LEXINGTON, Va. – A few weeks ago, a co-worker of ours told us about a new shop in Lexington, and said, “You have to try it! Their sandwiches are huge!” As part of our In Your Town series, we thought this would be a good way to highlight Lexington.
Legendary Eats aims to become just that...legendary. It’s off to a good start too, with Jessica Harden at the helm. She takes pride knowing that her restaurant is a woman-owned business that’s taken on the city by storm in about a year.
During the pandemic, they had a soft opening. Shortly after that, she says, “We had a line out the door for the first few days and ran out of food.”
Locals, nearby students and tourists have fallen in love with the theme of the cryptids. Each item on the menu is named after something from Norse, Greek or Roman mythology.
The inspiration for the food itself, however, comes from up north. Harden grew up in New Jersey and lived in New York City for a while before making the move down south.
She tells us, “A lot of the things that we brought to the menu here was stuff that I missed from being up there - New York bagels and Italian specialties. Lexington just really didn’t have that, and I saw the perfect opportunity to fill a hole that needed to be filled.”
One of the best sellers is something that fans of ‘Lord of the Rings’ will love.
“Balrog which is our cheesesteak. It’s a little bit of a twist on a cheesesteak. We add a little extra seasoning and some cherry peppers for heat.”
My personal favorite is the, “Jersey Devil, which is our Italian sub. It’s one of my favorite sandwiches. It’s about two pounds.”
This thing is loaded with ham, salami, capicola, soppressata, and so much more. I took this behemoth home and put it to the test, but I could only eat half of it in one sitting.
If you’re feeling a salad, one look deep into the Medusa will leave you speechless - almost as if you’ve turned into stone.
The hope is to add more baked goods down the road, so look out for that!
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