Restaurant suggestions
 

The German restaurant idea is intriguing. Please don't forget us vegetarians. So many menus have little or nothing for vegetarians. Also low carb and low sodium would help our health.
We much prefer independent restaurants to the chains. The quality is much higher and the local, independents understand their customers.

Waffle House!! Complete with the beautiful young "friendly" waitresses...

How about a nice sit down Chinese restaurant like PF Changs? Plenty of carryout, but no dine in options south of 466A.

One that worth returning to. Which IMO are very few.

I would think after being in the restaurant business for 25 years, you would want to come down and enjoy life. I agree with a good low carb option. A lot of Keto and health reasons here. Good luck!

You must be another Michigander! A Coney Island or an Olga's Kitchen would be awesome!

Of course, when you talk about Coney Islands, you risk starting religious wars about Detroit-style vs. Flint-style or Lafayette vs. American. I'm non-partisan because I like both main styles. Personally, I like to go to places like Capitol Coney Island in Flint because they have both Detroit-style and Flint-style. I order one of each with some shoestring fries and am a happy man. And I love a "loose burger with Coney sauce", too. And my wife loves the onion rings. The closest we get down here is when Koegels on the Road comes to town (which they did a couple of weekends ago) and I can buy several pounds of Koegels Viennas with Natural Casings and a frozen tube or two of Koegels Coney sauce and make them on my own.

To make me really happy though, you'd have to sit me down in an Olga's Kitchen. For those not fortunate enough to have eaten there, Olga's can be thought of a Mediterranean Lite. They make gyro-style meat and serve it on a soft pita bread that is made to order by a funky little machine they invented. The gyro-style meat is good, but the bread is utterly heavenly. Every type of meat I've ever tried on it makes for a fantastic sandwich. Their curly fries are great and my wife adores their spinach pie.

Needless to say, when we get back to Michigan, we eat at Olga's and one Coney Island or another as often as we can manage. We have missed them both not only since moving here but during the 20 years we spent in North Carolina.

Somebody mentioned Calabash-style seafood, which is popular in North Carolina and South Carolina (where the town of Calabash still serves it proudly). I'd easily got for a Calabash-style restaurant as well.

Another place we liked in both Michigan and North Carolina was a proper Mongolian Barbecue. At those places, you grab a bowl, fill it with raw meat, veggies, rice, egg, etc., drizzle over some kinds of oils and sauces and throw on a variety of seasonings and have the cooks sear it on a very hot, circular cooking surface. Throw in some rice (white or browned) and tortillas and you have meal custom-made to your particular tastes. Very, very yummy.

If you read this forum, you'll see a lot of people (myself included) complaining about the very mediocre Chinese restaurants at many of the shopping plazas around The Villages. It's just my opinion, but I think the Bourbon Chicken at the Chinese places in most mall food courts blows away anything I can get at any of them. There has been word that a P.F. Changs is suppose to come to Brownwood, but I haven't heard of any activity on that for months. And "Asian Fusion" may not equate to "Good Chinese" in a lot of people's minds.

If it has to be a fast-food place, I would like some place other than the chains currently here. We used to eat at the El Pollo Tropical outside Zoo Miami whenever we visited the area and just love it - grilled, lean, marinated chicken with Cuban-themed sides. Since moving here, the El Pollo Tropicals we've tried in Orlando have been fairly greasy and with so-so side dishes. Maybe they've all gone downhill or maybe that particular location was exceptionally good, but I'd love one of those if was as good as that location.

And where to put a new restaurant? In the heart of already-popular areas like around the town squares? In an existing location that didn't survive the pandemic? Somewhere on 44 or south of 44 to take advantage of the explosive growth at the south end of The Villages? Personally, I'd like to see some more choices on 466A and lots more choices on 44. There's only one developed retail area south of 44 and it looks like it's already filling in.

As far as the original poster, I wish you luck. Restaurants are a tough business. Do you copy what is already popular in an area or try something new, risking total failure for a chance at incredible success? Do you go high end for that quite small number of folks that clamor for high-end dining, low-end to get anybody and everybody or somewhere in the middle to try to get reasonable turnover with acceptable profits? I don't envy you but I wish you success!

The first three bites of KFC always hit me the same:
1. This is so freakin' fantastic!
2. This is, OK, pretty good...
3. What was I thinking ordering this?

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Since the average age of TV residents is, probably about 68-70... and associated "issues" (B/P, and sensitivity to acid, full-fat, sodium, carbs) many of that group may have, I would think that a nice casual restaurant specializing in most dishes that are Lower carb, lower fat, lower calories, lower sodium, perhaps gluten-free would do extremely well here. And perhaps mostly small plate Tapas style.

That said, the offerings must have nice taste, great variety - but still 'health conscious' with any added salt, pepper, heavy spices up to the consumer.

We certainly do go out to 'splurge', not really taking these matters into consideration. But we limit these trips. If there was a well-run medium-priced clean restaurant that offered the options above, there would be no guilt - and I believe many TVrs would give it great business.
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OP if you stay within the bubble, the rent cost may be different than what you are accustomed to. You also need to take into consideration that high season is prime for restaurants in TV. Our population dwindles in off season. You have a percentage that will eat at mid to high end restaurants.

Breakfast here is on the high side, considering it’s a cheap date. Since we hail from Michigan, coney is always on our minds. Open breakfast until 2. Each time someone visits they bring a brick of coney with them. But that is a regional eatery, and would be booming for breakfast, lunch would be doable.

There are many restaurants in Ocala, seafood, and steak do well there. Hope you aren’t looking at a franchise, food trucked in frozen, and heated.

Good food from a great chef is always welcome

A good bakery is needed, one that knows how to make crumb cake. Also a Middle Eastern/Mediterranean restaurant. That food is both tasty and healthy. But Villagers are notoriously cheap so menu should be $ not $$$. There is a good Greek restaurant in Tarpon Springs and German restaurant, Hollerbachs, in Sanford. They are more upscale locations than would fly here.

Also beware the developer takes a large chunk of your gross as rent and I heard looks at your books so locate outside The Villages property.

Cody's
Beef O'Brady's

O'shucks

We had a tapas restaurant, it failed in less than a year (pre-covid)

Still looking for a decent Thai restaurant. I'm not impressed with Thai Ruby in LSL.