For much of my early life, I was going to Pikeville at least twice a month. While I didn't eat out every time, I did eat out most of the time, either in town or out in Coal Run (They will be given a separate highlight after Pikeville). Even now, that I own a store in Pikeville, I still eat out once or twice a month. As such, there have been a lot of places to cover. As such, I better start covering all of them, starting at the south end of town. Click here for the explanation of how I'm doing this.
- Long John Silver's, DI/TO, ⭐️ ⭐️, (later also A + W Restaurant): I've got to say, I've probably eaten here more than anywhere else. I've been coming here since I was a little boy. I remember when it was still on the highway, before US 23 became a four lane. I was such a picky eater, I would eat nowhere else for most of my childhood. It wasn't until I was a teenager that I would usually eat at multiple places. I have been eating here since they had 'peg-leg' chicken drumsticks. This calculates to at least 120 times. Probably close to 150 or higher. I remember the holiday promotion they ran back in the early 80s, where you could buy mugs. We would get them every year, frequently giving some away as presents. While the original ones long since broke, I still use mugs/steins as my primary glassware. Breakfast, lunch, dinner, snacks. I even have one the holds at least a quart. Sure, they are mostly for water, but I still use them. [Yes, A + W has mugs too, but I have yet felt the great need to purchase one.] Even when I started eating out at other places, I would still eat here a few times a year. I had to go to the Coal Run location a few times when this one was closed for remodeling. (More on that one in a later post.) An A + W Restaurant was added about the same time as I opened my store. I had a chicken sandwich, and maybe a burger from there, but LJS remains the go to. I just haven't had the time to actually dine in the redesigned seating area anymore. I basically order the same thing every time, although I recently started to alter it slightly. Instead of ordering just for myself, I frequently split a fish and chicken platter. She gets the fish, slaw, a hushpuppy, and some fries. I get the three pieces of chicken (although it has been four slightly smaller pieces the last two times), the other hushpuppy, most of the fries, and crumbs. Plus a medium drink, mostly Dr Pepper. When I was a kid, I would get extra crumbs and save most of them as a 'dessert.' While I don't order extra anymore, I still save what I do get until the end. I have had fish, but usually it was when they had the breaded 'Southern/Country-style.' I would eat it with a mix of tartar sauce, ketchup, and sweet-and-sour that just didn't pair well with the batter-dipped. As the only LJS left standing in the area, I admit that I am a little worried for it. It still seems busy many nights, but I can't help think what would happen if the last local one closed.
- Dairy Queen, TO: The main time I remember eating here was back in the mid-90s. I took my mom to the hospital for a follow up visit after she had a procedure the previous day. We went fairly early, so I didn't get to eat. We stopped here to get her coffee and me some fries before some shopping and heading home. While eating in the car, some of the ketchup landed on my shirt. Some men in the next car over saw it and commented. Very embarrassing. [Not the first time it happened either. See a later post.] I may have eaten here more recently, but I don't remember it. Definitely no Blizzards though.
- Gatti's, TO: We went here once in the 90s, on the Friday after Thanksgiving. Mom got some steak sandwiches, Stromboli type, for herself and my grandmother, while I just got a pizza. Nothing remarkable about the pizza, but they didn't like the sandwiches. Gatti's has since moved to Cassidy Boulevard and became Gattiland. A Mexican restaurant has since moved in.
- Pizza Hut, DI/TO: I was overjoyed when this place moved into downtown, as it was easier to get to than the one out at Coal Run (see later post, again). It was bigger than the Prestonsburg one, yet brighter than the one at Coal Run. I would usually get a personal pan pizza with mushrooms, the only topping I really like, along with an order of cheesy breadsticks to share. Maybe split a mushroom pizza. I would take the extra pieces home to eat the next day. [Pizzas and breadsticks being just about the lone leftovers that I could eat reheated.] I even started creating my own breadsticks using refrigerated breadstick dough. I would just spread them out in a pan and cover them with mozzarella and Parmesan cheeses, maybe some appropriate herbs. Bake and then serve with heated spaghetti and/or pizza sauce. I could never get them as brown as conventional ovens couldn't get as hot, but they were still good. I stopped making them after I could no longer find the breadstick dough, although I probably could use pizza dough, if so inclined. The last time I went there was about fifteen years ago. We ordered a pizza for take out after Booknotes' first book signing with Adrianna Trigiani. It was so late after it ended, that take out was the best idea. Since then, the place has been remodeled slightly, and the menu has been changed. I am not sure what they even have anymore, after some temporary changes came and went. It is just so hard to plan a time to stop in.
- Dairy Cheer, DI/TO, ⭐️ : When I ate here in the 90s, it always was empty and felt like it would close at any time. Since then, it has always been crowded, almost too busy to get in to place an order. I've had both chicken sandwiches and burgers here. Just a little over three years ago, close enough to warrant the star, my mom wanted a Smasharoo burger, so we stopped here. We got two burgers, two sides, and one drink in a styrofoam cup that I detest for about $28.00 after taxes. I could get about the same amount of food for under twenty, after discounts, at other places. I didn't even care that much about the food. We haven't been there since. [Fun fact: An episode of Good Mythical Morning with Rhett and Link last year featured highlights in the history of the hamburger. They declared the best innovation was the creation of the 'smashburger' in the 1940s. Their research had the earliest evidence at Dairy Cheer, although some commenters thought otherwise. Cool call-out at least.]
- Wendy's, current location, TO, ⭐️: After a impromptu stop at a Wendy's last fall on the way to Lexington (yep, see a much later post for details), my mom became obsessed with their oat bars. She began stopping here so much, that we decided to have lunch here a few times already this year. I've had a burger and a chicken sandwich, both with fries. (I prefer onion rings, but that's for another post.) On the plus side, they have fountain that allows for a variety of drinks with extra flavors, allowing me to get cherry-vanilla Dr Pepper once again, even if it doesn't taste exactly the same as the original. However, the fountain was out of both Dr Pepper and flavorings the last time we ate there. I don't drink Coke. I don't like citrus-flavored drinks with lunch. I'm not getting just water after paying for a full drink. I didn't have time to check with the counter. So, I just got Barq's root beer. It was the most bitter thing I ever drank. I normally like root beer (in order of preference over the years: Fanta, A & W, Mug, many others I've never tasted, Barq's), but I could barley drink this brand. I should have just settled for the water.
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