3 Best Restaurants in Kentucky, USA

Chef–owner Ouita Michel uses locally grown meats and produce to create her five-course prix-fixe menus. These change every two weeks and may be Southern, French, Southwestern or any cuisine that strikes her fancy. The restaurant has multiple dining rooms in an old Southern mansion with a wraparound porch, where alfresco dining is offered in summer. Wine pairings are available for an additional charge.

In an antebellum farmhouse that was the center of a horse farm, the Merrick Inn's dining rooms are filled with antiques. Southern fried chicken, pork tenderloin, and rainbow trout are traditional favorites here; there's also a selection of steaks, and lobster tail is available. Old-fashioned desserts include peach Melba.

Though the old corn mill has ground to a halt, the mill wheel still stands at this country buffet 9 miles from Mammoth Cave. The fried chicken is popular, as is the inexpensive all-you-can-eat buffet, which is available at both lunch and dinner. The cuisine here varies from traditional Southern to average-Joe American, and it’s a good place for hearty meat-and-potatoes type dishes.

Most visitors are either shocked or appalled that the Watermill still has a smoking section.