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What is Doodles?​

          Doodles embraces a comforting yet eclectic atmosphere that is one of the many reasons customers keep coming back. When you step inside the feeling is warm and welcoming. The plates are colorful and the furniture is "airy and clean” and the help-yourself mentality made her feel more like she was at home instead of a “do-it-yourself/on-the-spot” feeling (Hill). One customer spoke of a long community table with a sign on the wall above it saying to share the area with strangers (Dekker). Located in the diverse area of Third Street and North Limestone, the building is tastefully artistic. It reminds me of the restaurants I would eat at in Los Angeles, but the real story behind the building is that it was originally a gas station (Sievers). Then, it became a local liquor store called “Doodles” owned by a Mr. “Doodles” Welch (Sievers).  A husband of one of the Doodles owners today bought the property when it was up for sale in 1997, due to his passion for preserving buildings. This man was Tim Mellin, and his wife, Lynda Hoff Mellin, and her friend, Susan Harkins, are the founders and business masterminds behind the success of Doodles restaurant. Mellin, a co-owner of Atomic Café, which is across the street from Doodles, has much experience in the gourmet food business and would frequently run in to Harkins, a “farmer and agricultural activist”, around town because the two were involved in many local charities and had offices down the street from one another (Sievers). Combining their business ideas, they created Doodles, and soon began their four-year planning on figuring out what kind of food they wanted to serve.
       

"Comfort Food with a Conscience"

          The motto for their food is “comfort food with a conscience” (Doodles). It is a blend of New Orleans and Bluegrass inspiration with an organic twist. All of the food they serve at Doodles is grown locally and bought from the local farmers. This idea was Harkins’. She has been involved in the production of organic produce and is one of the pioneers of Kentucky in shrimp aquaculture, selling her shrimp under the Bubba Sue’s Shrimp brand (Sievers). Another goal behind the local organic business is to reduce the restaurant’s “carbon footprint” (Sievers). This is not only seen in the buying of local products, but also in their plates and utensils, like their cups, which say “Made from Corn” at the bottom (Sievers). Both owners have family that lives in New Orleans, so they would frequent the restaurants down there when they visited, which explains the New Orleans inspiration (Adler).  They serve dishes such as hot browns (which are a Kentucky trademark) to beignets to po’boys. (The last two are signatures of New Orleans) The food is delicious, comforting, and leaves you feeling good, like you helped the local economy.

My Experience

          The staff and customers are also very friendly. I went there today with a friend for the first time and, unable to decide what I should order, stood staring at the menu by the front door. A man was sitting there and said that I should go for either the Johnny Cakes or the Lillie’s Egg Doodle. He then told me his wife and daughter come there every snow day in the winter. I went up to the counter to ask the waitress what she thought and she told me to go for the Lillie’s Egg Doodle, so that is what I got. My friend with me got the breakfast sandwich, and the two of us also ordered their famous basket of beignets. I went to their drink bar and served myself some of their organic coffee, which was delicious. Another man sitting down overheard me asking the waitress what was the best thing to eat there and he called out to me that I needed to try their jams on my biscuit, because they are locally made and fresh. We sat down outside in the wonderful sunshine on this fall morning and dove into our meals. They were delectable. I swear I have not had a breakfast like that in a long time. A group of middle-aged men sat down at the table in front of us and turned around to ask what my friend ordered because it looked so good. One even went inside to change his order because of it. Another man, African American and bigger in size, sat down at a table next to those men and started talking to them about the dishes they ordered. We heard one of the men say that the three of them were frequent customers and have had just about everything on the menu, so they were telling the bigger man what their favorite dishes were. At the end of his meal the bigger man walked over to three men and thanked them for their recommendations and said he would be back soon and hopefully would run into them again. After listening to all these conversations amongst random strangers and the way all these random strangers also spoke to me, I felt like I was in a small town out to eat at the local diner where everyone went and everyone was neighbors. Now that I have actually been there, I am excited to start my project.

Daniel Adler, Manager

          After interviewing their restaurant manager, Daniel Adler, I learned that Doodles fosters friendly competition between themselves and their rival ethnic restaurants throughout Lexington. He told me that they actually work with one another frequently. For example, when one restaurant holds a fundraiser for itself on one day, Doodles will plan to not hold any fundraisers for itself that day and will actually attend whatever function it is to show their full support for that other restaurant. In fact, Adler also told me that the local restaurants will help one another out when one runs out of stock in the back. They will go to the restaurant next door and ask for some extra eggs/milk/etc. This seemed shocking to me, because I figured small businesses like Doodles would be aggressively fighting for customers, because they’re so dependent on them. Instead, they like to help other local restaurants so that others will be there to help them. I asked Adler if he felt that Doodles helped shaped Lexington’s diverse culture and he said definitely, because Doodles is constantly giving back to Lexington in different ways. First of all, they buy all of their products locally helping out the local agriculture economy. Doodles also gives back in other ways, including they donated money to Lexington to create a bus stop downtown. This bus stop, he says, helps all kinds of customers get around town and it especially gets them to go to Doodles. Even Doodles itself understands that they have an essential part in shaping Lexington’s diverse culture.

 

          The point of me studying Doodles is to present the obviously southern culture that shapes Lexington along with the other cultural aspects that the rest of my group members are studying. Doodles nurtures a home town southern comfort atmosphere with a hip and modern touch that is characteristic of this new up and coming area of Lexington.



Bibliography:

Sievers, Mark. "Comfort Food... with a Conscience." Business Lexington. Smiley Pete, 2012. Web. 29 Oct. 2012.   <http://bizlex.com/2012/03/comfort-food-with-a-conscience-2/>.



Dekker, Nick. "Doodles Lexington, KY." Rev. of Doodles Restaurant. Web Blog post. Breakfast with Nick. Blogspot, 3 Aug. 2011. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. <http://breakfastwithnick.blogspot.com/2011/08/doodles-lexington-ky.html>.



Doodles Restaurant. Paige Mendes Design, n.d. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. <http://www.doodlesrestaurant.com/>.



Hill, Liz. "I Do Doodles--A Review." Rev. of Doodles Restaurant. Web Blog post. Bluegrass Foodie. Blogspot, 20 Apr. 2009. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. <http://www.bluegrassfoodie.com/2009/04/i-do-doodles-review.html>.



Dekker, Nick. Front of Doodles Restaurant. Digital image. Http://breakfastwithnick.blogspot.com/2010/01/welcome-to-breakfast-with-nick.html. Blogspot, 3 Aug. 2011. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. <http://breakfastwithnick.blogspot.com/2010/01/welcome-to-breakfast-with-nick.html>.



Dekker, Nick. "Share with Strangers" sign. Digital image. Http://breakfastwithnick.blogspot.com/2010/01/welcome-to-breakfast-with-nick.html. Blogspot, 3 Aug. 2011. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. <http://breakfastwithnick.blogspot.com/2010/01/welcome-to-breakfast-with-nick.html>.



Petrie, Gemma E. Lillie's Egg Doodle. Digital image. Doodles- Lexington, KY. Flickr, 9 Oct. 2011. Web. 29 Oct. 2012. <http://www.flickr.com/photos/dumin/6252064098/>.

Adler, Daniel. Personal Interview. 31 Oct. 2012.