My favorite meal in all of Live Oak, and one of the best meals that I have ever had in my life, is the Rainbow Trout Special from the Dowling House, usually served on the weekends.
The Dowling House itself is a restaurant that has only been open for a little over six months. I was one of its first customers back in October when a colleague from work joined me for lunch outside on the back deck. The restaurant gets its name from Thomas Dowling, one of Live Oak’s most prominent citizens who made a fortune in the lumber business in the early 1900s. The house was his residence during that era. After his death, the property has been used for numerous things.
The Rainbow Trout is not on the normal menu. Most weekends, but not all, they get the fish in from Colorado and serve it as a special for as long as it lasts. The white meat is very tender and has an excellent combination of seasoning. There is no “fishy” taste to it. One does not need tartar or cocktail sauce with it, though I usually get a little tartar sauce because I like the taste of tartar sauce in general.
The meal comes with two sides. One that I recommend and almost always order is the green bean almondine. The beans are steamed, I believe, and also prepared with a delicious seasoning of sliced almonds and onions. I usually take a small bite of the trout, and then eat all of the green beans and almonds before going back to the trout. The other side dishes I have tasted are good, too. I have not tried them all- only the house salad, baked potato, or garlic mashed potatoes.
The Dowling House has a full service bar. On Friday or Saturday nights, it is a highlight of my week to settle in, order a drink from the cute blonde bartender, and then after about half an hour, put in my order for the rainbow trout special.
Sometimes the Dowling House has live music or karaoke outside on the back deck.
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The most popular restaurant and bar in all of Live Oak is the Brown Lantern.
There is almost always a line out the door on Friday nights of people waiting for a table, but I can usually squeeze in ahead of the crowd and find an empty chair at the bar.
This was the first place I went to socialize when I moved to Live Oak back in June. Unfortunately, I tried to do it on a Saturday night. To my dismay, the Brown Lantern is closed on Saturdays and Sundays.
Established in 1977, they obviously do enough business during the week to be able to give their staff the weekends off.
The bar area is decorated to look a bit like a Margaritaville, with parrots and pelicans painted on the sky-blue walls and ceiling.
The owner of the Brown Lantern is a graduate of Florida State University, and the main dining rooms are full of FSU memorabilia, though he has also put up a fair amount of Florida Gator things. The owner told me that the town is pretty evenly split between Seminole fans and Gator fans, and there are also a number of Georgia Bulldog fans here, so part of a wall is dedicated to them.
I remember in June when I moved to Live Oak and met with the failed attempt to gain entry to the Brown Lantern on Saturday, I went back the following Thursday. I sat down at the bar and had a nice conversation with a beautiful waitress, who served me draft beer in a Mason jar.
“Yep,” I told her. “I think I’ve found my Friday night hangout.”
She smiled warmly at me, a smile I will probably always remember.
The food at the Brown Lantern is delicious, too. One of my favorite dishes is the shrimp sandwich. They also have great steak and on certain nights, barbecue and ribs. The hamburger steak is another tasty option, and I have not had anything yet off their menu that I disliked.
Even having lived here less than a year, I see many people whom I know when I go to the Brown Lantern on Friday nights.
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A great place for lunch is the Downtown Café, just a short walk from the courthouse. They make the best sandwiches in town from all the places that I have been thus far. It is a large selection, from tuna to chicken and turkey, served with various toppings and styles from New York and Italy.
Typically only open from 10am to 2pm and closed on Saturdays, I believe, they also serve breakfast food during those hours.
The Downtown Café gave me the second best meal that I have had in Live Oak, and again one of the best that I have ever had in my life. It was the open faced turkey sandwich with red mashed potatoes. The turkey had gravy and was so tender that I did not need a knife. Unfortunately, the open faced turkey sandwich is not a regular part of the menu. They offer it as a special on certain days only, and I have not seen it on the dry erase board as an option since Christmas. The next time they serve it, I will order two.
The Downtown Café also has the best soups in town. In addition to everyday soups like traditional vegetable or potato and bacon, they have a “Soup of the Day.” Chicken and Wild Rice, Shrimp and Corn Chowder, Red Pepper and Gouda Cheese, and Lentil soup are some of what they will offer at times.
One of my coworkers really enjoys soup, and so he is always agreeable to eating here.
The Downtown Café also has the best milkshakes in town. They serve vanilla, chocolate or strawberry ice cream for the shake, and then you can add delicious flavoring from glass bottles that look like wine bottles. I have tried caramel, almond, hazelnut, and Irish cream thus far for the flavoring on a vanilla milkshake with whipped cream. That is less than half of the flavors they offer, so I look forward to trying the rest.
There are other great places to be in Live Oak. If I do not write about them next week, I will do it soon.
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