Lexington restaurants: Brewery, two food places sold. Will there be changes?

Three Lexington places known for hospitality and connections with customers have changed owners.

But don’t panic, all are staying open and appear to be in good hands.

One is a local brewery that closed down briefly but has reopened.

One is a restaurant that hasn’t missed a beat and another is keeping everyone in giant fish sandwiches.

Sidebar Grill: Downtown Lexington restaurant across from courthouses

Lisa Cox, co-owner of Sidebar Grill at 147 N. Limestone in downtown Lexington with her husband, Jonny, has sold the place she built over the last almost 15 years to Terry Keith and Devin Paulding.

Lisa Cox met Terry, who worked at Goodfellas, at Break Room, the bar the Coxes own on the Pepper Campus off Manchester in the Distillery District.

“She said it was her lifelong goal to have her own bar,” Lisa Cox said. And Sidebar Grill, which Cox described as “a dive bar with really good house-made food” fit that bill perfectly.

The bar has attracted downtown regulars including lawyers from nearby courthouses as well as visitors from out of town, including the Foo Fighters in 2018.

Keith and Paulding combined have decades of experience in the bar business and are enthusiastic about taking over.

“I can’t think of a better couple to take it over,” Cox said. “She is a super hard-working bad-ass woman.”

Cox said she was feeling burned out after the last few years; unfortunately, Sidebar Grill wasn’t successful in getting much from the federal Restaurant Revitalization Fund in May 2021 that helped many others. The money ran out and they had no choice but to take out loans, Cox said. “We were just stuck. My whole goal was to get us through COVID and find a buyer of like minds to take over.”

The restaurant changed hands in mid-February, she said, but customers may not have noticed. Chef Kelly Mackey has agreed to stay on, as have all the employees. And the menu hasn’t changed either.

“Sidebar is so well-established that you don’t mess with success,” Paulding said. “They’ve got one of the best burgers in town, the staff here is phenomenal ... what we want to do is give more of Sidebar. We want to go back to pre-COVID hours, staying open late night, giving us another day or two, give more of an opportunity for people to come and enjoy this space.”

“We are absolutely keeping the menu,” Keith said. “We’re keeping that classic burger and the black bean burger.”

Cox is still around too: She will still be working there occasionally and maybe on big days such as Pride Day, if it comes back downtown.

“It’s hard letting go,” Cox said. “But I think having Terry and Devin will take it to another level with their youth, energy and enthusiasm.”

Sidebar Grill is open Tuesday through Friday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. and Saturday noon-9 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Charlie’s Seafood: Lexington’s largest fish sandwich

A Lexington fixture since 1981, Charlie’s Seafood at 926 Winchester Rd. also has passed to fresh hands.

Longtime owners Patty and Barry Sissle bought the seafood restaurant and market in 2003 from Charlene Johnson, widow of founder Charlie Johnson.

Now the Sissles have passed the fishing rod to Amie Crim, who will operate it with her husband Jamie, both of whom have worked at Charlie’s for years.

Besides a menu of fried fish, chicken tenders and wings, Charlie’s also sells fresh seafood, oysters in the shell, fresh salmon and many frozen products including king crab, alligator and more.

The Sissles weathered ice storms that lost power for days and a customer who accidentally gave the business a “drive-thru” when his truck drove into the building in 2016.

Customers rejoiced when the biggest fish sandwich in town returned. And don’t forget the jalapeno hush puppies, which Patty Sissle said are surprisingly popular. “After a power outage, we had people leave when they found out we didn’t have hush puppies yet,” she said.

Amie Crim said that she bought the place because “I just did not want to see Charlie’s closed. It’s such a fixture in Lexington. I was 5-years-old when Charlie opened Charlie’s Seafood and I grew up right down the street. ... It’s always been a part of the family and it’s been part of a lot of people’s lives.”

Crim said she doesn’t plan on changing much. They have put in a new point of sale system instead of a cash register and card swiper, and may look at other ways to modernize.

“But I want to keep the quality the same it’s always been,” she said. “That’s why people love it.”

And one other thing isn’t changing: Patty Sissle will be there during the week for lunchtime.

Charlie’s Seafood is open Tuesday 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Wednesday through Friday 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Saturday 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Closed Sunday and Monday.

Rock House Brewing: Now open after briefly being closed

Rock House Brewing, 119 Luigart Court, has reopened under new ownership. The brewery closed down briefly in December after owners Billy Hacker, Kevin Richey and Danny Hadded sold it.

Now Jeff Davis, general manager and brewer, reopened Rock House in February with some investors. Davis was a longtime home brewer who worked as a surgical tech for 44 years at St. Joseph East Hospital.

“All that sterility has really paid off,” Davis said.

He’s been making beers using Rock House Brewing’s old recipes, “some of which are really good, we’ll keep the ones that are up to snuff and the ones that aren’t we’ll try to improve, or scrap,” Davis said. “We’ve got lots of new beer coming.”

He said that they are planning on finding ways to keep the Rock House vibe going.

“It’s quite an eclectic place,” he said. “We’ve got two taprooms, one in warehouse where brewery is, and another little building that was quarry office. ... It’s almost like a hunting lodge, just going to capitalize on that and be the weird guys on the block.”

Right now, Rock House brewing is open Monday-Friday 4 to 10 p.m., Saturday 2 to 10 p.m., Sunday 2 to 8 p.m.

Davis said that they may add a kitchen in the warehouse space, and might open for lunch at that point.

“I think we’re going to keep the name,” Davis said. “We kind of like what they had going on, want to keep it going.”

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