[JoeVentnor]

We moved to TV 3 months ago. We ate at the many restaurants in Brownwood and Sawgrass only because we had a lot of construction going on, oncluding a new kitchen so we were forced most of the time to eat out.
The commercial restaurants here are nothing to write home about as the quality of food they serve is good, but not exceptional. The Chop House was tops of all the places here for sure. Their service and ambience is fantastic, but as long as residents here in the Villages continue to patronize these below average and expensive restaurants nothing will change. There is not one Farm to Table establishment here which would serve top quality food, why is that? We are very happy living here but the restaurants leave a lot to be desired. The only good thing is that the beer is very cold and you get to meet some real nice people.

[G.R.I.T.S.]

Well then thank God we moved here for golf and active lifestyle.

[USOTR]

We are new to The Villages, but we have eaten out allot, and that is part of the reason we moved here. So far I'll state that the restaurants in TV are designed to service our retirement communities. While there are a couple restaurants, who appeal to the Wagyu A5 in butter sauce millionaires', most appeal to the average retired citizen like us, who are looking for a good meal at a fair price.

[Sandancer]

Originally Posted by defrey12

Piesano’s Lake Deaton is the best you’re going to do…though I’ve heard NYPD on 466 is okay too. If you want NY pizza, go back to NY. We’re originally from SF and there is no good sourdough bread or Chinese food here either. Oh, well. What we have done is learned to love local faire, like shrimp and grits and fried green tomatoes. You’ll never get either of those in NY or SF.

The farmers market on rolling acres rd {tuesdays-9-2} has a booth that bakes & sells the most delicious sour-dough bread..{all flavors}
As far as chinese food- takeout only-China Maxx-in the lady lake area{excellent/fresh food}

[airstreamingypsy]

Originally Posted by kingofbeer

IMHO, there are very few outstanding restaurants here. My favorite is The Chop House. The rest of the restaurants are poor, fair, or average. Spoke with 2 couples last night who both could not name one decent place for pizza.

Tell them to go to Gio's on 301 just north of 466. Best pizza around. None of the chains in TV are any good, but the Sulieman and FMK restaurants are excellent. Bluefin, Havana, Lopez, Harvest, Chop House to name a few.

[JMintzer]

I see a lot of "food snobs" in this thread...

[JRcorvette]

Originally Posted by Toymeister

The measurement for the 55+ crowd is rather odd, food. Restaurants, quality of chefs, food clubs and all things food related.

Link to realtor.com, below, works.

Pardon Our Interruption.

Although our restaurants are a factor the food clubs carried weight.

It’s just OPINION based on their criteria. If you want fine dining and that is your thing then move to a place like Naples or West Palm or Miami

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by Normal

There isn’t really any great cuisine inside the bubble. Most places serving in the villages serve food that tastes like reheated, reseasoned blah. Further it is a struggle to find any place that serves an aged steak, a crowned pork or even a great orange duck. I’m not asking for a good Washuko or even a Wagyu A5 in butter sauce, just some options that don’t seem like they come from Applebees Maybe the occasional something special. Trust me, you won’t find most great dishes inside the villages. If you want over seasoned, poorly prepared and rushed food though, they are here to serve you.

Don't disagree, but realistically, I don't think it's much different than the typical 125k community anywhere. We lived in a small (139K) community about 30 miles from Chicago, definitely had to go to the city for the options you mentioned, great duck in China Town, Wagyu beef, etc. I do think people who live IN the city move here expecting all the options of the city, Greek town, China Town, Little Italy, etc. The Villages originally was the retirement mecca of the midwest, working class, small to medium town people. Winter park, not far, offers some decent options.

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by Rocksnap

Retirement communities and low quality food go hand in hand. As most retirees go for their bottom dollar.
It doesn’t help that our American food quality/standards basically suck. What the FDA allows in our food is criminal! Have you noticed the food coloring names have been changed? Gone are Red 40, Blue 5 - in name only. Now they are allowed to use benign names tho the dye didn’t change one bit.
Much of our food can’t be sold in Europe , due to their realistic food quality standards. Even our fast food chains there had to leave out/change the recipe to sell there. GMO is a clear example.
Don’t get me started on our restaurant suppliers. Ever notice the Sysco truck stopping at both high end and low end restaurants?

Preaching to the choir here, every word you wrote is not an exaggeration. People who travel abroad really pick up on that quickly (that we are actually being slowly fed food designed to cause chronic illness, increase diabetes and high blood pressure. Dyes in everything, to make peas green ? To color soda that needs no coloring, it's already flavored, the dye color adds nothing. Most people are not even aware that just a morning bowl of dry cereal can take up most of the day's sodium intake and who really eats 1/2 or 1/3 a cup of dry cereal. Have you ever looked up the ingredients in most prepared salad dressing ? Shocking when you look of those strange words you can't pronounce !

[Pairadocs]

Originally Posted by spexdr

Olive garden lettuce "good?" it's just iceberg!🫤

I do like their soup and salad combo, but the last TWO times the soup is even MORE salty than it's always been, I just could not eat it any more, like the soups of Panera, so many drown out the taste with salt, no balance of spices.

[tophcfa]

In my opinion, the best meal in the Villages is a turkey, cheddar, and hummus sandwich on multigrain bread along with a cold beer from the cooler on my golf cart while playing 18 holes. What more could I need or want?