[rschwan9]

Originally Posted by Keefelane66

I always say it’s either a SYSCO or Cheney Bros menu

Yup. Or as we call those restaurants;"Distributor Food".

[BrianL99]

[QUOTE=flsteve;2160481]

Originally Posted by Garywt

IMHO, Palmer is very under-rated. I would love it if OP tried Palmer Legends and then reported back on what they think!

So based on the request above, I tried Palmer Legends and answered my own question (the original post). No, not all the country clubs are the same.

I got back to The Villages around 7 pm and went to the bar at PL and had their Turkey Dinner. Other than they didn't have Apple Cider (which might just be a New England thing), my dinner was as perfect as a restaurant could make it. Way more than enough food. Turkey was cooked perfectly. Potatoes were excellent. Green beans and stuffing were great. Even the gravy (of which I'm not a fan) was very good.

Service was good, price was reasonable, food was hot ... by far, my best dining experience in the year I've been in The Villages.

[Bogie Shooter]

Originally Posted by walterray1

Without looking at any other responses I will say this. In the Villages almost a year and never going to a country club restaurant is total BS. Another click bait let's get out the knives. Ok, got me. Happy? Go back in your personal hole.

You may be right, read on………….

[flsteve]

[QUOTE=BrianL99;2160579]

Originally Posted by flsteve

So based on the request above, I tried Palmer Legends and answered my own question (the original post). No, not all the country clubs are the same.

First the disclaimer, I'm in the business. We have 3 hotels, 2 full-service with restaurants and banquet facilities. We probably served about 1000 Thanksgiving dinners today. I can guarantee, no one who ate our hotels, had a better dinner than I had at Palmer Legends tonight.

I got back to The Villages around 7 pm and went to the bar at PL and had their Turkey Dinner. Other than they didn't have Apple Cider (which might just be a New England thing), my dinner was as perfect as a restaurant could make it. Way more than enough food. Turkey was cooked perfectly. Potatoes were excellent. Green beans and stuffing were great. Even the gravy (of which I'm not a fan) was very good.

Service was good, price was reasonable, food was hot ... by far, my best dining experience in the year I've been in The Villages.

Thanks for answering! I have to admit that every time there is a restaurant related post for good food I am completely perplexed at why Palmer is not listed as the best in The Villages. Part of me wants to keep it quiet in a way so I can still get a seat , but another part of me wants to just shout from a rooftop that if you want excellent food with superb service, Palmer is the best place to go.

The cup of lobster bisque with a Filet Oscar and a Cabernet Sauvignon is AMAZING. Escargot, shrimp cocktail...oh dang... I am not kidding when I say that I have never had anything there I would rate less than an "A", and usually an "A+".

[Bogie Shooter]

[QUOTE=flsteve;2160581]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

Thanks for answering! I have to admit that every time there is a restaurant related post for good food I am completely perplexed at why Palmer is not listed as the best in The Villages. Part of me wants to keep it quiet in a way so I can still get a seat , but another part of me wants to just shout from a rooftop that if you want excellent food with superb service, Palmer is the best place to go.

The cup of lobster bisque with a Filet Oscar and a Cabernet Sauvignon is AMAZING. Escargot, shrimp cocktail...oh dang... I am not kidding when I say that I have never had anything there I would rate less than an "A", and usually an "A+".

So is it SYSCO or Cheney Bros or somebody else?
Asking for a friend……..

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

The dinner menu at Palmer sounds terrific. My one main criticism has to do with their pushing the "Certified Angus beef" phrase. Most beef sold in restaurants in the USA comes from angus cattle. Angus is the biggest beef cattle breed in the country. There is an actual brand name, called Certified Angus Beef brand - the main standard for that brand is the beef has to be well-marbled, coming from fat cows. That means - corn fed and finished, not grass-fed or finished.

Not that there's anything wrong with corn fed and finished beef - I personally find it tastier and chews better than grass-fed and grass-finished beef, which is gamier because it means leaner cows, less marbling. But the terms are used to sell product, and not really to describe quality. It's a marketing schtick.

Regardless, I'll probably ask hubby to take us there for dinner some night. I like a good shrimp and lobster alfredo.

[KAM+6]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

The dinner menu at Palmer sounds terrific. My one main criticism has to do with their pushing the "Certified Angus beef" phrase. Most beef sold in restaurants in the USA comes from angus cattle. Angus is the biggest beef cattle breed in the country. There is an actual brand name, called Certified Angus Beef brand - the main standard for that brand is the beef has to be well-marbled, coming from fat cows. That means - corn fed and finished, not grass-fed or finished.

Not that there's anything wrong with corn fed and finished beef - I personally find it tastier and chews better than grass-fed and grass-finished beef, which is gamier because it means leaner cows, less marbling. But the terms are used to sell product, and not really to describe quality. It's a marketing schtick.

Regardless, I'll probably ask hubby to take us there for dinner some night. I like a good shrimp and lobster alfredo.

Angus is one of the smaller breeds of cattle, not the largest. Cows are female that have had a calf. They would not be sold for prime beef usually utility grade. The reason Angus cattle are popular is because of their smaller head, less problems calfing and their disposition.

[Two Bills]

Originally Posted by KAM+6

Angus is one of the smaller breeds of cattle, not the largest. Cows are female that have had a calf. They would not be sold for prime beef usually utility grade. The reason Angus cattle are popular is because of their smaller head, less problems calfing and their disposition.

I think you have misunderstood the ladies post.
Pretty sure lady was referring to Black Angus being the largest breed ie. most popular, majority breed, predominant etc. etc.
As for reference regarding the word 'cow.' Pedantic springs to mind.

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

After being in The Villages for almost a year, I had my first dinner at a Country Club, last night.

It sort of reminded me of Howard Johnson's, in the 70's. Dated decor, old silverware, wrapped in a paper napkin ... mashed potatoes, served with an "ice cream scooper". The food was ok, but was more like the kind of food you would find at a casual Mom & Pop restaurant, on a back road somewhere.

Without mentioning the name of which country club I was at, is it reasonable to assume all the country clubs all fairly similar?

No, it’s not reasonable. There are big variations.

[jakeelin]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

After being in The Villages for almost a year, I had my first dinner at a Country Club, last night.

It sort of reminded me of Howard Johnson's, in the 70's. Dated decor, old silverware, wrapped in a paper napkin ... mashed potatoes, served with an "ice cream scooper". The food was ok, but was more like the kind of food you would find at a casual Mom & Pop restaurant, on a back road somewhere.

Without mentioning the name of which country club I was at, is it reasonable to assume all the country clubs all fairly similar?

No they are all not the same. Nancy Lopez and Arnold Palmer are the nicest and most expensive. I ate Thanksgiving dinner at a country club and they used in ice cream scoop for the dressing and did not include desert in the meal. But the service was great.

[BrianL99]

Originally Posted by jakeelin

No they are all not the same. Nancy Lopez and Arnold Palmer are the nicest and most expensive. I ate Thanksgiving dinner at a country club and they used in ice cream scoop for the dressing and did not include desert in the meal. But the service was great.

I don't mind the "ice cream scoop" for stuffing/dressing, that's a functional decision. I just get quivers when an ice cream scoop is used for mashed potatoes ... which usually means, they're using "fake" mashed potatoes and need scoop, because they're too sticky!

[Jcicales]

[QUOTE=Garywt;2160305]I was just going by the ratings of Village restaurants based on reviews. Red Sauce is #1 and Glenview is #2. As for your list:

Originally Posted by JSR22

The best restaurants in TV in alphabetical order:
Blue Fin never been, don’t like the menu
Bone Fish never been
Coastal Del Mar new so have not been yet
Chop House do not like, will not return
Harvest never been, don’t like the menu
Havana been once, it was fine
Lopez never been, will try at some point
Mezza Luna been once and it was good
Palmer never been, not sure if I’ll try, heard there is a dress code
Prima never been, will try at some point
Glenview and Red Sauce are average at best, maybe but we like them and as said ranked 1 and 2.

Wow- maybe you need to get out a little to our local restaurants and support them- good or bad. Enjoy

[ChicagoNative]

The Villages has “country clubs” just like they are a “gated community”, and just like the trailer parks are “the historic section”. All descriptors are using language to fancy up one’s expectations of exclusivity. Good marketing, but not really true.

Restaurant review sites should also be taken with a block of salt. If a business pays to advertise on Yelp, suddenly their good reviews appear at the top of a search while bad get pushed out of sight. (Kinda like google and Facebook) Lots of shills on yelp that requires one to really read between the lines.

Remember that a nice atmosphere with high prices doesn’t necessarily translate to good food. That said, I’ll add my two cents and say that for the “country clubs”, our faves are Lopez Legacy and Havana.

[itsanne]

Not sure what people are looking for - Lopez has a beautiful porch over looking the golf course and the bar area has an expensive look to it and the food and service are normally above average. Apparently, this is not good enough for some folks.
The problem in the villages is the lack of variation. No Spanish, Portuguese, Chinese, Greek or other variations.

[TomPerry]

Originally Posted by BrianL99

A community of 140,000 people, a huge percentage of whom play golf, could certainly support a Country Club or two, that provided a reasonable country club atmosphere and associated services.

I understand that the "country clubs" in The Villages are nothing more than public golf courses with restaurants. That doesn't mean that at least a couple of them, shouldn't consider raising their standards a little and provide a modicum of service, quality and environment, consistent with what most country club members expect. Many residents here, would gladly pay added freight charges.

Sounds like a a good idea! Why don’t you buy one from The Villages Developer and upgrade it to an exclusive country club?