One of Lexington’s oldest restaurants is closing after nearly 50 years. Here’s why.
One of Lexington’s oldest continuously operated restaurants is closing after more than 48 years. But customers still have time to eat the fried chicken or soup beans one last time.
Max’s Loudon Square Buffet, 801 N. Broadway, will close Friday at 6 p.m., according to David Bingham. Bingham has been the right-hand man for owner Max Flannery, working at the restaurant for more than 30 years.
Bingham said that about a month ago Flannery, 85, fell at home and was in the hospital for a month. Flannery is now at Cardinal Hill Rehabilitation Hospital where he is recovering, but he won’t be able to return to work. His wife, Sandy, has decided to close the restaurant that Max has been running since in 1974 when he took over from Clay Wallace, who had opened the restaurant a few years earlier.
The restaurant had struggled in recent years with high electricity bills, Bingham said. And after COVID, the customer base never returned, he said. “We can barely pay the bills,” he said.
Loudon Square was one of the last “home-cooking” buffets in town, featuring everything from huge bowls of salads including one of lime Jello, cottage cheese and pineapple, vegetables, greens, macaroni and cheese, pinto beans, fried chicken, fried fish, ham, meatballs and daily specials.
Specials included customer favorites like spaghetti, casseroles like Mom used to make and liver and onions.
The buffet price for years was $8, all you can eat. In recent years the price crept up but you can still get a full meal for under $10.
And desserts such as banana pudding, fruit cobbler, soft serve ice cream and cake were always included.
In a 2016 story, Max Flannery told Cheryl Truman that he worked 85 hours a week, starting at 6:30 a.m. and working through the dinner shift, returning to close in the evening. The restaurant was open 365 days a year, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Longtime customer Dale Torok, who lives two blocks away from the restaurant, said he has eaten there two or three times a week since he bought the house in 1986 and will miss it sorely.
“It’s one of the few places in Lexington you can get soup beans and cornbread and vegetables,” Torok said. “He was known for his fried chicken and his fried fish, and it was just a very reasonable place.”
Max’s Loudon Square Buffet
Where: 801 N. Broadway
Hours: 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.; last day open April 8
Price: $9, all you can eat
Phone: 859-252-9741
This story was originally published April 6, 2022 at 11:01 AM.
