Popular Lexington eatery to open in new development, add 5th site. Find out where.
Ramsey’s Diner is expanding its footprint in Lexington.
A fifth Ramsey’s is slated to open on Leestown Road in 2022 in the new Anderson Communities development — The Villages at Great Acres — which is currently under construction, said Dennis Anderson of Anderson Communities.
Rob Ramsey said that area of Lexington needs more family-friendly restaurants.
The popular Lexington-based restaurant chain has locations mainly on the city’s east and south side, including spots on Tates Creek Road, Nicholasville Road, the Hamburg area and Harrodsburg Road.
“This is the first north of Versailles,” Ramsey said. “We are excited about this area, its growth potential and the need for a concept of our quality and price point.”
The Villages at Great Acres is on the former site of the Great Acres nursery, between Masterson Station Drive and Citation Boulevard. It is slated to include more than 470 apartments, more than 100 townhomes and five lots for commercial buildings at 2731 and 2751 Leestown Road. The commercial buildings will front the property on Leestown Road. Walking trails will connect the development to the Town Branch Trail and other adjoining neighborhoods. It will also include a fishing lake. The development will be prairie-style architecture, said Anderson.
The plans also call for a new traffic signal on Leestown Road.
Ramsey’s is the first commercial development to sign a lease for the property.
A zone change for the development was approved by the Lexington-Fayette Urban County Council in 2016.
Ramsey’s will move in sometime in late spring or summer 2022, Anderson said.
Rob Ramsey said the new location will be larger than its other restaurants. The design will allow the restaurant to make some key modifications to how it does business based on what the chain learned during the COVID-19 pandemic, he said.
“This store will be our largest in square feet and will have drive-through for carry out,” Ramsey said. “The larger footprint will allow for comfortable spacing between tables, which is something we have learned from COVID that customers appreciate.”
This story was originally published July 6, 2021 at 12:42 PM.
