I have lived in Lexington for a year and a half now, and I have just about exhausted every local food option there is. I am not saying that the food in Lexington is bad. In fact, I love the local and versatile food options the small town has to offer. I live for an afternoon coffee at Lexco or a dining experience at Southern Inn when my parents come to town. I love the grilled cheese and tomato soup from Blue Sky, but my heart breaks when I crave the combo on a Saturday afternoon and it’s not open. However, I can’t help but wonder what it would be like if Lexington were to get a new restaurant or two.

I know some people are all for a Chick-fil-a or a Starbucks coming to town, but, while I love these options, even I get sick of them every now and then. What Lexington really needs is just a few more options open later and with decent food. I could see a café, something like Panera, doing well in Lexington just because it has good food and a good study environment and it’s open relatively late. The problem I run into with going downtown is that there is nowhere open later than 8 p.m. other than nice sit-down restaurants.

Lexington needs some kind of café with plenty of space and some kind of healthy-ish food. Sandwiches, salads, soups, anything along these lines would make me happy and if I had a comfy chair to sit in late into the night I would be perfectly content. Rumor has it that Kind Roots, the best organic café in Lexington, is moving downtown, but their hours are somewhat restricted.

Pronto gelateria is a great option to grab some convenient coffee or good gelato, but I can’t study there any later than 8pm. And if it’s a Tuesday, forget about it. I understand that studying on campus is always an option and even encouraged to foster a close campus environment, but sometimes it is important to find new places to study and hangout.

So maybe a chain like Panera Bread might overwhelm little old Lex. However, what if a restaurant no one has ever heard of, but that appeals to a similar crowd as Panera does were to come to Lex? I believe that this would not only bring more business to downtown, but would encourage more students to hang out there. With more students going downtown, businesses are making more money and everyone is happy.

I would be interested to see what other students would want to see come to town, but I would think that a café open later would generally appeal to a majority of people. Especially when the weekend rolls around and many of the theme and greek houses don’t have food, and, let’s be honest, Dhall is slim pickins’. It would be nice to know that there are other options out there.

I also wouldn’t hate it if Lexington were to gain a few other options to eat in addition to a café. An authentic Mexican restaurant would satisfy my needs, as would a few more breakfast/ coffee options. In case you didn’t hear, Subway found it’s way into Lexington and has been doing a decent job. If Subway can thrive in this small town, then so can another food place or two.