Silver Cricket
 

The Silver Cricket may be the best value in restaurants close to TV. I have been there on several occasions and find the quality at least equal to Outback, Glenview or Arnold Palmer. (No it's not up to Nancy Lopez standards). The price is something else again. One of their most ordered items is The Delancy Street brisket. It may be the best home style brisket I have ever had. The price at dinner is $9.99 and includes salad or soup, main course with two sides and a desert. Try finding that within TV.

This is a family owned operation that enjoyed great success in south FL (Hollywood to be precise) and moved up here because one of the owners (Rebecca) mother was aging and they wanted to be closer. Wish more of our kids could do that. The Silver Cricket serves breakfast, lunch and dinner. I have tried all three and dearly love the lunches and dinners, but cannot say the same for the breakfasts. JMHO

This is a restaurant you can afford to go to on an everyday basis when you just do not feel like cooking. When I have lunch there, I always have enough left over for dinner, with perhaps just a bowl of soup in addition. The service is good and at least one of the owners is always on the floor. Dinners range from $9.99 to 12.99 with an incredible variety. There is only one dish priced higher and that is the jumbo prime rib, that costs $15.99.

FYI, I have no financial or personal tie to The Silver Cricket. I grew up in a restaurant family and can recognize the real thing when I see it.

Where is the restaurant?

Silver Cricket
 

Silver Cricket Restaurant, 360 S. Highway 27/441., Lady Lake, FL. 3.1 mile drive from The Villages. 561-4441. B/L/D. At the corner of Route 27/441 and Griffin View Drive, once occupied by Sakura Japanese Steakhouse, a half mile south of Lady Lake. Opened June, 2009. Open daily except Monday from 7 AM to 8 PM and for Sunday Brunch 9 AM to 3 PM only.

Thanks for the recommendation, Bob. We have passed the restaurant on the highway a few times, and I have to admit that I usually steer clear of restaurants that have insects in their names... (Silver Cricket is a little too close to Golden Cockroach in my mind :yuck: ) but now I'll give it a try. Thanks for the tip! :icon_hungry:

We are going to try it also. Always looking for a good restaurant at a good price.

We passed it last night about 7:00 and it didn't look open!

Silver Cricket
 

On your recommendation, tried this restaurant today for lunch. We were pleasantly surprised. Had the prime rib open face and it was really good. The menu looks appealing and we both agreed we'd return.

UU...Sailor & I had breakfast there yesterday and were very surprised. It was excellent. Their lunch, dinner and catering menu look good too. Someone told us their Brisket is to die for. We are going back!:pepper2:

They get a good rating/write-up on the TV restaurant review page:

http://thevillagesgourmetclub.home.c...b/page2.html#S

Went to Silver Cricket twice and enjoyed it both times. Will go back again.

I have been to the Silver Cricket several times, for b-fast and dinner. Have been satisfied with the food, service and price. I made the mistake of stopping by for b-fast on a Monday. They are closed on Monday's. Overall would recommend to anyone.

Bug in my food
 

The place is true to it's name, I had a dead fly in my salad. This really turned my stomach but the server was apologetic and quickly replaced my salad but it was hard to eat after that. I really expected an owner to come to the table instead of letting a busy server handle such a complaint when she had other customers and was working quite a number of tables. As we were leaving I was told that a woman who was sitting in a corner and had a sloppy appearance was actually the owner Rebecca but I thought she was just another unhappy customer as she sat the whole time at a table never pitching in to help the overworked server but just sitting and scowling. :ohdear:.

As a retired restaurant owner I always did everything I could to make sure my staff was able to take care of the customers and make their job as easy as possible. Number 1 rule for restaurant owners; take care of your servers they make or break you business. I had servers stay with me 9, 12 and 15 years, I noticed the server at the silver bug was very stressed and had too much to do, being the only person on the floor except for a very old woman greeting people at the door. I predict a high turnover for servers here and there are bugs in the food.

We won't be going back.

Scott & Tilda Dunleavy

Village of Silver Lake

Breakfast at Silver Cricket
 

Went yesterday for Breakfast for the first time. Not memorable. Eggs were fine as was the Bacon. Things they call "Home Fries" are a poor excuse for the real thing. They were cubes of Potato deep Fried and pretty soggy(gritty) in the middle. Will try the place for Lunch but if you want a much better Breakfast for a similar price, go just next door to the Cottage Inn or a couple of miles further down the road to Pete's Diner.

Judy,
Don't bother, I got a DEAD FLY in my salad! So, your philosophy of steering clear would be correct! The service was good but the server was alone and harried and the owner Rebecca was standoffish and had a very sloppy appearance. Just our observations.
Tilda

We tried it also about a week ago, it was OK but the atmosphere was lacking and boring. Bad music playing on what sounded like a radio, the server had no knowledge of the menu and could not answer simple questions we asked such as "Do you have an end cut?" I had the Brisket and soup but the soup, (chicken noodle) was cold and tasteless and the brisket was way too salty and too much fat. My wife had the prime Rib and enjoyed that but her plain lettuce salad was wilted and brown in places and the rolls were tiny and cold. They only had beer and wine and we would have enjoyed a cocktail. The ice tea tasted like it had sat around a while as did the coffee. We liked this place better when it was a Japanese Steakhouse a few years back. There is no sign out front and the building could use a coat of paint anything but the ugly pink.

A woman greeted us at the door, not elderly though, maybe 58-60 or thereabouts, she had a sloppy appearance but don't know if she was the owner.

There are much better restaurants in the Villages, so don't waste you money.

Vance

Portland Maine, Village of Chatham

WOW!!! 18 of us went to Silver Cricket this evening and we asked that the chef come out of the kitchen. She did and was greeted with applause and a standing ovation. EVERY one of us were very impressed and will definitely return.

website: http://www.silvercricketladylake.com

A Decent Meal- But they seem to be sliding
 

We loved the Cricket when they opened, especially for breakfast. I feel very sorry for Rebecca- she seems clinically depressed- but it does add a pall to the already sparse atmosphere.

It seems to be sliding in quality lately- I hope they can get their act back together, or else they won't make it.

I have been reading the recent posts with interest as we planned a gathering at the Silver Cricket with some neighbors. We had been there for lunch (a decision made after reading earlier posts) and were quite pleased.

They were not very busy last night. Our service was very good and everyone seemed delighted with the menu selection. Most comments after the meal were very positive and reflective of the quality and presentation of the meal. Other comments included - "they weren't very busy, hope they make it", "they sure close early for a Saturday night", and "great meal for the price". Rebecca did come over to our table and was pleasant and thanked us for the business.

Update on Silver Cricket
 

Mr. & Mrs. F16 and myself went there last night for dinner. It was fantastic. The owner and servers were extremely cordial, the food was excellent. Being on a diet, I had a turkey breast that was FRESH, not processed, and a double order of the most fantastic zucchini I have had in a long time. My salad was very crisp and fresh (not wilted romaine as I have experienced all over in TV) and the balsamic vinegar dressing was excellent.

F16 had brisket that he gobbled up in a second (but that's not unusual, that man has the greatest appetite) and the other meals were superb. After the meal, we got complimentary yellow pudding cake (of course I didn't eat my piece, but F16 did, of course again)....

We were the only people in the place but it was just prior to closing but we hear that breakfast and lunch does get more of a crowd.

Sure is nice to have someplace outside TV that we can enjoy that isn't crowded, has excellent food and prices and the management really pays attention to customer comments.

I must admit the name "Silver Cricket" did scare me a little. But I'm not scared any longer and will plan to return maybe to do some meet and greets with newbies.

We went there tonight for dinner and both had very tasty meals. We had heard good things about this place from folks here on TOTV and some of our other social groups.

We had beef burgundy over rice pilaf and beef stroganoff over noodles. Both dishes were plentiful (lunch tomorrow) and flavorful. Salad was crisp, soup was homemade, and a little piece of cake was just the right finishing touch.

It was fairly late (7pm) so there were only 6 other people in there (at least one group looked like some TOTV'ers...maybe the other one too); server was attentive and Rebecca was pleasant and friendly.

We will definitely go back and look forward to trying their chicken and seafood dishes.

Very Good!
 

We went to the Silver Cricket the first time for breakfast a few weeks ago with a bunch of neighbors, and then just this last Tuesday for dinner, about 12 of us. Everyone was very pleased. I had the Beef Wellington, my husband had chicken, several had the brisket. Dessert included! Yum!

I certainly would recommend it. When we were there on Tues, there were two other large groups and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. We didn't hear any complaints. Nice little restaurant! :beer3:

I've also heard good things about this restaurant via KathieI. We plan on trying it soon and will report back.

Only problem is, it's not golf cart accessible.

Silver Cricket Restaurant
 

I know how to get this restaurant on the map, we can have our Talk of the Villages meetings there................. ;)

No Problem
 

Car pool to the place. Well worth the visit for some good home cooked meals. So far there's been NO LINES. What a pleasant experience.

Is there an echo in here?

Five stars from me. I and my date ate there Friday night and the food and service was very good. When we arrived there was a large party of....looked like 20 or more....so the noise level was a little high....they don't have much in the way of decorations for there was nothing to buffer the sounds, but we could not have asked for better service and the brisket portion was so big my date took half of it home for lunch the next day. Definitely will do 'em again.:coolsmiley: