14 November, 2005
Stephen Foster Restaurant
503 West Stephen Foster Avenue
Bardstown, Kentucky 40004
Directions
This is one of those half-hidden restaurants that is a true gem of a discovery. Wedged in a corner behind a tanning salon and next to a gasoline station, it's easy to speed right past without knowing what you've missed. And you would have missed something to talk about when you returned home.
We found ourselves in Bardstown at lunchtime on our way to Nashville for a few days of photography and music. We had dined in this town in 2004 during another photography trip without a lot of luck, so on this visit we tried the drive-around-and-look-for-cars method. It didn't take too long before noticing this non-descript building tucked behind other businesses but completely surrounded by lots and lots of local cars. And this was a Tuesday lunch crowd, not a Sunday after-church gathering. We decided to give it a try.
Stephen Foster Restaurant is a buffet-style restaurant with one line for the salad and buffet, one area for the desert, an ice-cream machine, and a drink dispenser. What sets it apart from, say, a national buffet chain is that the taste is quite like somebody's grandmother is in the back cooking Sunday dinner for you. Outstanding homemade food, Kentucky style.
It was so good in fact, that we planned another stop on the following Sunday on our way back home. On that visit, the buffet included chicken, meat loaf, fish, and pork chops- with the chops being so good that I'd stop there again just for them alone. The country style green beans are outstanding, but the mashed potatoes are to die for. So good, you'd want the recipe. I wasn't at all a fan of the meat loaf, but the white chili was an excellent soup that had a Southwestern flavor and was made with either chicken or turkey (a generous amount), rice, and what we think were garbanzo beans. Quite out of the ordinary and tasty.
Bardstown is home to quite a lot of history, being the site of My Old Kentucky Home which the songwriter Stephen Foster made famous in his 1853 song My Old Kentucky Home, Goodnight! (link plays the song).
There's also Talbot Tavern which was a stagecoach stop during the 1700s and is still open for dining. It would be easy to make it a weekend getaway trip, taking in the famous Kentucky bourbon distilleries and even a visit to Louisville or Lexington. If you're looking for a place to stay, I once stayed at the 1819 Jailers Inn where you can choose to stay in the jail cell or one of their nice traditional rooms.
Posted By: heydad2 | Comment (1)
All restaurants, Central Kentucky
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