Lexington bar owned by popular DJ at UK basketball, football games closes
A Lexington bar and restaurant owned by a popular local DJ at University of Kentucky games has closed.
Sallie Jane’s, located in a strip mall at 161 E Reynolds Rd., next to Captain D’s seafood restaurant, closed recently after three years.
The bar and restaurant was owned by Warren Edwards, who is best known as DJ Warren Peace at UK basketball and football games.
Edwards has been the courtside DJ at UK men’s basketball games at Rupp Arena since the 2016-17 season, blasting tunes from the corner of the student-filled eRUPPtion Zone. He also plays at UK home football games.
Edwards ran the bar and restaurant with his mother, Nancy Ayers Edwards, who recently and unexpectantly fell ill. Edwards said he needed to close the bar to make sure she recovered.
“We didn’t have to close because of lack of support. We didn’t have to close because of lack of love in the community,” said Edwards. “If you know me, you know I love my mom, and it (her sickness) just brought a lot of things in perspective.”
Edwards said he still plans to DJ locally, including at UK games and could possibly reopen but “it won’t be in that capacity.”
Edwards and his mother opened Sallie Jane’s in 2023, dedicating the local bar to the legacy of Warren’s grandmother, Sallie Jane Walker.
For some of the time, they partnered with food provider JD’s Kitchen and Catering at the same location, but they closed in December 2025. Ever since then, Edwards says they ran their own kitchen, serving a menu of chicken wings and sandwiches.
According to Sallie Jane’s website, Edwards and his mother would “mix beats and cocktails with a touch of family magic.”
The specialty cocktail menu featured drinks like Mamma’s Punch (coconut rum, spiced rum, pineapple juice and grenadine) and Peace & Love (Hendrick’s Gin, St. Germain and a splash of soda water served over ice).
