Big Easy to open second location in Windermere

Owners of The Big Easy – a Cajun-Creole eatery in Winter Garden with dishes influenced by New Orleans-style cooking – have a second location in the works.

The new location, which will be located at the Lakeside Village plaza in Windermere, will take up the same spot that formerly housed the now-closed Caprino’s Italian restaurant.

Big Easy owners Morgan and Misti Jimenez recently opened a new Latin American restaurant named Casa Jimenez in May at 15493 Stoneybrook West Parkway, making their upcoming location in Windermere the couple’s third restaurant venture within a year.

Morgan Jimenez said the entrepreneurial couple have just finalized the deal and received the keys to the Big Easy’s second home in Windermere. They are already making plans to customize the interior and exterior to suit their liking and plan to open by January 2018.

“It’s a big decision, but it was in a great location, and there aren’t many good New Orleans style home cooking restaurants down there,” he said. “I was born and raised in New Orleans, so it’s the real deal. But eventually we’d like to franchise The Big Easy, so that’s why we’re opening a new location.”

The nearly 5,000-square-foot venue in Windermere, he added, will have an outside patio, bar area and happy hour specials but remain a family-oriented restaurant. The majority of the menu will remain the same as their 7-year-old restaurant in Winter Garden, which is ranked the third best restaurant in Winter Garden on TripAdvisor and most known for its shrimp and grits, jambalaya, gumbo, and pol-boys.

The couple also plans to mimic the Mardi Gras theme from their current location, which is intended to make customers feel as if they are in New Orleans with a festive color theme of purple, gold and green.