Since he was a boy growing up in Lexington, William Fulbright has loved starting the day with a big platter of Southern Lunch’s crunchy home-fried potatoes, topped with homemade sausage gravy — “and a side of hot sausage, if the craving catches hold of me,” he says.

Southern Lunch is a Lexington staple. When lightning hit the restaurant in June 2007, it nearly burned to the ground. But Herb Lohr, whose grandfather, Herb M. Lohr, opened Southern Lunch in 1925, refurbished the space. When asked whether he thought about not reopening the restaurant, Lohr said, “I’ve never considered doing anything else. This is what I love to do.”

Fulbright’s son loves the eggs and grits. Another reason he and his family keep coming back to Southern Lunch is because “the waitresses are genuinely friendly and helpful,” he says. “It has become a tradition for my son, my father, and myself to have breakfast there almost every Saturday morning.”