The Crazy Gator on Lake Eustis.
The history of the Crazy Gator goes back to the 1920's. In 1928 Victor B. Shanor built, owned and operated Eustis Feed & Seed Supply Company at 330 North Bay Street. Back then supplies only came by boat and rail. The train rail is still operating today and the boat dock post is still in the water behind the building. Joan Mitnik, daughter of Victor B. Shanor long time resident of Eustis and teacher in our Lake County Schools said, "Due to the Depression in 1936 her father lost the store mainly because he would give farmers credit and they couldn't afford to pay for supplies."
Somewhere in between 1936-1955 Charles & Helen Brown reopened as another supply company called Brown's Builders Supply Company, Inc. and the address changed to 400 North Bay Street. Then it switched ownership and the name of the company went to Houston Builders Supply Inc. in 1962. In 1963-1966 it had switched to a different company called Home Builders Supply, Inc. In 1973, Scotty's Home Builders Inc. moved in to the building.
Shortly after that the owner of a Harley Davidson in Orlando, FL came to our area and opened another Harley Davidson shop in the building. The address changed to 402 North Bay Street. Along with the motorcycle shop there also was a flea market in the building. The building was then abandoned for a few years.
In 1998, the building was completely remodeled, inside and out. However, the wood floors were left and are still the original floors from 1928. It had become a restaurant called Sunset Steakhouse. The restaurant did fairly well, but then in 2001 there were a few bad storms that had come through and damaged the building.
In June of 2001, Beth & Steve Robin purchased the building and restaurant and that is when the Crazy Gator began.
On September 2, 2014 The Crazy Gator received new management and ownership by Dave Luke and Randy Connor. Come out and see the "new" Crazy Gator. It has quite a few new upgrades and will remain to be one of the best gathering places for family and friends!
