A nice restaurant to take Mom for her birthday
 

My Mom will be celebrating her birthday next Sunday and we would like to take her to a nice restaurant outside of TV for a change. Does anyone have some suggestions.

Thank you.

At the risk of having rotten tomatoes thrown at me by sharpshooting TOTVers, Turners in Leesburg--if there are less than six of you, and preferably only four. (They only have two tables that seat six.) It will be quiet enough to hear each other talk, and the food is good. The menu is more extensive than what is posted online.

They also subscribe to the phone app No Wait, which allows you to contact them when you leave your house, and they will tell you how long the wait is and put your name on the list.

Sunday brunch at Harbor Hills would get my vote.

Bern's Steakhouse, Tampa - Took the MIL there for her 90th. She loved it! Desert upstairs is also a must. Expensive, but perfect for a special occasion.

Francesca's Trattoria, Gainesville, Northern Italian, Went for Valentines Day and have been several other times.

Fish Bones, Lake Mary, Excellent steaks and seafood. Again one of our special occasions places.

Closer to The Villages, Goblin Market, Mt Dora. Braised Onion, Ocala and Mesa de Notte Ristorante, Ocala all are reasonably upscale with decent atmosphere for a special occasion.

My one knock against Turner's would be the atmosphere which I find not much different than the country clubs in The Villages.

All of the restaurants mentioned by me have websites to check menus, etc..

Goblin Market in My. Dora. Classiest by far.

You haven't specified a "type" of food , but a classic Italian Restaurant in Tavares (far side of Leesburg on hwy441) is Angelos...also see tvgourmetclub.

I find it curious/interesting that not one person, at this point, referenced any restaurant in The Villages to the OP's question of "a nice restaurant to take Mom"

"You know my methods, Watson"

Honestly there are not any "special" occasion restaurants in the villages-
there are servers-no talented waiters or waitresses

Its like people who compare modern cruising to transatlantic crossings of the 60's
crossing the the Atlantic on the Leonardo DaVinci or on the old France was an unbelievable lifetime experience

The OP specifically asked for restaurants outside of TV.

How can you miss "outside the Villages"?

It depends on what you mean by nice. Mom and Dad's on 441 has really great food, but they are not "fancy". I personally will take good food over fancy ambience every day.

I am curious why the OP wanted outside TV? There are plenty of nice Resturants in TV.

reading skills have really deteriorated. read the OPs message the answer is there for a change. Ipanema in Ocala...brazilian barbecue in an interesting atmosphere.

Thank you for all the suggestions. My Mom has lived in The Villages for 12 years now and we have been living here for 8. We do enjoy all the restaurants inside TV, but thought it would be nice to try a different restaurant for a change.

I'm not living there yet so I can't tell you the best spot but I can say that your Mom is lucky to have someone like you to put some thought on where to take her for her birthday. I'll bet Mom would be happy with Dunkin Donuts and she should be proud of how she raised you. Happy Birthday Mom!!:mademyday: