A former editor of mine who had worked in Owensboro, the barbecue capital of Kentucky, gave me a piece of advice that has stood in good stead for about two decades: If a barbecue joint doesn’t smell like a smokehouse, it isn’t any good.

Old Kentucky BBQ on New Circle Road has managed to turn the original McDonald’s location in Lexington into a smokehouse.

Old Kentucky serves three things: smoked brisket, smoked pork (including ribs) and smoked chicken. It smokes the meats in contraptions in the parking lot. Once the smoked meats come inside,

… more …