Saturday evening was an exciting time for John and Jeanne Demetriadis. The official ribbon cutting for their fifth Cody’s Original Roadhouse restaurant in Florida — located at the southernmost entrance to Brownwood Paddock Square — is slated for Monday — but the Demetriadis’ threw a private party Saturday night for special friends and members of The Villages Greek-American Club, to celebrate their newest restaurant.
After enjoying salad, nachos and other tasty appetizers, Greek-American Club members sampled steaks, ribs and chicken, all grilled to perfection, at the new venue. The Villagers were happy to congratulate their friends on their new venture — and to check out the new location. “This has to be the best spot in Brownwood,” Peter Cakmis said. “It’s the first thing you see when you enter The Villages from Highway 44.” “Cody’s in Lake Sumter Landing and in Ocala are so many peoples’ favorite restaurants, this place is bound to do a great business too,” Tom Zotos observed.
People in the main dining room couldn’t help but notice the huge maroon ceiling fan, which kept everybody comfortable. “This one is twelve feet in diameter,” owner ‘John D.’ said, because that’s what the ceiling will hold. Up in our Tallahassee location, the fan is sixteen feet across. This is running on ‘low.’ If we turned it any higher, we’d either blow the people away or the ceiling would fly away — it would be like a helicopter.”
Cody’s Brownwood has a similar look to the Lake Sumter Landing location, including old license plates, hub caps, whimsical signs and beer can décor. “This is just a happy place — it always is,” said Villager Yianni Alexander. You walk in here and you immediately feel the positive energy. People love having a good time.”
“I’ve been in the restaurant business since I was eighteen years old,” owner John Demetriadis said. “I grew up in New York and ran restaurants throughout the country.
“We opened the first Cody’s in December of 2008 in Ocala — Cody’s Original Roadhouse — at the height of the great recession. People told us we were crazy — but if you do something right, even in a bad economy, you can succeed. Why? Because people have to eat. Since then, we have opened four more Cody’s restaurants.”
Asked what his secret is, to do well where others have failed, John replied: “People will come out to enjoy good food, in a great atmosphere with reasonable prices. Like our sign says — we have ‘Just Plain Good Food.’ It’s fresh and its made from scratch.”
Cody’s menu has a wide range of choices, ranging from sandwiches and salads to full course dinners. Portion sizes are generous — and the servers are well trained and upbeat. The huge stacks of crispy onion rings are a customer favorite — some say they are the best rings in town — and diners love the desserts and the bowls of peanuts on each table. Most customers munch on the peanuts with their drinks while waiting for their appetizers, and like to stomp the empty peanut shells on the floor.
“Another thing,” John said, “I am out there in my restaurants every single day — we are always present — this is very important. You have to keep tabs on everything, to assure the quality of the food and service don’t slip.”
Born on the small Greek island of Imvros (which is now under foreign rule), John was raised in the Bay Ridge section of Brooklyn, New York. “We lived in Astoria, Queens for 27 years — my wife, Jeanne, is from Astoria. Without her, I couldn’t do this. Jeanne runs everything. She runs the office, does the books and keeps tabs on everything that comes and goes. I call her my backbone. She’s the boss, because she controls the purse strings.”
The newest Cody’s is located off State Road 44 in Brownwood.