by Chuck Seaver, The South Lake Tablet
The Crown Lounge at 1340 West Highway 50, Clermont, has had a long and unique history during its 65 years of existence at the crossroads of State Road 50 and US Highway 27. Originally opened as the Crest Restaurant on Mother’s Day, May 10, 1959, the business is believed to be the third oldest and continuous business in Clermont while trailing behind the Village Hair Center Barber Shop, originally opened by Robert P. Seaver in 1913 and the Citrus Tower by A.W. Thacker in July of 1956.
At a time when the east side of Clermont contained more scrub oaks and pine trees than it did houses or businesses, the Crest Restaurant was considered fine dining among only a handful of restaurants that occupied Clermont at the time. The restaurant offered three full meals a day with lunch and supper consisting of a full buffet. The Clermont Motor Lodge, built in 1953 and owned by Carroll Bailey, was a next-door neighbor to the Crest and provided plenty of breakfast patrons for the Crest in a time when US-27 existed as the main north-south thoroughfare through Florida. A Gulf service and gas station occupied the lot on the State Road-50 side of the Crest and can be seen in the photo selections below. The service station lot is the present-day site of the Wendy’s restaurant.
Joyce Amann, a long-time Clermont resident and former waitress at the Crest, has fond memories of her summer season job there as a high school student. “I was 16 years old and worked weekends as a summer job. My boss, Mr. Wagner, was one of the kindest and hardest-working men that I had ever met. He did all the cooking from scratch himself. Our lunch buffet was $.99, and supper was $1.25 for all that you could eat. The Crest was a popular restaurant because of not only the good food but also because of the homemade pies created by Mr. Wagner,” says Joyce. Joyce was hired in 1959 and was likely one of the original employees hired for the business’s first summer season. Citrus was still a dominating part of South Lake County’s business model, and the area was home to several citrus grove maintenance and management businesses, including Hi-Acres/Bradshaw Citrus Enterprise. “I always looked forward to 2 pm every day. That’s when Jack Amann and Curtis Heard from Hi-Acres would come in for lunch. Their lunch group was always so friendly, and Jack was such a handsome and kind man. Jack was a little older than I was but some of the men at the lunch table would tease him about asking me out on a date. He finally got up the nerve to ask me out, and I was delighted to go. Our friendship began at the Crest and led to our eventual marriage in 1963. Our fifty-seven years of marriage included our three wonderful children, Greg, Lori and Steve,” says Joyce.
By 1980, a series of citrus-damaging winter freezes had begun to change the financial landscape of Lake County, including Clermont. Owner Darrell Happ wanted to return the restaurant to a “white tablecloth” dining style. “We brought in the silver and gold tableware in an effort to return the atmosphere of elegance to the dining room. We also wanted to change the name, so we dropped the “EST” of Crest and added “OWN” to make it the Crown Lounge. I remodeled the floor plan to include a full-service bar to our full-service restaurant,” says Happ. Although business was good and locals frequently visited, Happ decided to sell the business in 1998.
The Crown Lounge continues a business model that includes a full-service bar under the ownership of Steven Parrish. The lounge includes pool tables, darts and occasional live entertainment along with several large-screen televisions which still make college football and NASCAR days an attraction to locals. Although the full-service restaurant days have passed, the Crown still offers light snack-style food and craft-made specialty cocktails along with a large draft and bottled beer selection.
Crest Breakfast Menu from 60 years ago
Crest Restaurant – A Sampling of the Dinner Menu 60 Years Ago
Neighbors have changed and development continues all around the Crown, including a coming Volkswagen dealership on the grounds of the old Clermont Motor Lodge, but the loyalty of customers and curiosity seekers remain as high as it did when broiled lobster was sold for $3.25 each in 1963.
Call 352-394-3888 for further details and hours of operation.
