by Rose Lucas October 2012
The resurgence of eating places along Jefferson Street brings to mind the neighborhood restaurants in place in the mid-twentieth century. Among those was the Jefferson Grill (now the Green Lantern) where the absolute best supper would be a grilled cheese sandwich and an orange crush! My mother often spoke of eating mayonnaise and lettuce sandwiches at the Jefferson Grill when she was in college at Transylvania in the early 1920’s. She could buy such a sandwich for less than 25 cents and save her money to see shows at the Opera House. Another favorite from my childhood was Amato’s. It was located in the lot on West Fourth Street across from the Florence Crittenden Home. A long, low white frame building housed some really fabulous home-cooked spaghetti and meatballs and other Italian favorites. Closer to Main Street was Coyle’s, and it was a great restaurant for lunch and dinner. Since was just one lot away from St. Joseph Hospital, there was always a lot of activity in Coyle’s. The original French-Bauer Ice Cream store was in the 200 block of Jefferson, and like the one on North Broadway, it had wonderful treats, and hand packed pints and quarts of ice cream were always available. Rogers’ Restaurant, on the corner of Main and Jefferson, offered home cooked food and was also a neighborhood destination, as well as one for many Lexingtonians. Wouldn’t a neighborhood ice cream store be great in the Northside?
