New soul food, wing restaurant to open in one of Lexington’s oldest shopping centers
One of Lexington’s oldest shopping centers, Gardenside Plaza, is about to spread its wings thanks to an injection of soul into the once-struggling shopping district.
AJ’s Wings & Things, a chicken wing and Southern soul food restaurant will open Feb. 22 in a newly constructed building at the corner of Alexandria Drive and Antietam Road. The new building is across the street from Kroger in a high-profile section of the shopping center, which has seen many tenants come and go since it first opened in 1961.
“We just wanted this area,” said Nicole Salaam, who is opening the restaurant with her husband, Ali. “There’s nothing in this area that we offer, so we wanted to make sure that we can bring something into this community.”
The Salaams are counting on their restaurant’s menu to stand out from other dining options in the Gardenside neighborhood, which mainly includes taco trucks, Mexican restaurants and Everest Nepalese & Indian Cuisine.
“It’s pretty exciting to bring something different to this area,” Ali said. “We’ve gotten a lot of responses from people coming up and saying that they can’t wait to try us because they really don’t have anything (like this) in this area.”
What’s on AJ’s Wings & Things menu?
The menu at AJ’s features five scratch-made sauces for its wings: Parmesan, sweet and spicy, buffalo, Carolina barbecue and lemon pepper. Wings can be fried or baked. A dinner combo of wings ($15) come with two sides, all of which are homemade family recipes, the Salaam’s say. Highlights include the sweet potato souffle, which was Ali’s mother’s recipe, fried okra, macaroni and cheese and baked beans.
Other soul food staples on the menu include fried fish ($15), pork chops ($14.50) and chicken and waffles ($13). There’s even Philly cheesesteaks and chicken cheesesteaks ($14), both of which Ali is proud of.
AJ’s Wings & Things
Where: 1873 Alexandria Dr. #110
Hours: 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Mon.-Thur.; 11 a.m.-midnight Fri.-Sat.; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Sunday
Order online, catering: ajswingsandthings.com
This story was originally published February 18, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
