http://thelunchboxlex.com/

When I first heard of the Lunch Box, I pictured two things: the loose meat sandwich hawking restaurant from “Roseanne”, and a children’s eatery. Now while I wouldn’t have been disappointed if it was the former, I’m much more appreciative of what it really is about.

I’ve been in Lexington for nearly six years now, and I’m more than a little embarrassed to admit that I didn’t realize this place was so close to another Lexington favorite of mine (seems like I have a lot of those) in Charlie’s Seafood. Had I known that sooner, I would have finished off my white fish sandwich for lunch and walked down Henry Clay Boulevard for some of the most exquisite food in town.

Don’t get me wrong: The Lunch Box isn’t fancy. However as I and countless others have said before, good food doesn’t always need fancy ingredients or impressive presentation.

Walk inside and get lost in your youth: toys are abundant, as are, well…lunch boxes. Every campy TV show or superhero you can think of is well represented, adorning the walls and reminding the patrons of a simpler time. My only complaint is that I didn’t see any Green Lantern lunch boxes, although I thought I saw a Justice League.

The seating is a little miss matched. Among the booths and regular wooden tables there was one set that was more suited for something you’d find on a patio than inside a restaurant. It wasn’t uncomfortable, mind you, just odd.

When it comes to the food, however, few could have legitimate complaints. Every time I went – whether it was the sirloin burger, home-made pizza or open face turkey sammich – we had a meal that was near perfection. I feel silly going on about an open-face turkey sammich, but this was the first one I’ve ever had that made me crave for a second. It all tasted just so fresh, and so good! No complaints at all.

However my favorite was the home-made pizza. I ordered something out of the ordinary: goat cheese, basil pesto and turkey. I know, I SWORE I would never try pizza in Lexington again because I’m too critical, but this…this was divine! Our waitress, Elizabeth, helped me decide between oil or pesto as my sauce, and I say she made the correct call. I also absolutely loved the crust as it was beautifully cooked. One personal pie was more than enough for me, and with all the additional toppings and everything the whole pie only cost $5.95 total!

Two things I recommend you try: The Loaded Chips and their dip of bacon horseradish – not together, of course. I took the chips to go, and even though I had to wait ten minutes to eat them, I loved every blue cheese-covered bite. The bacon horseradish wasn’t for me, although I appreciate it and I think it would be perfect for plenty of palates out there.

They also offer a wide variety of other dishes, including five cheese grilled cheese, pulled pork, hot browns, skirt steaks and much more. In fact, that originally made me nervous: through my experiences, normally when restaurants have so many items on a menu, they tend to just be mediocre across the board, instead of focusing on the items of their smaller menu. However there’s no slacking here, as everything I had was near perfection.

I loved the Lunch Box, and I hope you will to. While you’re there, see if you can convince them to purchase a Green Lantern (old school GL, btw) lunch box, can ya?

Overall – A

- John G