Southern Living ranked the South’s “tride-and-true” restaurants on their best classic restaurants list earlier this year.
Malone’s in Lexington was ranked sixth on the list of 10 classic restaurants, beating out seafood restaurants along the East Coast and the Florida Keys.
Southern Living pointed to the restaurant’s steak as their stand-out option. According to the magazine, every cut of beef at Malone’s earned the distinction of “prime beef.” A rating less than 2% of beef all over the world receive.
How to visit Malone’s
Malone’s was originally opened in 1998 at the Lansdowne Shopping Center on Tates Creek Road in Lexington and two more Lexington locations followed.
In addition to Lexington’s three locations, Malone’s has locations in Louisville and Chattanooga, Tennessee.
1920 Pleasant Ridge Drive, Lexington
3347 Tates Creek Road, Lexington
3735 Palomar Centre Drive, Lexington
4370 Summit Plaza Drive, Louisville
2094 Hamilton Place Boulevard, Chattanooga
Malone’s staying power
Shortly after opening its first location almost three decades ago, a negative food-critic review led to a decline in the restaurant’s business, and Malone’s was nearly shut down.
In an effort to combat the loss of revenue and come back from the negative review, owners Bruce Drake and Brian McCarty decided to open their doors for lunch. Drake and McCarty told the Herald-Leader in 2023 that they “eat risk for breakfast,” and pivot well when something is not working out.
Malone’s parent company is Bluegrass Hospitality Group, who also owns Drake’s Come Play. Drake’s is a more casual, brother restaurant to Malone’s serving bar food.
Dining and Cooking