Marmaduke's Lodge — Restaurant in Leesburg

Mystery Date is all it said on our shared calendar. I didn’t put it there. My wife did.

All I was told was to wear nice pants, shoes, and shirt. A proper hat would be also appreciated.

We drove with not a word indicating what was ahead, by that I mean my wife drove. Drove past numerous places that I thought we could have stopped at. We didn’t. I hate surprises.

Enter Leesburg. We drove down Main Street looking for a place to pull in and park. I love Leesburg. Many past and recent fond memories here. Heck, I’m the city’s Santa. It still looks essentially the same except more people are out and about and having fun. We park.

We walk down a sidewalk, I say that I’m not sure where I’m going? My wife says that’s right. Her eyes smile. Pizza. I smell pizza wafting in the air. We stop and enter. It’s a very small pizza shop. Nothing spectacular here to see, looks like good pizza, but all this mystery seems out of place just for pizza sold by the slices.

I am handed a torn piece of paper before we left our parking spot. She tells me to open it now. She tells me to speak the phrase, a 1980s phrase known by many then, to any of the three people working in the pizzeria. I am not at liberty to repeat it here. I say it with the enthusiasm as it was once said years ago in a commercial. There is a pause.

One of the restauranteurs looks at me, looks to his right and then left, then looks cautiously out the front door as if he is expecting someone. Or doesn’t want to be seen.

The man walks to a late 80s Coca Cola soda can machine, it’s lit up. He pulls the lock mechanism and it swings forward, he motions to go in quietly. I felt that I was joining Hogan’s Heroes and entering Stalag 13.

We enter and find a bar and a few chairs, sparse to say the least, and that makes it more alluring. And alcohol. Quality alcohol.

She did it. My beautiful wife surprised me by clandestinely getting me into a Speakeasy. In Leesburg. Well done.

Menus are older looking, stained, burnt around the edges. Fun. We order a drink. She pulls out a paper. Well worn, folded repeatedly, and with pencil marks. She looks at me and says, choose a number from one to four.

Easy. Two. It’s the two of us.

She opens part of the paper still concealing the bottom half. Number two was I got to choose from a selection of three restaurants. There is one I have never ate at. Marmaduke’s Lodge. We will go there. It’s practically next door and is actually owned by the same people who own the pizzeria and speakeasy.

I’m buzzing with excitement now. This is fun.

We sit at a table while a good guitarist sets up and we order, drink, and enjoy something new: Bison meatballs. Delicious. The paper is pulled out again. I have three choices: dessert location.

After a great day, my wife explains that this has been in the works for weeks. That she heard about the speakeasy and how each week they change the password. She called them earlier today because the new password hadn’t been posted to date. Persistence in life is key.

Well done dear. Well done indeed.

If you are looking for something fun and different to do in North Lake County, then pick up a Style Magazine and follow their story. If you go, mention “Santa” but never, ever tell the Coppers or Revenuers.

And I never told...

My experience was a highly positive one. I have known about this place for a while but yesterday was the first time I ate here with my wife. Upon entering we’re greeted with a sign that said seat yourself. We took a seat and were greeted quickly by the waitress who took our drink order. We were there for the 9 dollar Thursday burger special which we had heard about from their Facebook page advertising it.

They had all kinds of drink specials. We ordered two of the Thursday burger specials and the food came out within ten minutes. Upon glancing at the burger it looked and smelled delicious. For a 9 dollar meal you get a fine portion size.

The burger was delicious and mouthwatering. The only thing I would say is that the burger patty its self is a bit on the smaller side. It’s still juicy but not a thick cut of meat so don’t go in expecting a big beef patty. If you look at the photo you can see how that patty is dwarfed by the bun. They do have options though to add more beef patty’s on including a double or triple option at an extra cost. Overall though the burger was way better than fast food for almost the same price. It was satisfying to bite into and it got the job done.

Now the fries were really good and they come with the meal. They are big and tasteful. Unlike any fries I’ve tried. There’s more potato to these fries but they are crispy and enjoyable. Each bite was seasoned to perfection. I also asked for a barbecue sauce which our waiter promptly delivered. The service was great. This girl was like the only one in this joint serving like 20 people and making it look easy taking orders and bartending. Ya’ll need to give her a raise.

But I digress, back to the BBQ sauce, I don’t know if this was homemade sauce or not but it was mad good! It was almost like a syrup in a way but it tasted fresh and good.

Overall the meal came out to around $20 for two people after tax. It was a way better experience overall than a fast food joint so be sure to support this local business.

I also like the amount of TVs available. The ladies across from us ordered wings and although we didn’t try the wings, we heard they were very good.

Keep up the great work at this place. It’s certainly a restaurant we...

Interesting interior. Seating along wall with bench seating is strangely designed. When you sit on bench and someone sits across from you, you look down on them because you sit so high up on the bench, your legs uncomfortably are under the table. On positive note, we were warmly greeted and received very personalized service by our server. He made our meal so fun. We would return but try different items on menu. Only thing that was a bother was the kitchen staff playing loud music in the kitchen and joking around/speaking very loudly to each other which conflicted with music being played in dining/bar area. Staff should be mindful of their interactions with each other when are customers in house. This ruins the experience for customers which is the whole point of having a food service business. Like I said, we’d certainly give it...