Nancy Lopez left something to be desired!
 

Normally we have a great dinner at Nancy Lopez but Thanksgiving dinner was definitely the exception! The Turkey was not fresh and tasted like processed frozen cooked turkey you get in the grocery store !:mad:

Needless to say I will never go back there on any Holiday for dinner. Shame shame on them, they have always had a wonderful reputation for good food, this was a huge disappointment!

Sorry to hear that Nonie.... very Un-nancy-like. Were you there late in the day?

Something similar happened to us at Havana last year... we went late (about 7pm) and they must have run out of "real" Turkey. We got two slabs of processed turkey with a couple of morsels of real turkey on top to disguise it. Sad to say, have not had a meal at Havana since then.

This year, we went to Palmer for TG dinner and it was excellent!!! Wonderful, moist turkey, tasty stuffing, delicious mashed potates, and green bean casserole...all with ample portions for $16. Price did not include salad or dessert (but the bread was marvelous). Great meal.

Oh well, either way, it beats all that cooking!!!:wine:

I find, going out to eat on holidays such as Thanksgiving and Easter and Christmas are bad decisions. Aside from the price being increased, the food becomes more of a production chain and the food is below the quailty you'd expect from a good eatery. I make it a point to say away at holidays.

The Thanksgiving dinner at Red Sauce a few days ago was quite good. We went around three in the afternoon. A few years ago we had Thanksgiving dinner at about the same time at Arnold Palmer Country Club. This was also good but not as good as Red Sauce this year.

My thoughts exactly

We went to Havana at 7 P.M. on Thanksgiving. The food was great, service was great and a large portion.

I need my leftover turkey sandwich and a side of cranberry sauce on the day after Thanksgiving. I went out once or twice on Thanksgiving and found out that the fresh turkey breast from a deli is not the same.

If I could, I would cook Thanksgiving dinner for all who would like to attend.

I love cooking Thanksgiving dinner.

Sorry to hear about the bad experience at Nancy Lopez. As you noted, usually their dinners are good. My wife and I were considering having Thanksgiving dinner there but then we got invited to our neighbors for dinner. We had great food, great company and we even got some leftovers to take home! :icon_wink:

:agree:


Well said.Last year we went to cattle Baron's for thanksgiving & were disappointed.I don't think the food was bad it just doesn't measure up to what we are all accustomed to for the holidays.For a holiday meal there's no place like home!!

Ok Gracie! Put me and hubby on the list for next year!!!!!! This year I did ALL the work (due to my own choice) and I found it exhausting. The only part I didn't like was when I sat down and Hubby asks "where's the salt and pepper" and the guests ask "do you have any napkins"? I had to get up and find the items. This was after my first fork-full in the mouth. Now, you'd think I would have had these items in place????

Now, the leftovers are great..but, I overeat and I become the stuffed turkey!!! :icon_hungry:

Broth diet...here I come......:a040:

:agree:Gracie, I agree with you. I love cooking holiday meals. This year we had 24 at our table. I believe that no one should be alone for a holiday so all of our neighbors and friends that either had no family here or did not go away came on over. We ate, sipped some wine and either gabbed or watched football. It was great. We've been doing every year since we've been here and will continue to do so.

There's no place like home.
 

:agree: for the holidays! We plan to move down to TV sometime this spring/summer and if we are there for Thanksgivning next fall we would love to have a large gathering of our neighbors/friends for dinner - turkey, stuffing, potato kugel, and ALL the fixin's! Everyone's invited!:icon_wink: We'll be in Buttonwood and the door will be open!

I guess all of THE VILLAGES restaurants must use the same food supplier. We had Thanksgiving at Glenview and we also experienced processed turkey for dinner. What ever happened to real turkey??? Next year.. I cook!

What it sounds like to me is these restaurants are purchasing de-boned birds (white meat-only). Many outfits do this...including to my absolute certainty based on personal Turkey-Day experience; Ritz-Carlton, Four Seasons, and The Breakers.
When a restaurant anticipates serving several hundred turkey dinners, it is cost/space/time prohibitave to use whole birds. They pay a premium to obtain these turkeys that have had all of the un-needed parts removed. The boneless 100% real turkey is typically seared and slow cooked for optimum tenderness and flavor at the restaurant, carved then served.
I think this is more a situation for Lopez and Glenview that some people think turkey should be dry and crusty... that is how it turns out for them at home or their parents prepared it that way, who knows. JMHO:shrug:

Will you please be my friend? I love your kind heart.

Cliff n Cheryl -- potato kugel? Guess who's dropping by next Turkey Day (and I don't even need directions to your home hehehehe)? And save me some dark meat and skin, please.

Here in Vermont
 

we only had 8 but I cooked enough for at least 20. I do all of the cooking but none of the clean up. I use those pans with Sterno burners to keep things hot so everything doesn't have to be ready at the same time. It would be great to get together with a large group in a rec center where we could an organized pot luck kind of thing.

Maybe a neighborhood party for those who do not have other plans. Everyone could sign up to bring a separate dish or it could be catered and advance tickets sold and everyone just bring their favorite desert.

Sunday,

Say it isn't so. Processed turkey at The Breakers. I am shocked. One of my favorite hotels. They have one of the best brunches I have seen in Florida.

I always cook way to much. Apple, pumpkin, pecan and key lime pies, frog commissary carrot cake, shrimp, deviled eggs, poached chilled salmon, and of course a 20 pound turkey, giblet stuffing, squash, garlic mashed potatoes, green beans, onions, and cranberry sauce. And nuts and dates and figs and brie fruit salad and more. Then with so much left over, we make frozen turkey dinners and put away for later days. If you buy a fresh bird, you can make frozen dinners and have them for the next several months. I think we got about 10 this year.

But doing it this way, if we have 8 or 10 or 15 or 20, we never run out.

Two of my tennis friends took their wifes there for Thanksgiving and said the exact same thing! We were going to go to Nancy's for New Year's Eve but now the wifes do not want to go there!

Of course I'll be your friend, Gracie. And if your family is here next year, you are welcome to join us!

WOW - I'll bring the vino!



.

Went to Orange Blossom, They sliced the fresh turkey right in front of you, It was delicious, only problem is you had to wait in line like being at a wedding Buffet, But the food was excellent and tons of it and all kinds of desert, Price was good to. 18 bucks a person and all you could eat.

Chris and I bought a fully-prepared turkey dinner from Bob Evans, and it was OUTSTANDING. We went whole hog (so to speak) and got the complete dinner that serves 6-8. It included a huge cooked turkey breast (real), mashed potatoes, corn, green beans, stuffing, gravy, rolls, cranberry sauce and a pie. We easily got 3 meals out of it (and our cat and dog LOVED the turkey). Each item was packaged separately, and the whole dinner was packed in a banker's box. We picked it all up Wednesday afternoon. Of course, we did have to heat it all up, but there were very-well-written instructions. We will definitely do this again next year.
GeorgeIII

We went to Orange Blossom last year and also enjoyed the food. I just wish SOMEONE would CLEAN that place up!!!! The restaurant definitely needs some updating!:(:(

And I bet it would be fantabulous!!!

Hi Nonie,

I wish your Thanksgiving dinner at Lopez would have been a good one. I know what you mean about their reputation for good food.

We returned from TV on the weekend before Thanksgiving, but had we been going out for T'Day, I would probably have picked Lopez, too.

In fact, we were in TV for 3 weeks and during that time, we ate at Lopez 3 times.

The first time was on Veterans' Day. We did not even know that Mr. Boomer was in for a deal. We were just looking for a great steak. The server asked Mr. B. about his military service and because he's a veteran, he got a deal on his dinner. And I guess the free Bananas Foster happens there on steak night anyway.

A few days later, I was suddenly overcome with a need for a really good cheeseburger. I don't know why that happens to me, but every now and then, it does. I was thinking, "Where's the beef?" And then it hit me that there could be a perfect correlation between the steaks served at Lopez and the burgers served at Lopez. And I was right. The cheeseburger was great.

And then, before we left TV, we went back for another steak. I was having some carnivorous good times at Lopez. And all those times, the food was great and the service was perfect.

Sounds like the turkey was a disaster though......

You know, maybe next Thanksgiving the chef at Lopez should give some serious thought to just sculpting a turkey out of beef.

Boomer

You may have to hold it in one of the large rooms of Fishhawk and have Community Watch direct traffic.

We went to the Inn in Mt. Dora for Thanksgiving last year, 6 of us. We had a reservation but still had to wait to be seated. But the buffet was bountiful, the turkey fresh and cooked to perfection, everything was good. However, I couldn't stop worrying about the sweet young waitress who had been on her feet since 6 a.m. Not much of a holiday for her!

Thanksgiving at Nance Lopez
 

It was by far the worst Thanksgiving we ever had. Process Turkey Loaf or Turkey Roll. In any event its shockling that they would put out a horrible dinner such as that. I konw people who went to Golden Corral for $12.00 and they said it was wonderful, the real deal. Also Havanna had a real Turkey Dinner. We are still in shock.

I'm sure you'll get over it..........:1rotfl:

At 20.00 a crack we may not!!!!!!!:yuck:

Oh come on...........you obviously missed the humor intended to counter yours and John maselli's unfortunate experience. Life's too short to dwell on past bad experiences. Move on and enjoy........

Right On!
 

I couldn't agree with you more Ms. Nonie! Usually Lopez is great, but Thanksgiving tasted like a Swanson's TV Dinner! (Remember them???) Pressed turkey and tasteless stuffing, for a hefty price! Nope, never again on a holiday. :yuck:

Turkey at Lopez
 

The processed turkey for Thanksgiving sure does not sound good. It also is very strange that the Lopez club would serve that for such an important holiday.

Did you ask to speak to the manager of the restaurant? I would bet that if you explained your concern you would have received a future complimentary dinner as well as not paying for the bad dinner.

If a restaurant does not know the customers are unhappy, they cannot correct mistakes.

I have always been of the opinion that we are never too old to try to change things for the better. I believe we still have a social responsibility to identify and report when situations require special attention. If we just turn a blind eye to these kinds of things, they will worsen rather than improve. Without critique, the service industry will erode and the quality of our "short life" will be less enjoyable. I don't think that "reporting" is necessarily "dwelling."

JLK

Lopez Traditional Turkey dinner
 

We were at Lopez at 1Pm. Same comments regarding traditional turkey dinner. It was terrible...... All other food was great. It was obvious th turkey was not from a real turkey.

I agree, TH. In addition to alerting us so we won't make the same mistake next Thanksgiving :yuck:, I hope those who dined at Lopez this past Thanksgiving will let management know that they were unhappy and further that many complaints were expressed here on this forum.