[Marathon Man]

Originally Posted by nn0wheremann

I have never been to Sawgrass, don’t know where it is at. Spent two days at the outdoor expo at Everglades, and I am ready to foreswear south of 44. The traffic is a train wreck. 20 minutes to get from Warm Springs to past the tollway at 3:00 pm on a Saturday? Lots has been written about Morse ans 44. You have to be nuts to live down there.

I drive Warm Springs every day. I have never taken anywhere near the time you claim. Even with the expo going on.

[DaddyD]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

We think Koyame is good for Thai.

I actually think it's fairly good as well, or at least I did--if I'm not mistaken it was recently sold--last time I ordered the Mongolian Beef it wasn't near as spicy as it used to be. I always thought their Thai dishes were much better than their Chinese dishes. Def like their red & green curry dishes. Nice sized portions, too, I can usually get two full meals out of their dinner sized portion.

[DaddyD]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Leesburg also has good restaurants

More details needed--names & descriptions.

[BostonRich]

Originally Posted by coconutmama

Actually the menu is similar to the previous McGrady’s Pub in Sawgrass, such as scotch eggs, etc. A nice change from the usual FMK fare.

Actually I noticed the menu doesn't have "Scotch Eggs" anymore (which I loved), it now says "Scotch Egg".

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by OrangeBlossomBaby

Several. Dunkin Donuts shut down for good last week. Ay Jalisco still has plenty of business, and for some reason I can't fathom, Ruby Tuesday's is always busy. That place is SO run down - wallpaper peeling off the walls, the carpeting is threadbare and horribly stained, the burgers are meat-flavored grease patties on gummy buns. Panera is busy at lunch time, not so much at dinner time. The only other restaurants in Spanish Springs are the fake Greek place which is MOSTLY drinkers, the Italian place which is great but VERY expensive, and the seafood place which is also great but expensive.

There used to be a wine-drinking place but they closed down a year or more ago. There's also Kilwin's ice cream which is - also very expensive (I think I had to pay something like $7 for a single SCOOP of ice cream).

In addition to the closed and still vacant restaurants there are also a few vacant stores, and I'll give J.Jill's 6 months of being open before they shut down as well.

Dunkin Donuts is gone? I'm so happy to hear that. That place was so filthy and messy. Hope Starbucks comes to that location.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by DaddyD

I actually think it's fairly good as well, or at least I did--if I'm not mistaken it was recently sold--last time I ordered the Mongolian Beef it wasn't near as spicy as it used to be. I always thought their Thai dishes were much better than their Chinese dishes. Def like their red & green curry dishes. Nice sized portions, too, I can usually get two full meals out of their dinner sized portion.

Several years ago the owners of Kayame sold the business to people who kept their name and later on opened a new restaurant Kung Fu. We do like both.

[coffeebean]

Originally Posted by Rzepecki

CFS Coffee is opening in place of Dunkin’. Whole list of new businesses opening in TV in today’s paper.

I took a quick look at the CFS website. They have food besides coffee. Looking forward to this coffee shop.

[Ramone]

Originally Posted by rustyp

The developers built Blondies. Open several days a week for a couple hours. What more do you need ? We also got rid of the pink plywood in front of the movie theater after many years. Things are progressing.

How can they open a place with no restroom nearby? A 70-80 year old in a walker has a long way to go. Why didn't they hook into the Sharon water works connected to Blondies now?

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by Ramone

How can they open a place with no restroom nearby? A 70-80 year old in a walker has a long way to go. Why didn't they hook into the Sharon water works connected to Blondies now?

Apparently they didnt think it was necessary

[rustyp]

Originally Posted by Ramone

How can they open a place with no restroom nearby? A 70-80 year old in a walker has a long way to go. Why didn't they hook into the Sharon water works connected to Blondies now?

They needed to limit water sippers or it wouldn't be profitable.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by DaddyD

More details needed--names & descriptions.

Please would have been nice.

My cousin Vinnies, and Los Magueyes (not in Leesburg though)

[shaw8700@outlook.com]

You get what you pay for and that’s never been truer than with restaurants. Very few of them have anything other frozen or fried foods. The “expensive” places care more about quality.

[margaretmattson]

Originally Posted by Stu from NYC

Over time we have found that restaurants outside the bubble are better so rare do we eat at one of the squares.

Change has been occurring in the Villages for more than 25 yrs. Many, many businesses have come and gone in ALL THE SQUARES.
Only a few years since opening, change is now happening in Sawgrass Grove. It will happen in Eastport and Middleton.

I think Stu hit the nail on the head. Many residents prefer eating outside of the bubble. Many do not drink, many do not like crowds, many prefer the comfort of their home, some hate loud music... their reasons go on and on. How many of you visit, dine, and shop at the squares frequently? If your answer is SELDOM, then you understand why businesses come and go.

[margaretmattson]

Originally Posted by DaddyD

"Overage" is a common clause in lease clauses in indoor / outdoor malls. I've had approx a dozen retail stores in high end malls, and all of them had an overage clause, meaning if my gross sales were "over" a certain amount, I had to pay the mall owner a percentage of that overage sales, in addition to the monthly rent I was paying. And guess what? I was thrilled to pay it--that meant that my sales that month / year were WAY more than expected!

It's kind of like taxes--no one really likes paying them, but in reality having to pay a lot of taxes is somewhat of a blessing. No tax = no profits. Lots of tax owed means you enjoyed really high net profits.

But your last sentence--"Even one empty business in a center makes for a less inviting shopping, dining, or entertainment atmosphere"--is spot on, and it's a self perpetuating cycle--the more empty spaces means the less shoppers, which means more empty spaces so less and less shoppers, and on & on.

I checked out the Spanish Springs square for the first time in a long time just the other day...strolled around with extra money in my pocket wanting to get rid of some of it but couldn't find a damn thing I wanted to own or eat! Hell, even the Dunkin' Donuts went out of business! If a reasonably priced coffee & donut place is unable to stay make a profit in an area dominated by senior citizens...you know the place is in serious trouble.

There are two massive corner locations (anchor tenants) sitting forlorn & empty--the former World of Beer & the Margarita Republic, now Dunkin'...and more along the main drag that your drive down to get to the Square. The wine place went out of business...it's just sad.

What I really want to know is how the heck that lingerie store stays open--that's the biggest mystery in the world to me. I know TV has a reputation of lots of swingers (what color is the loofah on top of your car?!?!?) & wild sex, but seriously--how many 70+ year old women are really buying sexy lingerie, especially bras that cost something like $80 each!

I'm aware that Spanish Springs has a much older demographic than the newer areas of TV, but there are numerous restaurants in the immediate area that seem to be doing well--LongHorn Steak House, Texas Roadhouse, Miller's Ale House, Applebees, Darrell's Diner, Mission BBQ, & Francesco's--all have busy parking lots out front whenever I drive past, so the problem isn't lack of demand.

The Morse family are billionaires, so I doubt they're staying awake at night fretting about the sad-state of Spanish Springs, but it definitely sucks for those of us that live in the area. I do drive over to Lake Sumpter occasionally (I intentionally misspelled to irritate the spelling/punctuation police on this site!), but no way I'm going to drive all the way to Brownwood to eat or have a drink.

I lived in the Ft. Lauderdale area for nearly 20 years, and this sports bar /restaurant is WILDLY popular and has locations all over South Florida:

Flanigan's - Laid back Family-run Restaurants in South Florida

Really good, reasonably priced burgers, steaks, caesar salads, fish sandwiches, BBQ ribs (actually, everything on their menu is really good), a $6.99 lunch special, and a 50% OFF happy hour 9PM to close. As a bonus, many of their locations have an attached bottle liquor store right next door! And they stay open LATE!

I would kill to have a Flanigan's open in the Spanish Springs area...

Dunkin is not the first coffee/pastry restaurant to leave Spanish Springs. Starbucks and a Bakery (in that same location) have come and gone. Many restaurants and shops in LSL closed. Brownwood has seen change. This is NORMAL.

[Stu from NYC]

Originally Posted by margaretmattson

Change has been occurring in the Villages for more than 25 yrs. Many, many businesses have come and gone in ALL THE SQUARES.
Only a few years since opening, change is now happening in Sawgrass Grove. It will happen in Eastport and Middleton.

I think Stu hit the nail on the head. Many residents prefer eating outside of the bubble. Many do not drink, many do not like crowds, many prefer the comfort of their home, some hate loud music... their reasons go on and on. How many of you visit, dine, and shop at the squares frequently? If your answer is SELDOM, then you understand why businesses come and go.

We had dinner last night with two couples here longer than us. They cannot remember last time going for music in the squares.

We go rarely but the truth seems to be as villagers develop an active social life they go out to dinner or to clubs leaving little or no time to go to the squares.