Dade City
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Dade City

Dade City

Eastern Pasco County town with brick streets, antique shops, and a courthouse-centred downtown.

Tucked among the rolling hills of eastern Pasco County, Dade City is the county seat and makes for a pleasant small-town getaway. The downtown is compact and walkable, centered on the Historic Pasco County Courthouse and lined with brick roads, early twentieth-century buildings, and more than fifty antique shops, gift stores, and boutiques. Florida Monthly has recognized it as one of the best antiquing destinations in the state.

The dining scene is small but has character. Lunch on Limoges serves a daily-changing menu on fine Limoges china, with mini-muffin appetizers as a signature touch. Kafe Kokopelli occupies a converted auto mechanic's garage, with tables made from the original Ford dealership's garage doors and a southwestern-inspired menu.

Beyond downtown, the Pioneer Florida Museum and Village preserves a cluster of nineteenth-century buildings, and Kumquat Growers — the largest kumquat farm in the country — sits a few miles west of town, supplying the unlikely citrus that gives Dade City its identity.

Guide

Eating Out

The downtown food scene is small but characterful.

Lunch on Limoges is the local favourite — a lunch-only spot on 7th Street that serves a single daily-changing menu on actual Limoges china. Mini-muffin appetisers are the signature. Reservations recommended.

Kafe Kokopelli occupies a converted auto-mechanic's garage. Tables made from the original Ford dealership's garage doors and a southwestern-inspired menu. Good for an unhurried dinner.

A Matter of Taste is the third pillar of downtown lunches: salads, sandwiches, daily specials, and a small selection of pies. Good and dependable.

Guide

Things to Do

Dade City rewards a slow morning. Park near the Pasco County Courthouse, wander the brick streets of the Church Street Historic District, drop into the antique shops, and have lunch downtown.

Out of town there are two good detours. Pioneer Florida Museum and Village is a serious open-air collection of nineteenth-century buildings. Kumquat Growers is the largest kumquat farm in the country and the source of the strange and excellent kumquat pies the town is locally famous for.

For something more active, the paved Hardy Trail runs through downtown and links to longer rail-to-trail networks heading north.

Guide

When to Go

Winter is the obvious season — December through March bring warm afternoons (in the 70s Fahrenheit), cool nights, and low humidity. This is also the kumquat harvest, with the Kumquat Festival the last weekend of January.

Summer is hot, humid, and prone to afternoon thunderstorms. Manageable if you plan an early-morning walk and retreat indoors for the afternoon, but most travellers prefer the cooler half of the year.

The Pioneer Florida Day weekend over Labor Day is another reliable draw if you are timing a visit around a festival.