winchell's

update (august, 2017): a much, much better experience as of late.  great service, and the breakfast sampler was spot-on (three eggs over-easy, crispy home fries, a quality piece of country ham and solid biscuits and gravy).

for me, this place is a prime example of a popular lexington institution that is resting on its reputation and not churning out quality dishes. i know winchell's has a strong following here in town, but i have visited this restaurant twice in recent months, and was disappointed both times. 

my wife and i came here for sunday brunch, and the coffee tasted old and bitter. my wife ordered the biscuit and gravy plate, with bacon, and i ordered the breakfast sampler (eggs over easy, bacon, toast). as my wife described it, our breakfast reminded her of a middle school cafeteria, where the cafeteria workers were more friendly than our server.

i later visited winchell's forlunchand i ordered the blt sandwich (on wheat toast), served with house chips - the sandwich and the chips were average. if i am looking for a diner in town, i am going to suggins.

this place has a menu for anyone and a kitchen staff using fresh well-prepared food for an amazing price. when you combine great food and great service, it works! ourlunchtable was filled with nothing but some of the finest quality food in lexington. i would expect to pay a lot more for such quality. again, this menu will keep me busy coming back to try everything for a long time.

i still think the food is pretty good....... but still priced too high. fried chicken is good. four smallish pieces? $14.99. and the fried cod (6-8 ounce) $13.99?

not a fan of the remodel. with the new floor, sound echos and it is way loud when trying to carry on a conversation.


-----09 jun, 2013-----

616,008 restaurants in the us. of these, about 25% serve breakfast and the vast majority of them have figured out the switch from breakfast tolunchthing... come on guys... this has been a review topic for a year now. hire a consultant or something... fix it!

as always the food was good today but seriously overpriced. most sandwiches are in the $8-10 range with some greasy (cheap) home made chips. fried chicken $14.99?? it's good but not that good and very small pieces.

all in all - good, small servings and over-priced.

pot pie???. usually i am not disappointed when i stop by winchell's for alunchto go order other than the kitchen being too slow for mostlunchservice, but it
is ususally worth the wait. not today. a $10 pot pie was nothing more than chicken a la king with too much white pepper in a styrofoam cup and two bisuits in another cup. theirlunchprices are more in line with a dinner menu.lunchspecials ranged from 9.99 to $14.99 - too high for working folks on theirlunchhour. we're in a recession folks!

best hot brown in town. i've eaten here for breakfastlunchand dinner. never had a bad meal and often have outstanding meals. the ky eggs benedict are great! country ham in place of canadian bacon, fried eggs and hollandaise sauce ; to die for. lunch-i always order the fish tacos when they have them. i love them. another surprisingly good thing is the vinegar slaw. i don't normally like cole claw but this is great. for a dinner caloric splurge the hot brown is the best i've ever had!!!

don't order carry out. i called and placed a pick up order today at about 10 till noon. two smalllunchspecials, told that it would be ready for pick up at 12:15. their website shows saturdaylunchstarting at 11:00. showed up only to be told by the bartender lady (who was very nice) that they havn't even started the meals as they were just now wrapping up breakfast and they wouldn't even be able to start my meals for another 5 minutes or so making mylunchready at apprx. 12:30. needless to say i was on a shortlunchbreak and could not wait and had to cancel my order altogether. the bartender lady there again was very nice and extremely apologetic, but still i was quite disappointed and would expect a little more out of a family run, local business.

misconceptions.... as someone who has been dining regularly at winchell's for a few years now, i'd like to point out a couple reasons why complaints about the restaurant are illegitimate. for one, people seem to be angry about the period of time between breakfast andlunchon the weekends where no food can be served. i have spoken to a manger before who was incredibly nice about it and explained that the kitchen is so small and the food is actually prepared fresh that in order for the restaurant to function, they need about half an hour to switch all breakfast items out for lunch; they have to get ready. this restaurant is the best in the city and prepares the food in house every day; that is something hard to come by in lexington.

good food high prices dump. good food, (particularly the specials), good service, great breakfast,lunchand dinner. i think it's kind of pricey though for the type of food. it just seems as though it usually ends up $25+/head. however, my main complaint is the place is seriously run down. we're talking textured drywall ceilings here that have no doubt been there through many many years of smoking. many wide screens which are usually benign. but, if you want to talk to your dinner companion do not go on a uk game night. they crank it up so loud you can't even order your food. went this week and the place was unusually half empty. no doubt due to the game volume. now i know not to be there then too.

thought it was bland. nothing special about what i had to eat. hadlunchthere and i was at least fifteen years younger than any patron (i'm 40!). be back when i start drawing social security.

nolunchuntil 1:00 on sundays?. we arrived at 12:00 on a sunday and where handed breakfast menus. we asked when they started servinglunchand were told 1:00.

we probably should have just left, but we stayed for breakfast. i didn't really enjoy the food, but it probably would have been better if i had wanted breakfast.

i heard the couple behind me also ask aboutlunchand when we were leaving my wife overheard yet another couple comment on how strange it was.

the only other time we had eaten at winchell's was also on a sunday. we got there around 12:00 that day too, but they were serving lunch. the food was really good that time, but i probably won't be back because i don't know what they will be serving if i do.

absolutely love it!.lunchyesterday at winchell's was one of the best meals i've had in a long time! they have such an extensive menu, and they had many, many specials, from appetizer, salad, and side item specials to sandwich and entree specials. it was so hard to choose. also, many of their items are rather unique as well. i decided on the cornmeal breaded fried oyster special, and the twice baked potato special side, and the creamy coleslaw, and wow! the very best fried oysters i've ever eaten! and, the portion was huge. the twice baked potato was fabulous, and the coleslaw was very, very creamy and tasty. everything was so good, i really want to go back today to try something else!
i've never had anything at winchell's that wasn't good, actually... but they outdid themselves with thelunchi enjoyed yesterday!

simply the best breakfast in town!. winchell's is one of my favorite places to eat in town! it easily has the best breakfast in lexington (seriously, try the trout and eggs!) but you can't go wrong whatever time you go there. theirlunchplates are fantastic with a wonderful selection of fresh vegetables. (the kale greens are my favorite!) sandwiches are large and their fried chicken is just like grandmas! try one of their daily specials if you are feeling a little adventurous, but stick to the permanent menu items and you can't go wrong!

the atmosphere is kind of bland. it's a sports bar with lots of sports movie posters and a few jerseys on the wall. however, tons of tvs pepper the multiple rooms.

winchell's is also the best place/bar in town to watch a soccer match. during the world cup this summer the place was to capacity when the us played. and you can't go wrong with watching an early premier league game while have a top notch breakfast!