A highly popular Villages restaurant chain that had shut its doors due to the COVID-19 crisis is preparing to reopen.
All three Cody’s Original Roadhouse locations in The Villages – Lake Sumter Landing, Brownwood and Mulberry Grove Plaza – are planning to reopen somewhere around July 1, according to owner/operator Allen Musikantow. The eateries closed on March 20 as the pandemic swept across the nation.
Musikantow said he chose to wait until a later date to reopen to ensure the safety of his employees. He said customers will see some changes but the eateries will reopen with full menu choices available.
“We will be using the safeguards that we all are now familiar with and will be screening and verifying our employees’ health each day before they enter our restaurants,” Musikantow wrote in an email that was sent out to all of his customers.
Musikantow said his Lake Sumter Landing location is undergoing an extensive remodeling project, while a “touch up” is under way at the Brownwood eatery.
“All our restaurants have been deep cleaned as well,” he said.
Musikantow previously had said that opening at 25 percent or 50 percent capacity wasn’t feasible for his restaurants, as they are sit-down establishments that offer entertainment. He said they didn’t lend themselves to temporarily trying to survive on providing takeout service like many other Villages establishments have done.
As they reopen, Musikantow said his establishments will offer an “exciting” group of new entertainers, as well as a new “Gospel” lunch on Sundays. But he promised that safety of customers and employees would be his number one priority. He also vowed that he and his director of operations, Dean Turner, would be at the three eateries on a regular basis to make sure “you are treated the same at our restaurants as you would be treated in our home.”
The three Cody’s restaurants in The Villages are located in Lake Sumter Landing at 1041 Lakeshore Drive; Brownwood at 3731 Meggison Road and Mulberry Grove at 8761 SE 165th Mulberry Lane.
