Tea on the Lake and $2-Off Happy Hour: Where Locals Eat at The Banyan House, Downtown Wellen

by Scott Swonger

Lakefront splash pad and palm trees in Downtown Wellen, Wellen Park, Venice, FL

Downtown Wellen has a tea time now, and it lands on the Saturday after Thanksgiving. The Banyan House, the lakefront restaurant on Wellen Park Boulevard, is serving Afternoon Tea on Nov. 28, which makes it one of the more unusual ways to spend a holiday weekend around here.

It also has one of the simplest everyday happy hours in Downtown Wellen. So for this week's Where Locals Eat, here is what The Banyan House is pouring and plating this fall, all taken from the restaurant's own website.

Lakefront promenade in Downtown Wellen with a splash pad, palm trees, a white Bermuda-style building and the lake under a blue sky

Happy hour every day, 3 to 6 p.m.

The Banyan House runs happy hour daily from 3 to 6 p.m. The deal is simple: $2 off cask wine, draft beer and well drinks. There is no food on the happy hour list, so plan on ordering off the regular menu if you want something with your drink.

The restaurant notes that its bar area and patio are seated first come, first served. That is worth knowing if you are hoping for a seat outside on a pretty fall afternoon.

The fall Harvest Menu

The Banyan House calls itself Downtown Wellen Park's landmark lakefront restaurant and describes its food as New American, built on bold American flavors and fresh, seasonal ingredients. Right now that includes a seasonal Harvest Menu. A few of the items listed on their site:

Butternut Squash Bisque, $12
Bourbon Braised Pork Belly, $18
Coq au Vin, $29
Ribeye with Black Pepper Demi-Glace, $44
Pumpkin Spice Crème Brûlée, $13
Apple Butter Martini, $14

The regular dinner menu runs from seafood like Bourbon Glazed Salmon and Gulf Coast Black Grouper to homemade-pasta Rigatoni Bolognese and a wood fire grilled ribeye. Menus and prices change, so check the current menu before you go.

Brick plaza in Downtown Wellen with silver cafe tables and chairs under colorful red, blue and tan shade sails, shops along the street and a green lawn beside a white building

Afternoon Tea on Saturday, Nov. 28

This is the one I'd circle on the calendar. The Banyan House lists Afternoon Tea on Saturday, Nov. 28, and again on Saturday, Dec. 26. It is $35 per person plus tax and gratuity, and booking is through the link on the restaurant's home page.

If you have family in town for Thanksgiving week and you are looking for something other than another round of leftovers, a sit-down tea by the lake in Downtown Wellen is a nice change of pace. Both dates fall right in the middle of holiday visiting season, so I would book early.

Sunday Brunch Buffet

The restaurant also runs a Sunday Brunch Buffet from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on select Sundays. The next dates on its 2026 schedule are Sunday, Nov. 15, and Sunday, Dec. 13. The site asks you to contact the restaurant for brunch pricing, and bottomless mimosas are priced by your server.

Hours and how to find it

The Banyan House is at 19725 Wellen Park Blvd., Venice, FL 34293, and the phone number is (941) 584-5300. Hours posted on its site:

Lunch: 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Small Plates Menu: 2:30 to 4 p.m.
Dinner: Sunday through Thursday, 4 to 9 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 4 to 10 p.m.

The restaurant also offers catering and gift cards, which is handy to know heading into the gift-giving season.

Two-story shops and restaurants along a brick-paved street in Downtown Wellen, Wellen Park, with white facades, dark roofs, cupola towers and palm trees

Make an evening of it in Downtown Wellen

One of the things I like about Downtown Wellen is that dinner is rarely the only thing on the schedule. You can walk the lakefront, stop by the shops along the main street, and sit under the shade sails on the plaza without moving your car.

If you want to see what living near all of this looks like, my Wellen Park page has current homes for sale across the community, and you can search all listings in the Venice area any time. Thinking about selling first? Start with a free home value estimate.

Menu items, prices, hours and event dates come from The Banyan House's own website (banyanhouserestaurant.com), checked on Nov. 2, 2026. Times, prices and menus can change, so please call or check with the restaurant before you go.

I'm Scott Swonger, and I've lived in Gran Paradiso since 2017. I'm not a pushy realtor, just a neighbor who loves it here. Want more? Visit scottswongerrealtor.com or text me at 941-600-3534.

Scott Swonger, PA, REALTOR®
HomeSmart Residential & Commercial Realty