Some restaurants have a history section on the menu. Talbott Tavern is the history section. Built in 1779 — before Kentucky was a state — this stone inn at the crossroads of Bardstown started life as a stagecoach stop on the road west, and it has never really stopped feeding travelers since.
The guest list reads like a school textbook: a young Abraham Lincoln stayed here with his family, Daniel Boone passed through, and exiled French king Louis-Philippe is said to have left paintings on an upstairs wall. The most famous marks in the building are the bullet holes in that same upstairs room, credited by local legend to Jesse James after a long night at the bar. Believe every word or believe half — either way, there is no other dining room in Kentucky that feels like this one.
Today the tavern pairs the history with a serious bourbon bar — fitting for Bardstown, the Bourbon Capital of the World — and a kitchen doing Kentucky classics properly: rich burgoo, country ham, fried chicken, and bread pudding to finish. Service is unhurried and proud of the building, as it should be.
What to order: the burgoo, the country ham, and whatever bourbon flight the bartender suggests.
Don’t miss: the upstairs mural room and its famous bullet holes.
Historic Eats rating: 9/10