Location: Berea
Top Restaurants in Berea
Berea Food Guide: 10 Must-Eat Restaurants & Street Food Stalls in Berea
Berea is a home rule-class city in Madison County, Kentucky, in the United States. The town is best known for its art festivals, historic restaurants and buildings, and as the home to Berea College, a private, liberal arts college. The population was 13,561 at the 2010 census. It is one of the fastest-growing towns in Kentucky, having increased by 27.4% since 2000.
Things to do in Berea
1. Boone Tavern Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 628 reviews
Reviewed By charleslambert392 - Tucker, Georgia
Candlelight, good food and classy wife. The candlelit dining room was the place to be. Special menu gave you an appetizer, entree and shared dessert. Wide selection food made selection difficult. Should I have duck sliders, fried green tomatoes or a dressed up heart of romaine salad? Followed by beef with lobster potatoes, pork chop, salmon or smoked chicken breast. Shared chocolate mini-bundt topped it off.
Staff was nice and took good care of us. Manager checked that we were happy.
Great evening overall.
2. Berea Coffee & Tea
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 168 reviews
Reviewed By PaintCreekGal09 - Greenfield, OH
This is a cozy little coffee shop. The drinks were delicious and the snacks looked wonderful! The patio out back is very nice. We didn't realize there was a patio until we walked around the block and what do you know there is the back of the coffee shop in a garden-like setting! Next time we will sit in the back!!! Wish we had a small coffee shop like this in our neighborhood!!!
3. Berea Fudge Shoppe
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 86 reviews
Reviewed By Randync60 - Spruce Pine, North Carolina
Stopped in after dinner just to check it out. What a find! The best fudge I've ever tasted. Creamy, no grit, and excellent flavor. Black walnut, Bourbon Black walnut, and Buttermilk were truly delightful. The owner and creator of all the goodness was serving us and he was a real character, full of interesting stories. This place is definitely worth a detour - or even a trip for its own sake. If you like fudge, don't miss this shoppe.
4. Papaleno's Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 416 reviews
Reviewed By Chad H
This restaurant has been happily serving customers for over 30 years and the consistency is astounding. I highly recommend the Mountaineer Pizza, Mama's Meat Lasagna, and the Chicken Veggie Pasta. Parking is somewhat of a hassle, but worth the effort.
5. Dairy Queen
Overall Ratings
4 based on 7 reviews
Reviewed By Brandon R - Berea, Kentucky
Without a doubt the best place to have breakfast. I eat here on a regular basis and I am always very satisfied. Although it is a chain restaurant it still has the small town feel. There are always a lot of regulars each morning.
6. Noodle Nirvana
Overall Ratings
4.5 based on 67 reviews
Reviewed By WDavidTF - Hyattsville, Maryland
It'd been forever since I'd been to Berea, and I'd heard that the Thai place had closed. However, our friend suggested we come here, and it was lovely. I had the ramen with drunken sauce. It wasn't as spicy as they made it out to be, but it was amazingly tasty. My wife loved her ramen in the lime broth. Add to that the money given to charities, and I'll go back any time we're in town.
7. Cracker Barrel
Overall Ratings
4 based on 133 reviews
Reviewed By Tim C - Toccoa
Got here just as they opened up, sat right in front of the fireplace, felt great since it was 13 degrees outside, food was excellent server was also excellent. Would highly recommend.
8. Old Town Amish Store
Overall Ratings
4 based on 124 reviews
We are a bulk foods grocery with an Amish meat and cheese deli. We make hot and cold sandwiches on homemade bread, served up with homemade side items and hot soups. We also have a wide selection of homemade baked treats!
Reviewed By Blueiii596 - Elgin, Illinois
We stopped for gas and saw this restaurant. We imagined that the food would be simple and homemade. That is true, but the food was disappointing. I had the tomato basil soup, and it tasted like it was beef broth with tomato juice. The basil was lacking. I ordered a deli sandwich (can't recall which one), and it left me unimpressed. My dining partner also was unimpressed with the food. As we were leaving, the baked goods looked delicious and we purchased one cookie to go. It was fresh, but not as delicious as it looked (a peppermint sugar cookie filled in the center with chocolate frosting). So, the next time we are traveling in the area, we will probably try another diner. The good news, it's not a chain, so you do have new options to consider at this diner.
9. Dinner Bell Restaurant
Overall Ratings
4 based on 145 reviews
Reviewed By leftout - mt. sterling, ky
We had not eat here for many years- had not changed. When we go to a concert in Renfro Valley we make it a date night(just celebrated our 20th) and do dinner before the show. The 2 main choices is the Truck Stop- so smell of smoke hard to enjoy your dinner(food is great) and the Limestone Grill- the kitchen is so slow you really need to plan on extra time to eat before the concert. After passing the Dinner Bell many times coming South from I64 we decided to eat there last night. The service was a little slow but there were a lot of customers. My salad was not fresh but was good. I ordered the fried cat fish- it tasted as if the deep fryer was not hot enough or not left in long enough. My wife ordered chicken fried steak not realizing she did not like white gravy- should have ordered the brown which is always good. I can say we enjoyed our dinner even though was a little disappointed. We will stop there again on way to Renfro Valley since they have a wide selection on the menu.
10. Rio Grandee
Overall Ratings
4 based on 56 reviews
Reviewed By Blazer_Guy - Lexington, Kentucky
The good; Fast service, clean and cheerful decor. No loud Mexican music blaring!
The not so good; This has to be the BLANDEST Mexican food I've ever been served. runny beans... salsa came out of a can I am SURE!
I ordered the luncheon tamale. I should have taken a picture if it. It was SO small, as to be laughable.
The rice is not true Mexican rice where they put peas, onion, and sometimes pieces of carrot.
My friend ordered the Fajita taco salad. Again, it was on the small side. After he had taken a few bites, his fork hit a rather large , quartered onion. We were jus laughing at this point.
On the way in and out, I looked at other tables and what they were eating, It looked good, but again VERY SMALL servings.
Nice and pleasant staff, but didn't come here for the smiles, Hope you have better luck.
