If you live in Kentucky, or are from Kentucky but have left for some crazy reason, then chances are that you're a fan of the University of Kentucky Wildcats. Over here at Bluegrass Bourbon and Eats you'll find some of the biggest Wildcat fans that ever fanned, and since we're die-hards for the blue and white it's all but guaranteed that you'll find us huddled around our phones between 10 and noon every day to hear the wonderfully goofy – yet very informative - banter between Matt Jones and the guys from Kentucky Sports Radio (first time caller, long time blogger - hooah!). If you've ever wondered about the latest news concerning UK sports, but also wanted to hear about some very random topics (I'm talking wrestling, weird facts, food brackets, whatever you want to talk about really), then KSR is the show for you! Matt and the gang recently opened up their very own sports bar here in Lexington called KSBar and Grille, and as huge fans you know we had to go to the new mecca of sports bars here in the central Kentucky area.

The guys spent a lot of time working on the layout of KSBar; from the staggering amount of TVs to all of the UK memorabilia (a lot of which was crowd-sourced from the fans themselves), the KSR crew really went above and beyond to make sure Kentucky's biggest fans had somewhere fun and inviting to come and watch pretty much any sporting event imaginable. There is a huge 9-panel TV near the entrance to the bar, as well as a ticker that runs across the top of the bar with news updates on your favorite sports teams across the country; it’s a lot like the little blurbs that run across the bottom of your TV screen when you’re watching ESPN. They even have a little desk as you walk into the restaurant where they record the myriad podcasts that air on the Kentucky Sports Radio podcast network, featuring the KSR Football Podcast, the Aaron Torres Podcast, OTT with Tyler Thompson, the Free Money Podcast…the list goes on and on. And this is just what you see as you walk in; it's worth taking a walk around and seeing all of the cool history on the walls, from signed jerseys to Richie Farmer's backboard to the goal post from 2007 when we beat the #1 LSU tigers here at Commonwealth Stadium/Kroger Field. The outdoor area is equally as nice, with lots of tables to sit at and several more TVs so you can see all the action without having to be inside; Matt even invites fans to bring lawn chairs and hang out on the sidewalk during big games...how cool is that?!  With a location on Broadway that's basically right in between Kroger Field and Rupp Arena, it's the perfect place to hit up before or after any football or basketball game; they even partner with LexTran to provide a shuttle service to both venues (football only for now, but a basketball shuttle will start up once the season starts), so you can just drop your car off at KSBar and have a worry-free day of sports enjoyment!

We made our first trip down to KSBar for lunch a couple of weeks ago to try out the limited menu; we wanted to try the full menu but honestly we just couldn't wait any longer – we had to get in there and see if KSBar lived up to the hype. As a matter of fact, my cousin Nick and his wife Dawn had already been, and Nick had a review of the wings that was so impressive I'm going to include it here:

"Most wing joints, dare I say even the 'best' tend to use exotic sauce combinations to mask a less than stellar hunk of chicken. The wings come to your table swimming in sauce, promising a trip to the laundry room to spot-treat your favorite UK football shirt.

 The wings at KSBar are not your run-of-the-mill wings. They are the best I've ever had, and trust me when I say the sample size is large. Let's start with the base: the wings were of decent size, but what sets them apart is the meaty goodness. They were lean and juicy and cooked to perfection. The dry rub finish was fantastic, seasoned just right. I sampled two sauces: the Sweet Thai Chili and the Bourbon BBQ. Both were excellent, providing just the right accompaniment to the wing without overpowering the chicken. Fantastico!"

Now that's a wing review I can get behind! The excitement from those two paragraphs had us running to try out the limited menu the very next day! We sat down by the bar and started off with an appetizer; the Shagari Alleyne-sized mozzarella Cheese Logs. That's right...logs. I thought that might be an exaggeration to make for a funny menu item but when they came out to us they were HUGE!! I've never seen a cheese stick this big in my entire life. And boy were they good; they came with a marinara dipping sauce that has to have been homemade with real tomato sauce and everything. I would highly recommend those logs for sure! We tried a couple of the entrees that were available on the limited menu: Renee had the BBQ pulled chicken sandwich and I had the chicken and waffles. The BBQ was pretty comparable to any of the local BBQ joints around town, and the sauces really brought everything together! The chicken and waffles dish a definite treat; the chicken strips were coated in the KSR sauce (a sweet-yet-hot flavor that’s super good!), and the waffles are deep-fried and have a hint of cinnamon to them that was figuratively blowing my mind! We also tried both of the frozen concoctions that are served behind the bar - the bushwhacker and the bourbon and Ale-8 slush, featuring Maker’s Mark bourbon. Drinking either of these drinks is like having an alcoholic milkshake, which is the best of both worlds!

UPDATE: We very recently came back to KSBar with our new blogging partner, Nathan, and this time we got to experience the newly-released full menu. For appetizers we started out with the KSBar and Grille Sampler: consisting of Smoked Stuff Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeños, House Chips Loaded to the Ceiling, and the aforementioned Cheese Logs, this is the grandaddy of all sampler platters! It basically has all the good apps all served up on one big plate. We also grabbed some of those famous wings that my cousin Nick raved about, and we totally agree with his sentiments - hands down the best wings around, and it’s not even close! Seeing the new menu meant that we had all kinds of new entrees to choose from; Renee had the Fried Chicken Sandwich with American cheese and fries, Nathan had the Bourbon burger with no onions and coleslaw, and I had the Shrimp and Grits with beer cheese and peppers and onions. I think it’s safe to say that between the three of us we didn’t have any complaints - Nathan’s burger was one of the best he’s had, Renee’s chicken sandwich left her feeling full and happy, and my Shrimp and Grits were super flavorful. If you would have told me that my dish was $25 I wouldn’t have argued but guys…it’s $15! All of the food that we’ve had has been very good and very reasonably priced, which is pretty much a slam dunk if you ask us! We rounded out the meal with a slice of Derby pie from Missy’s, a local bakery that you may recognize if you’ve ever eaten at Ramsey’s here in Lexington; we let Renee try this out for us since Nathan was pretty full and I’m allergic to tree nuts, and she loved every single bite! I don’t know if you all can tell but we really enjoy KSBar and we would highly recommend it for everyone in Kentucky!

Kentucky Sports Radio has been an almost daily part of our lives for quite a while now (Renee has been listening since nearly the beginning, and I started following about 3 years ago), and it has had a huge impact on us both. We're both more informed and interested than ever about UK sports, and I dare say that it's brought us closer together as friends too! It seems like every day we're laughing about something groan-inducing from Ryan, doubling over retelling Drew's hilarious jokes, and discussing one of Matt's many topics of the day. And I would be fooling myself if I didn't include Shannon The Dude…it's become a fun game between us to guess which songs he's going to play during the show purely based on the topic at hand. Needless to say we're fans of these guys, and now we're fans of their awesome restaurant. So get on down there and check it out if you haven't already, and until next time…we'll see ya later, this has been Bluegrass Bourbon and Eats!