Smashing Tomato opens third Lexington location with pasta and pizza

Smashing Tomato has doubled down on Lexington with a third location, opening in the former Biscuit Belly space at 112 Lucille Drive, Suite 150, in Masterson Station off Leestown Road. The move puts the quick-service pizza and pasta concept in a part of town where nearby dining traffic already includes Ramsey’s Diner and Osaka, and the new patio gives the room a bigger neighborhood feel than a simple grab-and-go stop.

The opening landed in a storefront that already has recent restaurant history behind it. Biscuit Belly took over the space in December 2023 and closed in October 2025, leaving Smashing Tomato with a recognizable site and a built-in dining footprint to rework. For a brand selling wood-fired pizza, pasta, soups, salads, wine and beer, that kind of location makes sense: it is visible, easy to reach, and set up for both lunch turnover and dinner service.

Smashing Tomato is part of Kuni Toyoda’s local portfolio, alongside Crust, Bella Notte and Bella Cafe, so this was not a leap into an unfamiliar market. It was a familiar operator leaning into a format that still has room in Lexington when the details are right. The brand says its dough is made in Lexington with Caputo flour imported from Naples, and it bakes in an 800-degree wood-burning oven, two details that help explain why the chain has stayed relevant in a city that already knows its way around pizza and pasta.

The restaurant’s menu centers on 15 wood-fired Neapolitan pizzas, but the pasta side of the business matters here too. Smashing Tomato’s Lexington footprint now stretches across Masterson Station, Fayette Mall and Hamburg Pavilion, and Bella Notte Restaurant Group’s rewards program, one point for every dollar spent and $10 for every 150 points, gives the concept a repeat-visit hook that fits a local chain more than a one-off opening.

There is also some online buzz behind the brand. Barstool Sports published Dave Portnoy’s Lexington pizza review on March 25, 2026, which only added to the visibility around a place already built on speed, freshness and a strong operator. In a market where a familiar name can still win with the right room and the right oven, Lucille Drive looks like the kind of site that can support a third act.