Mulligan's Gardenside Café

In April 2012, my wife and I dropped by Mulligans while going through the home of her recently deceased mother. Needless to say, we were depressed when we walked in; but we were exceptionally happy from the food, service, and environment when we left. Since then we have been back together 3 more times; and we have taken many friends and family to lunch and dinner here - everyone was extremely pleased each time.

Try the Guinness Beef Tips if you want something exquisite every time.

Mulligans has a selection for children along with sandwiches, a variety of drinks, and fantastic full meals with or without desserts.

This is a place not to miss!!

Jim and Evelyn Seymour

This was our 3rd go around with this restaurant. The first were lackluster due to overall food flavor and quality of preparation.
We went in about 5:30 on Saturday, 1/3/09. There were about 4 other tables of customers. We were seated immediately. The waitress was friendly and prompt with our drink order. Bourbon and gingerale for the Mrs. and bourbon and coke for me. The well bourbon was fine.
We ordered the Maryland Crab Cake and 'irish
Potato Skins to start with. They were served in an appropriate time frame. The crab cake was wet and mushy (canned?.) My wife thought more breading and seasoning was needed. I thought that a higher cooking temperature and less oil would have helped. The flavor was adequate but not engaging. What was interesting was the salsa of tomato, green peppers and onions on top. Not quite what we expected. Not what I would call Maryland Crab Cake at all.
The potato skins were topped with cheddar cheese, bacon and green onions and served with sour cream. Uninspired, dry and overcooked. They weren't even complete skins, they were halves.
My wife ordered the filet medallions with mashed potatos and salad with honey mustard dressing and I ordered the filet medalions and crab "tower" with loaded baked potato and house salad with buttermilk ranch dressing. Alas, asparagus was out of season.
The salad was iceberg lettuce with bacon bits, finely shredded cheddar cheese, cucumbers and (unfortunately) bland tomatos. Again, acceptable but uninspired. Oddly enough I found the bacon bits to be very good. The dressings were fine.
My wife ordered her filets medium rare and got rare (which is exactly what she expected) and was pleased. The reduction on hers was a very rich red wine, and, I am fairly certain, A-1 and some nice hot pepper sauce. A little sweet but excellent none the less. I almost felt jealous.
When she mentioned the doneness of hers I realized the waitress never asked me how I wanted mine cooked. Mine turned out to be rare as well. While I prefer that my steak be more toward the under-medium I knew that with the crab meat that was topping my medallions it would be far too messy to have additional cooking done and I determined to press on. Actually it was not difficult as the cut was good and the demi-glace on mine was quite nice.
The crab was almost exactly the same mix that was used in the crab cakes. Somewhat lacking in texture and taste, still acceptable.
This is where the nightmare began. As I went for the second bite of the crab meat I noticed that I had something in my food that didn't belong there. I truly hoped and prayed that it was just an odd looking piece of coarse black pepper. Unfortunately, after I put it on my napkin I could see against the white backdrop that I was looking at a relatively young cockroach.
That was it, I was done. I can not imagine what the owners, management and cooking staff of this restaurant think to allow a cockroach in the food. On top of that the waitress wanted to debate with me whether there was a "bug problem" or not in the restaurant. As I said to her, "There was a cockroach IN my food, you obviously DO have a bug problem."
We settled for paying for the drinks and the appetizers as both I and my wife (whose stomach revolted at eating any more of her meal) did not complete our meal.
I absolutely WILL NOT go to this restaurant again. We have never had a good meal there and this is the final straw. My advice, go to the Wendy's next door.

I was visiting Lexington and stopped for lunch at Mulligan's Gardenside Cafe. I was impressed with the large variety of selections on the menu. I opted for the beef hot pot. The food was so good that my husband and I decided to try Mulligan's for dinner. Both our dinners were wonderful and the food was beautifully presented. The staff was friendly and attentive. We were so impressed by the quality of the food and value for the money that we returned twice more before we left Lexington. We will definitely return next time we are in the Lexington area.