Kentucky ( FOX 56 ) — Family-owned restaurants allow patrons to indulge in a dish that you can’t find anywhere else, and for dessert, the satisfaction of knowing you’re supporting small business owners.
Every state and city offers its own selection of independent eateries, and OnDeck set out to determine each state’s favorites. According to OnDeck, independent restaurants account for 53% of the nation’s eateries.
Lexington’s hidden gems, according to the internet
OnDeck is an online loan firm that specializes in small businesses. Researchers consulted Yelp to determine each state’s favorite independent restaurants, retrieving publicly available ratings and review numbers for 149,099 independent restaurants within the most populated cities. OnDeck then ranked restaurants within each state based on average ratings, breaking any ties by placing a restaurant higher if it had the greatest number of reviews.
One restaurant in Lexington stood out among them all, ranking among the nation’s top 10 favorite family-owned restaurants. Dad’s Favorites, a top-ranked Kentucky favorite, found itself ranked among the nation’s favorites at number nine.