New Carson’s location with ‘million-dollar kitchen’ ready to open. Here’s when.
In our Inside Look stories, Herald-Leader journalists take you inside places around Lexington and Kentucky that you maybe haven't seen before. Read more. Story idea? hlcityregion@herald-leader.com.
The east of Lexington is getting a new dining and event option that will likely make downtown downright jealous.
The new second location of Carson’s Food & Drink is opening in the former Andover Golf Club clubhouse, which has been renovated to include venue space that can be booked separately.
The popular local restaurant is planning to June 21, with the venue opening in the September.
Sign up for our LexGo Eat & Drink newsletters
The latest on food, dining and bourbon delivered right to your inbox for free. See what's happening in the world of bourbon, including buying, tasting tips and more on Tuesday. Stick around for the biggest restaurant news in Central Kentucky on Thursday. Sign up here.
Venue spaces for private parties large and small
The venue, called The Hudson, is already booked with fall gatherings, holiday parties and wedding receptions into next year, said Jayme Jackson Fichtner, president and co-owner of the company that also includes Carson’s at 362 E. Main St. The event space, which can be divided into smaller sections, can accommodate anywhere from 35 to 140 people, including a separate patio, she said.
“We needed an event space in Hamburg,” she said.
There’s also a smaller private room that seats 12, called the Esquire Room, just big enough for a board meeting, she said.
How Carson’s new location is different from downtown
The main restaurant, which has one of the longest bars in Lexington with 26 seats and views of the pond on the former golf course (now a greenspace), will seat 255, slightly bigger than the original Carson’s location, which opened in 2016 in a former garage on Main Street.
Plus there will be room for another 75 on an enclosed all-season terrace room that will be lined with orchids and palms. More outdoor seating is available on the adjacent patio.
This second location will have more parking than the first downtown spot one as well.
Menu changes at new Carson’s location
The menu at the new Carson’s will be the same, from the cocktails to the brunch, Fichtner said.
But the look is a bit more upscale. The butcher block tables and reclaimed barn wood floors are there but look up and you’ll see 25 chandeliers. On the wall are custom murals featuring six of Kentucky’s bourbon distillers.
“But it is not white tablecloth,” Jayme Fichtner said. “We want people to be just as comfortable here in yoga pants as dressed up for date night.”
She and her husband, Mark Fichtner, who opened the original Carson’s, expect the new one to be even busier. The downtown location is so popular is can be difficult to get a reservation, especially on the weekend.
“We serve about about 18,000 a month at Carson’s downtown,” Mark Fichtner said. “We’re expecting 23,000 guests at Andover.”
To make all that food, he’s built what he calls “a million-dollar kitchen” that can serve the restaurant and the event venue. “It’s the biggest kitchen I’ve ever built, with two full kitchens and a 30-foot walk-in cooler.”
The Fichtners likely are not done building yet. “I’d like to do another Carson’s, somewhere else in the county,” he said. “And I have about three other concepts I’d like to try.”
Carson’s at Andover
Where: 3450 Todds Rd.
Hours: Monday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m.-10 p.m., Friday and Saturday 10 a.m.-11 p.m., Sunday 10 a.m.-10 p.m.
Reservations: Can be made online at OpenTable.com soon
Online: carsonsfoodanddrink.com, Facebook.com/CarsonsLexington
