Filet mignon with sautéed mushrooms
GOOD EATS: IVY ON THE SQUARE
‘Harkens Back To A Gentler Day’ By Rick Allen • Photos By Marci Sandler
For the last quartercentury, the Ivy House—first just in Williston and later Ocala as well—has been the go-to destination for genuine genteel Southern dining.
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s the story goes, Mimi Hale, at the urging of friends, in 1993 opened a restaurant in the stately 1912 Williston home that once had been the residence of a town founder. Folks from Ocala, Gainesville, and points beyond readily made the drive to Williston for an unparalleled dining experience. The Ivy House came to Ocala in 2012, taking up residence in the Victorian-era Teague manse on east Silver Springs Boulevard that once housed the 1890 House and, later, Loring and Marge Felix’s beloved Felix’s The Place to Dine.
OCALA’S GOOD LIFE retirement redefined
But as the year 2017 neared its end, the House no longer felt like home, explains Waica Micheletti, one of Mimi’s daughters who owns and operates the Ocala Ivy with her sister, Evelyn Nussel. “We were looking to grow in a different direction,” Waica says, “with a different vibe, different atmosphere.” About the same time, the spot at the corner of Magnolia and Fort King across from the Marion Theatre came open. It was one of the brick buildings built in the wake of the 1883 Thanksgiving Fire that through the decades had been an appliance store and
