Bardstown Kentucky - Dinner and More

As our exploration (and shopping) adventures wound down in the center of Bardstown, we decided to find someplace for a casual dinner.  I'd researched the dining possibilities when I was planning the road trip so I did have a couple of choices available. 

We chose the more casual...or actually more local, restaurant over the more tourist related venue.  This is the primary entrance to Mammy's Kitchen... The actual entrance is under that low overhanging structure at the right.  Note the two benches available for diners on a busy weekend evening.

Mammy's Kitchen does have a front entrance but there is virtually no parking at the front of the restaurant so apparently most diners or bar patrons enter at the back.  As you can see, outdoor dining is an option.

Mammy's Kitchen started out in 2006 as Christy's Collections, a home accessory, antique and custom sewing store in downtown Bardstown.  Then the family, 'Mammy' included, decided to add a cafe to the mix.  They started out with a small grill, deep fryer, an old stove, a refrigerator and freezer from home...and added in dishes, pots and pans from discount stores.

It wasn't long before this family business had an opportunity to move a few doors down into a much larger building...and the business took off!

Entering through the main (back) door, patrons enter the large dining room.  The bar with more seating is accessed through the doorway/hallway under that bright white light in the back center of the photo.

Why was the restaurant named "Mammy's"?  It was because the owner wanted to keep both of her grandmothers' memories alive.  Both of them were called "Mammy".  One of them had 17 children and the other mammy had 15 children.  By now the owner is a mammy in her own right...

FYI, I can't imagine raising 15 or 17 children without having a breakdown.  Can you?

The first photo above is looking from the entrance from the dining room into the bar area.  That bar is one gigantic slab of wood!  This area offers alternative seating and lots of TVs.  The second photo is looking back toward the dining room.  Note the neon sign at center right.  This is a big restaurant!

We decided on the Fried Pickles with Mammy's homemade dipping sauce as an appetizer. ($11.99) They were very good...but despite her love for fried pickles, given Laurie's shrinking appetite, I ended up eating far too many of these goodies.  

Other more unusual appetizers on the menu included Bacon Cheese Tots, Seasoned Pork Rinds and Chorizo Pork Rinds.  The menu at Mammy's is in the form of a newspaper with the menu in the center and mostly family stories, (the Gribbins and the Hourigans) on the front and back pages.  

After eating some of the pickle chips, Laurie wanted something lighter for her 'entree'.  She chose the Chicken Salad Melt accompanied by a few potato chips. ($12.49) The sandwich consisted of grilled Texas toast and homemade chicken salad that was topped with American cheese and sliced tomato. 

With the exception of the Fried Bologna and Cheese sandwich, the other sandwiches were pretty much variations of usual sandwich items.  The one other variation is the portion of the menu that claims the "Best Steakburgers in Town!"  It features a Kentucky Cornbread Mafia Burger and The Bourbon Burger...the latter simmered in Uncle Marty's Bourbon Sauce.

As most of you have noted, I go big or go home!  For my entree, it was all about the Pork Chops with 2 sides and cornbread. ($19.49) There were 2 breaded and fried pork chops (chargrilling is an option).  For my sides I chose Home Fries and Fried Apples.  The corn bread was OK...I like mine sweeter, the Home Fries were decent and the fried apples were a bit overly soft and moist.  However, the Pork Chops were just right...fried and still moist inside.  

For those headed to Bardstown you should know that Mammy's Kitchen has an extensive breakfast menu...sorry we missed the opportunity.  It includes a "Kentucky Breakfast Hot Brown"...oven roasted turkey and shaved ham piled on top of 2 pieces of Texas toast, covered with Hot Brown sauce, topped with 2 eggs, bacon and sliced tomato...then browned in the oven.  I'd "have to" try it!

Mammy's Kitchen is located at 116 West Stephen Foster Avenue in Bardstown Kentucky.  This restaurant is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner Tuesdays through Saturdays.  Phone: 502-350-1097.  Their website is at https://www.mammyskitchenbar.com/about.

This little blue frame house with the Eastlake style porch is included in the Bardstown Historic District.  It was built ca. 1890.

After a bit of research on this home, called "Edgewood", located at 310 South 5th Street in Bardstown, I learned that it is also known historically as the Ben Hardin House.  The older section of the home (to the right) was built in 1815 while the section now serving as the front of the structure was built between 1819 and 1822.  The style is a combination of Federal and Georgian with a touch of Greek revival thrown in.  The home sits on 2.37 acres of land...

Ben Hardin was a successful lawyer, he served in both houses of the Kentucky legislature, he was a state cabinet member and he served 3 terms in the US House of Representatives as a Whig.  Ben and his wife Elizabeth had a daughter named Lucinda.  Lucinda married John L. Helm, 2 time Governor of Kentucky, Speaker of the US House of Representatives and later, President of the Louisville and Nashville Railroad.  In one of those weird twists of fate, Lucinda and John Helm's son, Ben Hardin Helm was a Confederate General in the Civil War.  General Helm's wife was Emilie Todd, sister of Mary Todd Lincoln.

This is the McMeekin/Muir House in Bardstown.  This late Georgian beauty, also known as "Shadowland" was built ca. 1820.  The Greek Revival front porch and art glass windows were added in 1899.  This home is part of the Bardstown Historic District.  This home was last sold/purchased in 2018 for $410,000.  It sits on a half acre lot.

Bardstown also offers a variety of railway excursions via the "My Old Kentucky Home" Dinner Train.  In addition to dinner excursions, other offerings include lunch, bourbon and murder mystery trips as well as special holiday excursions.  The 2.5 hours dinner excursion currently costs $108.00 per person.

To learn about the dinner train and its offerings, just go to https://www.kydinnertrain.com/. 

The passenger cars for the dinner train are steel-skirted cars that were built by the Budd Company in the late 1940s.  The diesel locomotive is an EMD GP15-1 and this model was built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division between 1976 and 1982.  Only 310 were built but they are still going strong and they are popular with short-line railroads.

The R.J. Corman Railroad Company purchased the 20-mile branch rail line from CSX Transportation in 1987 and then the company developed the dinner train.  The Corman Railroad Group is privately held and it has field locations is 22 states.  The company provides track maintenance and installation, emergency services, equipment rentals and much more to main-line railroads.  In addition, the company owns 19 short-line railroads in 10 states.

Last but not least...how about a nice bed and breakfast stay in Bardstown.  I know that you probably can't read what's printed on the wooden sign... This is the old Nelson County Jail and it was built in 1819 with an addition being built in 1874.  It looks pretty welcoming, doesn't it?  It's situated next to the Old Talbott Tavern.

This is the view of the back of the old Nelson County Jail.  That foreboding wall was built in 1874 when the 'new' section of the jail was finished.  The wall surrounded the new exercise yard.  At the time the old Nelson County Jail was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1983, it was still being used as a jail... In 1987 the county stopped using the structure as a jail and the building was sold at public auction.  

In 1989, the building was reopened as The Jailer's Inn Bed and Breakfast.  It features 6 guest rooms with one of the rooms featuring bunks that were used by the prisoners during the jail's active years.  The Travel Channel ranked the Nelson County Jail as one of the ten most haunted places in the United States.  One of the alleged ghosts is Martin Hill, who died painfully while waiting to be hanged for murdering his wife.  To learn more about the Inn, go to http://www.jailersinn.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave