[Bilyclub]

I did not see any hard liquor prices at the outside bars, nor did I see any bottles behind the bar. Are they selling anything besides beer, wine, and the drink of the day ? I did buy a double jack and coke inside the marketplace and it was way more than what it cost at the real squares. All in all , two burgers and my drink was over $40. I guess they are gearing it for tourists.

[vintageogauge]

Originally Posted by Bilyclub

I did not see any hard liquor prices at the outside bars, nor did I see any bottles behind the bar. Are they selling anything besides beer, wine, and the drink of the day ? I did buy a double jack and coke inside the marketplace and it was way more than what it cost at the real squares. All in all , two burgers and my drink was over $40. I guess they are gearing it for tourists.

Why not break it down? How much were the burgers and how much for a Double with coke? $40.00 sounds about right.

[Rainger99]

Does anyone know if drinks are more expensive in Sawgrass than at the Squares? Draft beers at Sawgrass are from $3.99 (Bud, Miller, Michelob, Yuengling) and $6.00 for the rest (Sam Adams, Islamorada, Crooked Can, etc.). The plastic glasses are quite small. Cans range from PBR at $4 to Bud, Coors, Miller, Corona, at $4.50 and then $6.00 for the rest (Heineken, Stella, Lagunita, etc.). Wine is $6.50 and soda is $3.00. The drink of the day is $7.00. Half price on all domestic draft beer and wine from 3-5. The shows start at 6.

What are the prices and specials at the Squares?

[Djean1981]

Originally Posted by charlieo1126@gmail.com

OMG people drinking and having a great happy time , HOW DARE THEY??

They didn't say, "how dare they," you did. Being around a heavy drinking environment doesn't interest everyone.

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by Djean1981

Being around a heavy drinking environment doesn't interest everyone.

Jus because you have no interest in a cocktail, doesn't make every place serving a "heavy drinking environment".

Been here 10 years, never seen any of the squares as a "h d e".

Heavy drinker are the minority, extreme minority.

[VApeople]

Originally Posted by charlieo1126@gmail.com

Wrong choice of words but Katie bell tried a lot of different things from 2 drinks to not saving tables , and some others I don’t remember ,but.I know they had trouble when people couldn’t find a seat and one person was sitting at table , for me it as more fun there when they let locals in once they went private again slow decline , I never bothered going anymore ,that’s what I meant about saw grass

Can someone please help me understand this post?

[dewilson58]

Originally Posted by VApeople

Can someone please help me understand this post?

lots of parts to the post, which piece don't you understand

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by VApeople

Can someone please help me understand this post?

You might want to read his previous post and than read this one again. Understand it completely.

[charlieo1126@gmail.com]

Originally Posted by VApeople

Can someone please help me understand this post?

please see post 66 , I was answering about people sitting at tables at sawgrass and hoping the same things that happened at Katie Bell won’t happen at Sawgrass, like people not buying anything and one person saving tables for an hour , sorry if it wasn’t clear to you, but I’m out at the squares at night having a drink and a happy time so maybe it was my fault

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by HoosierPa

It’s not too small IMO. Perfect as far as I am concerned.

Now that you mention the venue is not too small..........anyone see Johnny Wild last night at Sawgrass? Just wondering how the venue handled the crowd.

[Dr Winston O Boogie jr]

Originally Posted by rsmurano

We are there now. Great turnout. Band is really good, but the acoustics are terrible! They need to hire professional mixing engineers or get new speakers, or both.
Bass is bloated, can’t hear the guitar, can’t hear the organ or the singer.
The mixing is much better at the other squares.
There are guys up in the engineer room but are just talking to each other.

Update: we were sitting to the left of the stage near the market place opening. We left early and when we were walking out, the acoustics were much better, much better. You could hear the guitar, the organ, and the singers.
I would suggest that the sound engineers walk around the “whole” place to see if there are any holes in the sound and make the necessary speaker adjustments.
Really good band, just wish the sound was better up front and to the side

The better sound engineers do exactly what you suggest. Many of them however set the sound and leave the booth to do who knows what.

I've played in the squares and couldn't find a sound guy when I needed him to adjust my monitor.

You also should understand that The Villages Entertainment don't provide time for a sound check before playing. Sound check is basically done over the first half hour of the show. And many times when it needs adjusting after that there's no one to do it.

Again, some of the sound men, one I know in particular are very conscientious but some couldn't care less.

In the long run, it doesn't matter because IMHO Sawgrass is going to die. Like a lot of new things in The Villages there is a lot of interest but I see too many problems with Sawgrass. First, there is not enough parking for both the rec center and the square. The square itself is much smaller than the other squares. The drink prices are absurd.

I was told by a Villages sales rep that Sawgrass is intended for the area around it only. They don't think or want people from north of Warm Springs down there.

I was at the Market Place last week and it was dead. I ate at McGrady's and it was almost empty. Won't be going back to either.

[Rainger99]

Originally Posted by coffeebean

Now that you mention the venue is not too small..........anyone see Johnny Wild last night at Sawgrass? Just wondering how the venue handled the crowd.

It was crowded. The center area - tables and chairs - takes up a lot of room. If it just had chairs, it could double the number of people in the center area. The sides and back area are packed with people sitting in portable chairs. Unlike the Squares, however, the sides are very limited. You have McGrady's to the right and Sawgrass Market on the left which restrict the area for chairs. Also, you can't park on the street with a golf car and watch and hear the music like you can at the other three venues. If you count the street parking and the sidewalks in the Squares, I think that the squares would hold at least 2 to 3 times as many people as Sawgrass can hold. So Sawgrass should always be crowded.

[Villager-Wannabe]

Originally Posted by coffeebean

Now that you mention the venue is not too small..........anyone see Johnny Wild last night at Sawgrass? Just wondering how the venue handled the crowd.

I saw Johnny Wild last night. The venue wasn't as crowded as it was on the opening night with Penta. You could easily snake through the walkways on each side. There was plenty of room to dance in front of the stage. Most of the parking spaces were taken closest to the entrance, but the distant parking areas had plenty of vacant spaces. The lines at the Bar Hut were non-existent to much shorter. The band was entertaining and sounded good and I always enjoyed Johnny's sense of humor.

One other thing I noticed is that the band took a 30 minute break between sets instead of the typical 15 minute breaks.

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by Rainger99

It was crowded. The center area - tables and chairs - takes up a lot of room. If it just had chairs, it could double the number of people in the center area. The sides and back area are packed with people sitting in portable chairs. Unlike the Squares, however, the sides are very limited. You have McGrady's to the right and Sawgrass Market on the left which restrict the area for chairs. Also, you can't park on the street with a golf car and watch and hear the music like you can at the other three venues. If you count the street parking and the sidewalks in the Squares, I think that the squares would hold at least 2 to 3 times as many people as Sawgrass can hold. So Sawgrass should always be crowded.

Why hire the very popular bands for a venue that is too small to handle the crowds? At least for Edna's, Johnny Wild's Trio plays that venue; not the full band.

Sawgrass is not a regular town square like Spanish Springs, Lake Sumter Landing and Brownwood. Those squares welcome everyone whether they are Villagers or not. Folks in the southern villages will have to wait for Eastport to open to have a real square that is in close proximity to where they live.

[John Mayes]

Originally Posted by coffeebean

Why hire the very popular bands for a venue that is too small to handle the crowds? At least for Edna's, Johnny Wild's Trio plays that venue; not the full band.

Sawgrass is not a regular town square like Spanish Springs, Lake Sumter Landing and Brownwood. Those squares welcome everyone whether they are Villagers or not. Folks in the southern villages will have to wait for Eastport to open to have a real square that is in close proximity to where they live.

I was there last night for Johnny Wild and the area handled the crowd very well, in my opinion. We ate outdoors at McGrady’s during the first set. The crowd thinned after the second set. Parking is not an issue even though it seems that many people worry about it.

The sound was vastly better last night than the first night with Penta.

As others have mentioned, the area is unique. It was never planned to be a square but can handle the more popular groups without much issue.

I think the charm is that it can be used a multi-functional venue. It was mentioned on TV website update section that it may be used for sports events such as tournaments and such sort of like a large outdoor sports bar.

Even though the delayed opening was frustrating, I think the final product turned out very well.

Of course, the fact that I’m six minutes by cart from there probably slants my opinion. LOL.