Southern fast-casual restaurant returning to Lexington with Kentucky expansion
A popular Southern restaurant chain that opened in the Lexington market a decade ago before exiting two years ago is coming back.
Newk’s Eatery, which had locations on Richmond Road and near Fayette Mall, plans to bring three to five locations to the Lexington/Central Kentucky market, with 15 altogether in Kentucky, including several in the Louisville market.
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Newk’s CEO Frank Paci said in an interview that the company is “looking to recruit great partners” and is scouting locations.
“Historically, we know there’s an appetite for the Newk’s brand in Lexington,” he said.
“We’re excited about it. We feel we’ve got a great product,” Paci said. He pointed to items such as the Salmon Caesar Salad and Shrimp Caesar Salad as examples. “We have upscale proteins that you don’t see anywhere else. ... Our position is we want to have the best food quality in the fast-casual segment of the business.”
What’s on Newk’s menu?
Newk’s was founded in Oxford, Miss., as a sandwich shop and spread throughout the South, offering sandwiches, salads, pizzas and soups, as well as grab and go items and even whole cakes.
Major Newk’s competitors include McAlister’s, Panera and Jason’s Deli, all of which currently have locations in Lexington.
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“I don’t see any reason why we couldn’t compete,” said Paci, who previously was with McAlister’s. Both McAlister’s and Newk’s were started by the same Mississippi family, he said. They sold McAlister’s then launched Newk’s in 2004; it’s now in 13 states with more than 100 locations.
Paci said that the restaurant’s menu has been streamlined from its previous Lexington incarnation but still focuses on fresh-made items.
“We feel like Lexington would be a good market for us,” Paci said.
The previous Richmond Road location “actually worked. It just didn’t recover after COVID,” he said. “We’d open another store there today if we could.”
Where, when Newk’s might open
“Typically a good real estate location for us is one with a good daytime population,” Paci said. “Lunchtime is our big time. Ideally, there’s a retail draw around there, which helps, and having households there for weekends and dinner. We tend to do a little bit more dinner than some of the other fast casuals because we have pizza on the menu.”
He said Newk’s hopes to find a franchise partner in the next year and open the first one by 2026. He said they hope to have all the locations in the area built out within five years.
Some locations could have a drive-thru, but Paci said that Newk’s relies more on carryout and catering.
Newk’s was one of the first new restaurants built in front of the Southland Christian Church location on Richmond Road, opening in 2014. A second location opened at Fayette Mall the same year but closed in 2017, part of a wave of Lexington restaurant closures in the wake of the 2016 opening of The Summit at Fritz Farm.
By the end of 2022, the Richmond Road Newk’s had closed as well. It’s now El Jefe Mexican Grill.
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