There was a time when there weren’t many dining options at Lakeridge. Even 10 years ago, Lake Highlands neighbors had just a handful of restaurants to choose from — a cafe, a Dairy Queen, a pizza place. Cheryl Calvin, the owner of The Store and a lifelong Lake Highlands neighbor, only decided to move her shop into Lakeridge because the new owner had renovated it. That was in 2019, and since then, many restaurants have opened.
“We can actually eat in our backyard,” she says. “I see people walking to this shopping center all the time.”
Lakeridge used to be larger than it is now. At one point, it housed a Walmart, west of Audelia.
Shady’s Burgers & Brewhaha. Photography by Kathy Tran.
SHADY’S BURGERS & BREWHAHA opened in 2016. Part of the restaurant is in the place of a barber shop, and the dining room now sits where a gift shop once was housed. Next door is LAKE HIGHLANDS DONUTS. It opened in 2009, making it one of the oldest restaurants in Lakeridge still in business.
CEDAR & VINE is also nearby and opened just after SHADY’S in 2017. Before then, the space was occupied by several other dining spots. Most recently, in 2014, it was NEIGHBORS CASUAL KITCHEN. HIGHLANDS CAFÉ came before it in 2004. And LAKE HIGHLANDS BAKERY AND COFFEE BAR opened in 1997.
RM 12:20 debuted in 2018. In 2008, a seafood restaurant called OFFSHORES NEXT DOOR occupied the space. Offshores was the first restaurant to be located there, since gardening stores came before it. The earliest records available show a building repair and maintenance shop occupying the space.
The group that opened Cedar & Vine is opening another concept in Lakeridge. It’s called HEI HEI AMERICAN CHINESE, and the space has housed many dining options over the years. ATOMIC PIE opened in 2011, and SUDAN RESTAURANT opened in 2007. CHICKEN FRENZY was the first restaurant to take that spot in 2001, right after KIDS CARE CENTER closed.
SOCO COFFEE HOUSE AND BISTRO opened in Lakeridge in 2019. Records show the space was a STATE FARM insurance office until at least 2003. In 2012, another tenant began using the space as a MY OFFICE store.
SoCo Coffee. Photography by Kathy Tran.
RESIDENT TAQUERIA first opened in 2015 and is going strong.
The shopping center has also been home to several chain restaurants over the years. The oldest still standing is WENDY’S, which opened in 2005. SUBWAY, DOMINO’S and TACO BELL all came in 2012. ANDY’S FROZEN CUSTARD has been in business since 2017.
When TACO JOINT opened in 2019, it added another restaurant to Lakeridge. It took the place of URBAN THRIFT.
VECTOR BREWING began serving homemade pizza and beer in 2019, the first dining option to open in the space. Before the brewery and its 2,300 square-foot patio, there was a CROSSFIT gym, which started in 2011. .
GREAT AMERICAN COOKIES and MARBLE SLAB CREAMERY opened in 2020.
