Limestone Blue - Lexington, KY
The bar, with a very intriguing drink menu!
When Renee and I decided to embark on this food and drink journey throughout the great state of Kentucky, we thought it would be a good idea to start locally here in Lexington. And what better place to start than the downtown area! To me, one of the most important areas of downtown Lexington is the NoLi district, comprising of local businesses and community programs that are helping to make the north end of the Limestone area a great place to live and hang out. It's a cool organization that does a lot for the community, and we hope to be able to include a lot of their businesses in our quest for awesome local cuisine across the bluegrass state. So imagine my delight when we rounded the corner of Short Street and Limestone and saw a NoLi sticker in the doorway of Limestone Blue! I couldn't wait to get inside and see what they had to offer.
The Gray with Grippo's mac & cheese, Renee's sandwich of choice.
I've always heard great things about Limestone Blue, and once we stepped inside the door to this teeny eatery I was instantly in love. There's a very mellow atmosphere within the walls, which also happen to be adorned with the work of local artists (something I really like about businesses downtown; they really embrace the local art scene). The place was full of all kinds of different people enjoying lunch, and we found a nice spot in the back near the bar with the cutest blue and white mosaic table top. We really took in the menu, which had sooo many sandwich options to choose from, and finally landed on a couple of them to try. I had the Southwells Beer Cheese sandwich, comprised of pulled chicken, beer cheese, lettuce, tomato, and bacon on ciabatta bread; I highly recommend it, because not only do I love (read: LOVE) beer cheese, I also think that the combination of beer cheese and chicken is amaze-balls! Renee opted for the Gray, much like my sandwich of choice (nix the beer cheese and add some BBQ sauce - can't go wrong with that!), but just dissimilar enough that you get a completely different flavor, both of which are pretty dang tasty!
Southwells Beer Cheese sandwich with Grippo's mac & cheese, seconds before being inhaled by Sara.
Now I also have to mention that the biggest draw of patrons into Limestone Blue may actually not be an entree at all - I'd argue that it's their daily mac & cheese specials. Yes, you read that right - mac & cheese. I'm gonna let you guys in on a little secret about me; I don't particular care for mac & cheese (especially the shells and cheese, it may be my least favorite of all the macaronis), but the options sounded so good we both had to give it a try. We were dining on a Friday afternoon, which meant we got the best daily special of all; Grippo's mac & cheese. Renee and I are both huge Grippo's freaks, so we both got a side to go with our sandwiches. Remember how I don't like mac & cheese all that much? Well, I'm here to tell you that the Limestone Blue version may have changed my whole outlook on shells and cheese for life - and that's saying a lot!
Being centrally located on heavily-commuted Limestone Avenue makes Limestone Blue accessible to everyone; office workers from nearby law firms and courthouses, college students from Transylvania University and the University of Kentucky, visitors from out of town checking out the local scene in the horse capital of the world, etc. Parking for this hip little joint is first-come-first-serve for metered street parking, with a couple of paid garages very nearby. As with most of the other restaurants in the area, Limestone Blue is close to several points of interest, which makes it a great place to stop in while taking in the beautiful scenery that is downtown Lexington. And if you happen to stop in for dinner, you can try out their pizza menu; it looks amazing from the online menu, but they don't serve it until after 4pm. I suppose that just gives us a good reason to head back in again soon! Check them out and let us know what you think, we hope you like what they're cooking up just as much as we do!
