Down on Main Street: Amy’s Asian Kitchen

The kitchen was already hus­tling, get­ting ready for the ear­ly bird crowd when I met with Amy Rouse at her restau­rant, Amy’s Asian Kitchen. She sug­gest­ed we head upstairs to her new­er estab­lish­ment, Amy’s VIP Lounge, where it would be a lit­tle qui­eter and we could talk.

With incred­i­ble LED fur­ni­ture and a light-up dance floor, Amy has trans­formed the sec­ond sto­ry of her build­ing into a con­tem­po­rary night­club. Amy’s VIP Lounge is open Friday and Saturday evenings, offer­ing spe­cial­ty cock­tails, dance music, and karaōke. 

“We have a lot of peo­ple come from Morehead, Lexington, Richmond, Mt. Sterling, and Red River Geroge. We have reg­u­lar cus­tomers that come here two times a month; they trav­el 1 ½ hours to come here.”

Amy’s Asian Kitchen serves locals and many non-locals look­ing for tra­di­tion­al Vietnamese cui­sine. She is known for her Noodle Bowls and her deli­cious Vietnamese Flan, but she also enjoys new cus­tomers who have nev­er tried Vietnamese food—and she has a rep­u­ta­tion for cre­at­ing cus­tom dish­es based on her customer’s palate. Amy’s serves week­ly din­ner and cock­tail spe­cials post­ed on her Facebook page.   

Amy came to Winchester in 2017 after mov­ing from Vietnam to Lexington in 2016. Her first few years in Winchester were focused on fam­i­ly and small chil­dren, but in 2023, she and her hus­band decid­ed to fol­low their dream and open their restau­rant downtown—and even­tu­al­ly Amy’s VIP Lounge in 2024. 

“He loved down­town, my hus­band, he loved down­town. Every time he would dri­ve around and he would dri­ve through here look­ing for a building.” 

Amy con­tin­ues bring­ing her cul­ture to Winchester, par­tic­i­pat­ing in Beer Cheese Week, host­ing what has become an annu­al fash­ion show, and ensur­ing “the Dragon” appeared in last year’s Christmas Parade. Amy’s Lunar New Year Party was so pop­u­lar in January that she was able to host two full seatings. 

“Everyone is very nice to me, and I feel wel­come. If I need help, I don’t mind to ask, and they jump and help me right away, and that is so nice.”