[Bonny]

Originally Posted by BBQMan

IMHO, parking is one of the major causes of the high rate of restaurant failure in Spanish Springs town square. While not immediately apparent, people who are limited in the distance they can walk, make up a significant part of the population of TV. There are those who need to use a wheel-chair or walker. We can easily see them. (BTW, my wife now needs a walker) What is not so apparent, are the much larger number of people who are limited by COPD, heart disease, arthritis, etc.

There are two major successes on the square - Katie Belles and Too Jays. Katie Belles draws from the same group of people who enjoy evenings and line dancing on the square - few physical problems there. Too Jays is far and away the most successful Deli chain in FL and probably the nation. They dominate the FL Gold coast from Miami up to Jupiter. They then moved into Central Florida and later, TV. Too Jays has a remarkable combination of product offerings, quality and service. They also occupy the location on the square with the best access to parking. All the other storefronts have failed. Cody's is going into the site where Amigos, the most successful Mexican chain in FL, failed. The steakhouse that preceded Amigos failed. Parking is very poor and handicap access is non-existent.

The outlook for Cody's is dim. One of the most important, if not the most important, consideration in restaurant location is demographics. Until you take the time to understand it, virtually any location in The Villages should be a success. Once your realize the importance of easy access to parking, the success of Paneras, Chili's, Applebee's, etc becomes easy to understand as does the failure of Amigos, Firehouse subs, and the other failures on the square. Just my thoughts.

Obviously you haven't been around much recently. You say "all" the other storefronts failed. Which ones are you talking about ?
Gator's Dockside, not Codys, is in the spot where Amigos was in & is doing fabulous. We've been there about 10 times.The restaurants that failed there were known to have bad food, bad service. That's why they failed, not parking. McCalls, Ruby Tuesdays, Panera, Margarita Republic are all well from what I see. As far as Firehouse subs, again I doubt it was the parking if Katie Belles & Too Jays are doing so well. They were in between them. My guess is there isn't a big need for a sub place.
Codys will be where Up The Creek was & should do wonderful. They have a great menu & are service oriented. We have eaten at Codys before & like the food & they have good prices.