Unique downtown Lexington restaurant closes after six years

Downtown Lexington has lost another restaurant: Clawdaddy’s has served its last lobster roll.

The restaurant at 128 North Broadway closed its doors after lunch on Wednesday.

“I had to, I was out of inventory,” said co-owner Tom Rogers.

He said the restaurant’s lease with the Lexington Parking Authority was up and he and wife MJ decided that now was a good time to take a break.

“We’ve enjoyed six happy years,” Tom Rogers said. “It’s been a nice journey. A lot of hard work, of course, but we had a wonderful staff, mostly UK students and we tried our best to work with local vendors where we could. And we were fortunate in many areas to do that. And I can’t tell you all the friends we’ve made.”

Rogers said that they own the Clawdaddy’s name and trademark and plan to explore what they could do to develop that as a brand.

The restaurant opened in the summer of 2013 serving fresh New England lobster, crab and shrimp rolls, lobster bisque, Maine-style whoopie pies and other seasonal desserts.

It was a hit with locals and with out-of-towners, many of whom found their way to Clawdaddy’s via the VisitLex restaurant guides. Tom Rogers credits VisitLex and other downtown development partnerships with helping to build a strong Lexington restaurant scene that he hopes will continue to thrive.

Locals took the news of the closure hard when Clawdaddy’s announced it in a post on Facebook, with several mourning that they didn’t get the chance for one last lobster run.

Clawdaddy’s and MJ Rogers also helped to spearhead dining events in the summer and in the winter to help local restaurants attract customers during slow seasons.

The Sweet Spot, an ice cream shop next to Clawdaddy’s, closed earlier this year; the spot is still vacant.

This story was originally published May 23, 2019 at 4:04 PM with the headline "Unique downtown Lexington restaurant closes after six years."