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Welcome to the award winning Great Outdoors Restaurant! We hope you enjoy your dining experience here. We fell in love with the city of High Springs over a decade ago and when the vintage Opera House building became available for sale in 2005 we were excited to contribute to the community by restoring this architectural treasure. We spent over 2 years renovating the building to restore it to its original architectural elements while incorporating a state of the art kitchen. Our family travels have taken us to many unique and beautiful locations around the world. The décor of the restaurant reflects our love of the natural wonders found in the great outdoors. We invite you to share our love of nature reflected in the beauty and elegance that surrounds you at the Great Outdoors Restaurant, and our love of fine food while enjoying hand cut steaks, fresh seafood, signature entree salads, homemade soups and decadent desserts. Bob and Karen Bentz The MenuOur menu is carefully planned and lovingly prepared. Our Executive Chef is on the premises at all times carefully overseeing every detail of food preparation to personally ensures that everything is prepared fresh in the kitchen. Our steaks are hand cut and our sauces and desserts are homemade.Our StaffWe want you to have the perfect guest experience. Our services staff has been with us since the restaurant’s opening in 2007. They are professionally trained to ensure that every guest has the best dining experience possible.The HistoryOur restaurant is part of a wonderful legacy of people and commercial enterprises that have been a part of the history of High Springs for over 100 years. The two-story Opera House was built in 1895 by architect, Henry Richardson. At the time, High Springs was a thriving railroad and phosphate mining town. Like other towns located nearby, High Springs was noted for its lawlessness and thriving saloons in the late 1800’s. The Opera House provided an alternate, socially acceptable, cultural amenity for the town. It was the focal point of the cultural life of the community and its Romanesque Revival style of architecture reflects this significance.The upper floor of the Opera House has always been a venue for entertainment, conferences, shows, dances and religious meetings. The first silent movie, The Great Train Robbery, was shown here accompanied by piano and violin. The tradition of showing movies continued until the 1970’s, until the Theater of Memory opened with lively entertainment and a local historical collection of memorabilia. The ground floor of the building was always used for mercantile businesses, such as a jewelry store, a department store, Skeet’s café and a furniture store. In the 1980’s the Opera House was purchased by a couple who opened The Great Outdoors Trading Company and Café. They operated an outdoor clothing store in a part of the building. This very popular eating establishment closed until we saw the building for sale and fell in love with the vintage Opera House and all of the history and significance to our town of High Springs. We have worked very hard to restore it to its original architectural elements while incorporating a state of the art kitchen and a one of a kind Springhouse Tavern. Our local residents are proud to be a part of a wonderful town that has grown up with springs and rivers that are unique to northern Florida. We hope you enjoy your dining experience today and return to join us again to celebrate the beauty of The Great Outdoors. |
