Chicken chain location demolished. What’s going onto busy Lexington corner? - MASHAHER

For fans of Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken who have been wondering if the popular chicken chain would ever reopen its Versailles Road location there’s some sad news: The answer is no.

The building at the busy corner of Versailles Road and Red Mile Road has been demolished.

Sign up for our LexGo Eat & Drink newsletters

The latest on food, dining and bourbon delivered right to your inbox for free. See what’s happening in the world of bourbon, including buying, tasting tips and more on Tuesday. Stick around for the biggest restaurant news in Central Kentucky on Thursday. Sign up here.

What’s going up in its place? Apparently a new Speedway. A building permit for a convenience store and gas station was filed with the city in August. The $2.4 million project is still going through the review process with the city.

Rubble sits in a pile Friday, Sept. 6, 2024, after the Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken restaurant location at the corner of Versailles Road and Red Mile Road in Lexington was demolished. A new Speedway convenience store and gas station has been proposed for the property at 1318 Versailles Rd.

According to Fayette County property records, the restaurant was built in 1984; the property was acquired by Speedway in June 2021 for $750,000, along with adjacent parcels acquired for $850,000.

What happened to Lee’s?

The chicken restaurant has been closed since 2019, when Lee’s abruptly closed all three Lexington locations.

One Lee’s, at 3014 Richmond Road, reopened in 2021. The location at 1487 Boardwalk was expected to reopen in 2022, but it never did.

Lee’s Famous Recipe Chicken has only one Lexington location for the restaurant chain’s chicken tenders, fried chicken, sides and more.

And now the Versailles Road location has been torn down, leaving the Richmond Road location as the only place to get Lee’s Famous Recipe boneless chicken tenders in Lexington.