The five-dollar footlong won’t be coming back to downtown Bowling Green, but the former site of the Subway sandwich shop that closed this year will soon be home to a new restaurant.

Jason Lindsey, a former culinary arts instructor at Southcentral Kentucky Community and Technical College, and partners Drew Farlow and Tina Barron have leased the property at 401 Park Row and are working to turn it into a “homestyle” restaurant called Southern Legends.

“The concept is based on nostalgia for Southern cooking like your grandmother used to make,” Lindsey said. “We’ll have made-from-scratch, homestyle food.”

Lindsey and his partners are shooting for an Oct. 1 opening for the restaurant, and he said the homestyle theme will carry over from the food to the decor.

“We’ll have some old-time black-and-white photos and other items to set the mood,” said Lindsey, a Brownsville native. “We want to bring back those memories.”

Lindsey said Southern Legends will offer a hot bar with items like meatloaf and fried chicken and traditional side items such as mashed potatoes and vegetables that “you would find on your family table.”

Barron, a SKyCTC culinary arts graduate, said Southern Legends will be open from 8 a.m. until 5:30 p.m. weekdays and from 8 a.m. until 1 p.m. Saturdays.

She said baked goods will be a specialty at the new eatery.

“We’ll have a variety of baked goods for breakfast every morning,” she said.

Farlow, an Elkton native who is also a graduate of the SKyCTC culinary arts program, said the partners decided to locate in the former Subway space to take advantage of a growing downtown.

“There are always people in the downtown square,” he said. “We have apartments over the top of our building. I think they will support our business, and there are definitely a lot of potential customers with the new apartments going in.”

The proximity to Western Kentucky University and downtown office workers will also help, Farlow said.

“We like the area,” Farlow said. “The square looks nice, and it’s perfect for getting people into our restaurant.”

The restaurant will be cozy, with seating for only about 25, but Lindsey said that fits the Southern Legends business plan.

“Being on the square, we expect a lot of folks will be getting meals to go,” he said. “We want to make it as convenient as possible for them.”

The to-go orders won’t be limited to sandwiches and “meat-and-three” meals, according to Lindsey. All three partners have expertise in baking, and Lindsey said they plan to sell whole cakes and pies.

“With the holidays coming up, it’s a great opportunity to buy whole desserts,” he said.

Barron, who would like to have the restaurant open in time for the Sept. 29 Bowling Green International Festival, said she and her partners plan to do catering in addition to the sit-down and take-out meals.

– Follow business reporter Don Sergent on Twitter @BGDNbusiness or visit bgdailynews.com.