For 86 years, it’s been a ‘grits and gossip’ breakfast must with a side of horses

Near the stables on the back side of Lexington’s Keeneland Thoroughbred racetrack sits a small, unpretentious ranch-style bungalow. Unless you know its history, you might pass right by and never give it a glance. That would be a mistake. For that small bungalow houses the Keeneland Track Kitchen which has been feeding a hungry track audience since the historic landmark opened in 1936.

And while some might say Columbia Steak House is Lexington’s oldest restaurant, the Track Kitchen has been serving its built-in audience with a bountiful Southern breakfast and those wanting to mingle with the horse set for 86 years.

On most days the Track Kitchen hums with activity. The aroma of fresh-brewed coffee and the sound of chatter fills the room whose walls are lined with matted photographs of Strike the Gold, Swale, Spectacular Bid, Riva Ridge, Risen Star, Alydar and other equine royalty.

The clientele is a veritable cross section of society. A man in a business suit sporting a $50 haircut and perfectly manicured nails chats amiably with a man in jeans and mud-caked boots whose hair looks as if it had been cut with garden shears and whose nails are rimed with dirt.

A wizened exercise rider, weighing no more than a supermodel, tucks into a breakfast that would do justice to a lumberjack. At a window table, a group of people sit in jovial companionship debating the odds of a filly, while at a corner table a solitary man pores over a racing form.

Damon Runyon couldn’t have created a more vivid scene. If Runyon characters Nathan Detroit and Sky Masterson from “Guys and Dolls” were to pick a place to hatch up their latest scheme, it would be somewhere like the Track Kitchen.

Although in reality, there may not be any place in America quite like the Track Kitchen. It’s alleged to be the only racetrack kitchen in the country that’s been reviewed by restaurant critics, and a New York Times reporter once recommended it as one of four essential places to eat in the Bluegrass.

Southern Living Magazine placed the Track Kitchen on its list of the South’s best breakfast spots right alongside New Orleans’ iconic Brennan’s Restaurant, even if you can’t start your breakfast with a Ramos Gin Fizz and end it with Bananas Foster. Author Patricia Schultz – in her book, “1,000 Things to do Before You Die” – gave it a mention as a place to go for “grits and gossip.”

Not bad for a spot where the décor — aside from those Thoroughbred portraits — is basically the equivalent of a high school cafeteria, and where a $10 bill will get you a bountiful breakfast of eggs, bacon, grits, potatoes and a fluffy biscuit, and change back.

“You just never know who you are going to see in here,” says Vanessa Fields, a Track Kitchen employee for three years. “Eighty percent of our customers are regulars who come in if not daily, several times a week.”

Fields also loves the camaraderie of Track Kitchen regulars.

“Horse people are just a special breed,” she says. “They will often pick up the tab for complete strangers, especially if they are police officers, firefighters or members of the military.”

The Track Kitchen seems to be all things to all people. It’s a de facto clubhouse for Thoroughbred owners, trainers, jockeys and stable employees rubbing elbows over early morning coffee before heading off to the barn or the track or the executive boardroom.

However, it’s not just those in the equine world that congregate here. It’s a favorite meeting spot for the general public as well. Jockeys mingle with journalists; tourists get tips from trainers and contractors get a glimpse of celebrities.

Celebs such as former governors John Y. Brown, Jr. and Brereton Jones and trainers Nick Zito, Bob Baffert and D. Wayne Lucas. The non-horse types who have found their way to the Track Kitchen include actors Meryl Streep and John Forsythe and evangelist Pat Robertson.

Like television’s iconic bar “Cheers” this is a place where everybody knows your name.

They certainly know Ted Bassett’s. When the tall, elegant, silver-haired Bassett was President and Chairman of Keeneland, he began every morning with a cup of hot tea and conversation at the Track Kitchen.

Until COVID changed his routine, he still did. Retired after 33 years at Keeneland where he squired both Queen Elizabeth II and Elizabeth Taylor around the track, Bassett, who will turn 101 this year, still enjoys his early morning ritual at the Track Kitchen.

“The only thing that’s changed is that now we take his omelet and glass of V-8 juice out to his car so he can take it back to his office,” says Phyllis Keene, Track Kitchen Manager.

While the Track Kitchen is open for lunch, it’s breakfast that is the big draw. The COVID pandemic has seen numbers plummet, but in a normal year during race meets and the sales, Keene says they will make 600 biscuits and 10 gallons of gravy to serve with 30 dozen eggs and 15 pounds of coffee for the 1,000 breakfasts they prepare daily.

“The rest of the year, those figures go down to 125 biscuits, three to four gallons of gravy and 15 dozen eggs for 100 breakfasts,” she says, adding that quantities are almost back up to pre-pandemic levels.

At lunch, it’s Hot Browns and burgoo that top the menu choices with the monthly taco days also attracting a crowd.

“And then are those who just want a juicy hamburger or cheeseburger,” says Fields. “When I see them in line, I don’t even have to ring up a ticket.”

The Track Kitchen hasn’t changed much over the past 86 years, and that’s just fine with Keene.

“When people come here, it’s like they’re stepping back in time to a place they’ve always known,” she says, “that familiarity is what they want.”

Keeneland Track Kitchen

Where: 4201 Versailles Road

Contact: (859) 280-2449; keeneland.com

Order online: keeneland.com/track-kitchen-order-form

Hours: Open Monday - Friday, 6:00 a.m. - 1:00 p.m.; Saturday and Sunday, 6:00 a.m. - 11:00 a.m.

Keeneland Spring Meet

When: April 8-29, no racing Monday’s, Tuesday’s and Easter Sunday.

Where: Keeneland Racetrack, 4201 Versailles Rd.

Tickets: keeneland.com

This story was originally published April 5, 2022 at 6:00 AM.