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It's been listed on The Villages Gourmet Club website for many months. Slow renovations. LINK.

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[Risuli]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

I might try a cup of coffee, once, just to say I've tried it. I did the same when Foxtail showed up next to Tropical Smoothie up on 441. But if I'm paying $20 for steak I need wait service and something other than potato chips for a side.

Yeah, we'll see. Would really appreciate a GOOD coffee shop. Went to Foxtail once. Saw they did pour overs and asked for same. "Barista" said she'd have to find the manual on how to do a pour over. Never went back.

[Joe C.]

I don't think that CFS will last a year. Too much "gourmet" garbage. They'd be better off just selling coffee, tea, (hot and iced versions) and lots of doughnuts like Dunkin used to do.
But to be honest, I think that it's the rent that is charged that makes the main challenge to surviving in the villages.

[mad329]

I wish that they would’ve just opened a good donut shop. Leesburg is just about the only place where you can get a good variety of fresh made donuts.

[Smalley]

Thanks for update. When this Spanish Springs coffee shop opens, I'll try to get over there and give you a review.
Thanks to posters!

[RUCdaze]

Let's start a pool on how long this place lasts. We all kick in and pick a closing date. The closest to that date wins the pot. This is a matter of 'how long,' not 'if.'

[asianthree]

Originally Posted by Just jimmy

They are going to have breakfast. Not sure about lunch.

Post #9 has my view on their coffee and food inconsistency at 3 different CFS locations.
CFS serves breakfast, which is reasonable. Lunch and dinner are the same menu. The fresh items at times looked day old, after a few months from opening.

If the owner was there food and drinks were good, not great for the $$. But stand alone staff was disappointing, which is why I wonder if SS clientele will frequent routinely to make new business successful

[margaretmattson]

Originally Posted by Ksarracco

Starbucks did not fail at that location. The villages
increased their rent. It was very
popular..as was Dunkin

When I first arrived in the Villages, I worked in that square for six years, full time. Starbucks was never busy. When they had an opportunity to jump on LSL it was adios!

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Marathon Man

Do you know how much it was raised? Was it more than in the other squares? Businesses are still open at SL and BW.

Sumter Landing doesn't have a Dunkin right up the street. Spanish Springs does, plus they have a Panera, plus Target has a Starbucks right inside their entrance. A Starbucks can compete with a Panera, but not with a Panera, and a second Starbucks a few blocks away, plus a Dunkin with a drive-through half a mile up the road.

If a Krispy Kreme and a Tim Horton's moved in to the area, no coffee shop paying Developer rents in Spanish Springs would have a chance against them.

[OrangeBlossomBaby]

Originally Posted by Risuli

Yeah, we'll see. Would really appreciate a GOOD coffee shop. Went to Foxtail once. Saw they did pour overs and asked for same. "Barista" said she'd have to find the manual on how to do a pour over. Never went back.

Even Dunkin Donuts isn't any good now, since they don't serve in styrofoam cups anymore. I can taste the paper cup, and the Dunkin up the road here serves it WAY too hot. You'd think they would've learned from that lawsuit years ago when the woman spilled it and got second- and third-degree burns on her stomach, crotch, and thighs.

Once in a great while I'll get a Pike's roast at Starbucks. Like, if it's my birthday week and they give me a free sandwich. I'll get the cuppa mostly out of guilt since I never go if I'm not getting free stuff.

Back home we had Willoughby's, they roasted on-site every day. Low-temp slow-roast, which is how it keeps it from getting that bitter over-acidity burnt taste. On Tuesdays they'd feature Sumatra Mandheling and that's when I'd stock up if I was running low. It's a medium-light roasted coffee with a deep nutty base that lingers if you put just a touch of sugar in the cup.

Before that, after college, I worked for the Coffee Connection in Boston as a "back-bar." Mostly I did the fresh squeezed juices, whipped the whipped-cream (we made chocolate whipped cream fresh every day), and prepared the hot sandwiches. Someone else handled the coffee and tea drinks, and all coffee except for espresso drinks was served in a french press. It was a small local chain, maybe 4 stores total, and they roasted their beans as well in their main store.

[BostonRich]

Just checked their menu. You got to be kidding. $20 sandwiches! Who is going to pay those prices? Not me.

[Janie123]

Originally Posted by Glowfromminnesota

And yet Sumter Landing Starbucks is hopping. First thing my daughter wants when she visits.

It’s called an addiction… when I did the math one year and spent was well over $1000 on Starbucks and came back from Europe where a latte or cappuccino were about $1.5, I bought a $100 Mister Coffee espresso machine and a 2.2lb back of Italian roast beans at Home Goods, my lattes were now $.25 with most of the cost being milk.

[Risuli]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

If a Krispy Kreme and a Tim Horton's moved in to the area, no coffee shop paying Developer rents in Spanish Springs would have a chance against them.

I agree. Of all the chain coffee shops I like Tim Horton's regular coffee the best. Can't say I like any of their baked goods though. As for Krispy Kreme, you cannot beat getting one of their original doughnuts right hot off the line. They are to die for. But, all said, I'd be more than satisfied if Donut King were to open in the Villages!

[Rodneysblue]

Originally Posted by shut the front door

Is it replacing Dunkin?

Yes

[Win1894]

Originally Posted by asianthree

Starbucks in LSL is full of old guys in need of company, sitting for hours nursing one cup of coffee. With the return of refills, I don’t ever see them going home. That $3 for them ends up being less than $1, after refills.

Yet here I sit with freshly ground Blue Mountain, and Kona in two French Press, waiting for sunrise.

Hah! Being a committed coffee snob I can completely identify with this sentiment. I never buy coffee from SB or Tim Horton (just as bad as SB). I know something about the over-roasted and stale-burnt taste of SB coffees as one of my fraternity brothers was the technical director at SB Corp. in Seattle for a number of years. I do buy freshly roasted whole bean Blue Mountain and Kona direct from the roaster, grind fresh, and brew at home. They are expensive on a per pound basis but are still somewhat cheaper than the chain coffees on a per cup basis. But the taste is so vastly superior to SB, TH, Panera, etc. The only coffee that comes close to home brew near TV is The Standard on Bella Cruz Dr.