An 8-year-old boy wanted a job at the new Lexington Drake’s. He got a fun surprise

Visiting at his grandmother’s house during fall break in October, Nash Johnson noticed that the soon-to-be-opened Drake’s off Leestown Road had posted signs announcing the restaurant was hiring.

That seemed like a golden opportunity to him.

“He kept saying he wanted to work at Drake’s and buy himself an Xbox,” said Nash’s grandmother Detra Johnson. “He was on my laptop and I wasn’t aware that he had went (online) and filled out the application for Drake’s until I got a call from Drake’s the very next day.”

Nash’s application seemed like a great thing to Drake’s too, which is always looking for energetic employees.

There was just one problem: He’d accidentally checked the wrong box where he had to verify that he was old enough to work. So the manager called just in case, said Leela Atchison, spokeswoman for Bluegrass Hospitality Group, parent company of Drake’s.

That’s when they got a surprise.

“They thought it was a typo and that he was 18 and not 8 years of age,” Nash’s grandmother said.

It’s apparently the first time anyone that young has filled out an application to work for the growing restaurant chain.

Nash said on his application that he wanted to work there to save up to buy an Xbox.

So, even though Nash wouldn’t be starting work right away, Drake’s Chief Operating Officer Mark Thornburg invited Nash and his family to their Oct. 30 orientation.

There they surprised him with his own Drake’s shirt with his name on it and a name tag. And a brand new Xbox.

“Nash didn’t know any of this until Sunday when we got there and was super excited and surprised,” Johnson said.

Nash, who attends Lexington’s Meadowthorpe Elementary School, “has become apart of BHG Drake’s family,” Thornburg told him. And that will pay off when he’s ready.

“Drake’s has a very family friendly culture and we loved the story,” Atchison said. “Mark told him he’ll have a place with us in the future. He’s 8, so he’s got a few years.”

The new Drake’s at 1735 Sharkey Way off Leestown Road will open Nov. 7.