New restaurant at Cody vacated locations on 42.
 

I had lunch at Ford's Garage in Lutz (Wesley Chapel) Florida on Saturday. I asked the manager if they are opening a new location in The Villages and he said YES.

They will be redoing the old Cody's on Rt 42 at the northern end of TV and turning it into one of their unique restaurants.

They have nine or ten other locations and are great for burgers, Mac and cheese, wings and comfort dinners. Also great for craft beers and sport watching. Check them out on-line.:a040::a040:

Great another chain ugh!

Good deal. Not that much up that way now for the northernmost folks, especially breakfast.

They are going to give Beef o Brady's at the corner of the Publix shopping center the run for their money for sure. Well, maybe an improvement and a little competition for great food! Looking forward to having a restaurant re open in that spot.

I posted a story about this a few months back about a Ford's Garage going into this location. That tip came from an insider who knew about intimate details from TV approval process. If you go inside (I have) you can see a long bar being built. This is exactly what their other restaurants have.

Ford's Garage
 

The Ford's Garage in Lutz (Wesley Chapel) had two square bars with Model A or T Fords hanging over them. Unique with better burgers than I have ever had including "the finer restaurants." in TV :spoken:

Ford's Garage
 

What did you expect, Burns Steak House. This is TV. Seriously.

I prefer independent restaurants like Blue Fin, Chop House, Lopez, Mezza Luna etc.
Berns from Tampa would not survive here.

Burgers and Beer Mac and Cheese..... Really

Yuck!

This is interesting and had been a rumor for months. The Villages just took out a building permit to remove mold and replace the walls with new wallboard. No permits for any restaurants yet at that location.

Ford's Garage would be an excellent addition to Mulberry. Actually to all the Villages. It would be worth the drive.

JSR22 must be another one that clamors for fine dining, which residents won’t go to after one trip because the prices are too high.

Well said! Ford's Garage will be a big hit because it's just not food inside. Watch and see!

A couple poor quality interior pictures from my walk today. I haven’t seen anyone working there over the last week or so.

People like food they recognize – that’s why chain restaurants are successful! It’s All About Trust. People trust chain restaurants. Being familiar with a menu, and seeing a familiar logo creates the trust and loyalty needed for a successful business. A lot of chain dining establishments are well conscious of this reality.

I personally like these chains;

Longhorn
Red Robin
PF Chang
Olive Garden
Panera
Cracker Barrel
Wendys
McDonalds

And others.

[QUOTE=kcrazorbackfan;1942753]JSR22 must be another one that clamors for fine dining, which residents won’t go to after one trip because the prices are too high.[/QUOT

Yes, I do like fine dining and I am more then willing to pay the price. I am very happy that better restaurants are opening in TV and the surrounding area. I am looking forward to Harvest opening in the Fall.

[QUOTE=JSR22;1942778]Is the Harvest part of the chain or is it separate? I looked online at the menu of the chain and it is nothing my wife and I would go to but if it is a different restaurant than the chain we will look into it.

We do not mind chain restaurants but like everything else, some are good and others are not.

Also food is so subjective, someplace I might love, others think is terrible and vice versa.

Just looked up the menu of Fords Garage. Looks like a nice burger joint. I think I will like it and being so close to the house it should work out nicely.

We frequent Fords in Dearborn, Mi. Consistent with food as well as staff, well it was before 2020

IMO need blown 50 Ford gasser or thunder road replica out front. :)

IMO been to many chain restaurants, just cause there good other states don’t mean they will be good here:ohdear:

[QUOTE=Garywt;1942917]It is an independent restaurant that will change their menu 4 times a year. I think it will be vey good.

Will be a popular hangout.
 

I've been to the one on Michigan Ave, (west of M39). Always great service, perfect food.
The decor is very cool, even the men's room.

It will be a gathering place where groups will hang out.

Maybe the Ford retirees group will change their meeting place...

Let's hope they install level 2 chargers in their lot for Mach-e charging (and soon to come F150 Lightning).
:boom:

Yes, the euro models , pay more and get less.

Great finally doing something with the building

I think you may be correct. Over the last few weeks when I walk by there has been no activity. The dumpsters have been removed. It appears that the only work that has been done is the sheetrock.

If it’s Fords Garage, we have been to the one in Indiana, and 4 in Florida. We have eaten at least 20 times, never had even minor issues.
Management does a good job, waitstaff always pleasant, and upbeat. Nice craft beer, and food is above usual chain restaurants. Places were always packed, before 2020. Lots of after work patrons, for a gathering place.

A couple of weeks ago I emailed Ford’s Garage and received a confirmation email about them moving into the old Cody’s location as mentioned in a Villages News article. However I just received this today from the Marketing Manager.

Hi, Bruce.

I wanted to give you an update.
There has been much confusion regarding this location. Unfortunately, we will not be opening a Ford’s Garage just yet in The Villages.
We are planning to open one in the future but it will not be in the location published in the article. So sorry for all of the back and forth but I wanted to make sure I cleared this up.

Have a great day and we do hope to see you in The Villages one day!

There serving Villagers....anything could open there and do well as long as its cheap quality doesn't matter

Far too many restaurants (that are now closed) have tried that formula and proved it DOES NOT WORK!

I agree. There is nothing in this area to speak of! And, thanks for being POSITIVE!!

So, burgers and bar chain restaurant #463. It could be the best burgers on the planet, it's still another burger and bar chain. We already have 462 burger and bar restaurants.

I would still love to see an Indian restaurant. Or a Middle-eastern restaurant. Or both; one on each end of the Villages. Properly made falafels with tahini, a side of hummus, and REAL pita bread (not that crappy flatbread garbage you get around here now), with home-made pistachio halvah for dessert one week - and the next week, papadam with mango chutney, chicken in curry over saffroned basmati rice, and gulab jamun for dessert.

I could live on that stuff. And if my husband would eat it, I'd learn to make it myself and there'd always be some in the house. The hummus I can make. The rest, nope.

"We already have 462 burger and bar restaurants."

"We" must have at least double vision. The Villages Gourmet Club currently lists 105 restaurants. Granted it doesn't list fast food restaurants and the grab-n-go gas stations but I can't even come close to the number of 462. If Indian cuisine was that popular the demand would support a restaurant locally. I doubt that it will happen. Take a drive. If you find a place you like bring home extra and freeze for later. That is what I have to do for Thai and Korean cuisine.

Hy·​per·​bo·​le | \ hī-ˈpər-bə-(ˌ)lē \
Definition of hyperbole
: extravagant exaggeration (such as "mile-high ice-cream cones")

You may notice in today's world whether it's an Italian place, steak or fish, they all have pretty much the same things with just a smattering of specialized product. Every steakhouse I go into always has fish like salmon and tilapia and or lobster on the menu. Every fish house has a few chicken dishes and steak dishes as well. Yes it's true that a place like Red lobster may have five or six fish species that you're not going to find in the Italian place and in the Italian place they're going to have quite a few pastas but it's all the same after 50 years of eating out, I ended up cooking what I like myself and I only really like to go get things that are very different than what I can normally cook. That being said Ford's garage is a unique restaurant as far as their decor. We recently stopped in on the way to Tampa also and they had a very nice outside patio. I did have a good hamburger which I don't cook at home and my wife had another dish. It's a little bit upscale from any diner food and not quite Burns prices for other things. I think they're going to be well known for their drinks as it seems quite a few people were at the Bars even at 2:00 in the afternoon and you know these villagers. I wish them success it's a good location and the last place had a terrible layout inside

We had one...
 

We had one years ago called Urban Curry in La Plaza Grande about 2011. Another Indian restaurant was in the Lake Square Mall called Tandoor in 2009-2010. Good food but both failed. Too niche for Villagers!

Amrit Palace in Ocala.
Shiva Indian in Mount Dora.
Guru in Clermont.
Try those.

Skip

I will be very happy with a burger place there. Miss Cody’s, just hope the new place keeps things clean.

Well, open one up if you think there market?

On day I suspect in future there will be no salt water fish. The ocean being carpet dreaded everyday. Fisherman have to further from coast to catch fish. Especially from China sea coast. All be left is mud puddle raised fish.