Food and Fun Around Lexington: DV8 Kitchen

This past weekend, my friend and I were craving brunch. I took the opportunity for us to try a place called “DV8 Kitchen”. Not only was the breakfast restaurant posted on

@‌thingstodoinlexingtonky ’s Instagram, but it was also actually recommended to us by a few of our friends.

DV8 ended up being special in many ways. For starters, it’s the first restaurant that’s also been personally recommended to me in my @‌thingstodoinlexingtonky journey. I usually have to do a lot of research online before even picking a place to go, so this was a nice break. Secondly, I looked at the restaurant’s “About Us” section and found out that they give second chances to people recovering from drug addiction. Places aren’t usually willing to hire people in the early stages of recovery from substance abuse, so I think that it’s pretty cool that DV8 does. Lastly, this restaurant was special because of its menu. The food looked amazing.

We saw that DV8 was close to campus and that the weather was in the 60s, so we decided it would be fun to walk there. It’s near CookOut if that rings a bell for readers who go to UK. When my friends told me about DV8 they said you can get a lot of food for not a lot of money.

So, with that in mind, along with the fact that my stomach had been grumbling all morning, I was a bit nervous to walk back. Disclaimer: the walk back ended up being difficult because of how much I ate. I think that’s a fair indication of how much I liked the place.

It’s important to note that DV8 is one of those restaurants where you order and pay at the desk when you walk in, so if that kind of thing isn’t your style, I don’t recommend it. My friend ordered the bacon, egg and cheese sandwich and the fried green tomato BLT (she was also really hungry). I ordered the fried green tomato BLT and the strawberry salad.

As we waited for our food, we talked about how pretty the restaurant's design was. It had a rustic look to it, which I thought was fitting because it’s in the city. My favorite thing about DV8’s decorations was definitely the tables, they each had a different painting on them. I enjoyed looking down and seeing art at my fingertips, something uncommon in restaurants. It gave me flashbacks to when I would draw on the paper that they had on tables at Bravo as a kid. There’s something magical about it.

We got our food quickly and basically inhaled it. The staff was also eager to help us in any way they could, even pointing out where the silverware was. Everyone who worked there seemed happy, and that ultimately topped off our experience. Sure, the food tasting good is important, but a restaurant is even better when the people who work there are cheerful.

DV8 was awesome in all my rating categories (quality, price, environment, staff) and I would especially recommend that college students check it out. Given its high ratings, though, it seems like it’s already doing well. The next time you want to grab some brunch, try DV8.