Carson’s expanding, opening new downtown Lexington restaurant
A popular downtown Lexington dining destination is opening a new restaurant in the back of its existing Main Street building.
The owners of Carson’s Food & Drink have signed a lease to take over the space now occupied by Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, which is actively looking for a new location.
Jayme Jackson Fichtner, president and co-owner of Carson’s, says the owners are finalizing architectural details for the new restaurant, Carson’s Back Porch, which is expected to open in Spring 2026.
Fichtner wasn’t ready to provide more details of the new restaurant, but did say the Back Porch will have a different menu than Carson’s two locations, while highlighting some of the favorites they have become known for.
Co-owner Mark Fichtner said, “We are grateful for the patronage that our guests have shown to Carson’s, which will allow us to expand into a new restaurant concept providing more opportunities to hire new team members, promote leadership from within and share our hospitality with the community.”
Is Gus’s Fried Chicken going to close, move and reopen?
Gus Oyler, the franchise owner and operator of Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, said in an interview he was “blindsided” by losing the location he occupied at the back of the building, facing Water and East Vine streets, since October 2018.
He said there’s no closing date set for the spicy Southern fried chicken chain restaurant, but noted the landlord is working with him and his staff of 21, giving them 60 days to leave.
Oyler said he previously looked at other spaces in town and is confident they will find a new location.
“We checked some spaces right across from Rupp Arena, which I think would be a tremendous fit for our business growth plan and business model as a whole,” Oyler said. “And then there are a couple of areas I really like around town as well that I think could be a good fit. But we really don’t want to leave the downtown scene.”
According to court documents, Gus’s was served an eviction notice in August 2023 for not paying rent. The restaurant’s lease was terminated a month later, but developer and landlord Phil Holoubek said he and the restaurant worked out a deal for it to stay open.
“We have, over time, forgiven them a lot of past due rent,” Holoubek said in an interview. “Typically, after these hearings, restaurant doors are just shut. But instead, we forgave a lot of rent, allowing them to keep operating on a month-to-month basis.”
Holoubek said the termination of the month-to-month agreement was not related to Carson’s.
“The (owner) partnership finally realized that having a commercial tenant on a month-to-month basis is just not a good risk-reward decision, and so the partnership finally made the decision to give Gus notice,” said Holoubek, who said he considers Gus a friend and “would do anything I can to help him find a new location.”
Wendy McCrory, president and owner of Gus’s World Famous Fried Chicken, said the restaurant is committed to staying in Lexington.
“It’s really just a matter of finding the right space that makes the most sense, where we can continue on,” said McCrory, who owns 16 of the 41 franchised locations, but not the Lexington restaurant. “I’m really hopeful that Gus can get something worked out where we can continue to thrive in the market.”
Carson’s restaurant locations
Carson’s opened at the front at 362 E. Main St. in 2016. For decades, the building was home to CoachCraft, which specializes in upholstery for vehicles and boats. In 2012, CoachCraft moved to a new location off Loudon Avenue.
In June 2024, Carson’s opened a second location in the former Andover Golf Club clubhouse on Lexington’s east side near the Hamburg retail area.
