Popular Lexington restaurant closing one spot, moving to new location. What will change?
A popular Lexington Cajun restaurant is going to make a big change: It’s closing a downtown location.
Bourbon n’ Toulouse, which opened in the former Gumbo Ya Ya spot at 1080 South Broadway in February 2022, plans to close that location by the end of the year.
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But don’t fret, BnT fans: They will be opening a new Bourbon n’ Toulouse location out Leestown Road near the Meadowthorpe neighborhood in Townley Center.
“We’re real excited about Bourbon n’ Toulouse being in Townley,” said developer Dennis Anderson. “We had multiple people interested in getting into that location, the restaurants out there are doing a great business and I’ve always felt that was an underserved part of town. ... We let the Anderson Communities employees choose what they wanted to go in, and they all chose Bourbon n’ Toulouse. It’s great food, at a value price.”
The restaurant, which also has a location at 829 Euclid Ave. in the Chevy Chase neighborhood, is known for its fast, tasty menu of Cajun and Creole dishes.
When will Bourbon n’ Toulouse new Leestown location open?
Owners Cameron and Kevin Heathcoat said that the new location at 1781 Sharkey Way may be even faster because it will have something they haven’t had so far: A drive-thru.
The new spot is in the original location of Vinaigrette Salad Kitchen, which closed in April, and will be near the new First Watch coming to the shopping center just off Leestown Road inside New Circle Road. Townley Center also isn’t far from the Masterson Station and Great Acres neighborhoods and the booming Citation Boulevard area.
Kevin Heathcoat said that they hope to open the new location in late fall, in October or November. The South Broadway location will stay open for about a month after the new one opens, then close by the end of the year when their lease runs out.
“South Broadway has done very well for us. We hope a new restaurant will want to come into a turnkey spot,” he said.
New Bourbon n’ Toulouse location to have more on menu
Cameron Heathcoat said they’d been looking for a new spot for some time. “We’ve always wanted to be in this area,” she said.
“We’ve been taking it slow, looking for a forever home and I think we’ve found it,” Kevin Heathcoat said. “It’s got the drive-thru, and lots of residential and industry traffic”
The new location also will have a bigger dinner room as well as a bigger kitchen, which may allow them to do more catering and expand the menu eventually. Having more room at the South Broadway location let them add on more vegan dishes, something that’s proven popular.
Otherwise, everything else will stay the same, Kevin Heathcoat said.
“We’re going to focus on the neighborhood out there, getting to know what they need, and catering to all the industry out there,” he said.
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