Orlando Restaurants & Bars

[spenser1058]

1 minute ago, JFW657 said:

I never was one of the cool kids.

Never spent much time in downtown bars either. 

By the time downtown became a popular bar destination, I was past the age where I was into all that anymore.

My bar days ended in the late 1980's. 

Valentyne’s and Mack Meiner’s French Quarter were definitely more my speed. We gay bois mostly did any partying in Tampa or Daytona anyway, depending whether we wanted to do happy hour or the dive bar thing. Back in the olden days….

[JFW657]

3 minutes ago, spenser1058 said:

Valentyne’s and Mack Meiner’s French Quarter were definitely more my speed. We gay bois mostly did any partying in Tampa or Daytona anyway, depending whether we wanted to do happy hour or the dive bar thing. Back in the olden days….

I remember both those places, although I never went to Valentine's.

I used to occasionally stop in at Orange Quarter for happy hour and their free munchies.

They had quiche a lot.    

I soon switched to Casa Gallardo for my happy hour free snacks. 

Occasionally Chi Chi's and their Wednesday wings. 

Oh... and can't forget Monday happy hour at Player's in the Publix shopping center at Conway & Curry Ford.

All you could eat wings and French fries with a drink purchase.   

[spenser1058]

1 minute ago, JFW657 said:

I remember both those places, although I never went to Valentine's.

I used to occasionally stop in at Orange Quarter for happy hour and their free munchies.

They had quiche a lot.    

I soon switched to Casa Gallardo for my happy hour free snacks. 

Occasionally Chi Chi's and their Wednesday wings. 

Oh... and can't forget Monday happy hour at Player's in the Publix shopping center at Conway & Curry Ford.

All you could eat wings and French fries with a drink purchase.   

I really liked Casa Gallardo even if General Mills (now Darden) did make it a tad too “chainish”. Working at Darryl’s, we got a discount, too…

[spenser1058]

The Sentinel’s critic checks out The Monroe:

Things are peachy, literally, at The Monroe in downtown Orlando
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/food-restaurants/os-et-florida-peaches-are-peaking-at-new-downtown-restaurant-the-monroe-20210519-zal35atgm5avhpyt2fs3lka2sa-story.html

 

[spenser1058]

Been to downtown Clermont lately? The Southern on 8th makes the trip worthwhile:

The Southern on 8th rises to fill a void in Clermont | Review
https://www.orlandosentinel.com/food-restaurants/os-prem-et-restaurant-review-southern-on-8th-in-clermont-20210527-dw6qugxpxbhzvekvafe6spwwti-story.html

 

From The Sentinel 

[spenser1058]

Scott J stops in at Maki Hibachi downtown at the reigning crown jewel of Thomas Chatmon’s soon to be latest Main & Main, a self-storage building:

https://www.scottjosephorlando.com/reviews/62-japanese/5676-maki-hibachi-downtown

 

[bqknight]

Would love to know if anyone has any information on....

1. Former Market on Magnolia - have seen some people in there recently and there is no longer a For Lease sign. 

2. Former Great Harvest Bakery - there was a For Lease sign up for a bit but has since been removed and it looks like stuff has slowly been being removed from the location. 

Also - @popsiclebrandon- I saw that what I believe is your store was robbed. Hope all is alright if so!

[popsiclebrandon]

2 hours ago, bqknight said:

Would love to know if anyone has any information on....

1. Former Market on Magnolia - have seen some people in there recently and there is no longer a For Lease sign. 

2. Former Great Harvest Bakery - there was a For Lease sign up for a bit but has since been removed and it looks like stuff has slowly been being removed from the location. 

Also - @popsiclebrandon- I saw that what I believe is your store was robbed. Hope all is alright if so!

Don't have any info on those.

 

But yeah we got cleaned out. Luckily no damage to anything major but a lot of aggravation and not the year to get stuff stolen. An expensive day for sure.

[nite owℓ]

59 minutes ago, popsiclebrandon said:

Don't have any info on those.

 

But yeah we got cleaned out. Luckily no damage to anything major but a lot of aggravation and not the year to get stuff stolen. An expensive day for sure.

So sorry to hear that. Why do you think they would they target an ice cream shop? Is this a common occurrence behind the scenes (downtown restaurants getting robbed)? Hopefully there is security footage that leads to an arrest.

[popsiclebrandon]

22 minutes ago, nite owℓ said:

So sorry to hear that. Why do you think they would they target an ice cream shop? Is this a common occurrence behind the scenes (downtown restaurants getting robbed)? Hopefully there is security footage that leads to an arrest.

Its 99% a construction worker who stole from us. Our landlord built a back door into our space a few weeks ago when they closed the entrance to the tower and took away our 2nd exit. It allowed any of the workers full access into our space. Its ridiculous but not surprising.

[spenser1058]

Ten iconic Florida restaurants still going strong, in some cases for over a century:

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/entertainment/dining/2021/06/05/florida-restaurants-10-states-most-legendary-places-eat/5134322001/

From The Florida Times Union

Orlando didn’t make the cut but Billy’s in Ormond did. Time for me and @jrs2to meet up there halfway. Road trip!
 

Speaking of iconic, I wonder if @dcluley98 brought us back some of Ted Peters’ smoked mullet from St. Pete (and those amazing sides). I’ve been jonesing for some ever since Norwood’s went upscale and got a tad high-falutin’.

Edited June 6, 2021 by spenser1058

[AmIReal]

20 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Ten iconic Florida restaurants still going strong, in some cases for over a century:

https://www.jacksonville.com/story/entertainment/dining/2021/06/05/florida-restaurants-10-states-most-legendary-places-eat/5134322001/

From The Florida Times Union

Orlando didn’t make the cut but Billy’s in Ormond did. Time for me and @jrs2to meet up there halfway. Road trip!
 

Speaking of iconic, I wonder if @dcluley98 brought us back some of Ted Peters’ smoked mullet from St. Pete (and those amazing sides). I’ve been jonesing for some ever since Norwood’s went upscale and got a tad high-falutin’.

Cool. I've eaten at all of them except Cabbage Key Inn.

[AmIReal]

It really is good...

https://www.scottjosephorlando.com/reviews/51-american/5683-the-monroe

[dcluley98]

That restaurant looks awful to me. 

I guess not my taste/vibe. 

[AmIReal]

21 hours ago, dcluley98 said:

That restaurant looks awful to me. 

I guess not my taste/vibe. 

Beauty really is in the eye of the beholder. They have been getting tone of complements from everyone I've talked to/ read for the design and decor... the noise level seems to be the only issues I've heard.

[dcluley98]

While the decor is not necessarily my taste either, there are good portions to it like the murals, nice wood textures/furniture, and incandescent lighting elements. 

I was more referring to the overall atmosphere/theme and food. 

Edited June 11, 2021 by dcluley98

[spenser1058]

Just for @codypet : the White Castle Ghost Kitchen is BACK.

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2021/06/14/white-castle-reopens-ghost-kitchen-in-orlando

From Orlando Weekly 

Edited June 14, 2021 by spenser1058

[codypet]

6 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

Just for @codypet : the White Castle Ghost Kitchen is BACK.

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2021/06/14/white-castle-reopens-ghost-kitchen-in-orlando

From Orlando Weekly 

My buddy is mad I went without him and insists we go do the real deal tomorrow evening.  Hopefully it won't be mobbed on a Tuesday evening.

[spenser1058]

Scott J has a tale of the legendary surliness of the Hillstone management staff:

https://www.scottjosephorlando.com/news/5693-newsy-nuggets-new-chef-at-jw-marriott-bc-808-in-the-407-fleming-s-gas-problem-fixed-and-don-t-ask-for-a-salad-to-go-at-hillstone

Heaven knows compared to that bunch Ronnie’s Rules seemed almost like groveling. But hey, we’re talking WP, where everyone’s noses must point an inch or two in the air (although even the Houston’s - Hillstone’s predecessor- in Nashville had a touch of attitude way back in the ‘80’s; that was ok by me because at the time I preferred the homemade guac at Spats on the back side of Vandy anyway).

 

 

 

[spenser1058]

More on Saladgate:

https://www.scottjosephorlando.com/news/5694-csi-criminal-salad-investigation
 

From Scott J

[AmIReal]

On 6/2/2021 at 9:16 AM, bqknight said:

Would love to know if anyone has any information on....

1. Former Market on Magnolia - have seen some people in there recently and there is no longer a For Lease sign. 

2. Former Great Harvest Bakery - there was a For Lease sign up for a bit but has since been removed and it looks like stuff has slowly been being removed from the location. 

Also - @popsiclebrandon- I saw that what I believe is your store was robbed. Hope all is alright if so!

Market on Magnolia will be Corner Pizza Bar from the people that do Italian House Pizza in the Hourglass.

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2021/06/29/florida-restaurant-opening-pizza-orlando-downtown.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_11&cx_artPos=1#cxrecs_s

[bqknight]

Anyone know anything more to this? 
 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wesh.com/amp/article/ben-crump-dovecote-discrimination-lawsuit/36998288

[popsiclebrandon]

13 hours ago, bqknight said:

Anyone know anything more to this? 
 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wesh.com/amp/article/ben-crump-dovecote-discrimination-lawsuit/36998288

This is a fun one. Disappointing to see Crump get involved in this but guess he thinks since the owner of the building also owns the Suns and some other high profile property it might work.

 

So in general according to the legal filings Dovecote is almost a million in the hole to the landlord in unpaid rent and loans. I'm honestly unsure why the landlord isn't just evicting them completely. Guess they don't want to risk losing office leases over it. In 2018 they fell over 100k behind in rent and defaulted on a 250k loan. Plus another loan from an outside party. Their ownership structure is very confusing.

To the main point basically Dovecote is throwing large, nightclub like events in the courtyard and common areas. All of the expressly called out as against the terms of the lease in the lease. They claim they have had to clean blood from the elevator because of a fight, property destruction, the music is shaking other tenant windows and they have had complaints, they advertise events with smoking and allow it when the building is smoke free, they have had patrons pull guns on each other, extreme breaking of Covid policies, and just in general they are making a mess of a Class A building. Oh they also don't have active insurance.

The legal point is this, landlords basically always can do whatever they want and they went on and documented many cases of them violating the actual terms so even if they didn't have sole discretion clause it would be taken away. Its a shame, Dovecote used to be good.

 

 

[spenser1058]

Shall we visit the AC Sky Bar with Scott J? Let’s do: 

https://www.scottjosephorlando.com/reviews/69-spanish/5708-ac-sky-bar

 

 

[AmIReal]

9 hours ago, popsiclebrandon said:

This is a fun one. Disappointing to see Crump get involved in this but guess he thinks since the owner of the building also owns the Suns and some other high profile property it might work.

 

So in general according to the legal filings Dovecote is almost a million in the hole to the landlord in unpaid rent and loans. I'm honestly unsure why the landlord isn't just evicting them completely. Guess they don't want to risk losing office leases over it. In 2018 they fell over 100k behind in rent and defaulted on a 250k loan. Plus another loan from an outside party. Their ownership structure is very confusing.

To the main point basically Dovecote is throwing large, nightclub like events in the courtyard and common areas. All of the expressly called out as against the terms of the lease in the lease. They claim they have had to clean blood from the elevator because of a fight, property destruction, the music is shaking other tenant windows and they have had complaints, they advertise events with smoking and allow it when the building is smoke free, they have had patrons pull guns on each other, extreme breaking of Covid policies, and just in general they are making a mess of a Class A building. Oh they also don't have active insurance.

The legal point is this, landlords basically always can do whatever they want and they went on and documented many cases of them violating the actual terms so even if they didn't have sole discretion clause it would be taken away. Its a shame, Dovecote used to be good.

 

 

Great synopsis. This restaurant has been the walking dead for over 2 years. I hate to see them go, but even more I hate to see them in their current state. Interestingly (not), the OS wrote a very 1 sided article- from the side of the restaurant- but they couldn't find the time to pull up the court docs you did.