I want to start by harking back to my first visit to TGI Fridays. It was in Lexington and it was 1984. I was in high school at a speech tournament, and I don't think any of us could eat for looking around at all the cool stuff on the walls.

RESTAURANTS WITH ATMOSPHERE

I had never seen decor like that in a restaurant and it just fascinated me. A few years later, I ate at Darryl's in Evansville. Talk about atmosphere. I seem to remember eating at a table that was in an old Ferris wheel car if I'm not mistaken. Again, I risked eating cold food because I kept looking around.

As much as I love great atmosphere in a restaurant, the food ALWAYS needs to be good for me to recommend it. Fortunately, I've had far more success stories at restaurants than bad experiences, and that's especially true in the Highlands, up and down Bardstown Road in Louisville.

It's my favorite section of Derby City, but I'd need to think a while before I named my favorite restaurant.

A RESTAURANT IN A CATHEDRAL -- NOW THAT'S ATMOSPHERE

One I always see but have never visited is Noche Mexican BBQ. If you're ON Bardstown Road, you can't miss it. It's in a big, beautiful old cathedral.

Don't ask me why I've never been. I love Mexican food and I love good barbecue, and this combination sounds like a can't-miss opportunity.

Oh Lord, I just saw smoked wings with a spicy mole as a sauce option. Now I'm super hungry. (By the way, don't ever say "mole sauce"; "mole" MEANS sauce.)

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NOCHE MEXICAN BBQ -- FOOD, ATMOSPHERE, HOSPITALITY

I will say this. I have checked out the amazing menu, and the farther down you go, the more expensive it gets. But around the "tacos" or "premium tacos" sections, it all looks reasonable. And I'm sure the servings are huge; restaurants just do that now. But it appears everything is good at Noche--the food, the atmosphere, and the hospitality.

CONVERTING CHURCHES INTO RESTAURANTS IS NOT UNHEARD OF

As unusual as it is to convert a church into a restaurant, it's not the most uncommon thing in the world, I've found.

I know it's weird to review a restaurant before I've even been there. But I'm putting it on my radar and maybe you will, too.

I mean, it's Mexican BBQ in a CATHEDRAL. How cool is that?

Mexican Restaurant in Kentucky Hidden Inside Historic Cathedral

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