Texas-style craft barbecue restaurant opening in former Blue Door location. See inside
An iconic Lexington barbecue location is about to smoke again.
LX BBQ will open Feb. 8 at the former location of Blue Door Smokehouse, one of Lexington’s most popular barbecue restaurants.
In April, Blue Door reopened at its new location on National Avenue after nine years on Walton Avenue.
Now, brothers-in-law Chris Baker and Ricky Carter have renovated the previous location, changing much of the inside, along with the iconic blue front door.
“I was going to give it to (Blue Door owner) Jeff (Newman), but the contractor painted over it,” Baker said.
Baker and Carter say they didn’t plan on opening at Blue Door’s former home, but it was just too good of a deal on the location.
“It’s no different than a pizza joint going into another pizza joint,” Baker said. “We didn’t come in here because of Blue Door at all.”
Despite the two restaurants being less than a half-mile apart, Baker said it’s not their intention to go after Blue Door. People will come for good barbecue no matter where it is, he said.
What’s on the menu at LX BBQ?
LX BBQ is counting on its Texas-style craft barbecue to stand out thanks to its meat.
“We are using high-quality meats, the best meats that we can find in the country,” Baker said. “That’s one thing that we’re really proud of.”
When they can get it, LX BBQ is using USDA Prime meat for their beef including brisket from Creakstone Farms, a premium meat producer based out of Kansas that also provides their other meats.
The menu features brisket, pulled pork, spare ribs, turkey and homemade cheddar jalapeno sausage. Meats can come on sandwiches ($12-$14) or on a plate with two sides, pickles, onions and bread. Prices for one- to three-meat plates are $18-$28. The menu will also sometimes feature other homemade sausage flavors, beef ribs, pork belly burnt ends and a brisket burger.
Two house-made sauces are available: LX is a Texas black pepper mustard vinegar and KY has a sweet taste, much like Sweet Baby Ray’s.
Homemade sides include potato salad, mac and cheese, baked beans, coleslaw and green beans.
“Everything is just family recipes, stuff that we love, and we hope other people love to eat it as well. Everything is made from scratch,” Baker said.
What’s changed at old Blue Door location?
The front door — now black — isn’t the only thing that’s changed. Inside LX BBQ, the only thing visibly left from the days of Blue Door Smokehouse is the chalkboard menu.
A freshly painted ceiling is now white (was black), there are new tables and chairs, more lighting and the walls have been updated.
Outside, the wood fence is gone, showing off the restaurant’s two offset smokers. Baker and Carter hope to add outdoor seating in the back, something Blue Door did not have.
But for now, being self-taught in barbecue — “as far as experience goes, we have, let’s say, probably 10,000 hours in YouTube,” Baker said — they are concentrating on being open only one day a week, Saturday. From there, they will decide on when to fully open.
“We don’t want to move too fast because we just kind of want the customers to be able to lead the way,” Baker said. “If there’s something on the menu they don’t like or they want, we’re going to put it on the menu, or we’re going to take something off.”
LX BBQ
Where: 226 Walton Ave.
Hours: 10:30 a.m. until they run out, Saturdays only for now; will expand to daily dine-in service at later date; pre-orders and catering available
Online: lxbbq.com
Phone: 859-421-0509
This story was originally published February 5, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
