Downtown Leesburg has a fresh new hotspot—Marmadukes Lodge Brewery + Eatery—which opened its doors in May 2024 to serve up a creative twist on Americana sports bar favorites. 

Owned and managed by James Lent, a seasoned veteran of the craft beer and service industry, Marmadukes aims to make everyone feel at home.

“We’ve got plenty of regulars we’re on a first-name basis with,” James says. “It’s a homey kind of place, like you’re drinking at home, and that’s exactly what we aim for.”

A standout feature of the restaurant is its retractable main wall, which opens to reveal outdoor bar seating that allows guests to enjoy fresh air while dining or sipping drinks. Indoors, Marmadukes offers a spacious setting with bar seating, ample booths and tables for a comfortable experience.

The menu features a large array of appetizers, like cheese curds, fried pickles and green beans, gator and elk bites, loaded fries and more. Main courses include crowd-pleasers like specialty burgers, sandwiches, wraps, wings, chicken tenders and salads, alongside an impressive selection of local craft beers and familiar domestic options.

“We carry the domestics everybody always asks for, but we also have an extensive collection of local craft beers from Florida breweries in a variety of styles and flavors,” James says. “That’s where a lot of my background comes from—the craft beer industry. I’ve been in it for about 15 years.”

Looking for more? Marmadukes hosts music bingo on Tuesdays from 7 to 9pm, live music on Friday and Saturday nights and a Sunday brunch at 10am featuring a dedicated breakfast menu, bottomless mimosas and Bloody Marys.

Themed nights such as Service Industry Mondays, which honor first responders and military personnel with special deals, keep the fun going.

Tucked in the back beyond Marmadukes’ dining area is Burns Pharmacy, a speakeasy accessible only with a weekly password shared on the restaurant’s Facebook and Instagram pages.

The speakeasy’s name is inspired by the building’s history—it was once a pharmacy. Today, it houses mixologist Katrina Atta, who creates cocktail “art” complete with bitters, sours, tinctures and filled vials displayed on shelves, reminiscent of a vintage apothecary.

“Our mixologist has an incredible amount of knowledge when it comes to creating cocktails; it’s like she’s making art back there,” James says. “We also have a photo on the wall showing when this building used to be Burns Pharmacy.”

Additionally, Marmadukes Lodge leads into Slice, a New York-style pizza shop next door, where guests can grab whole pies or individual slices to enjoy on-site or to-go. 

“We have a little something for everyone,” James says.

When I visited Marmadukes recently, I could barely decide what to order! Luckily, fellow Style writer Gina Horan and photographers Nicole Hamel and Matthew Gaulin joined me and we sampled a wide variety of dishes.

Our feast included buffalo wings, a thin-crust pepperoni pizza pie, a smash melt double-stack burger with bacon with some of the best fries I’ve had. It’s no wonder, since James says they are hand cut and that there’s one person tasked with cutting potatoes each day.

We also tried a BLT with homemade barbecue chips, a breakfast burrito with beautifully seasoned potato slices, a fresh-baked Bavarian pretzel with warm house beer cheese and fried elk bites served with ranch dressing and tropical heat sauce.

Gina’s top picks were the breakfast burrito, the elk bites and the pizza.

“The pizza was thin and gooey with parm, butter, and garlic on the crust. The breakfast burrito was very good, and the elk was smashing—very lean,” Gina says.

Call me boring—well, hopefully not—but my favorite dish was the smash burger with fries. Sure, a burger might seem like a safe choice, but this one really stood out. The meat was top-notch, the bun perfectly toasted and the bacon-and-cheese ratio made every bite melt in my mouth. And those fries—crispy, golden and nicely seasoned on the outside yet irresistibly fluffy on the inside—were so good I had to beg someone to get them out of my sight!

Back in the speakeasy, Katrina concocted a Lavender Gin Sour built using a butterfly pea flower infused gin, lavender and a little bit of rose simple syrup, egg whites and fresh lemon juice.

“It’s dry-shaken to aerate and fluff the egg whites, then briefly shaken with a large ice cube to chill, and viola!” Katrina explains, before pouring the drink and topping it with her housemade bitters, featuring nine herbs and spices, along with little heart designs for a perfect finish. 

In the end, our visit was memorable. I will be back. Whether you’re craving a hearty meal, a cold craft beer or a custom cocktail with a side of history, Marmadukes Lodge delivers.

“I love it when customers tell us how much they enjoyed themselves or loved the food,” James says. “That kind of positive feedback makes all the hard work worth it.”

Photos: Matthew Gaulin