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Classic restaurants stand as timeless reminders of culinary excellence, having weathered the test of time to become more than just eateries.
These establishments, steeped in tradition and laden with stories, are a testament to the enduring allure of exceptional dining experiences. With a history that stretches across decades, the top classic restaurants transcend ordinary food service, evolving into local cultural landmarks that have witnessed the ebb and flow of changing times.
In every state, these esteemed restaurants blend both a hint of nostalgia and a nod toward the future.
Food & Wine has recognized the standout classic restaurant in each state:
“There were FOMO-provoking dishes long before social media had them traveling around the world, people planned vacations just to eat (do you even New Orleans?), and America had celebrity chefs and must-see cooking shows, back when it was mostly PBS doing the heavy lifting. And we are still so fortunate, truly, to have so many of those restaurants, and even some of the chefs, with us still, from that long-ago era. We're talking about the classic restaurants, which, let us say, for the sake of drawing a line, are the ones opened right around the millennium and earlier (ideally, way earlier.)
This nearly 17,000-word survey features nearly 250 restaurants, from furthest Alaska to sunny South Florida. It represents an attempt at examining each state's unique fingerprint on this vast, remarkably diverse thing that we call American food. It draws on years of experience traveling around the country on assignment, as well as the deep back catalog of Food & Wine's annual Best New Chefs and Best New Restaurants franchises, alongside countless feature articles.”
In Kentucky, the noteworthy title goes to the following:
“You're going to Owensboro, where you'll eat two things you've probably never tried before. The first one will be mutton, Kentucky's obscure and delicious contribution to American barbecue; the other is burgoo, that regional church picnic specialty stew typically made with any kind of meat cooks could get their hands on. Try both at Moonlite BBQ Inn, and just because you came all this way, do it again at Old Hickory Bar-B-Q, both in business for well over fifty years. In Louisville, special occasion staple Jack Fry's, treasured for its classically-influenced Southern menu,was almost lost to history when the restaurant's longtime owner closed up shop back in the 1970s. After a decade's hiatus, things got back to normal, thank goodness; come for the spicy fried oysters, shrimp and grits swimming in red eye gravy, and pan seared trout in a lemon beurre blanc. Looking to keep it casual? It'll take all of five minutes to get to Shirley Mae's Cafe, a soul food institution that's been serving the city's historically black Smoketown neighborhood (and everyone who knows to come here for some of the city's best fried chicken) since the 1980s.”