[Altavia]

Originally Posted by Michael 61

Still unclear if “Harry” just closed down their flagship restaurant or if they are also abandoning their Lake Okahumpka site as well. We’ll see. If they are not going forward with Lake Okahumpka, it will be interesting to see who the Developer turns to, as some of the infrastructure for this new site has already begun to be put in place. Regardless, the future is bright, as we see all the new development on the horizon. I’m looking forward to the years ahead here in The Villages.

Will Harry and the Natives still open in The Villages of Florida as Hobe Sound location closes? - gulflive.com

However, in a phone call to the Hobe Sound location this afternoon, a worker who wished to remain anonymous told GulfLive.com that the new site in The Villages is owned by a different group of partners, and its scheduled opening should not be affected.

In response to an email query, one of those partners, Scott Bianculli, reached out to GulfLive.com to confirm that Harry and the Natives is indeed, still coming The Villages.

“We are 100% moving forward with Harry and The Natives at The Villages. Construction is underway and we can’t wait for it to be concluded,” Bianculli said. “Our exciting, over the water tiki hut —and 100% from scratch food will be an exciting addition to The Villages in ’25.”

The 5,000-square-foot restaurant, featuring a 2,500 square-foot waterfront tiki hut, broke ground in December, between The Village of Richmond and The Village of St. Johns, on the shores of Lake Okahumpka — around four miles away from MacArthur’s own home in The Villages.

At the time, MacArthur said the only place he’d would rather be is The Villages, adding, “The Villages are such a special place, the people are so great, everything is so wonderful here, so it’s the only reason we would expand to do another restaurant.”