Did You Know?
You are floating on 600,000 pounds of concrete!
The concrete pods encase an inner core of Styrofoam.
The entire restaurant weighs 1.2 million pounds.
Our History
2017 – Updated paved entry was added to the parking lot. With the expansion and construction of the Hagadone Marine Mega Center on Blackwell Island, Cedars received this much welcomed road improvement.
2016 – An expanded dock system was added to accommodate additional boat up dining Guests. This makes Cedars a true drive-up or boat-up dining venue.
2015 – This spring the restaurant debuted an entirely new outdoor deck to allow for year-round, open-air dining. The year-round element comes into play with heating options and enclosures to protect diners from the weather during the cooler months. Additional parking spots were also added to the lot this year, as well as launching an even bigger and better 18-foot salad bar.
2004 – Hagadone Hospitality purchased The Cedars Floating Restaurant as well as the development plan for Blackwell Island. A new, updated walk-way bridge was added to improve Guest safety and comfort on the walk from the parking lot to the floating restaurant.
The Cedars Flooding
In March 2017, our iconic Floating Restaurant was forced to close due to abnormally high spring floodwaters. In just one day, rising lake water covered the entire parking lot and rose to an incredible four and a half feet! Luckily, the restaurant itself rises and falls with the water and we enlisted the help of a local tug boat to ensure the restaurant didn’t float away.
After 11 days, the floodwaters receded and we were quickly able to reopen our doors to the public. We are happy to report that there was little no damage and with three floods under our belt over the past 30 years, our team knows exactly what to do next time Mother Nature decides to throw us a spring curveball!
