visited the artisan center with my granddaughter today . lots of lovely art to purchase . we enjoyed looking , the painted feathers are stunning !! had lunch there as well. great burgers and fries . read more

Kentucky Artisan Center Cafe - painted feathers ! stunning art work ! Love - Cafes Near Me - Berea, Kentucky

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Clever small cafe in Kentucky Artisan Center Varies from 4 star to one star depending on cooks and management Breakfast period should be longer Very pleasant seating area and food gifts in this area Near large clean restrooms read more

The Artisan Center has lots of Kentucky- made crafts and nothing appears tobe made in China or other remote places. There are some beautiful (expensive) pieces of jewelry, hand painted silk scarves, bird houses, jams. etc. You get the picture We are at the cafe BUT on a Sunday, holiday weekend, there was only one lady serving. She only had some cold prepared sandwiches (i.e. ham and cheese, tuna) and vegetable soup. She said she had nobody to run the grill. I bought a tuna on rye, RRR tried the vegetable soup. My sandwich was fine, his soup was really good. Not a bad choice. If you decide to stop here I hope you have better luck with the food choices! read more

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At first it may seem a little weird to go eat at the Kentucky artisan center, however, trust me when i say it is one of the best restaurants in Berea, Kentucky. My girlfriend and I get the hotdogs. Too good i swear. read more

One of the coolest roadway stops I've ever been too. Great place to see Kentucky artists and get a feel for some cultural crafts and food. Clean and friendly. read more

Nice cafeteria-style cafe located inside the Artisan Center. You can order burgers, sandwiches, hot entrees such as chicken & dumplings and soup. Very reasonable prices. Plenty of seating. I tried a roasted turkey sandwich with a cup of vegetable soup - perfect for a cold (very cold) lunch while on the road. Afterwards you can browse the Center (separate Yelp listing) for gifts and such. read more

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We really enjoyed our lunch at the KAC. They offer a wide variety of items from traditional meat and sides, a grill or salad bar (our choice). The desserts looked great, too. The Artisans Center has a large craft shop with the best artists from KY and usually a demonstration artist. Well worth the short drive off of the interstate! read more

Kentucky Artisan Center Cafe - a sculpture of a cow - Cafes Near Me - Berea, Kentucky

Come for the clean restrooms and cafe, stay to browse the local art! My dad and I came across this place totally by accident while driving home to Illinois from Florida up I-75. Ostensibly a travel center, it is so much more. For one thing, it is a huge, amazing building. It looks almost like a monastery or something from the outside. Inside it boasts commendable restrooms and a nice grill for lunch. I had chicken fingers with steak fries -- better than you'd get at your average fast food place -- and my dad got a ham sandwich and some thin but flavorful white bean soup. We didn't want to slow down our road progress too much but we couldn't help browsing all the beautiful, and stunninngly affordable, art by KY artisans. You'll also find books and food items such as local soda (Ale81), condiments (Makers Mark BBQ sauce) and more. Definitely a place to remember and return to on a future road trip! read more

They close way to early for any of the locals to eat here! I love being able to get Spoonbread but I rarely can make it in time to get it!

Warm and friendly place to shop for Kentucky arts and crafts. We swing by whenever we travel that part of the state.

Please understand that this review is about the cafe not the Artisan Center Shop. We drove over an hour to enjoy a Sunday lunch here and to browse the gift shop. The shop is amazing and worth the long drive but skip the Cafe. The folks are very nice and except for the sterile blue-white lighting (more about this later) the eating area is fine. But the unstocked cafeteria layout is terrible. There is a printed white paper list on a stand of what is available but no home style trays of food to look at. You order and watch as your sandwich goes from red to cooked before your very eyes. I would rather have eaten at home and watched a battery charge. You would be better grabbing a bite at the Pilot truck stop but any comparison to Pilot is unfair to truck stops. It's obvious why the large eating area was mostly empty. My wife got a hamburger and I decided on a tuna salad sandwich on wheat. Edible but boring. Subway without the flash. Reasonable prices but they may as well put in a sandwich machine and a microwave. What a waste of an opportunity at a first-class gift store! As another reviewer recommended just enjoy the art, but eat at a real restaurant in town. About the lightning: I once worked for a luxury real estate developer. The owner was so adamant about proper lighting at his properties that he sent detailed memos out periodically to EVERY employee. Heaven help you if you every placed a cool-white lamp in a building! It looks like the State got a deal on these miserable blue-white LED spots and tubes and are replacing the warm tone lamps. The eating area is partially saved by the presence of nice warm Edison type globes but the cafe line and gift shop is 100% Emergency Room. The color it projects on food gives it the appearance of yesterday's road-kill. Lighting doesn't resonate with most except on a subconscious level, but as we were in the business of staging for perfect ambiance It drives me nuts. Just another missed opportunity for an otherwise lovely place. read more

So disappointed today!! We have always loved stopping here. The workers were always so friendly and kind. As I walked in the doors, I was met with a young man at the welcome center who welcomed me with his words but not his eyes..... he looked anywhere but at me, and I stopped and thanked him, but he was already looking down at whatever he was writing. We walked back to the cafe, looking forward to the homemade foods and we are met with an empty grill. No homemade foods, piles of chocolate bars have replaced the delicious goodies that once filled the counter. A young man leaning against his chair looking bored mentioned someone SHOULD be back there and we stood a bit waiting and reading over the grill items as there's no home style dinner to be had!!Finally a young girl came out looking a bit sheepish and ill prepared. By this time, realizing the older ladies aren't working, we really weren't interested in anything grilled by this young lady after her awkward greeting. There's NO WAY she would have the experience and ability to quickly grill up a burger, maybe the grilled cheese? Greatly disappointed, we don't see ourselves bothering to stop here again. You've lost all the charm of your Artisan center when you've begun hiring the least experienced with no mentors to teach them proper etiquette and good old fashioned customer service skills. read more

Simply little grill food and prices not bad. Nice place to sit as you check out all the wonderful art.

This was an unexpected surprise! The chef fixed me a turkey (not on menu) Rueben - outstanding - and the fried okra was crispy and delicious! The coffee was hot and the ice tea brewed! read more

This review is only about the food at the cafe. The arts & crafts section of the Artisan Center would earn a 5-star review from me; it is excellent. That being said... The cafe opens for lunch at 11 am, I arrived at 12:30 on a Tuesday & decided to spring for a "traditional plate" from the hot lunch line. I selected roast chicken as my meat. The breast I selected was extraordinarily bland. Nursing-home level bland. I had to salt it heavily to give it any sort of flavor. The green beans were from a can, despite the fact that Berea is full of local farmers. Whoever sets the menus needs to make a connection with them. Mashed potatoes taste like real potatoes but bland struck again. Other vegetable offerings were corn pudding (dried out, bottom-of-the-pan, brown around the edges), carrots (also appeared dried out), sauerkraut, & a salad bar, which cost $3 more. I've had the fried chicken here also. I don't remember a thing about it. That'll tell food lovers everything they need to know. So, come for the crafts but drive one mile into town for lunch & have a great eating experience at the Boone Tavern or Papa Leno's, both located on the College Square. read more

Kentucky Artisan Center Cafe - Roast chicken plate at the Artisan Cafe. - Cafes Near Me - Berea, Kentucky

I visited the Artisan Center on Sunday, August 15th, and the Cafe was 100% closed with no explanation. This was the second time it happened. The Craft Store and restrooms are very nice, but the Cafe is unreliable for out-of-state travelers on I-75. Tamarack on the WVa Turnpike (I-77) is a similar place, and their Cafe is always open when it is supposed to be open. Either keep the KAC's Cafe open or close it. Don't mislead travelers on the Interstate. read more

This rest stop after a long drive was an inviting surprise! Lots of handmade wood carvings, pottery, sales. Good cafeteria should for a quick bite. read more

Great place to stop for a snack and to stretch your legs while on a road trip. Bathrooms are spectacular.

A pleasant little surprise! We stopped here on our drive from Norris Lake to Cincinnati. I was expecting your typical, sketchy highway rest stop but instead found a gorgeous visitors center. They feature items for purchase from hundreds of local artists and also have a small cafe where you can grab something more than vending machine snacks. I would have given it 5 stars but the bathroom wasn't as clean as it could have been and smelled like sewage. read more

This has to be one of the best kept secretes. The traditional lunch that they offer dictates what time I leave my house on long road trips. Always worth it. read more

Surprisingly good! Roasted chicken was juicy & flavorful. The loaded mashed potatoes and corn pudding were really like home cooking at Grandma's. Salad bar was a little limited but all items were fresh and crisp. read more

Tired of driving, saw the sign and pulled over. What a unexpected experience. It was a little education about the history of the area and a nice variety of work from local Artisians. Peaked my interest so much I took the short drive to the city of Berea. Beautiful town! The Boone Tavern and Inn is a must see. The town is so quaint ins lovely. read more

This is a great addition to Berea. You can stop from the I-75 or walk/run to it from town. So, this means that on a hot summer day, you can get your steps in and then a cool drink or lunch at a great place. (You can even look at the cool local art in your running shorts... how fun is that?) read more

I sell my herbal soaps at the Kentucky Artisan Center, and i love going there. I always plan to make my soap deliveries around lunch time. I love the food in the cafe. It's all traditional Kentucky food, and it's wonderful to enjoy my lunch in such a neat atmosphere. read more

i'm not a big arts and crafts kinda guy, but this place is pretty hip. a nice rest stop in the way between atlanta and cincy. the cafeteria food is excellent and the artsy stuff is pretty cool (i think, i'm not really sure). read more

The cafe is located in a visitor center/gift shop. It's a good place for travelers to stop and take a rest, satisfy their hunger, and inquire information about the Berea area. I decided to get a hot entree with two sides and bread. It's your traditional southern food. Meat, green beans, etc. I'd say the gift shop is what makes the show. It's a fairly large gift shop with lots of locally made knick knacks. There are books, home decor pieces, jewelry, toys, and posters. I bought a few postcards myself to send to some out-of-state friends! read more

Best hwy stop in the country. Clean rest room, arts And crafts, local ice cream and hot food.