Tolly Ho

sa_hunt

All-Conference
Sep 2, 2009
3,042
2,822
0
Never been there before. I know it's a UK staple. We live in Eastern Kentucky and usually eat at "nicer" places when we are down there. Anyway, is it worth a trip to eat there or is it not? Thanks
 
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John Henry

Hall of Famer
Aug 18, 2007
35,574
172,795
113
Never been there before. I know it's a UK staple. We live in Eastern Kentucky and usually eat at "nicer" places when we are down there. Anyway, is it worth a trip to eat there or is it not? Thanks
It is a greasy spoon type burger joint that is great after a night of drinking. I would recommend the HO.

Order a HO at 2:00 AM and you will fall to sleep like a baby.

 
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Ron Mehico

Heisman
Jan 4, 2008
15,473
33,054
0
It used to be a really fun icon at its old location on south limestone when it was by Pazzos and across from Kennedy Bookstore on late nights as a UK student. That whole area has changed and the new location is on its own and it’s just an average greasy spoon at this point. Only reason I eat there when I’m in town now is nostalgia from the old location.
 

Beatle Bum

Heisman
Sep 1, 2002
40,602
61,455
113
Original Ho was on Euclid, around the corner from Wallaces, literally a hole in the wall. Stood outside in the rain once waiting for a table, alcohol may have been involved.
Yeah, the Ho has been moved at least four times in its existence.
 
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VaxxedObamaCat

All-American
Aug 1, 2022
1,933
6,551
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Never been there before. I know it's a UK staple. We live in Eastern Kentucky and usually eat at "nicer" places when we are down there. Anyway, is it worth a trip to eat there or is it not? Thanks
Dude, don't do it. So gross. You'd have better food at your diner in Eastern Kentucky.
 
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trueblujr

Heisman
Dec 14, 2005
30,633
96,917
113
It is a greasy spoon type burger joint that is great after a night of drinking. I would recommend the HO.

Order a HO at 2:00 AM and you will fall to sleep like a baby.

Great burgers and a great all-day breakfast menu too. Campus legend. worth a trip. I try to get there a couple of times a year when I go to campus to visit my sons.
 
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WildcatFan1982

Heisman
Dec 4, 2011
21,362
17,672
81
Great burgers and a great all-day breakfast menu too. Campus legend. worth a trip. I try to get there a couple of times a year when I go to campus to visit my sons.

When I was a sophomore I got breakfast there at least twice a weak. Bacon, eggs, and a huge pile of hashbrowns and it’d be around $5
 

UK 82

Heisman
Feb 27, 2015
11,662
82,512
113
Original Ho was on Euclid, around the corner from Wallaces, literally a hole in the wall. Stood outside in the rain once waiting for a table, alcohol may have been involved.
Remember it well during my UK years and yes, alcohol was almost always involved. Original Ho- 1971-1987.
 
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august-west

Heisman
May 21, 2002
61,516
18,100
78
You should go even if it’s just once. Make sure and tell them it’s your first time there, trust me it’s worth it.
 
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Jan 28, 2007
20,397
30,168
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I lost my Ho V-Card there on a Saturday afternoon Labor Day weekend freshman year when I walked in and tried to pay with my student ID. I don’t think I ever ate there again before 1 AM. I was always a Big Tolly fan, which is a Big Mac knockoff. Not sure if I’ll ever go again because it was a pure nostalgia play.
 
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BBdK

Heisman
Sep 21, 2003
159,783
74,127
0
Tolly Ho is great, but far from the same at the 'new' shiny location...actually visited earlier this year at 2am for the first time in I'd guess 15-20 years.

Super Ho w/ Egg or Big Tolly + cheese fries ftw.
 
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WildcatFan1982

Heisman
Dec 4, 2011
21,362
17,672
81
What I never understood was The Varsity down in Atlanta. Went down there when my brother got married and everyone there that was native was saying how it’s just the best and I can’t miss it. So I went with some of my family members and we were all just like ‘ok?’

I love Tolly Ho but unless someone specifically asks for that type of restaurant I’d never recommend it.
 
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May 30, 2009
4,019
18,397
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Doesn't count unless you ate there at 2 AM, that was the true Ho experience

Hi Ho. Hi Ho. A Ho-ing we will go . . .
I thought that was chi o.




When I lived on that side of campus, I was too poor to eat at tolly ho. The house I shared with at least six other guys is now a parking lot. When I got a part time job and moved out to the typical new circle road apts, it was never thought of again. I missed my window.



My UK frosh son currently enjoys. 😍
I stopped in on my son(soph) two weeks ago. I was there just long enough for lunch and he suggested this place, tolly ho, that he had stumbled upon. We had never before talked about it.


I also submit that Lynaghs ORound equally pulls on the ol heartstrings.
We spy on our kids through Life360. Last year I noticed Lynaghs was in his regular rotation. With the older son, we(wife included) don't use the 360 to check up on, but more so to live vicariously through.
 
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Lane Beard

Redshirt
Mar 13, 2023
24
21
0
Never been there before. I know it's a UK staple. We live in Eastern Kentucky and usually eat at "nicer" places when we are down there. Anyway, is it worth a trip to eat there or is it not? Thanks
Ate there after midnight 100 times in college. Ate there at 8:00 pm one time the week of finals my senior year and thought it was awful.

Eat it when drunk.

Burger with sunny side up egg on top and hash browns w/ cheese.
 
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trueblujr

Heisman
Dec 14, 2005
30,633
96,917
113
It’s ok for some traditions to die off. This is one of them. If you’re not a broke *** college student it will probably just tear your stomach up.
Hell to the no. That Campus has changed so damn much since I went there from ‘89-‘93. I want this last bit of my history there to stay put.
 

JumperJack

Heisman
Oct 30, 2002
21,997
65,619
0
I had a job one year when I was at UK that required me to get up very early, like 5:00 AM. I’d go there sometimes for breakfast and watch people go in and out, some never having slowed down all night. Some funny, crazy stuff sometimes. It was a lot of decent food for cheap for a broke college kid. Since it moved I haven’t had much interest in going. That campus has changed so much, it’s hard to recapture those feelings anyway. Time is undefeated.
 
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chroix

Heisman
Jul 22, 2013
10,294
25,949
113
A cheese omelet there is $8.69 now. I’m pretty sure it was $1.05 back in the day. Nasty. But good nasty. But cheap af. $8.69 feels like a violation of some unwritten law to me.
 

Kooky Kats_anon

Heisman
Aug 17, 2002
25,741
46,563
0
Learn patina… like a seasoned cast iron skillet. Clean it with soap, and it’s ruined…. That said…It’s gone. Closed.
 

UK 82

Heisman
Feb 27, 2015
11,662
82,512
113
Any old timers remember this dive? On the corner of ....East High and Rose. What a shock. Had decent chili. I think they filmed a scene from the movie Steel here. The same movie where the stuntman died when his airbag busted in Lexington during filming of the movie.

 
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WildcatFan1982

Heisman
Dec 4, 2011
21,362
17,672
81
Yeah my roommate loved that place. We were driving by one day and saw that it was closed and he lost his mind