Goodfellas Pizzeria is a mainstay of Lexington dining, with locations both downtown and in the Distillery District, and a speakeasy bar specializing in bourbon.
Goodfellas is a small chain with pizzerias in Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, and Tennessee.
The location in the Distillery District in Lexington, Kentucky, is really cool. It's built in the ruins of an old distillery, and you walk right next to the old grain silo as you go up the stairs.
There are plenty of food and drink spots to check out in the Distillery District. Goodfellas is located next door to James E Pepper Distillery, and within the same plaza as a Crank and Boom location (specialty ice cream), Brevede Coffee and Barrel House Distillery.
Along the nearby creek, there’s a nice outdoor space, which has warming spots and a fire pit if it’s chilly.
The Menu at Goodfellas
The specialty pizza options are great. We’ve especially enjoyed the Bootlegger (pictured), a spinach, pesto, and mushroom combo, as well as the Vinny, which uses ricotta and roasted garlic. Yum!
My personal favorite is the (non-specialty) Margherita pizza.
You can either buy pizza by the slice (whatever they have already made) or order a whole pizza.
Be warned that if you order their largest sizes (36-43”), they are absolutely enormous!
The breadstick options are just as wonderful, including buffalo chicken cheese bread, sun dried tomato bread, and pesto bread available.
Wiseguy Lounge is the speakeasy bar, where you can get seasonal cocktails or perhaps join an exclusive guided whiskey tasting. The upstairs area has a pool table and some couch seating for relaxing with your pizza and drinks. And there's sometimes live music too.
When to Go
If you want to get a whole pizza, I do recommend ordering it ahead of time, since the wait times can be long (especially at this location).
Full disclosure: this distillery district location can get overly crowded with long lines. I still recommend going here because it’s a fun spot (preferably mid-week and mid-day).
Goodfellas also has a downtown location in Lexington. It's small and doesn't have any indoor seating — more of a take-out place. So it's able to offer quicker service and is generally less crowded if you're in a hurry.
In the near future, though, the downtown location will be closing and moving about a block away to a larger establishment, with a dining area and a basement bar! We look forward to trying the new spot.
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