Mom’s Restaurant still entertaining Ohio’s UK fans after 40-plus years

Yes, the gravy is blue. Normally you can find it on top of the biscuits that are served in this cozy, 100-seat restaurant, located just off of Ohio 123, next to the BP gas station. Appropriately named Mom’s Restaurant, the joint serves up all the home-cookin’ comfort a stomach could crave, from hearty breakfasts to roast beef and burgers. But the clientele isn’t exactly what you’d expect for this state. It’s clad in more blue -- hence the gravy. “I’m from Kentucky and my love for Kentucky basketball never left me,” said “Mom,” who is also known as 76-year-old Hilda Ratliff, owner of the restaurant. “So I get a lot of Kentucky basketball fans who come up to visit. While they’re here we make our blue gravy in support of the team.” She’s been doing it for more than 40 years and along the way the restaurant has acquired its fair share of University of Kentucky basketball memorabilia. A 16 inch by 20 inch framed picture of former Wildcat radio announcer Cawood Ledford adorns one wall. Autographed pictures of former players and coaches hang near some of the tables. “UK basketball is everything in Kentucky,” she said. “I couldn’t leave it behind.” But she did leave most everything else behind when she moved away from her home. It was a decision that changed her life forever.