In recent years the Lexington food landscape has had two new additions, Hardens and Legendary Eats. Owned by Bill and Jessica Harden, Hardens has quickly become one of the fastest growing restaurants in town. Legendary Eats is a faster styled breakfast and lunch spot which serves excellent sandwiches and bagels. Hardens on the other hand is a slower sit down restaurant with a great selection of dinner meals and an active bar.
Living here has given us great exposure to both of these restaurants, but it was time to truly review and rate them. We decided to go to both spots and give our honest take on both of them.
First, we went to Hardens on a crowded Saturday night and luckily got bar seating for two. After sitting down we ordered drinks and waited not long to order food. Luke ordered Steak Frites and Dean ordered a Steak Sandwich.
The service was surprisingly quick and the food came out hot and ready. Both of the steaks on the sandwich and the fries were cooked to a perfect medium temperature. There was excellent flavor and a great texture to go along with it.
The portion sizes were somewhat smaller but for the price the food was excellent. After finishing we decided to order the cheesecake dessert to fill our stomachs. This also came out very fast and was an excellent finisher to an amazing meal.
Overall, Hardens is very loud on the inside and this made it almost impossible to talk to each other. Hardens are also almost always packed on the inside and finding a table can be tricky. It’s a great spot for a smaller party looking to get a great bite to eat.
Next, we ventured over to Legendary Eats. We went around lunch which is an amazing time to go because most of the menu is sandwiches. We ordered two sandwiches, the Cuban and the Balrog which is a twist on the classic Philly Cheese steak.
After ordering we sat down at the bench seating and waited for our food. The place was not very packed when we went, which made the food come out very fast. The sandwiches were very large and great portions for a lunch meal. The Cuban sandwich had an excellent combo of mustard, pickles, ham, and bacon to soothe the taste buds. The Balrog was quite spicy and had an amazing savory taste.
Overall, for the price and the short wait, Legendary eats is definitely better bang for your buck, but Hardens is all about the experience. Getting to eat great food with friends is something that both spots offer, but Hardens does it better and is an amazing way to spend the evening.
