Tag: food

The Historic Home of the Lexington Diner

Lexington Diner in the ca. 1806 Warfield Building. Author’s Collection.
Lexington Diner on Urbanspoon

Earlier this year, the Lexington Diner opened in the historic Dr. Walter Warfield Building at the southeast corner of Short and Upper streets. The Diner changed the culinary landscape of the corner as it abandoned the perfunctory diner fare that had been served from the site for decades. By raising standards and including locally raised ingredients and homemade dishes, the Lexington Diner has become a favorite for those living and working downtown.

It historic location is directly across from the old courthouse in the Dr. Walter Warfield Building which was built around 1806.

Dr. Warfield was a noted surgeon from the Revolutionary War from Maryland who ultimately settled in the Bluegrass as a “highly esteemed and excellent citizen.” As with any “esteemed and excellent citizen” of the day, Warfield amassed significant land holdings in the region.

From his sister-in-law, Elizabeth Christian Dickerson, Warfield purchased 1,000 acres in 1805. This land was situated in what is now both Fayette and Scott counties. Ms. Dickerson had inherited the land from her father (William Christian) in 1786; he had acquired the land (and 8,000 other acres) by grant from Virginia Governor Patrick Henry in 1779. After being sold, inherited, and divided, these acres have had a storied history with storied names in the equine industry. Today, however, much of Warfield’s acreage is now owned by the Commonwealth of Kentucky as part of the Kentucky Horse Park.

Warfield Building through the lens of Asa Chinn, ca. 1920-21. NRHP.

Downtown, Dr. Warfield had built a two-story brick building in the late-Georgian style. An 1870 remodel added the notable Mansard roof and dormers creating a third-story. A number of changes through the years have made it difficult to imagine the building’s original appearance, but some clues linger. The stone belt-course between the first and second floors, the lovely keystones over the second-story windows, and a sliver of the original stone water-table remains between the main entrance and the plain shop window.

Over the years, the building has had many varying occupants. For those who have worked downtown for years, the corner diner has taken many names. In the 1930s, it was Southern Brothers. In the 1940s, Wallace Brothers. For many years, it was A Family Affair and, more recently, it housed Della’s Diner.

The National Register listing also includes 148 West Short Street, a mid-19th century Greek Revival with gable roof and storefronts. Two story with 9 bays, a number of shops have called the building home for many, many years. The Dr. Walter Warfield Building has been and continues to be central to Lexington’s center of commerce.

An earlier version of this post was published in April 2012 when Della’s Diner occupied the spot. 

Lexington Food Trucks – There’s An App For That

Follow That Food Truck! is a free iPhone app.

One of the most exciting new developments in Lexington these days is the growth of our culinary culture. Every time I turn around, a new restaurant is popping up. And, believe me, I’m doing my best to try them all.

But there’s one particular niche of this new dining market that has really caught my attention–the food trucks. These restaurants-on-wheels have become commonplace around the streets of Lexington, ushering in a new era of eateries that didn’t even exist here just three years ago.

As fans of the food truck hunt, my friend Erik Rust and I recently began seeking these trucks out and chronicling our finds on the website lexingtonfoodtrucks.com. Before we knew it, our site had grown to host descriptions and contact information for over 30 local food trucks. Hard to believe there are that many trucks thriving in this town of 300,000.

korean beef bulgogi from fork in the road
steak chimichurri by the gastro gnomes

Everything from BBQ to Mexican to Greek to Cajun can be found on a given weekend on the streets of Lexington.

Diners can find tacos for as cheap as $1.50, or gourmet meals for $15. It’s kind of amazing actually.

Erik and I quickly learned, though, that the tricky thing about food truck dining is knowing where to find them. Blue Stallion and Country Boy host a truck almost every night, but the rest of them can be tough to track down.


We are attempting to solve this problem with a new iPhone app that we just launched in Lexington. The free app is called Follow That Food Truck! and it uses GPS to display the location of all active food trucks. Several trucks have signed on already and more are adding each day.

Whether this new food truck movement in our town is a response to the lean business strategies of the economic recession or whether it’s the way of the future for culinary startups is hard to say, but it has definitely taken hold here.

I encourage you to check out a food truck or two this weekend and take in a new dining experience. You can find all of the trucks on our website or on the app in real-time. It’s a great way to support the local economy. And besides, it’s totally worth it.

This post is a guest post by Josh Boldt, cofounder of lexingtonfoodtrucks.com.