2026 Best of Lex: Food & Drink

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Community

It’s true — Lexington loves to eat! We love to eat well, supporting a thriving local restaurant scene that rivals that of much larger cities. We here at Smiley Pete would put our culinary scene up against any other. Fortunately for those of us who like to enjoy a fine beverage with our meals, we are also the epicenter of bourbon, and our cocktail culture does not disappoint.

On the following pages, we spotlight those who are doing their part to contribute to the quality food, great service, unique ambiance, and amazing value to our dining and hospitality community. Read on to see who our readers have voted as their favorites in dozens of culinary categories!

Best Bagels

  1. Southland Bagel
  2. Great Bagel and Bakery
  3. Pearl’s
  4. Bluegrass Baking Co.

Best Bakery

  1. Martine’s Pastries
  2. European Delights Bakery
  3. Olive’s Apron
  4. Bluegrass Baking Co.

Best Bar-B-Que

  1. Blue Door Smokehouse
  2. Big Kahuna BBQ
  3. Red State BBQ
  4. Proud Mary

Best Beer Cheese

  1. Dad’s Favorite
  2. Hall’s On the River
  3. Kentucky Beer Cheese
  4. Critchfield Meats

Best Bourbon Selection (Restaurant)

  1. OBC Kitchen
  2. The Kentucky Castle
  3. Epping’s on Eastside

Best Breakfast

  1. Beau’s Cafe
  2. First Watch Daytime Café
  3. Wild Eggs
  4. Winchell’s

Best Brunch

  1. OBC Kitchen
  2. Bella Cafè and Grille
  3. First Watch Daytime Café
  4. Stella’s Kentucky Deli

Best Burger

  1. Drake’s
  2. Bella Café and Grille
  3. Shamrock Bar & Grille
  4. Banners

Best Cajun

  1. Bourbon n’ Toulouse
  2. Gumbo Yaya
  3. Proud Mary’s
  4. Louisiana Passion

Best Cakes/Cupcakes

  1. Martine’s Pastries
  2. European Delights
  3. Caramanda’s

Best Cheap Eats

  1. Big Kahuna
  2. Rosemont Station
  3. Goodfella’s
  4. Sahara

Best Chef

  1. Chef Cole Arimes (Epping’s on Eastside, Cole’s 735 Main, and V at the Vine)
  2. Chef Ouita Michel (Holly Hill & Co.)
  3. Chef Alex Green (Mileta)

Honorable Mentions:

  • Chef Jonathan Lundy (3TEN and Corto y Lima)
  • Chef John Foster (Sage Rabbit)

Ode to the Official Aroma of Lexington: Jif Peanut Butter

Smiley Pete Staff Salute

For generations, lunchtime has been synonymous with the subtly iconic peanut butter sandwich. And for most of those generations one name has been ubiquitous — Jif.

Elementary school lunches always entailed a small daily mystery: what did Mom make today from that giant jar of Jif on the counter? PB&J? Peanut butter and honey? Peanut butter and banana? 

Those memories — and millions like them — ride on the sweet, roasted scent of Jif Peanut Butter, the majority of which is produced right here in Lexington at a factory on Winchester Road. 

The brand’s roots trace back to 1946, when late Lexington businessman William T. Young created a peanut butter called Big Top. In 1955, Procter & Gamble purchased the brand and its Lexington manufacturing facilities, renaming it Jif. The brand steadily grew up and up, until 1981 when Jif officially became the biggest name in peanut butter industry. In 2001, The J.M. Smucker Company acquired the brand from P&G, continuing the half-century tradition of operating from the manufacturing facility here in Lexington — the largest peanut butter-production factory in the world.

Locals know the sweet, telltale aroma: roasting peanuts and molasses, each whiff as unmistakable as the last. When the wind is blowing just right, the delightful scent emanating from the Jif factory can drift for miles through town. While the aromatic surprise often catches outsiders off-guard, for many Lexingtonians, it smells just like home.

Best Chinese Restaurant

  1. Panda Cuisine
  2. Osaka
  3. Asian Wind

Best Cocktail Spot

  1. Mileta
  2. Carson’s Food and Drink
  3. OBC Kitchen
  4. Epping’s on Eastside

Best Coffee Shop

  1. Third Street Stuff
  2. Old School Coffee
  3. Kenwick Table

Best Destination Restaurant (within 30 miles of Lexington)

  1. Windy Corner
  2. Wallace Station
  3. The Glitz
  4. Holly Hill Inn

Best Donuts

  1. Spalding’s Bakery
  2. North Lime Coffee and Donuts
  3. Frank’s Donuts
  4. Jeff’s Donuts

Best Elevated Dining

  1. Mileta
  2. Cole’s on Main
  3. Millstone
  4. Giuseppe’s

Best Food Truck

  1. Rolling Oven
  2. Sav’s Chill
  3. Bert’s SpeakCheezy
  4. Daughter’s Southern

Best Fried Banana Peppers

  1. Hall’s On the River
  2. Winchell’s
  3. Smithtown Seafood

Best Fried Chicken

  1. Merrick Inn
  2. Critchfield Meats
  3. Grimes
  4. Indi’s

Best Hangover Restaurant

  1. Sidebar
  2. Winchell’s
  3. Goodfellas
  4. Ramsey’s

Best Happy Hour

  1. Epping’s on Eastside
  2. Mileta
  3. Banners

Best Hidden Gem

  1. Dad’s Favorite Deli
  2. South of Wrigley
  3. Wheeler’s Pharmacy
  4. Archa Nine Thai Kitchen (South Elkhorn Village)

Ode to the Speakeasy of Sandwiches: Dad’s Favorite Deli

Smiley Pete Staff Salute

Nestled deep in the arcade-style shopping center off Harrodsburg Road — past the shoe cobbler, the tailor and the classic barbershop — is a mom-and-pop sandwich deli that has steadily built a cult-like, “speakeasy of sandwiches” mystique since opening its doors in the back of Garden Springs Shopping Center in 2010.

What’s the nature of the allure? Is it the understated storefront, or the refreshingly streamlined menu? The counter-service vibe recalling the iconic soup shop owner from “Seinfeld” played by Larry Thomas (whose portrait, fittingly, hangs behind the vintage lunch counter)? Maybe it’s the ritual of waiting in a narrow hallway for a brown paper bag to emerge from the kitchen, handed off like something slightly illicit. 

Or maybe it’s simply that the food is just that damn good.

In addition to a dependable daily special and a rotating lineup of soups, Dad’s menu features a tight roster of toasted sandwiches, each centering on one of the brand’s homemade cheese spreads. No frills, no fuss — just well-executed and bold flavors.

Don’t let the lunchtime lines intimidate you — the concise menu and efficient “go on ’n git” counter service keep things rolling right along.

Best Hot Brown

  1. Ramsey’s
  2. Winchell’s Restaurant and Bar
  3. A.P. Suggins Bar & Grill
  4. Stella’s

Best Ice Cream/Gelato

  1. Crank & Boom Craft Ice Cream
  2. Graeter’s
  3. Sorella Gelateria
  4. Sav’s Chill

Best Indian Restaurant

  1. Everest Nepalese and Indian Cuisine
  2. Masala Indian Cuisine
  3. Tandoor

Best Italian Restaurant

  1. Giuseppe’s
  2. Bella Notte
  3. Mileta

Best Japanese Restaurant

  1. Omakase Sushi & Sake Bar
  2. Asuka
  3. SRO

Best Korean Restaurant

  1. K-Pot
  2. Han Woo Ri
  3. Arirang Garden
  4. DY Market

Best Late Night Eats

  1. Goodfellas Pizzeria (Mill Street)
  2. Charlie Brown’s Restaurant
  3. Drake’s

Honorable Mentions:

  • Banners
  • Sidebar

Best Local Candy Store

  1. Old Kentucky Chocolates
  2. Dahlhus Fudge
  3. Ruth Hunt

Honorable Mentions:

  • Sharp’s
  • Al-Taj Bakery

Best Local Chain Restaurant*

  1. Malone’s
  2. Carson’s Food and Drink
  3. Athenian Grill
  4. Ramsey’s Diner

*Locally owned restaurant with multiple locations

Best Local Winery

  1. Talon Winery
  2. Equus Run Vineyards
  3. Wildside Winery

Best Mediterranean/Greek Restaurant

  1. Athenian Grill
  2. Sahara
  3. Nefertiti

Best Mexican/Latin American Restaurant

  1. Mi Pequeña Hacienda
  2. Papi’s
  3. Tortilleria Y Taqueria Ramirez
  4. El Rancho Tapatio

Best Mocktail Spot

  1. Malone’s
  2. 3TEN
  3. (Tie) East End Tap and Table
  4. (Tie) OBC
  5. (Tie) Poppy’s Flower Bar

Best New Restaurant (opened in 2025)

  1. (Tie) Millstone
  2. (Tie) Char on Ashland
  3. Crust
  4. V at the Vine

Best Outdoor/Patio Dining

  1. The Merrick Inn
  2. Goodfellas
  3. Azur Restaurant & Patio

Honorable Mentions:

  • Kentucky Native Café
  • Palmer’s Fresh Grill

Best Overall Restaurant

  1. Malone’s
  2. Mileta
  3. Bella Notte

Honorable Mentions:

  • Epping’s on Eastside
  • Holly Hill Inn

Best Pimento Cheese

  1. Mousetrap
  2. Dad’s Favorite Deli
  3. Wallace Station

Best Pizza

  1. Goodfellas
  2. Joe Bologna’s
  3. Rolling Oven

Honorable Mentions:

  • Pietana
  • Smashing Tomato
  • Pearl’s

Best Pub Food

  1. Drake’s
  2. Shamrock’s
  3. Banners
  4. Winchell’s

Best Restaurant or a First Date

  1. Mileta
  2. Millstone
  3. Merrick Inn

Honorable Mentions:

  • Carson’s
  • Bella Notte
  • Giuseppe’s

Best Restaurant to Take Visitors

  1. The Kentucky Castle
  2. Merrick Inn
  3. Mileta
  4. Malone’s

Best Rooftop

  1. Lost Palm
  2. Dudley’s on Short
  3. Infinity: Rooftop Restaurant & Bar

Honorable Mentions:

  • The Kentucky Castle
  • Belle’s Cocktail House
  • V at the Vine

Best Salads

  1. Malone’s
  2. Athenian Grill
  3. Mileta
  4. Bella Cafè and Grille

Ode to Lexingtonian Salad

by Amy Eddie

There are salads — and then there is the Lexingtonian.

The Lexingtonian Salad — the classic signature BLT-style salad at Malone’s — is not flashy. It doesn’t try to confuse your palette with pickled fruit or roasted chickpeas. It simply shows up, dependable as a bluegrass sunset, piled high with cold, crunchy goodness and that unmistakable creamy herb dressing.

It arrives at the table with quiet confidence, not pretending to be anything it isn’t. A bowl of crisp lettuce has no business being this beloved, yet here we are. Generations of Lexingtonians have ordered it with the same certainty one orders a good Kentucky bourbon: without hesitation and with full trust that it will deliver.

It’s the salad that comes before great steaks and celebrations, before birthdays and business deals, before “just one more drink.” That perfectly chilled plate and alluring bottomless promise is the quiet prelude to whatever the evening becomes.

And yet somehow it steals the show.

The Lexingtonian is more than just a salad; it’s a ritual. It’s a memory. It’s the taste of countless dinners with friends and family who stayed too long, and conversations that ran well past dessert.

In a world full of complicated things, the Lexingtonian Salad remains beautifully, gloriously simple. And Lexington loves it for exactly that reason.

Best Seafood

  1. Smithtown Seafood
  2. Charlie’s Seafood
  3. Palmer’s Fresh Grill

Honorable Mentions:

  • Mileta
  • V at the Vine

Best Soul Food

  1. Mimi’s Southern Style Cooking
  2. Grime’s
  3. Indi’s

Honorable Mentions:

  • Sassy Bleu
  • Honey J’s
  • Daughter’s Southern

Best Taco

  1. Tortilleria y Taqueria Ramirez
  2. Papi’s
  3. Agave & Rye
  4. Mi Pequeña Hacienda

Best Southern Food

  1. Winchell’s
  2. Ramsey’s
  3. Merrick Inn

Honorable Mentions:

  • Windy Corner
  • Suggins

Best Steak House

  1. Malone’s
  2. Tony’s
  3. Jeff Ruby’s
  4. Blue Heron

Best Sushi

  1. Omakase
  2. Osaka
  3. SRO

Best Thai Restaurant

  1. Archa Nine Thai Kitchen
  2. Jasmine Rice Thai Restaurant
  3. Planet Thai

Honorable Mentions:

  • Nat’s
  • Bangkok House

Best Vegan Food

  1. Moody Mike’s
  2. Yalla Y’all
  3. Little Fork at Wisebird Cider

Best Vegetarian Food

  1. Everest Nepalese & Indian Cuisine
  2. Moody Mike’s
  3. Bourbon n’ Toulouse
  4. Yalla Y’all

Honorable Mentions:

  1. Little Fork at Wisebird Cider
  2. Stella’s
  3. NuHealth Kitchen
  4. Good Foods Co-op

Best Vietnamese Restaurant

  1. Pho B.C.
  2. Pho Saigon
  3. The Wok

Best Wine List

  1. Mileta
  2. Epping’s on Eastside
  3. Jeff Ruby’s
  4. Darling Wine Bar

Best Wings

  1. Wing KYng
  2. Banners
  3. KSBar
  4. AJ’s Wings & Things

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