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Burger Shake sign, 1999
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Saratoga restaurant, 1978
The Saratoga restaurant at 856 East High Street was a Chevy Chase landmark and was known for its characters: bookies, college professors, socialites and city hall types. Totsie Rose opened it in 1953 and named it after the famous Saratoga Race Course in New York. This photograph is from April 10, 1978. Ted Mims owned it from 1977 to 1989. He bought it from Ed Whitlock, who had bought it from Rose. Rob Ramsey and Joe Reilly, co-owners of Ramsey’s Diner, also owned it for a short time. A Toga menu, served from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday, featured Mrs. McKinney’s snappy beer cheese ($2.95), fried bologna ($2.50), cold meatloaf on white ($4.95) and a fried egg sandwich ($2.50). The hot plate special for a Kentucky Derby weekend was chicken and dumplings for $6.95. Photo by John C. Wyatt | Staff
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Dudley’s former home, 2001
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Gratzi’s becomes Fazoli’s, 1989
Martin Sherrod, left and Clint Sherrod of the Sherrod Sign Co. changed the sign on Gratzi’s, on North Broadway in Lexington, to its new name, Fazoli’s, on Feb. 10, 1989. Jerrico’s first Italian fast-food first restaurant on North Broadway near the Interstate 75-64 interchange had been operated by Jerrico as Gratzi’s name since September 1988. But surveys of potential customers showed that they confused the name — taken from the Italian word for “thank you” — with the name of Canadian-born hockey player Wayne Gretzky, said Robert L. Sirkis, Jerrico’s executive vice president. After hiring three naming firms and looking at tens of thousands of names, Jerrico decided to replace Gratzi’s with Fazoli’s, which means … nothing. “It is completely made up,” Sirkis said. Fazoli’s, based in Lexington, currently operates 217 restaurants in 26 states. Photo by Clay Owen | Staff
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Lexington’s first White Castle restaurant, 1980
Crowds lined up inside and stretched out the door when Lexington’s first White Castle restaurant opened on Dec. 1, 1980. One day shortly after its opening, the restaurant at New Circle and Bryan Station roads sold 47,000 hamburgers — at 26 cents a piece. Almost exactly one year later, a second White Castle opened on East Reynolds Road. Both restaurants remain open today. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
The menu inside Lexington’s first White Castle restaurant in December 1980. Photo by E. Martin Jessee | Staff
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Allman’s Restaurant catches fire again, 1976
Firefighters from Clark and Madison counties fought to save Allman’s Restaurant on Athens-Boonesboro Road on May 15, 1976. The popular restaurant overlooking the Kentucky River had previously burned in 1974. It burned again in 1978 and did not reopen. No one was hurt in the 1976 fire, which was caused by a water boiler. The restaurant is known as the home of the original beer cheese, which can be traced back to the 1940s and the restaurant known as Johnny Allman’s. Owner, John Allman had a cousin named Joe Allman, a chef living in Phoenix, who is said to have created the original beer recipe. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
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The first Long John Silver’s, 1981
Gene Stathas left after eating at the very first Long John Silver’s on June 8, 1981, at 301 Southland Drive in Lexington. It originally was called the Cape Codder, and Jerrico Inc. renamed it Long John Silver’s and opened for business on Aug. 18, 1969. Lexington-based Jerrico also operated Jerry’s restaurants and founded Fazoli’s. Jerrico was taken private in 1989 in a $626 million leveraged buyout, leaving Long John Silver’s with $275 million in high-interest debt. The company struggled with the debt, and Long John Silver’s sought bankruptcy protection in June 1998. A year later, A&W bought the chain for $220 million and then was bought by Louisville-based Yum Brands several years later. Private investors made a successful bid to buy the LJS Brand in September 2011. Currently, there are more than 1,100 Long John Silver’s restaurants worldwide, but the restaurant above closed on July 3, 1991, and the property is now a styling salon. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
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Brooking’s restaurant, 1982
Brooking’s Restaurant at 504 East Euclid Avenue, near the intersection of Woodland Avenue on November 7, 1982. G.E. “Ed” Brooking opened the restaurant, near UK’s campus, in 1938. It became famous for chili, which Brooking began serving in 1945. Kentucky basketball coach Adolph Rupp called it the best chili in Lexington and was a frequent customer. Brooking died in 1982, and his son Harold ran the restaurant until it served its last bowl of chili on June 1, 1991. It is now a hookah lounge called Off Tha Hookah. Photo by David Perry | Staff
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Pineville Burger Queen, 1980
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Magee’s Bakery, 1990
Joyce Higgins, who co-owned Magee’s Bakery with her husband, Ralph, displayed Christmas cookies, petits fours and other treats on Dec. 6 1990. The popular bakery on Lexington’s Main Street is celebrating 60 years as a family-owned business. Photo by Jennifer Podis | Staff
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Kenny Rogers Roasters, 1996
Kenny Rogers Roasters in Patchen Village on Richmond Road, May 12, 1996. The chicken restaurant chain was founded in 1991 by musician Kenny Rogers and former Kentucky Gov. John Y. Brown Jr. The chain grew to 350 restaurants worldwide and was even featured in a popular episode of the T.V. show Seinfeld. In 1998, the complany filed for bankruptcy and closed many of its restaurants. The two in Lexington — the other was in Turfland Mall — closed in early 1999. Today the Richmond Road site in this photo is now a Rite Aid drugstore. Some Kenny Rogers restaurants remain open in Asia. Photo by Drew Fritz
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Construction along Nicholasville Road, 1985
Storm and sanitary sewer construction along Nicholasville Road, shown at left, on May 8, 1985. The area shown is just south of Fayette Mall, near where what is now the Courtesy Acura dealership and Bella Notte restaurant. In the background, West Tiverton Way can bee seen running horizontally. Visible is Brecher’s Lighting store, which is there today, and a Lowe’s home improvement store. That Lowe’s store closed when a newer, bigger one was built just up the road in a shopping center near the Man o’ War intersection in spring 1998. Click on the image for a larger view. Photo by David Perry | Staff
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Nickel beer, whiskey, sandwiches at downtown Lexington bar, 1949
For a couple of hours on June 14, 1949, Fisher’s Bar, 105 North Limestone, was jammed with patrons. The reason? Nickel beer and whiskey and five-cent sandwiches. According to the Deptment of Labor, a nickel then had the same buying power as 50 cents today. Nearly 600 male customers were served from 2 to 4 p.m., and the photo shows only about half the crowd. Popular-brand blended and bonded whiskeys, beer, and a variety of sandwiches sold for five cents. Bar owner George West said, “The drinks and eats are on the house — almost.” The bar was where Sam’s Hot Dog Stand is now. Published in the Lexington Herald on June 15, 1949. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
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A1A Sandbar and Grille, 2003
The patio area of A1A Sandbar and Grille, overlooking a sand volleyball court, on June 18, 2003, in downtown Lexington. The bar used to be on Wilhite Drive but moved to 367 East Main Street in 1994. It closed in 2004 and became several bars in the years after. In April, the building on Main Street was sold for $1.2 million to a developer who plans a five-story mixed-use building. The building was being torn down June 6, 2016. Photo by Mark Cornelison | Staff
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Saratoga restaurant, 1978
The dining room of the Saratoga Restaurant, 856 East High Street in Lexington, in April 1978. The Saratoga was a Chevy Chase landmark and was known for its characters: bookies, college professors, socialites and City Hall types. Tommy “Totsie” Rose opened it in 1953 and named it after the famous Saratoga Race Course in New York. Ted Mims owned it from 1977 to 1989. He bought it from Ed Whitlock, who had bought it from Rose. Rob Ramsey and Joe Reilly, co-owners of Ramsey’s Diner, owned it for a short time. A late-night Toga menu, served from 10 p.m. to 1 a.m. Monday through Saturday, featured Mrs. McKinney’s snappy beer cheese ($2.95), fried bologna ($2.50), cold meatloaf on white ($4.95) and fried egg sandwich ($2.50). The hot plate special for a Derby weekend was chicken and dumplings for $6.95. Click here to see an exterior view of the restaurant. Photo by John C. Wyatt | Staff
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Rogers Restaurant, 1965
George Rogers in front of his restaurant at 601 West Main Street in June 1965 after announcing plans to move the popular eatery to 808 South Broadway. Rogers had bought a former confectionery at Jefferson and West Main streets in 1923. Rogers Restaurant featured home-style cooking and included hams he cured himself from hogs raised on his farm in Woodford Count. He sold the restaurant in 1974 to Charles Ellinger, who bought it as a Valentine’s gift to his wife, Jan. The Ellingers’ son, Chuck, eventually took over the restaurant. Lexington’s oldest restaurant closed its doors on July 17, 2004. Published in the Lexington Herald June 19, 1965. Herald-Leader Archive Photo
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Applebee’s original Richmond Road restaurant, 1988
Applebee’s restaurant, the the first business to open at French Quarter Square on Richmond Road, on Aug. 8, 1988. This restaurant, operated by Lexington company Thomas and King Inc., was the nation’s leading Applebee’s restaurant for many years, Adam Edelen, a spokesman for Thomas & King, said in 2007. A shortage of parking and the landlocked location prohibited growth after a certain point, so it later moved down Richmond Road on the on the vacant Lexington Mall property, opening a new flagship restaurant on Sept. 2007. Last week, RMH Franchising, which in 2013 bought more than 80 Applebee’s Grill and Bar franchises from Thomas & King, announced that the restaurant on the former Lexington Mall property, now Southland Christian Church, will close. Photo by Charles Bertram | Staff
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Max’s Loudon Square Buffet, 1990
Max Flannery, owner of Max’s Loudon Square Buffet on North Broadway in Lexington, Feb. 20, 1990. The cult restaurant, which has thrived for 42 years, is known for its avid followers. Photo by Michael Clevenger
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Green Lantern restaurant, 1979
Virginia “Mom” Haycraft, left, and Lorraine Taylor behind the bar at the Green Lantern restaurant at East Seventh Street and Elm Tree Lane in January 1979. Haycraft owned and operated the restaurant since 1940 and Taylor had worked there for 30 years. The Green Lantern became a popular hangout with Transylvania University students starting in 1960. Click on the photo for a better view of the items for sale behind the bar. Published in the Lexington Herald-Leader on Jan. 17, 1979. Photo by Ron Garrison | Staff
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Lexington dining guide, 1976
A dining and entertainment guide for Lexington, published in the Oct. 3, 1976, Herald-Leader. Some of the popular places were The Springs, Blue Boar, The Zebra Lounge and Roger’s Restaurant. Dining establishments shown here that exist today include Alfalfa’s and Merrick Inn. Click on the image for a closer look.
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