We found ourselves down in St. Matthews at the new Drakes a couple of times this week, so I thought I’d post our impressions.
Our first visit was on a whim following the consumption of (another) great pie at Coals Artisan Pizza. After reading about Drakes in another forum post, we thought to stop in, have a beer and see what the place was all about. Drakes is a small micro-chain based out of Lexington and this was our first experience in any of their restaurants. Knowing nothing about the restaurant, somehow I was under the impression that it was just the latest sports bar installment for the man-grunting frustrated ex-jock-frat boy crowd. We were pleasantly surprised to discover that this was not the (exactly) the case. The crowd (and it was relatively crowded) was actually quite mixed, including several tables being held down by the ladies enjoying a “girls night out”. There were also several relatively large mixed parties of 6 or 8 people. I’d guess the average age was somewhere on the extreme upper end of the 18-34 demographic with a fair number of those of us in the 50+ demographic making a showing as well.. TV’s were in abundance but the lack of the compulsory sporting memorabilia gave the place something of a non-sports bar appeal. Don’t get me wrong, this place is going to draw a nice “game” crowd but it doesn’t have that “jock” feel to it. The “vibe” (if people still use that word) was energetic…definitely not a laid back quiet conversation kinda place. The music is present but not conversationally overpowering although that being said, the combination of music and conversation does make for a noisy environment. The beer list was relatively extensive with I believe 24 ‘craft” beers on tap (several of them “local”). During our first visit, we enjoyed a couple of Southern Tier 2X IPAs (most excellent) and an order of (breaded) Wings. Breaded wings are normally not my style but I have to admit that these were pretty darn good…Very crisp and tender (but not FOTB). In the process of enjoying the wings we had time to peruse the menu and were impressed enough with the variety of selections that we decided to give it a try later in the week.
On our next visit we gave the menu something more of a work out. We started off with a Sushi Roll…I can’t recall exactly which one, Dragon something or other I think. The roll was acceptable but not spectacular…Thus I don’t see them being named “best place for sushi” any time soon. Of course after hammering back a few beers, who really cares how great the sushi is anyway. I’d guess I’d put it in the same category as “grocery store” sushi. After the sushi, I decided to try one of their Burgers…The BBQ something or other. Again, it was good…not great (a bit on the dry side)…Probably comparable to Red Robin if you’ve ever tried that place. Becky had some kind of grilled (blackened ?) chicken with a side of Broccoli. She seemed to be pretty happy with it…the chicken seemed to be nice and moist and didn’t have that “reheated” taste and texture to it. By the time we had finished our entrees (and a couple of more “craft” beers) the place was starting to “rock” a bit more…diners seemed to be replaced by drinkers...Not necessarily a bad thing. One thing to note, the music the second night was definitely less “in your face” than the previous visit…perhaps something to do with a rumored “come to Jesus” meeting with the folks from 60 West Bistro next door (who had apparently complained about a parking and/or noise problem coming from Drakes)…No opinion on that one other than “can’t we all get along”…
Overall, the experience with Drakes was positive. I can’t see the place becoming a “Foodie” destination but I CAN see it becoming a popular place (if it’s not already) with folks who want to meet up with a group of friends or co-workers, tip a few beers and enjoy some very “TGI Fridays-Like” food. Nothing wrong with Drakes at all…We’ll go back…probably not on our own but certainly with a group of friends. I’m giving them an “80” for food and an “89” for atmosphere.