Versailles, Ky: New Italian restaurant opening in downtown

Versailles

A new restaurant is about to reset the dining bar in Central Kentucky.

Vallozzi’s, an upscale family-owned Italian restaurant, is opening a location on Court Street in downtown Versailles in the former police station.

It’s one of several big changes coming to downtown Versailles that will add amenities for tourists and locals alike, including a new farmers’ market pavilion, a new outdoor stage, upgraded city park with accessible trail, a new boutique hotel and distillery and more.

While the community is known for Woodford Reserve bourbon distilley and world-class Thoroughbred horse farms, dining has been largely casual until now.

What is Vallozzi’s Italian restaurant?

“Vallozzi’s is a family tradition of Italian food and Italian restaurants. My grandmother started it in the 1950s,” co-owner Julian Vallozzi said.

It’s an offshoot of Pittsburgh-based Vallozzi’s, brought to the Bluegrass through a friendship with local attorneys and horse breeders.

The owners of the popular Amsden Bourbon Bar, which opened next door in 2017, partnered with the Vallozzi family of Pennsylvania to bring the new restaurant to Versailles.

Jon Rabinowitz, an attorney and the chairman of the Kentucky Horse Racing Commission, said that he and business partners Adrian Mendiondo and Mike Morgan, both Lexington attorneys; Andover builder Mike Hall, Coolmore director of sales Charlie O’Connor and Louisville attorney Shawn Freibert bought the building after the police department moved.

But it required a lot of work. The 1880s-era buildings had to be renovated and rebuilt.

“It was kind of a disaster,” Rabinowitz said. “We knew it was going to be a big project, we just didn’t have any idea of the scale. … And the attention to detail is something we take pride in.”

Ultimately a family connection led them to Vallozzi’s. Rabinowitz said that he and his wife, Kelly have know the Vallozzi family for decades.

“We knew they had an incredibly successful set of restaurants,” Rabinowitz said. In 2021, when Kelly’s father died, Julian Vallozzi came to Kentucky for the funeral. He learned of their plan to open a restaurant and they decided to partner up.

Menu, prices for new Versailles Italian restaurant

In Pittsburgh, Rabinowitz said, Vallozzi’s is fine dining, along the lines of Jeff Ruby’s Steakhouse and Tony’s in Lexington with price points to match.

The Kentucky version of the menu will have a broader range of options, from $15 pizza with crust made from matriarch Helen Vallozzi’s secret recipe, to $30 pasta dishes and $65 steaks.

The restaurant will open for dinner reservations by the beginning the Keeneland yearling sale on Sept. 11 and add lunch hours as soon as dinner is running smoothly.

Vallozzi’s Italian has private dining room, bourbon lockers

The two-story restaurant has about 120 seats, including some outdoor balcony and patio tables. The downstairs has a more casual dining area and bar, with a door that opens to an outdoor area with artificial grass, fire pits and bocce ball.

This dining room would be appropriate for family dinners and there will be a children’s food options to appeal to locals looking for a casual weekday option, Vallozzi said.

There also is more upscale dining on the ground floor and upstairs, Rabinowitz said, and a separate private dining and meeting space called the Caravaggio Room with seating for 16.

And there’s also space devoted to wine and bourbon lockers that can be purchased for regulars to store special bottles on site.

Vallozzi’s has plans to expand and open up more dining in the future; a “bookcase” in a hallway disguises a doorway to more rooms.

The menu, based on the Vallozzi’s restaurants in Pennsylvania, includes pasta and Italian favorites such as veal Parmesan, stuffed chicken Parmesan, pork shank, crab cakes, plus steaks and fresh fish.

Vallozzi’s

Where: 108 Court St. in Versailles

Hours: Tuesday-Thursday 5 to 9 p.m., Friday-Saturday 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. Lunch will be added eventually.

Online: Vallozis.com