You’re reading part of our 2026 LINK nky Readers’ Choice Awards. Explore the full guide, including winners for food & drink, shopping, services and more here.
No, your GPS isn’t wrong, although you may think that given the winding road you have to take to find where Sanctuary Social is hiding in the Sanctuary subdivision of Villa Hills.
“This place is all word of mouth, social media, it’s all Google searches, and you have to question your GPS driving here,” said proprietor Andy Hagelman. “That’s kind of the big joke.”
Sanctuary Social’s less-than-obvious location hasn’t stopped it from becoming popular in the region, as evidenced by its appearance here among the Readers’ Choice Awards.
“It’s a tricky location if you think about just visibility, but it’s kind of a cool location because it’s off the beaten path,” Hagelman said. “It feels like kind of a hidden gem.”
Hagelman’s path to owning and operating a restaurant has been about as winding as the roads that take you to it. Although he spent a handful of years in food service as a young man, most of his professional background was in retail pharmacy, not restauranteuring. That was, until the end of the pandemic lockdowns.
“I was like, ‘I don’t think I feel like I’m doing any good in the community anymore in retail pharmacy,’” Hagelman said. His first instinct was to start catering for weddings on the weekends and other part time gigs, but after discussing it more with his wife, who encouraged him to explore his options, he decided to go all in.
“I was always really into barbecue,” Hagelman said. “That’s why everyone in the neighborhood asked me to smoke brisket or pulled pork for them. We were originally gonna call this place Sanctuary Smokehouse and make it a barbecue place, but at the same time we don’t want to be tied down in just a barbecue place.”
Sanctuary Social is only just now entering its second year of operation; it opened in December 2024. The menu runs the gamut. Yes, barbeque is there, but so are sandwiches, tacos, hoagies, wraps, salads and other items.
“Our flatbreads are really big sellers,” Hagelman said. At this point, a server on the floor chimed in to remind Hagelman of the “smoked wings,” which are also highly popular. All of the portions, Hagelman said, are deliberately smaller than most restaurants.
“You leave satisfied, not completely stuffed,” Hagelman said.
The interior of the restaurant features a lounge area with a couch and leather chairs. Rows of bourbons, ryes and other high-end liquors line both the wall behind the lounge area and the full bar. Move through the main dining area and go out the back, and you’ll find a patio with a large green space and a gazebo. Ashley Home-built houses loom in the distance.
“Every so often, one of the high school kids comes out here and plugs in, starts playing music, or they have little events out there,” said Hagelman.
The outdoor area also serves as a space for a weekend bucket golf league. Bucket golf is a portable lawn game where you hit golf balls into (can you guess?) buckets (don’t feel bad; we had to look it up, too).
All of the sauces and dressings, except for very basic ingredients like mayonnaise, at Sanctuary are made in house. Hagelman said he began with some old family recipes and refined them as he experimented with different ingredients. He gave an example: his mother’s old sweet Italian dressing recipe.
“We’re like, I bet this would be good as a red wine vinaigrette, so we just swapped out the vinegar for red wine vinegar, and it turned out to be 10 times better than the original,” Hagelman said, perhaps to the chagrin of his mother.
“It’s hard to go based on your own flavor profile and your own taste on everything,” Hagelman said. “You have to remind yourself that there are other people that really enjoy some of these other items.”
These other items included the antipasto and caprese salads and sauerkraut, which he admits he’s “not a fan” of.
“Anyone can open a restaurant,” Hagelman said. “Not everyone has the fortitude to go through it and deal with constructive criticism and making the changes and holding people accountable. That’s the hardest part of it all, really.”
The restaurant also features live music performances, trivia nights and hosted social events. Event catering is also available.
“People come here, they’re like, ‘yeah, we just come here because it’s a great place to sit and mingle and talk. We don’t feel rushed. It’s a great atmosphere, and for some reason, this place facilitates conversation,’” Hagelman said.
You can find Sanctuary Social hidden away at 1090 Walburg Ave. in Villa Hills. Like we said, don’t feel concerned about the route as you’re driving. We promise it’s there.