
Chathams-284x300.jpg
The exterior of Chatham’s Southern Comfort Food on the corner of High and Woodland.
Lexington, KY – On East High Street a new restaurant has opened in the space long occupied by Ramsey’s.
Chatham’s Southern Comfort Food, owned by Charles Patterson, aims to serve up southern comfort food that’s even better than homemade.
“It’s what will sell in this town,” Patterson said of his menu choice. “With this having been a restaurant before that had that type of food, I didn’t want to change what the neighborhood had been enjoying for over 25 years.”
Originally from Lexington, Patterson took his first cooking job when he was 13 years old. “I worked in fine dining in Charleston for a long time,” he said, “I always wanted to move back to Lexington where I grew up.”
Patterson said he hopes to improve upon the standard set by previous restaurants by introducing more variety and signature dishes influenced by his time spent in South Carolina.
The menu will include everything from favorites such as meatloaf and shrimp and grits, to grilled pork chops and a deep-fried bacon wrapped hot dog.
“We have great burgers,” Patterson said. “We have a butter burger where we actually put butter and seasonings into the meat.”
Everything is also made in house, from salad dressings to gravies and stocks. “We try to kick the food up a little bit,” Patterson said.
While Patterson hasn’t fully decided on opening and closing times Chatham’s is open daily for lunch and dinner.
“We’re tweaking the menu right now, we’ll probably run for about a week [after we get our liquor license] and then we’ll do a big, grand opening,” Patterson said about
“It’s good to get into this for at least a month before you really try to blow it up because you need to get your staff trained, your food right, and get through all the quirky problems”
“I just appreciate the response we’ve had so far from the people of Lexington,” Patterson added, “it’s been a very, very good response”