Kentucky / Tennessee / Arkansas 1-40 Trip

Any suggestions for great restaurants to eat at in Land of the Lakes area, Mammoth Cave National Park area, Bardstown, Louisville, Lexington, Corbin, Bowling Green, Nashville, Jackson, Memphis, and I-40 of Arkansas and areas around these cities?
 
We are taking a fall foliage trip through this area in a couple of weeks, so any suggestions of where to see fall color this year would also be helpful.
 
Thanks!

Trees are just beginning to turn in the Louisville area. Color is still very 'spotty'.
 I would suggest that you start your trip with the northernmost locations then circle around to the south on your way home. Combining scenic rides with good food is a worthwhile goal !!

1. Paducah KY, near the Land 'tween the Lakes, Doe's Eat Place, Outstanding Steaks, on the Square in the center of town. Operated by the son of the guy who runs the original Doe's in Mississippi. Best Beef we have experienced.

2. Huber's Family Farm Restaurant, Starlight, IN. In the hills northwest of Louisville (30 minutes from downtown).  Great food and very 'woodsey' environment leading to a large farm and orchard business. Weekends are pretty busy with a large 'pumpkin patch' for kids, a corn maze and lots of fall activities going on.

Note, The Western Kentucky Parkway from the Paducah area to Elizabethtown, KY is a very pretty ride when the color is 'good'. Timing is critical on that, as a few days are the "peak" and the rest Aren't!!

Al's right.  You can't go wrong with Doe's Eat Place in Paducah.

As to the Kentucky Lake region, the most popular restaurant destination in the area is Patti's 1880 Settlement in Grand Rivers:

http://www.pattis-settlement.com/

And if you're passing through the area on a weekend (Friday all day and Saturday until 3 p.m.) there is always Knockum Hill barbecue which serves the largest and juiciest pork chop you'll ever put in your mouth, a statement that can can be attested to by several roadfooders who have made the pilgrimage in the link below:

http://www.roadfood.com/F...&high=Knockum+Hill

Other pictures can be seen here:

http://i668.photobucket.c...%20Apr-09/P4250087.jpg

http://i668.photobucket.c...%20Apr-09/P4250086.jpg

As far at Lexington, Kentucky is concerned, I've usually gotten a pretty good steak ("The Special") at the Columbia Steak House.  Although my last two visits there were a tad below their usual calibre.

http://columbiassteakhouse.com/

The restaurant at Mammoth Cave National Park has some pretty good fried chicken.

There are other restaurants in parts all along your route, but if you took all of my suggestions (and tried them all) you'd be so stuffed that you'd have to go to the hospital.

Nashville is full of wonderful restaurants.  I love the burgers at Pied Piper Eatery, which is pretty far off the beaten path, and they have a black bean soup some days which is to die for.  They also have a very nice oatmeal raisin ice cream!   I also really like Rotier's, which also does a really good burger as well as a nice roast beef dinner, as well as Noshville, an NYC-styled deli.  You might want to bring some hard salami home with you from there, so bring an ice chest on your road trip.

--Grant