A grand opening date has been announced for a new restaurant at Spanish Springs Town Square.
Bella Vita Italian Steakhouse will celebrate it’s grand opening on Monday, Jan. 8.
The new restaurant, located at 1101 Main St., is operated FMK Restaurant Group, which runs The Chop House at Lake Sumter Landing, Blue Fin Grill & Bar at Brownwood, Coastal Del Mar at Spanish Springs and several country clubs.
The downtown eatery will offer an outdoor bar, a popular feature at all of the squares in The Villages.
Mostly recently, the space was occupied by a restaurant known as Augustine’s 1812 House.
Prior to Augustine’s 1812 House, the restaurant Demshar’s opened in that location in 2017. Demshar’s closed in 2020 and blamed its downturn on COVID-19 and the closure of the town square and The Sharon L. Morse Performing Arts Center during the height of the pandemic.
Prior to the opening of Demshar’s, the eatery had been named Luigino’s and shut its doors in October 2015.
Originally, the restaurant was named Augustine’s and was owned by The Villages. It offered Italian food and a highly popular salad with breadsticks. The name Augustine’s 1812 House was a tip of the hat to the original name of the restaurant back when Spanish Springs offered the one and only town square in The Villages.