A Weekend in Clermont: What to See, Eat and Do

The Lay of the Land

The town’s population is 44,984, with a median age of 42.4. That means you are not in a college town. You are in a place where people have settled, bought homes, and decided that hills beat flatland. The median home value runs $368,600, and the median gross rent is $1,774. It is not cheap, but it is cheaper than the coast, and you get elevation.

Roughly 1,800 housing units sit vacant, and only 558 are held for seasonal or recreational use. That is a real town, not a vacation rental depot. Over a third of residents hold a bachelor’s degree or higher, and the unemployment rate sits at 5.9 percent. The median household income is $79,789. People work here, and they play here.

What to Do First

Start at Waterfront Park, at 330 3rd Street. It holds a 4.7 rating from 4,212 reviews, and it is the center of gravity for the town’s lakefront. The park sits on Lake Minneola, and it is where locals actually go. You can walk the pier, watch the sailboats, and get a sense of why anyone bothered to build a town on this terrain.

If you want the full picture, head south to Lake Louisa State Park, at 7305 US-27. It is rated 4.7 from 3,604 reviews. This is the big one—over 4,500 acres of rolling hills, sandy trails, and six lakes. The park is part of the larger Green Swamp system, and it is the best place in Clermont to remember that Florida is not all strip malls and swamps. It is also the place where the hills become obvious. You will climb. You will sweat. That is the point.

For something more agricultural, Showcase of Citrus sits at 15051 Frank Jarrell Road, rated 4.5 from 4,882 reviews. This is a working grove operation, and it is the closest thing to the town’s former identity. You can take a tram ride through the property, see the trees, and understand why the freezes of the 1980s changed everything. The groves are fewer now, but the ones that remain are worth your time.

Where to Eat

Breakfast is serious business in Clermont. Keke's Breakfast Cafe at 2435 S Hwy 27 holds a 4.7 rating from 3,848 reviews. It is the kind of place that fills up by 9 a.m., and the line moves fast. If you want something more predictable, IHOP at 2589 S Hwy 27 has a 4.7 rating from 7,616 reviews, which is remarkable for a chain. That many reviews, that high a score, means the local franchise is doing something right.

Denny's Restaurant at 25 Town Center Blvd is rated 4.0 from 3,990 reviews. It is a Denny’s. You know what you are getting. But it is open late, and sometimes that matters.

For lunch, Pepe's Cantina Clermont at 794 W Minneola Ave is the local favorite. It is rated 4.7 from 4,978 reviews, and it sits just off the downtown core. The place is busy on weekends, and the patio crowd spills out onto the sidewalk. This is where you go when you want to feel like you are not in a chain restaurant, even if the parking lot tells a different story.

If you want steak, you have two options. Outback Steakhouse at 1625 E Hwy 50 is rated 4.6 from 5,048 reviews. Texas Roadhouse at 2457 S Hwy 27 is rated 4.5 from 4,417 reviews. Both are on the highway, both are reliable, and both will fill you up. The difference is atmosphere. Outback is darker and quieter. Texas Roadhouse is louder and more theatrical. Choose based on your tolerance for line dancing.

Miller's Ale House at 1555 S Grand Hwy is rated 4.6 from 3,640 reviews. It is a sports bar with a big menu and cold beer. It is not fancy. It is not trying to be. It is the kind of place where you can watch a game, eat a burger, and not think too hard.

Olive Garden Italian Restaurant at 2495 S Hwy 27 is rated 4.4 from 3,291 reviews. It is an Olive Garden. You know the drill. The breadsticks are fine. The soup is fine. The parking lot is always full.

Cracker Barrel Old Country Store at 1520 E Hwy 50 is rated 4.2 from 3,584 reviews. It is the breakfast-and-gift-shop combo that has been a highway staple for decades. If you are traveling with kids, this is the safe call.

Culver’s at 1431 Johns Lake Rd is rated 4.4 from 3,290 reviews. It is a Midwestern import that has found a home in Central Florida. The butter burgers are the draw, and the custard is the follow-up. It sits on the east side of town, closer to the lake communities.

Where to Stay

The big one is Summer Bay Orlando By Exploria Resorts at 126-200 Summer Bay Blvd. It is rated 4.3 from 6,267 reviews, and it is a full-scale resort property with multiple pools, villas, and enough amenities to keep a family busy for a week. It is not a boutique hotel. It is a destination. If you are coming to Clermont for the lakes and the parks, this is where you base yourself.

There are no other hotels in town worth naming. Clermont is not a hotel town. It is a day-trip town, a weekend town, a place where you stay at the resort and drive everywhere else.

The Big Event

If you are in town in the spring, Pig on the Pond is the anchor. It runs three days at Waterfront Park and is the biggest event in south Lake County, drawing more than 20,000 people. It is run by Project Scholars, a non-profit, and the 2026 edition was the 27th. There is food, music, a car show, and a lot of people standing around in the sun. It is the closest thing Clermont has to a town fair, and it is worth planning around.

The Bottom Line

Clermont is not a hidden gem. It is not a secret. It is a town of 45,000 people on the highest ground in peninsular Florida, and it has the hills to prove it. The citrus is mostly gone, but the landscape remains. The lakes are clean. The parks are well-run. The food is a mix of local spots and reliable chains, and the ratings suggest the chains are doing fine.

Spend your weekend at the parks, eat at Pepe's Cantina Clermont, and catch the sunset from Waterfront Park. That is the town. That is the whole town. It is enough.