Patti’s 1880’s Settlement: Food and more near Land Between the Lakes

With three restaurants, some golf, a wedding chapel and an animal park, Patti’s 1880’s Settlement has become a destination unto itself.

The attraction, located minutes from Lake Barkley, has appeared in Southern Living magazine, where it was voted the best restaurant in a Southeastern small town. The State of Kentucky itself voted Patti’s 1880’s Settlement the top restaurant for tourism in the Bluegrass State.

Patti’s 1880’s Settlement Restaurant exudes old-time atmosphere, with the waiters and waitresses wearing 19th century clothes. Portions are lavish. You can begin your meal with Patti's Loaded Potato Chips, which are house-made fried chips topped with chili, bacon crumbles, cheeses, diced tomatoes and red peppers and scallions. Or maybe you’ll want the fried dill pickle chips or marinated skewered shrimp as your appetizer.

When dining at Patti’s 1880’s Settlement Restaurant, be sure to sample their specialty: the two-inch char-broiled pork chop. The dish is so popular that the restaurant serves 60,000 pounds of them each year! Not in the mood for pork? Patti's serves a variety of sandwiches at lunch and entrees at dinnertime, including Beef Oscar, which are medallions of tenderloin topped with grilled shrimp, mushrooms, asparagus and a béarnaise sauce; Apples Delight, which is bacon-wrapped pork loin topped with glazed apples; and grilled salmon. Regardless of what you order, be sure to finish off your meal with one of Patti's mile-high lemon, coconut or chocolate meringue pies.

The tourist attraction began as a 20-seat restaurant in 1975. Since then, the Tullar family-owned enterprise has added additional restaurants:  Mr. Bill’s, with its old-time saloon theme, run by Patti Tullar’s husband. Anna's Garden Cafe, which opened after a previous eatery, the Iron Kettle was destroyed in the spring of 2008.

The original restaurant has become known as Patti’s 1880’s Settlement Restaurant. The restaurants, located in a town of a mere 350, serve more than 350,000 each year! The attraction also now has lovely gardens; a hotel, Patti’s Inns & Suites; a wedding chapel; an animal park; kiddie rides and a playground; Arielle’s Miniature Golf Course; a photo studio; log cabin gift shops; a 26-foot-tall rock-climbing wall, and a pond where you can pilot remote-control boats (Adams Boatworks).

Some of the activities at Patti’s are seasonal. For example, the miniature golf course is open from spring through October. So are the hours: Patti’s 1880’s Settlement Restaurant is open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. from January to March; it closes one hour later during the rest of the year. The gift shops are open daily from noon to 8 p.m. year round.

HelloMetro Tip: Patti’s 1880’s Settlement Restaurant is very popular: You will definitely want to make a reservation to avoid waits that can top an hour. Be sure to make reservations by calling (888) 736–2515.

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