Roadfood in Kentucky

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties 
- Pit Stops for food in Kentucky

Kentucky has always been an interesting place to me. So much so that I have a huge google maps guide of roadfood to check out throughout the state. I've always wanted to take a road trip through there and explore the region. I've never been able to do one solely focused on the Bluegrass State but I have driven through there more than a few times over the years and whenever I do I always find interesting spots to stop at. Here's five from two separate trips I took to North Carolina and Florida. 

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150 Quick Stop (Bardstown)

This gas station / convenience store is home to some of the best breakfast sausage in the world. You'll find it in Bardstown which is in the heart of the states bourbon producing territory (about an hour southeast of Louisville). I was turned onto to this top sausage by Chef Newman Miller, a friend of mine who lives in the area. Actually he and the sausage at 150 Quick Stop made an appearance in an article at Food & Wine Magazine which you can see HERE. The recipe to this sausage might've been won in a local poker game, or lost depending on how you look at it. So the story goes the owners of the truck stop beat a local butcher in a poker game and won his breakfast sausage recipe in doing so. It's a spicy sage forward blend with plenty of red pepper flakes found throughout. If you show up early enough you can try it in a biscuit as they make up to 600 a day. I arrived around 11a on my visit and it was already too late to score a sausage biscuit but they also sell it raw in two sizes and since we were on our way to Carolina for a week of outdoor stuff so I made sure to grab some for the AirBNB. It really is the best damn sausage I've ever had as far as the breakfast variety goes. Oh so f'ing good. 

Breakfast Sausage from 150 Quick Stop 
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Wilson's Pool Room (Versailles) 

Ever had Pool Hall Grub in Kentucky? Ya that's a thing. Handfuls of pool halls are hanging on around the Bluegrass State and each one serves up some form of locally loved grub be it chili dogs, burgers, or both. Below is the Willie Burger from an old pool hall in Bourbon Country. Nothing special as far as the prep or dressing of it (fresh ball of beef lightly smashed with lettuce, tomato, mayo, onion) but it was one of the best burgers I had that year. I had to pass on the country ham sandwich bc this was a second lunch so I limited myself to just one choice for the sake of this massive food database that I continue to build. I hope to add a few more Kentucky pool halls at some point before they all close. 

Willie Burger at Wilson's Pool Room 
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Tortilleria Y Taqueria Ramirez (Lexington)

If you ever find yourself in or passing through Lexington (aka Mexington) you got to stop at Taqueria Ramirez. There's a sizeable Mexican population in both Lexington and Louisville and lots of taco spots too. If you only have time for one of them I suggest this family owned taqueria that serves up the best tacos in the U.S. I've ever had outside of California, Texas and Illinois. Upon entry you're greeted by a big assembly line production of corn tortillas made with Weisenberger Mills corn from Midway, Kentucky, a place famous for its grits. The fillings include options like cabeza, lengua and barbacoa with each of them being as good as the last. This is a real blue blood type of taqueria.  

Tacos at Tortilleria Y Taqueria Ramirez 
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G&E Burgers (Williamsburg)

As regular readers know I'm a big fan of regional food and an even bigger fan of hyper local dishes like the Eastern Kentucky Chili Bun. A chili bun is simply a chili dog without the wiener. It's said that these first started to appear at the pool halls in the area around the 1950's. They made for a cheap and tasty snack for the local miners and others who hung out at these pool halls after work and what not. I had plans to stop at a different spot but it was suddenly closed due to the passing of the owner. Luckily G&E Burgers was just down the block which gives you an idea of the chili buns prevalence in these parts. If you grew up or lived anywhere near Appalachia you likely have a favorite spot for one and or an old family recipe. The bun is dressed with mustard and onions before the sauce goes on. The chili here is a well spiced meat forward blend with minimal tomato detected. It wasn't spicy but had plenty of buzz. Also of note was a side of "soup beans" that come with the chili bun meal. Pintos are a big part of the Appalachian diet and soup beans as they're called are commonly served with cornbread, greens, and potatoes and considered both a main course and also a side dish.

Chili Bun at G&E Burgers
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Dovie's (Tompkinsville)

Our final stop is one of the most interesting stops you can make on the Roadfood circuit. But it's a bit out of the way from any major highway so it's also somewhat elusive. Dovie's is home to some killer burgers (literally). They've been frying up balls of beef since 1940. When I first found this place searching through food stops in random Kentucky towns I thought I came across a relatively unknown place but then I checked the Insta check-ins and saw that a few fellow burger connoisseurs had already been here (@motzburger @burgerbeast @jcstrutz). So I knew it would be a fun one and it was. Particularly made so by the handful of local ladies who run the place. It's quite a riot inside as far as the atmosphere goes and quite the heart stopper on the burger (and baloney) front. I ordered mine "unsqueezed" which means they don't release any of the oil that the beef soaks up while frying. 

Cheeseburger at Dovie's

Baloney Sandwich at Dovie's 
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Roadfood in Kentucky (2015)

Stopping in at Three Paducah Favorites (2019)

Eating BIG in Louisville

See ya next time @chibbqking