Love Me Some Nettie's!
Nettie’s Restaurant sits inside one of downtown Hardinsburg’s most storied buildings — a place that has lived many lives, welcomed many families, and quietly watched Main Street evolve for nearly 100 years.
The building dates to the early 1930's. It was originally owned by Mathis Miller — a farmer, landowner, beekeeper and first president of The Farmers Bank, whose family name still remains familiar in this community. His daughters, Mary Alice (Monarch) and Margaret (Hook), spent much of their early lives in and around this very block.
Margaret and her husband, T.J. Hook, raised three sons: Thias, Howard, and Russell. Thias seceded his father as owner of the Hardinsburg Ford auto dealership and owner of a Ready Mix concrete business. Howard seceded his grandfather as president of The Farmers Bank and a developer of real estate in Florida. Russell took a more unconventional path. He managed rental property and made successful investments and the early 1950's he and his wife, Louise, moved into an upstairs apartment in this building.
The building and the surrounding block have changed many hands and purposes throughout the years. At various points, Russell kept a workshop and den in the back, and the ground floor saw a rotating cast of businesses that still live in local memory. At different times, this stretch of Main Street held: a movie theatre where today’s karate studio stands, a Greyhound bus station (now the site of City Hall), a Five & Dime store, a busy hardware store operated by Hobert Hines and Storms Electric and Appliances, operated by Vincent Storms. This has always been a working building — practical, lived-in, and part of daily small-town life.
In 1951, the building entered a new chapter when Franklin Brite purchased the hardware store from Hobart Hines. The space became Brite’s Hardware, operating on what is now Nettie’s Green Room side. In the early 1960's, Franklin knocked a hole through the adjoining wall, so that his wife, Mae Fern, could expand her gift shop into the next room. She sold china, home goods, and toys during the holidays in what is now Nettie’s Red Room.
The opening they created more than 60 years ago? Today, it’s the elegant arched pass-through that connects our Red and Green dining rooms — one of the restaurant’s most recognizable and beloved architectural features.
When we began transforming the building into Nettie’s, we didn’t want to erase anything. The bones, the charm, the imperfect little details — they’re part of the story. Today, the space blends classic architectural touches with an inviting, slightly elevated feel: a nod to Hardinsburg’s past wrapped into a place that feels like home.
Every plate we serve and every guest we welcome is part of the building’s next chapter — and we’re honored to carry that history forward on Main Street.
(During renovation, we uncovered layers of historic newspaper in the ceiling — including editions from January 1917 — a small but meaningful reminder that this building’s story stretches even further back than its earliest records suggest.)
After lots of TLC, this building has been given a new life! We hope you'll appreciate the work we put into revitalizing this building to make Nettie's Restaurant feel like home.
Please view the gallery below to see photos before and after the renovation.
A TRIP DOWN MEMORY LANE...
A view from Main Street in Downtown Hardinsburg, August 1929.
Flour Mill in Hardinsburg, 1908.
Storefront in downtown Hardinsburg, 1920's.
Jockey Tavern and JW Trent building on Courthouse Square, prior to 1910.
COME SEE WHAT WE'VE DONE WITH THE PLACE!
HOURS
Monday . . . . . . . . . . . . Closed
Tuesday . . . . . . . . . . . Closed
Wednesday . . . . . . . . Closed
Thursday . . . . . . 11AM - 8PM
Friday . . . . . . . . . 11AM - 8PM
Saturday . . . . . . . 11AM - 8PM
Sunday . . . . . . . Coming soon!
ADDRESS
*For additional parking, please use our back lot located behind the building.
MAP
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