Seven Lexington, Central Kentucky breweries where the food is just as good as the beer

With the recent brewery boom, Lexington and Central Kentucky have seen an explosion of micro-breweries popping up with their own IPAs, Pale Ales, ciders and more.

Along with the barrage of good brews, many of these watering holes are also serving up some pretty good food as well.

Items range from traditional bar food like pizza and nachos to finely crafted courses like country fried steak, crab cakes, steak burgers, beer-steamed franks and brats with house-made sauerkraut and more.

We’ve sought out to uncover just what’s getting cooked up inside nearby breweries in Lexington and Central Kentucky. While many local breweries regularly welcome food trucks to their campuses, this guide and list will focus only on those that run or rent out brick and mortar kitchen space on their premises. With that criteria established, here are the seven best food options to go with a pint from the area’s bevy of breweries.

Salt & Vinegar at Blue Stallion Brewing Company

Salt & Vinegar, which has occupied Blue Stallion’s kitchen since February 2021, serves up traditional German flavors like bratwursts, country fried steaks (done schnitzel-style) and obatzda (a Bavarian cheese spread whipped with Blue Stallion’s Dunkel and served with a pretzel) to go with the brewery’s doppelbocks, goses, dunkels and other brews.

According to Salt & Vinegar owner/chef Greg Spaulding, the kitchen’s most popular item is the bratwurst made from whole pigs from Sunwatch Homestead in Lancaster. Seasoned with a blend of in-house spices and ground up again for maximum flavor, you can order as a traditional brat or as a corndog.

With a seasonal menu that takes advantage of Kentucky Proud produce, there’s always something new to try at Salt & Vinegar. The menu is revamped four times per year, the latest at the begining of September.

Address: 610 W Third St.

Salt & Vinegar Hours: 11 a.m.-2 p.m. and 4-9 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday

Online: SaltNVinegarLex.com, BlueStallionBrewing.com

Country Boy Brewing Kitchen

Country Boy Brewing launched The Kitchen in its Georgetown and Lexington taprooms in 2018 according to marketing director Pete Weiss.

While the menus at each location deviate slightly because of kitchen equipment, Weiss said the most popular items at each are the same: smoked wings, pulled pork and nachos (topped with your choice of pulled pork or chicken).

Unique items only found at the Georgetown taproom include a roast beef and beer cheese sandwich, southwest turkey sandwich and beer chili. Meanwhile in Lexington, exclusive food items range from a chicken sandwich wrap to a “Bubby Burger” (made your way) plus hand-breaded chicken tenders.

The kitchens at both locations also craft their own sauces and rubs, resulting in signature flavors that compliment Country Boy’s staple beers like Cougar Bait and Shotgun Wedding.

Address: 101 Innovation Way, Georgetown, and 436 Chair Ave., Lexington

Georgetown Kitchen Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Wednesday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Thursday-Saturday

Lexington Kitchen Hours: 4-9 p.m. daily

Online: CountryBoyBrewing.com

Goodwood Lexington Brewpub

Louisville-based Goodwood Brewing launched its Lexington operation in December 2020 and has hit the ground running in its kitchen with southern-inspired dishes and sauces made in-house with their own beers.

Rebecca Redding, Goodwood’s vice president of marketing, says that the brewpub’s most popular appetizers include its Bavarian pretzel (served with Louisville Lager beer cheese, Goodwood IPA beer mustard and garlic oil) and Buffalo Cauliflower (a beer battered cauliflower tossed in Goodwood’s Buffalo Hot Sauce, bleu cheese crumbles, pickled celery and house-made buttermilk ranch). Other top eats are wings (with your choice of seven sauces including Walnut Brown Ale BBQ Sauce and Spicy Mango Habanero), burgers like the Waylon (a beer-braised and brisket-topped burger with Goodwood’s BBQ sauce, crispy onions and swiss cheese) and chicken and waffles.

In addition to being on the regular menu, the chicken and waffles are also served during Goodwood’s brunch (11 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday-Sunday) along with sweet potato beignets, steak and egg hash and the Brunchie Burger (topped with a fried green tomato). Off-menu seasonal specials like a hot chicken sandwich are also available.

Address: 200 Lexington Green Circle, #110

Brewpub Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Online: Goodwoodbrewing.com

Rolling Oven pizza at Mirror Twin Brewing Co.

Rolling Oven found immediate success launching it’s wood-fired pizza food truck in 2013. In 2016 that success led to a brick and mortar expansion inside the kitchen at Mirror Twin Brewing Co. In 2018, Rolling Oven went a step further with its own standalone restaurant and taproom in Versailles.

At its Mirror Twin operation, Rolling Oven’s original brick and mortar venture still runs out of the brewery’s original taproom at 725 National Ave. The menu includes fan favorite pizzas like the honey garlic chicken, buffalo chicken and classic pepperoni. Appetizers like the jalapeño popper cheese sticks, sandwiches like the Cuban and an all-new, fire-roasted meatball skillet are also hits according to owner Nick Ring.

Rolling Oven also has two ovens and a full bar next door at Mirror Twin’s 723 site (formerly Cosmic Charlies) where it serves up it’s traditional collection of pizza pies alongside brunch on Sundays from 11 a.m.-3 p.m. That menu includes items like panko-fried French toast and an Italian Stallion Bloody Mary featuring a slice of pepperoni pizza on top as a garnish.

Address: 723 and 725 National Ave.

Rolling Oven Hours: 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m. daily

Online: MirrorTwinBrewing.com, RollingOven.com

Sig Luscher Brewery

Founded in Frankfort in 1866, Sig Luscher Brewery didn’t begin serving food until moving to its current location in 2018, according to President Timothy Luscher. From day one at the new spot, the brewery has been offering beer-steamed franks and brats with house-made sauerkraut. Recently during the pandemic the brewery expanded its assortment of toppings to include everything from vegan chili to beer cheese and pineapple.

Luscher says that that a reuben-style brat (covered in sauerkraut and Thousand Island dressing on a rye bun) is the brewery’s most popular food item followed by Sig’s Smokehouse Burgoo, a Luscher family recipe using smoked pork, beef and chicken that is slow simmered for 14-20 hours.

If those don’t suit your appetite, consider stopping by the brewery for brunch on Sunday mornings from 11 a.m.-2 p.m. (or until supplies run out) for a taste of shrimp and grits, biscuits and gravy (with local sausage), house-made tomato pie and open-faced country ham biscuits with pepper jelly.

Address: 221 Mero St., Frankfort

Hours: Monday-Wednesday 11 a.m.-9 p.m., Thursday-Saturday 11 a.m.-10 p.m., Sunday 11 a.m.-6 p.m.

Online: SigLuscherBrewery.com

Versailles Brewing Company

With its kitchen launching in December 2017 and its brewery following 12 months later, Versailles Brewing Company is the only brewery on this list that started cooking before it was serving pints. As such, the restaurant and brewery has a wide-ranging menu that features everything from steakburgers to tacos, flatbread pizzas, pulled pork sandwiches, wings and more.

Managing Member Gary Jones says the restaurant’s most popular appetizers are its wings pretzel and beer cheese platter. Top-selling entrées are its steak burgers (like the Go Big Blue Burger served with blue cheese crumbles, lettuce and tomato on a brioche bun) and tacos (like the smoked pulled pork, chipotle chicken, grilled veggie and fried Alaskan whitefish).

Most of the food is locally sourced, with many of the vegetables and meat on the menu coming from nearby Deuce Springs, a 300 acre farm just outside town.

Address: 513 Marsailles Rd, Versailles

Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Online: VbcTaproom.com

Smithtown Seafood at West Sixth Brewing

Nearly a year and a half after West Sixth’s launch, Smithtown Seafood joined inside the brewery’s northside digs in September 2013, a partnership that remains to this day. A product of Chef Ouita Michel, Smithtown Seafood serves everything from oyster platters to fish n chips, burgers, fish tacos and more.

According to chef Agnes Marrero, the classic fish n’ chips platter is the top-seller and consists of West Sixth beer-battered cod served with fries, hushpuppies, creamy slaw and your choice of sauce. Another popular item is the buffalo catfish bites, a Kentucky Proud product served with blue cheese celery slaw and smoked tomato ranch dressing.

Daily specials are also offered such as a crab cake platter on Tuesdays and rotating weekend specials starting Friday that vary depending on what fresh seafood and produce is available. There’s also several secret menu items that Schroeder wouldn’t spill the beans on that you’ll have to discover for yourself.

Smithtown Seafood is very much farm-to-table, working closely with local farmers and entities like Food Chain, another tenant in the building that raises tilapia on an aquaponics farm with feed from spent grain from the brewing process. In addition to tilapia, the farm grows lettuce, basil, kale, and microgreens that are used on salads and sandwiches inside the restaurant.

Address: 501 W Sixth St

Smithtown Seafood Hours: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday-Thursday, 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Friday-Saturday

Online: WestSixthBrewing.com/Lexington, SmithtownSeafood.com

This story was originally published October 6, 2021 at 6:00 AM.