Zim's Cafe — Restaurant in Lexington

In the search to find more restaurants in the bluegrass, Fat Man Reviews mad it's way to Zim's Café in Lexington, KY. Zim's spotlights regional southern cooking, they are located in the old courthouse.

I tried the Our Old Fashioned, made with Old Forester 100, Woodford Reserve Barrel-Aged bitters. The orange comes through in smell first, the drink is well-balanced between the bourbon and the sugar, then finished with the bitters.

My fiancé sampled the Myrtle Molly. Made with Wheatley Vodka, Triple Sec, fresh lime juice and house made plum honey. This drink was frothy, sweet and very easy to drink. The lime really brought the drink together.

We started with the Fried Pickles and homemade ranch. The pickles are thick chip cut, lightly battered and fried perfectly. The ranch is spot on as well.

I tried a cup of their Bourbon Trail Chili. This is made with KY proud beef, white & black beans, tomatoes, peppers in a bourbon chili gravy. I also added white cheddar, sour cream and green onions. Everything is cooked well, subtle chili heat and spiced well but this dish desperately needed salt.

For my entrée I had the Courthouse Hot Chicken and fries, consisting of cayenne butter sauce, chipotle aioli, lettuce, tomato on a roll. The fries were frozen but cooked very well. The chicken was juicy, the cayenne sauce had a good flavor and gave a nice lingering heat. The vegetables were fresh as was the bun. The aioli unfortunately was kind of bland, but did add creaminess.

My fiancé had the Wallace Cubano with Weisenberger cheese grits. This sandwich comes with homemade pulled pork, Swiss cheese, ham, honey dijonaise, sliced pickles on white bread with grilled garlic annatto butter. The bread was toasted well with a light garlic flavor, the pickles crispy, and the cheese had a pleasant nutty taste. The big winners were the tasty, juicy and tender pork with great flavor and the honey dijonaise was sweet and tangy. The grits were fluffy, cheesy and cooked perfectly.

Zim's Café serves a variety of salads, sandwiches and dinners. They offer lunch, dinner and weekend brunch. The service was great. The Fat Man says that Zim's Café is Fat Man Approved...

My husband and I were so excited to try Zim’s tonight, but we were extremely disappointed with the service. The food was delicious and the ambiance was cool, but the service was terrible. We arrived at 5pm- there were probably only two other tables of people when we arrived, but there were many others with “reserved” signs (UK game night). We waited probably 15-20 minutes at a table the host seated us at without being greeted by a server before I got up and found us menus. While we sat and waited, their food runners came and went with plates to wrong tables numerous times. Our food was brought to the wrong table, and we were brought at least 2 items we did not order. Obviously, there is a communication breakdown somewhere. From there, our server only came over to our table maybe 2 times the entire 2 hours, and only when we made eye contact and gestured for him. For a small, casual restaurant, we expected to get in and out. We ordered 2 glasses of wine, 2 beers, an app, and 2 entrees. It took FOREVER for each step- to get our server to place our order, to get our food, and when we mentioned it had been almost 2 hours and we wanted to get to the game, it took another 20 mins before my husband walked up to the bar to pay and try to expedite that process. We had a gift card we wanted to use for the majority of the balance, but our server split our bill 1/2 and 1/2 on our gift card and debit card. We saw our server checking in with other tables who came in after us, but basically never came by our table, even when we wanted to give them more business and order additional items. Honestly, even though the food was fresh and tasted good (veggie/shrimp plate, catfish po’boy and Kentucky cheese plate), and the restaurant had a cool atmosphere, the lack of service will deter us from going back. We were patient, but it got to a point where it was unacceptable. We are bummed we had such a...

Another lovely restaurant designed by the ever creative Bluegrass Chef, Ouita Michel, whose local fame is becoming even more supported by her national reputation for her careful curation of a distinct brand of Kentucky Southern food. Perhaps her greatest contribution to her restaurants is that it FEELS like she’s the one cooking your email in every kitchen — an impossible feat accomplished only by the most talented of franchised eateries. This celebrates the talent of her team who supports each restaurant and makes them all feel familiar, like Ouita is in the kitchen.

What makes Zim’s such an excellent restaurant is the breadth of options; a fusion, as it were, of all of Ouita’s restaurants. Want bakery goods from Midway? It’s at Zim’s. Want a Smithtown Oyster Po’Boy? Go to Zim’s. Want a sandwich from Windy Corner? Zim’s. Perhaps the only thing missing is the famous Beetloaf from Honeywood — but it’s matched only by the Vegan Beet Burger. You know when people say, “let’s go to a buffet so everyone can eat what they want”? We’ll, at Zim’s every person can eat what they want from the broad selection found at Ouita’s many restaurants in Central Kentucky.

Okay, the food. I’m a flexitarian so I can promise the beet burger is the best vegan burger in Lexington. But I also recommend the Po’Boy (shrimp and oyster), the Santa Anita Club, the Bluegrass Eggs Benedict, and whatever big breakfast you can order. Coffee is fresh and bold, too. Visit the counter on your way out for some baked goods to go (or pick up some local grocery goods used in her cooking — or her mew cookbook!).

Want to taste Lexington? Eat at Ouita’s. Where’s that you ask?...