The Whistle Stop

Whistle Stop opened a new location in Elizabethtown in the new Toyota dealership. We were blown away by the lack of parking and surprised there was no reserved parking for restaurant guests. After finding a parking place next to new Toyota’s we went to order lunch. There were three people in front of us and waited approximately 10 minutes while they read the daily specials and placed their orders before we could order. We had called ahead and knew the Hot brown was one of their Wednesday specials which is what we ordered. Their specials are priced with one or two sides. I ordered the onion rings which was listed as one of their available sides and promptly told this was not available. When I questioned why it was listed on their board of available sides another worker came up and said that they were and our order taker was mistaken. As we finished our order a small plastic bowl with something that resembled cheese wiz half covering a sandwich was sat on the counter for another customer. I asked if this was the hot brown and was told it was. I have had the hot brown at their Glendale location which was delicious, but this one looked nothing like it and was half the size. We will not go back — parking is a nightmare and the food comes out of a can and terrible. If the owners don’t adopt the same quality food as they have at their Glendale location this place will not last long. It is apparent the owners are trying to capitalize on the Whistle Stop name and reputation without delivering the quality or value. Shame on the owners.

Some of, if not the best, chicken that I’ve had. I’ve been to Claudia Sanders and many other locations that specialize in Chicken and the Fried Chicken at the Whistle Stop is excellent. Very small atmosphere, plan on waiting 15 – 30 minutes when you get here, but it’s well worth it! Reasonably priced meal, not cheap, but not expensive, this is a SMALL town with several antique shops through-​out and it’s nice to have a good restaurant in the middle of a adventure for the day. We started with the Fried Green Tomatoes which were also excellent. My wife had the Country Fried steak, it was fork tender and was an actual pounded steak, not ground beef made into a patty, it was very good as well.
We will return for another day trip down to Glendale and when we do, we will eat at the Whistle Stop again!

Great fried green tomatoes. YUM… Meatloaf, mashed potatoes, corn pudding and huge piece of cake to bring home… absolutely delicious.

Went for lunch today and was glad to see the daily special was chicken and dumplings. These were real dough dumplings not noodles. Was torn though as I was dying to try their fried chicken.
So friend and I agreed to share plates one got the dumplings and the other the chicken. Sides were fried corn bread beans mashed potatoes and fried ocra.
First off if you are sure you want the fried chicken tell the waitress right off the bat since they only cook it once ordered and it takes a while. However it is worth it. Some of the best fried chicken around crispy and very tasty. Just a little too battered but a minor critique.
The chicken and dumplings… delicious. great dumplings and the gravy was good. Only critique is it was a little too salty and it could of used a little more chicken to match the gravy.
Fried corn bread… was almost like Johnny cakes very different than expected.. If they served them honey or syrup it would make more sense. Mash potatoes and green beans were satisfactory complimentary to the meal but not special. Fried ocra was decent as well.
Overall with the great atmosphere, good service and really good food I highly recommend this place

Great home cooked food. Amazing Fried Chicken and my Butterscotch Meringue pie was the best. Others in our party loved their Chicken Fried Steak and Hot Brown. Our waitress was Chelsea. She was excellent. One tip though, if you see something on the dessert menu you want, tell your server as they run out.
They ate closed Monday and Tuesday,
Cute town.

It really makes me sad to write this review, I’m born and raised in Glendale. We ate at the whistle stop 2 – 3 times a week, back in the day we were so regular that a server Jake literally had our order on the table one time. when we got there. Fast forward to now I moved away
washington but still go to etown/​glendale weekly to see my grandparents and try to
as much as possible. When the original owners sold/​retired things changed. I get it the new owners have to keep the traditions but make it their own. Then they started taking menu items away potato skins, ect. They recently took away french onion soup but noticed they brought it back per the waitresss (customer demand). I will say the desserts are overpriced but are amazing and the French onion soup is usually the best I ever had (though the past couple times the soup was sweet for some reason). I always get the hot brown and it used to be the best thing ever, however lately it has declined. My mom has commented also and we did to waitress that the vegetables seem from a can. The quality of food has gone down hill and the feel and essence of what the whistle stop is well its gone. I know of the owners and the gentleman is always pleasant but the woman (I’m believe lynn) never smiles and never seems very friendly. They do have an older lady at the hostess area who has been there forever and I just love her she always remeber us, and ask about grandparent and how I am… I really hope the owners go back to. what worked what made the whistle stop the whistle stop.

Fabulous little place on the cutest street. It feels like you’re going back in time. The food was served quickly and was delicious. For dessert the peanut butter pie was to die for. I don’t know if I’ll ever be in this area again but if I am I will surely go back to this quaint restaurant.

We had fast, friendly service at this famous restaurant. It is our second time and both times it has been good. Shared the Reuben and the Banana meringue pie. Both were delicious. We were with a large group and were split into 3 tables. We got the 2 top and service was faster, for us, but it could be what we ordered.
Definitely save room, for dessert! That is why we shared.

Nice restaurant! Thought our fellow reviewers were a little harsh. For a traveler it was easy to access from the interstate. A great alternative to fast food. Wide selection on the menu and a very helpful staff. We’ll be back.

The menu has a nice variety but it is a bit overpriced for what you receive. For appetizers, we had the fried green tomatoes (the breading was too thick and chewy, and a few of the tomatoes were already slightly red) and we had the fried okra (I prefer my okra to be fried in cornmeal rather than a breading) .
I had the catfish dinner, which had a nice thin seasoned cornmeal breading, crispy on the outside, tender on the inside. I had a side of Lima beans, which was small, and had too much sugar cooked with it. I also had a side of fried cornbread, and was disappointing because of how fat and fluffy they were Vs a medium crispy fried cornbread. It might as well had been pancakes due to their texture and size. I tried a bite of my friends fried chicken, and was not impressed. The seasoning was a tad sweet and the coating was not quite like anything I had ever had before, and it was on the soft side. I prefer my chicken to be crispy and non-​sweet. The mashed potatoes did not taste real.
The desserts are over priced, and I would assume it is because of their famous reputation for pie that they get away with the prices. I will say that their peanut butter pie is one of the best I have ever had, but the price is very debatable if it’s worth it or not. We also shared a slice of coconut cake, and the icing was apparently made with sour cream, and it was much too sour for my liking. One bite was more than enough. The price was not worth it, in taste or size, in my opinion. If you must have dessert, stick with a slice of pie.
The staff was friendly, but the waitress did drop an open container of tarter sauce in my drink. She said she was sorry, but the drink was not replaced. Granted, they were busy.
Will I be back? Yes, I will. I will know what not to order.

This is a great place with great food and it is only two miles from the highway. It is a must see american small town from era long gone. The fried chicken is a must and save dessert! This is great place to stop on a long trip for lunch and to stretch your legs.

Very good food, great atmosphere. We had the fried chicken salad and a bacon cheeseburger. We had done onion rings for an appetizer but the were not drained of oil very well. Good flavor though. Our server was Amanda and she is a delightful young lady. The place was clean, friendly staff. What more can you ask. They are famous for their fried chicken but it takes 25 minutes to cook. We really enjoyed our meal.

We ate dinner here on Saturday, July 11, 2015, at the recommendations our host at the B&B we were staying at. We arrived about 7 pm and had a half hour wait to be seated. Once seated we were promptly given bread and strawberry jam then greeted by waitress. She was very polite and helpful. We placed our orders and it wasn’t long until our meals arrived with generous portions of home-​style cooking. When we were finished we were offered some dessert and when we declined the bill arrived promptly as did the credit card receipt to sign. We will definitely be repeat customers again.

I use to eat here regularly years ago. I returned on July 8, 2015 to find that nothing has changed and the food and ambiance are still superb. The country ham dinner with mashed potatoes was delicious. The only negative thing is the macaroni and cheese. Unfortunately, I believe it is out of a box. Glad to be back at the Whistle Stop!

A few miles off the highway, this little place was delightful. The food was fresh and served with a smile. We were seated immediately. It was a little pricey for down-​home cooking and the wait for the fried chicken was excessive but overall a satisfying meal.

Me and members of my familia went here for an early dinner (roughly 3:30 p.m.) on Friday, May 2^nd. I don’t know if it was cause of Derby Weekend or whatever, or we caught them at a good time, but it didn’t take long at all for us to get seated (6 adults, 1 toddler, and a baby). For as long as I have lived in the Radcliff/​Elizabethtown, Kentucky area (29 years now), I had never been here, or even been to the town of Glendale.
I started off by ordering a sweet tea to drink, which was good tea, not overly sweet. Our waitress kept on top of refills as soon as we were low, it was filled right back up with our drinks. We started off ordering 2 orders of their appetizer sampler. The fried green tomatoes and the fried pickles were fantastic, I could have ate those by themselves for a meal; the fried okra was alright too. They had several different items they had on their menu I wanted to try, however, I ended up ordering the pot roast that came with mashed potatoes, and then I chose the broccoli casserole as a side. Members of the familia ordered the outrageous chicken, Texas sized country fried steak, fried chicken, and the meat loaf.
Not even kidding, the pot roast itself was awesome. It was so tender, I used my fork to cut it and pull it apart; didn’t even need the knife. The mashed potatoes were good too, though the broccoli casserole left a bit to be desired. I traded some of my pot roast with the rest of the familia to try their entrees as well. The sauce made the outrageous chicken good, the meat loaf was really good and had a bit of a sweet glaze to it, and the country fried steak was probably my second favorite of the entrees behind my pot roast.
After finishing my meal, I decided to try the peanut butter meringue pie, at the recommendation of a friend. For as highly toted and award-​winning as they say their deserts are, I was not overly impressed with it. Maybe it was because I was completely stuffed from the appetizers and my meal, or maybe because I am a peanut butter snob and prefer crunchy to creamy… but that particular pie was just ok. I feel like maybe I should have gotten the chocolate meringue pie or a fruit cobbler in retrospect.
All in all, I enjoyed their food and will definitely go back sometime to get another dish. I would like to try their fried catfish, so that may be what I try the next time I’m there.

Overpriced, but oh my God is the Hot Brown divine. It’s one of the only food items I miss from Kentucky since moving further down South.
Seriously. Just eat their Hot Brown.

Love the town, disappointed in the restaurant.
Very little wait on an early Friday evening. We got the fried pickles, which were good but the portion size was small. I ordered the pork tenderloin. It was two thin slices of pork that were heated on a flat top, not grilled, not seasoned and very tough. I was not impressed at all. The prices are very high for the quality. Home cooking to me is not frozen, canned or processed stuff.

Obviously the «to-​go» spot in the area. The wife and I attempted to dine here a couple of months ago, but the wait was over an hour. Today, it was only 5 minutes, but the place was still very busy. The décor is charming, the service is extra friendly, and the wait for the food wasn’t long at all. My wife ordered the meatloaf, and I order their fried chicken, and we had an appetizer sampler (fried okra, fried green tomatoes, and fried pickles) to start. The appetizers were great, so the dining experience started well. The wife’s meatloaf had a very sweet taste, it was okay, but the disappointment was the mashed potatoes were instant. The green beans were canned (which most homestyle restaurants in the area use), and were very salty (cooked with ham hocks or some other pig part). The loaf of bread that came with the meal was good, but nothing to write about. My fried chicken batter was buttermilk (as advertised), but it was overly thick, and lacked any taste, except for the excessive amount of grease that came with it. The cornbread was a pancake, which I find is common in KY and TN, and was too dry, which is common in KY and TN… The appetizer was 9.99 and my 4 piece chicken plate was 11.99. Plenty of food, a bit high on the price but if you’re packed every night, I understand why. It’s a good place to try once, but we feel no need to return. Some folks swear by this place — it wasn’t bad, but why my neighbor comes once a week I won’t understand.

The menus are usually sticky.
Really.
IMHO, this place, ten or more years ago, was entirely different. Then, the pork tenderloin and apples was tasty and fresh. It was, honestly, my favorite ‘visiting home’ meal, something that I insisted upon each time I visited the area. At this point, though, «home-​style» has turned into meaning «from a can» or «average, and not particularly well-​seasoned.» I could never visit again and not miss the food /​place. Again, IMHO, they’re deserving of a Gordon Ramsay episode reboot., except that since they’re usually packed, there’s no motivation for improvement, I suppose.
Regardless, per another reviewer’s comment, this is not the kind of place a vegetarian (or vegan — hahahahahahah!) would ever find something tasty. Just not going to happen in rural KY (not excusing it — just making the observation). If you’re ordering to the establishment’s strengths, the traditionally «Southern» food items, as available, are better than alternatives.
The staff is friendly, and, as busy as they are, they try hard to be efficient. I would never describe their service negatively, on the whole — only their product.
If you’re looking for an excellent meal and would like anything more sophisticated than canned veg or reheated blah blah blah, hit up Tony York’s.
The rooms full of crap (cheap toys and country barf) are like a déclassé Cracker Barrel impression. Yeah. I know. Déclassé. Cracker. Barrel.