Options for Dining Out on Christmas
 

What are the options in and around The Villages for dining out on Christmas? Are the country clubs open? Are many of the restaurants in the area open?

What is your recommendation for a Christmas meal? This will be our first Christmas in The Villages?

Amazingly, most of the commercial restaurants are closed around here on Christmas. Perkins (both 441 and 466) are open.

Lakeside Inn in Mt. Dora is nice. you need reservations.

Traditionally chinese restaurants are open on Christmas, mostly to accommodate Jewish families.
Obviously a bigger issue in New York.
Not really an answer to your question but rather a little pearl of information.

We spent our first Thanksgiving in TV and not much was open. All the restaurants in Brownwood, except World of Beer were closed. The Golden Coral, Perkins, and Bob Evans on 466 were open and packed with people. We waited an hour and half to eat at Bob Evans and when we finally got a table they had ran out of turkey. We spent 3 hours in that restaurant and it was mobbed with people and service was painfully slow. Never again.

I am guessing Christmas will be the same. We will never attempt to eat out again on holidays and I will be cooking traditional meals from now on.

I will send you a pm.

For those who don't feel like cooking, another option is to pre-order a holiday meal for pickup -- Bob Evans, Fresh Market, and I'm sure others offer them.

I was told that TooJays is open.

Denny's on 441 at Buenos Aires is open.

Z

We have eaten at a Chinese restaurant on Christmas for many years while visiting relatives in Richmond, Virginia.

Hope we can find one in or near TV when we are here for Christmas for the first time in 2015.

We also spent our first Thanksgiving at TV this year. Golden Corral at around 12:30 with a line out the door, but well organized and we were seated within 15 minutes. Cody's in Sumter Landing at 5:30 had a 3 hour wait without reservations unless you wanted to sit outside, which we did even though it was in the 50's and windy.

China Gourmet III in Colony has a sign that they are open. They are primarily take-out. The same extended family owns the Chinese buffet in Pinellas. If memory serves me, they were open last Christmas eve and day.

I would rather have a grilled cheese sandwich at home than eat out on Christmas Day, or any big holiday

Funny you should say that... my first thought was that I'd eat hot dogs at home before I'd go out on Christmas Day! :laugh:

I agree, except for the part about the cheese. ;)

I had a nice Thanksgiving dinner at the Golden Corral the day before Thanksgiving. It wasn't crowded or noisy. Then on Thanksgiving day I just had regular meals at home.

Evergreen Chinese Buffet is open Christmas. Pinellas Plaza. Good food!