meal. Unlike some restaurants or premade entrees at a grocery store counter, Parker said her customers know she doesn’t keep a lot of food stored so it’s made fresh to order. This means items like chicken salad, pasta salad, and pimento cheese have a longer lifespan in customers’ homes, not languishing unknown hours or days on refrigerated shelves.
“That way you’re guaranteed a good shelf life,” she said.
She said some customers get a frozen take-and-bake entree when traveling to destinations where they’d like to contribute to the food offerings, arriving with their meal ready to bake and serve. Others buy meals to stock the fridges of ailing loved ones or to serve at a party to save time and effort.
In addition to take-and-bake meals, Stein’s by Addie’s offers catering services.
Another program she started is for real estate agents, who often buy from Stein’s for their brokerage meetings or as a housewarming gift. “We call it a Welcome Home package,” Parker said. Decades ago, new neighbors would arrive to meet movers-in and bring a pie or something to eat as a welcoming gesture, but these days that’s rare, she said. Now, real estate professionals can buy meals fresh and ready to go, stocking clients’ refrigerators so that when they arrive tired and overwhelmed on move-in day, there’s something tasty to eat with minimal effort.
“Most people just like easy, simple, and no hassle,” she said.
Pam Stilz with Bluegrass Sotheby’s International Realty has been a fan of Stein’s for two or three years and appreciates Parker’s willingness to accommodate special requests. She has ordered meals for herself (she cites the tenderloin and any vegetable dishes as favorites) and has purchased meals to help boost the spirits of ill or overstressed friends. She even used Stein’s for her young granddaughter’s Valentine’s Day gathering, which had a gluten-free stipulation for the chocolates and other goodies served.
“Stein’s did it. They made chocolate-covered strawberries that were gluten-free and milk-free, and it was really fun to be able to provide that,” Stilz said. “If you tell them there’s an allergy … they will go out of their way to make sure that particular ingredient is not included.”
Parker said she’d like a two-day notice for most orders to ensure items are fresh. Sometimes customers will call in the morning and ask her, “What’s in your freezer?” and make their selections from there, with some asking her to thaw it so it will be ready to bake when they swing by after work to pick it up. Others will send her a cherished recipe that’s beyond their own skill set or energy levels and ask Parker to make it, and she obliges.
Another creative twist is her fundraising partnerships with some local schools. A couple of times a year she’ll offer an order form for parents and staff, who can select vegetable, soup, pasta, and meat options and get a full take-and-bake meal for $50, with $10 from each order donated back to the designated school’s PTA program. Orders are fulfilled in individually marked bags for parents to pick up on the designated day in the school pickup line.
“We definitely have tried different things to recreate the wheel because, for one thing, survival,” Parker said. “This is our business. We needed to survive Covid, and post-Covid.”
Parker said she enjoys her own meals at the end of busy days, too. She said she’s a “yes person,” and if she can accommodate someone’s needs, she’s going to, and that word-of-mouth reputation has served her well, along with getting to know her customers. She’s passing on these values to a second generation. In 2008, she and her oldest daughter, Kristie Parker, attended culinary school together at Sullivan University in Lexington and they’ve since enjoyed working side-by-side in the kitchen.
“Kindness goes a long way, and it feels good for me to help someone,” Linda Parker said of the business.