Pancake owners can now rejoice! The owners of the Old Spanish Sugar Mill at Deleon Springs State Park were uncertain about their future as the restaurant’s current contract with the state is set to run out on September 30. But Patty Schwarze, the longtime operator of the establishment, said in a Daytona Beach News-Journal article that her concession contract with the state was renewed for five years. Schwarze normally knows months in advance that her contract will be renewed, but this year it wasn’t official until a month prior to the expiration.
Schwarze’s family has operated the restaurant at the park since 1961. She credits the current contract renewal to the overwhelming public support through word of mouth and social media. The restaurant has served so many families who have made lasting memories who’ve enjoyed the restaurant where customers flip their own flapjacks on griddles on their own tables.
“I think the state really benefited from hearing how valuable it is to have something unique in place in park concessions rather than each park being a carbon copy of one another,” Schwarze said in the News-Journal article.
What is your reaction to the Old Spanish Sugar Mill staying in Deleon Springs? What are some of the memories you’ve made at this longtime Central Florida establishment?