About Dudley's on Short
Dudley's Restaurant occupied space in Historic Dudley's Square until Oct. 2009. Wanting to be in the heart of downtown and Cheapside district Dudley's made a big move in 2010. With 4 other investors Debbie Long owner of Dudley's Restaurant purchased The Northern Bank Building. Built in 1889 it was one of the most prominent in downtown Lexington. Not only did it face the rear of the courthouse but it marks the beginning of Market Street. That became the entrance to the aristocratic Gratz Park Residential Historic District. It also was the head of Cheapside, originally the Public Square and location of the market House, later the site of Court Days.
Today this wonderful area has once again become the heart of downtown with the renovation of Cheapside park and the permanent home of our popular Farmers Market.
A complete renovation of Dudley's new home started in Aug of 2009. The doors opened in March 2010 to a gorgeous, two story restaurant that continued its award winning creative American cuisine, wine list and service to a steady base of local clientele while making newcomers and visitors feel welcome immediately.
Are you a media member interested in covering Dudley's in some way, or need photography? Please reach out to brittany.dudleysrestaurant@gmail.com.
Owner
Debbie Long
Debbie Long's love affair with the hospitality industry emerged after college, when she spent 8 years working in restaurants in Colorado ski towns. In 1981 she and a business partner opened the original Dudley's in Lexington's historic Dudley's Square building. The menu was combination of southern tradition with the fresh, western influence of her time in Colorado. During those early years Dudley's brought a fresh new American cuisine to the palates and plates of Lexingtonians. Debbie ushered in a new era of Dudley's with the 2009 move to the 1889 Northern Bank Building on Short Street in the heart of downtown Lexington. A culinary trailblazer, an astute business woman, and an exemplary hostess, Debbie has been the much-loved face of Dudley’s for all 40 years.
Press
“Lexington has always had a really great, diverse, independently operated restaurant scene,” says restaurateur and cookbook author Ouita Michel, “Not too many of the quintessential Lexington places are left, but I think Dudley’s has earned the title after forty-two years of operation.”
“I want to make an impact,’ he said. “Not only cooking, but in a city like Lexington, where it is such an up-and-coming great food town. I really believe that.”
He has scouted Lexington Farmers Market, which is right across the street on Saturdays, meeting local growers and finding out what is available.
”People ask, ‘Why Lexington?’ ... Well, a lot of reasons,” Richardson said. “I think just the food scene itself in Lexington is getting ready to catch fire and explode. And I want to be part of that, that founding group that really puts Lexington on the map.”
“To see Debbie Long in the dining room at Dudley’s on Short, is to see a consummate hostess in her natural surroundings. While greeting guests by name, she seems to know at any given moment, what’s going on at every table. “This has been my life,” she explains. Now, in addition to her broad-based loyal clientele, a new generation is also calling Dudley’s home.”
“Starting in September at the peak of the fall busy season (made so by area horse sales, Keeneland’s fall meet and the Breeders Cup) didn’t make for an easy transition, but he said such a baptism by fire was the best way to learn in a hurry. “I don’t think I’d really want it any other way,” he said. “I liked the action.”
Moving forward, he’s pushing himself and his cooks to lift Dudley’s food to a new level, one that “takes guests on a journey” that inspires an inevitable return. I want to take them on an experience that leaves them craving food to come back to,” he said. “And I want that food to be things they won’t get anywhere else in Lexington.”