Only in Florida can you wander through a fashion department store and end up in a restaurant. Yes, in historic Dade City the Williams Fashion Center contains a hidden lunch spot with classic American cuisine, retro decor and delicious dessert.
Yes, this star-strung big flavor restaurant cohabitates with the Williams Fashion Center selling boutique women’s items like jewelry, sportswear and kitschy vintage gifts.
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A restaurant steeped in fashion history
The restaurant portion was started in 1979 when owner Phil Williams’s partner, Skip Mize, built a restaurant where the fellas used to be situated. The department store itself has been around since 1908, right across from the Historic Pasco County Courthouse.
The first thing you notice about Lunch on Limoges are the checkerboard floors, waitresses in starched white uniforms and the desserts on the counter.
Every meal begins with a basket of homemade mini-muffins accompanied by fruit-infused butter. Soon after, the waitress brings the chalkboard by with the day’s menu.
A true retro experience in Dade City
Some of the staples are the pecan chicken, grouper coated in crunchy corn flakes and a chicken salad croissant. It is rib-sticking fare and the restaurant makes a perfect checkpoint for a road trip out of Tampa.
If you are setting up for the ride, this Florida treasure is about 45 minutes northeast of Tampa proper. And we can definitely guarantee when you get home, folks will be dying to know about how you ate lunch in a department store!
Lunch on Limoges – 14139 7th St, Dade City, FL – is open Tuesday through Saturday, where lunch is served fresh from 11:30am to 2:30pm and reservations are highly recommended.
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