Mount Dora Business and Real Estate

Award-winning wing restaurant opens in Mount Dora

9/19/2023

By Jack Morgan / Mount Dora Buzz

Mount Dora’s chicken wing scene is kicking it up a notch with the opening of “Wing it On!” a fast-casual franchise lauded for its national award-winning buffalo chicken wings, as well as other tasty varieties. The restaurant won the Best Medium Buffalo Sauce award for the second year in a row at the 2023 National Buffalo Wing Festival’s Sauce Off.

Wing it On! offers a big selection for such a small location and is ideal for grabbing chicken take-out or watching football at one of a handful of tables while enjoying the game-day staples. The menu features 24 different flavors of sauces and dry rubs for boneless and bone-in wings, and each flavor is rated for spiciness on a scale from 1 to 9. Extreme heat lovers can dare to try the Wings of Prey which holds the maximum rating. The limited-time Lava Berry Pop Rocks flavor is also a little fiery and took home top honors at the National Buffalo Wing Festival. Patrons with milder tastes can opt for the Honey Mustard, Garlic Parmesan, Hickory Barbecue and Asian Garlic varieties.

Although wings are clearly the house specialty, Wing it On! offers a variety of other options, including chicken tenders and sandwiches, loaded or seasoned fries, street corn, and mac and cheese as well as other sides. For large gatherings and events, the restaurant offers a variety of family packs, as well as catering services.

RELATED: Mount Dora Dining Guide

The quest to create an exceptional wing experience goes back to the early 2000s when Matt Ensero, the chain's founder and CEO, along with his friends, would argue about who would drive the 30-minute trek to pick up their favorite chicken wings every football Sunday. The long distance and foam take-out boxes resulted in soggy, cold wings by the time they got home, so Ensero created the solution by opening the first Wing It On! in his home town of Waterbury, Connecticut, in 2011. The expanding New England-based chain is now part of Craveworthy Brands, a national corporation that owns diverse restaurant chains, including Krafted Burger + Tap, Genghis Grill, BD’s Mongolian Grill and Flat Top Grill

The Mount Dora franchise is owned by Jayesh Patel, who has previously owned other businesses in the Mount Dora area and is very familiar with the local market. David Miller, a Central Florida resident who originally hails from New Zealand, is the general manager. Miller introduced Wing It On! to Florida last year when he opened a location inside the Dollins Food Hall in Orlando.

Wing it On! is set to open in Mount Dora on September 20 at 18834 U.S. Highway 441 in the shopping center that includes Fitness CF and El Mezcal. The restaurant will be open seven days a week, from 11:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m.

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, visit the area's website and download the area's free mobile app. Be sure to follow Mount Dora Buzz's Instagram and Facebook page for more local info.

Mount Dora retailer to move into iconic downtown building

9/1/2023

Downtown Mount Dora’s most prominent intersection is about to see a positive change. After nearly 20 years of conspicuous vacancy, Mount Dora's Mardi Gras building on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Donnelly Street will soon breathe new life. Walk in the Woods, downtown's outdoor apparel and accessories store, will relocate from their current downtown locations in October to occupy over 4,000 square feet in the New Orleans-inspired building’s ground floor.

Known for its selection of Crocs, Merril shoes, Life is Good and other outdoor apparel brands, Walk in the Woods has been a popular retailer since it opened in 2005 on downtown Mount Dora’s Fifth Avenue. In 2018, Steve and Dana Rocca purchased the store, and last year the couple expanded the business with a second store at 237 W. Third Avenue.

The expansive new location will have ample space for the two downtown stores to be combined under one roof. Walk in the Woods - The Outpost, as it will be called, will occupy the Mardi Gras Building’s corner space, plus all of the frontage along Fifth Avenue.

The two-story building was built in 1922, and had the ornate iron work added six decades later. Formerly known as the The Ramsey Building, it boasts 13,592 square feet on one of the city's most prime locations. In recent years it has undergone improvements that included the addition of an elevator, new windows and fresh paint.

In 1971 The Cubbyhole Corporation purchased the nondescript building and renovated its exterior to include the New Orleans-style wrought iron detailing that still adorns it today.

In 1970, The Lamp Post restaurant opened in the building and operated until both the building and business were sold in 1991 and became Lampu, Mount Dora's first Japanese steakhouse.

In 1993, the business sold to become Kobe Japanese Steakhouse and in 1994 it sold again to a new owner, John McKinney, who returned it to the name Lampu.

That was hardly the last transition for the historic building. It sold again in 1996 for $1 million while it housed three restaurants: Lampu, Juliana Restaurant, and The Sandcastle upstairs. Reportedly, the restaurants weren't part of the new buyers' vision for the large structure.

That vision ended relatively quickly when the building transitioned again in 1997 to its current owner, Mardi Gras of Mount Dora, Inc and fetched another $1 million purchase price, according to the Lake County Property Appraiser.

Walk in the Woods - The Output isn’t the first retailer to occupy the Mardi Gras Building. Over the last century it was also home to stores like Stokley's Pharmacy which later became Lake View Pharmacy, Piggly Wiggly, and Sally’s Dress Shop.

For more news and events in Mount Dora, Tavares & Eustis, visit the area's website and download the area's free mobile app.  Be sure to follow Mount Dora Buzz's Instagram and Facebook page for more local info.

Business Buzz

Award-winning wing restaurant opens in Mount Dora

Mount Dora retailer to move into iconic downtown building

BUSINESS & REAL ESTATE

Archives

Categories