Reggae and rum: Relive the fun of Atomic Cafe with two signature drink recipes
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Cooking with the past
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Reggae and rum: Relive the fun of Atomic Cafe with two signature drink recipes
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Sometimes local bars and restaurants come out of the blue, change our palates and then leave far too soon.
That was the case with Atomic Cafe, the latest restaurant to be part of our ongoing “Cooking with the Past” recipe series where we are digging up favorite items from the menus of closed dining spots.
Unlike DeSha’s cornbread or Brooking’s chili, Atomic Cafe brought something new: Caribbean food.
And Lexington fell in love. Virtually from the time it opened at 265 N. Limestone in January 1992, the North Lime pioneer was a hit.
Menu favorites included island flavors such as coconut shrimp, jerk chicken, conch fritters, mahi-mahi in banana leaves, fish fritters, ceviche, ropa vieja, black beans and rice and spicy cornbread.
For a time, there was no happier place to be than the patio behind the popular restaurant, sipping on a fruity drink while snacking on sweet potato chips and salsa (such a revelation for the time!).
And then there was their signature drinks.
Those are the recipes we want to highlight this time: The Rum Runner and the Champagne Caribe.
Whether you sat on the covered patio or inside at the bar with its tropical flair, Atomic Cafe was fun. It was in an old building, renovated by Tim Mellin in the late 1980s for an elegant French restaurant called Acajou. After the French chef left to open his own restaurant, Mellin, Linda Hoff and Dale Holland opened Atomic Cafe with colorful murals and reggae music.
Mellin remembered that the early days were such fun, with the restaurant packed every night. “Acajou was just a few years too early. Atomic Cafe was a better fit,” he said. “It was great energy.”
Atomic Cafe closed over Labor Day weekend in 2015 after a difficult rainy summer. Mellin hoped someone would revive it but that didn’t happen. Yet. Mellin said lately there has been interest in bringing it back.
Today the building is empty and for lease, after the upscale Grillfish closed in 2019.
This story was originally published April 14, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
