J. T. REYNOLDS · JUNE 1937
A restaurant from the start
Reynolds’s earlier business was the Reynolds Sandwich Shop at 225 Walton Avenue, sold to his brother the previous November. On East High, his new luncheonette served chicken, steak and old ham dinners, sandwiches and a merchant’s lunch.
Four booths and four tables filled the front lunchroom, with seven tables in the rear. Together, they seated about 74 people. The main interior was green and cream; the rear dining room used a colonial design.
It opened at 7 a.m. daily. Curb service ran until midnight, and delivery boys served southeastern Lexington. The report even mentioned the newly widened street and room for curbside parking.
The future Saratoga, newly openedThe earliest known photograph of the future Saratoga at 856 East High Street.
Home cooking under Mrs. ReynoldsReopening at 856 East High, with home cooking supervised by Mrs. Reynolds, a delicatessen, curb service and delivery.
For sale: J. T. Reynolds RestaurantThe restaurant at 856 East High is offered for sale. No buyer, price or reason is given.
An auction of the restaurant’s equipmentAn auction is announced for Tuesday, December 29 at 10 a.m., at 856 East High.
Chef wanted. Opening May 1.This classified seeks a first-class chef for a new restaurant scheduled to open May 1, directing applicants to Saratoga at 856 East High. Alongside the formal-opening advertisement, it provides contemporary evidence for the 1950 beginning.
Before the characters, the decorators.L. M. Tucker supplied the paint, wallpaper and decorating crew.
The lumber behind the landmarkPerry Lumber congratulates Saratoga Restaurant on its finished restaurant.
The bar opensSaratoga announces the opening of its cocktail lounge and stresses the comfort of air conditioning. The advertisement retains the restaurant’s family-food identity with a promise of nutritious meals and its established Lexington’s Smartest Restaurant slogan.
The Mims family prepares to take overA pending sale would transfer Ed Whitlock’s 24-year business through building owners Ronald and Arlene Alter to Ted, Sandra, Joe and Elizabeth Mims. The incoming family promised to retain the staff and home-style menu, with Sandra and Elizabeth sharing management.
A place of enduring charmsSusan Miller’s review praises Saratoga’s generous home-style food, modest prices and familiar room, while noting small service lapses and cold green beans. Dinner for two with a couple of beers apiece cost $19; daily plate lunches, sandwiches, country-style entrées and rich vegetables still defined the menu.
The Lundergan purchaseTom Daykin reports that S.R. Holding Co., owned by Charlotte and Michael Lundergan, closed its purchase of Saratoga’s name and assets on February 16. The land and building were excluded; attorney Henry Kinser said Charlotte planned no major changes and wanted to retain the old clientele.
A neighborhood restaurant, one year into the Mims eraJohn Woestendiek’s 1979 review finds familiar food, strong drinks and a loyal neighborhood trade under Ted Mims. It records the expanded 117-seat dining room, veteran bartender Jim Sweitzer, daily operations and a detailed menu—from a $2.45 hot roast-beef sandwich to an $8.50 T-bone.
Remembering Wilburn “Joe” MimsThe obituary remembers Wilburn “Joe” Mims, 61, as a family owner and daily operator of Saratoga Restaurant restaurants, an effective behind-the-scenes presence and a church and civic volunteer. It also records the family’s Richmond restaurant, opened two months earlier.
Liz Mims: hard work and practical jokes · Part 1Merlene Davis introduces Elizabeth Mims, a Saratoga part-owner known as “Mom,” with a kitchen photograph by John Wyatt. Her daughter recalls generosity, independence and a lifetime of work; Liz supplies a childhood practical joke.
Liz Mims: hard work and practical jokes · Part 2The continuation names the family behind the 1978 purchase and describes Liz’s work: waiting tables, cooking Saturdays, catering, vegetables and the occasional bar shift. It also covers Johnny’s management role, Wilburn’s death and her standards for service.
The kitchen needed a salad womanA 1973 classified ad seeks a 'salad woman' for Saratoga Restaurant at 856 E. High, a small record of the kitchen work behind the dining room.
Thanksgiving at Saratoga RestaurantThe advertisement publishes a Thanksgiving menu for Thursday, November 23, 1950, served 11 a.m.–9 p.m. Complete dinners ranged from 90-cent perch to $1.85 turkey or country ham and included juice or cream of chicken soup plus a choice of two vegetables or one vegetable and salad; hot biscuits accompanied every order.
A Sunday spreadThe dated November 26, 1950 menu offers Sunday dining from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., with twelve complete dinner choices. Country ham and turkey with oyster dressing cost $1.85, prime rib and veal $1.75, and perch 90 cents; meals included juice or soup, vegetables and biscuits, with desserts priced separately.
Seafood and cocktailsAn illustrated seafood advertisement promotes frog legs, lobster, shrimp, scallops, crabs and a seafood platter. Cocktails and air conditioning are also selling points at the 856 East High Street restaurant.
Sunday dinner, from a dollar fiftyComplete dinners from $1.50; the doors open at noon.
Come home before or after the gameAll-you-can-eat prime rib with a choice of three sides, open until 1 a.m.
Lunch in fifteen minutes—or half priceAn advertisement signed “Mary & Jim” promises lunch within fifteen minutes after the order is rung. If service runs slower, the restaurant promises to cut the bill in half, carrying its racing theme into a practical lunch offer.
Mary Price defines comfort foodA short excerpt describes Mary Price as a Saratoga co-owner after 37 years as a waitress. It identifies Southern fried chicken, Virginia baked ham and stewed tomatoes as specialties and quotes Price’s insistence that Saratoga food be home-cooked.
Thanksgiving, in living colorThe Macy’s parade was part of the attraction.
Liz takes Saratoga Restaurant spirit to the golf courseA brief announces the 16th year of the Saratoga Golf Tournament for Cardinal Hill Hospital, sponsored by restaurant owner Liz Mims. Public play began at Meadowbrook Golf Course, with $15 tickets and an auction and lunch afterward at the Little Inn Restaurant.
Three break-ins on East High StreetA 1962 report describes break-ins at Saratoga and two neighboring East High Street businesses. Owner Ed Whitlock told police that roughly $200 in vending-machine change, food, and substantial liquor stocks were missing; the restaurant break-in was discovered about 4:20 a.m. Sunday.
A proposed sale reaches courtCharlie Washburn sought permission to join William Joseph Smith’s $2,600 suit against real-estate agent P. C. “Tot” Steele over a proposed Saratoga purchase. The buyers alleged that their agreement was indefinite, that Rose did not own the property, and that Steele improperly retained a $1,600 deposit; these are allegations reported before disposition.
An agreement to end the disputeAn agreed order dismissing the Smith–Washburn suit against Steele awaited Judge Joseph J. Bradley’s signature. The terms withdrew character-related allegations, dismissed without prejudice, assigned each party its own costs, and released mutual claims; the article explains that the $2,600 demand comprised the $1,600 deposit and $1,000 damages.
A divorce case passes through the barIn a Fayette Circuit Court divorce hearing, Army Capt. Robert J. Plarr testified that he had confronted his wife Hilde and builder William K. Stoll at Saratoga that spring. Hilde acknowledged lunches and cocktails with Stoll while maintaining that the meetings were innocent; the hearing was unfinished and the clipping continues elsewhere.
A meeting at Saratoga enters court testimonyThis continuation reports competing accounts in the Plarr–Stoll litigation. Capt. Plarr testified that he followed a car to Saratoga and found his wife inside while Stoll stood at the jukebox. The defense disputed his account of the marriage and responsibility for its breakdown. These are reported allegations and testimony, not an established account of wrongdoing.
The following day’s court reportThe report continues testimony by Stoll, who said he married the former Mrs. Plarr on January 15, 1957. It recounts his version of Saratoga Restaurant encounter, evidentiary rulings and other witnesses’ testimony. Despite the headline “Jury,” this supplied continuation says testimony had ended and the jury was expected to receive the case; it does not provide the verdict.
Elizabeth Mims seeks payment after the saleElizabeth Mims sued Charlotte Lundergan and S.R. Holding Co. over allegedly missed payments on a $25,000 promissory note following the February sale. The holding company's attorney called the suit without merit; the clipping reports no outcome.
A second closing in 1990Saratoga closed December 22 after a late-August reopening by Ramsey's Diner co-owners Rob Ramsey and Jay Reilly. They declined to renew their option. Jerry Lundergan said a lease to an unnamed national restaurant company was near; the report does not confirm a completed deal.
Two years closed, still waitingAmy Baldwin reports that Saratoga had remained shut for two years despite a door sign originally promising a two-week closure. Property owner Growth Properties LLC sought broader redevelopment, but neighboring merchants including florist John Oram did not want to sell; David Henderman described Saratoga’s buildings as beyond remodeling.
The makeover problem, at a glanceThis short news pointer says Growth Properties LLC of Louisville, owner of the closed Saratoga property, was having difficulty redeveloping the restaurant and surrounding area. It attributes the difficulty to neighboring merchants’ reluctance to sell and says Saratoga had closed two years earlier.
“The Saratoga was its characters”Don Edwards recalls Saratoga’s customers, Monday meatloaf, fried-egg sandwiches and famously strong drinks while the page introduces plans to replace the closed restaurant with stores and offices. Charles Bertram’s photographs show the awning and rooftop sign still in place; a caption identifies longtime customer Clark Cramer and describes a planned two-story office-and-retail building.
The building is gone. The pictures begin.David Minton’s Art Notes column describes the former Saratoga site as a temporary parking lot and reports Steve Elswick’s paintings and limited-edition signed prints of the restaurant. A signing party, auction and sale was planned for August 16 at Blue Moon Saloon, with originals on view at Miller Fine Art & Framing.
A second account of the new luncheonetteThe opening report describes four booths and four tables in the front lunchroom, seven tables in the rear, and chicken, steak, old ham dinners, sandwiches and a merchant’s lunch.
The reopening advertised in another paperA second newspaper placement of the restaurant and delicatessen reopening ad.
“Reynolds Restaurant Formally Reopened”The news report confirms the reopening, regular lunch and dinner service, short orders, a delicatessen, fountain, curb and delivery service.
The morning reopening announcement“Reynolds Restaurant Will Reopen Today” previews the reopening at 856 East High.
Former restaurant premises offered for rentFormer Reynolds premises offered for rent. This ad prints 858 East High, an unresolved difference from the usual 856 address.
R. & S. Grill has lost its leaseAfter losing its lease, R. & S. Grill advertised its restaurant equipment for auction on February 7, 1950.
A seat at Saratoga RestaurantSmall tables, coat stands, a busy server and a room full of diners. The photograph preserves the restaurant as a lived-in gathering place. The people shown are not identified in the archive caption.
The neighborhood’s meeting roomThe executive board of the Chevy Chase Business Association met for lunch at Saratoga to discuss wider streets, better parking and stoplights. Walter Underwood also reported that a hedge obstructing sightlines at Ashland Avenue and High Street would be cut following a police recommendation; the group discussed a summer carnival.
Parking was already the problemAt an Ashland–Chevy Chase Business Association meeting at Saratoga, A. E. Oram called parking the area’s largest problem. He said cars belonging to 80 area employees occupied spaces that customers could use; the meeting also covered Homecoming, street cleanliness, association growth and holiday events.
Cash only. Apparently.The reported take: $420. The checks and $61.40 in coins stayed put.
A takeaway order nobody approvedAbout $100 in whisky, plus the vending-machine change.
The ’Toga goes bowlingSaratoga Restaurant led the opening team competition in the 25th annual Lexington City bowling tournament with 3,058. The report names Congress and Wildcat Lanes as tournament venues.
Compliments of the Saratoga ClubAn address, an anniversary claim and a place in UK sports ephemera.
Mary Price reopens Saratoga RestaurantKevin Osbourn reports a planned 11 a.m. reopening that day under Price & Associates, the partnership of Mary Price and Jim Croley, following a June 30 closure when the liquor license expired. Price, who began working for Whitlock in 1958, would run daily operations without significant menu or price changes; the story also documents the otherwise omitted 1991–92 transfers and a pending purchase-price suit.