Orlando Restaurants & Bars

[HankStrong]

Do you actually try the places your idol reviews?

[spenser1058]

34 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

Do you actually try the places your idol reviews?

Some of them. For the record, I also add reviews from the Sentinel and The Weekly when they interest me. Sometimes, as with the Thai place in CP, I added Scott’s recent review after two other posters had commented recently and there seemed to be interest.

[HankStrong]

Just face it SJ is your hero!!!  You're a shill for the man!  LOL

[spenser1058]

42 minutes ago, HankStrong said:

Just face it SJ is your hero!!!  You're a shill for the man!  LOL

I have always liked his sense of humor and he is big on noting something that drives me crazy, that service in too many restaurants in this town (a town whose economy depends on its “hospitality “ industry), is nothing short of atrocious. One wonders who trains these people.

[AmIReal]

4 hours ago, HankStrong said:

Just face it SJ is your hero!!!  You're a shill for the man!  LOL

Wait, I thought his her was Bianchi... no wait, Scott Maddox.

[spenser1058]

33 minutes ago, AmIReal said:

Wait, I thought his her was Bianchi... no wait, Scott Maddox.

I was never a Scott Maddox fan, even when he was riding high as mayor in Tally.

My politics and columnist Scott Maxwell’s pretty much are the same although I think he tries too hard sometimes to play the both-sidesism card when one party has been much worse for democracy in the last few decades than the other.

Scott has been willing to do something Orlando’s power crowd has flatly refused to do since 2002 - acknowledge we’ve lost the momentum that made Orlando a model for Florida cities after 1980.

Bianchi has done the same thing in looking at just how far some Florida teams have fallen (especially when it comes to the former “Big 3” in college football). Hopefully, in the new “Big 4” era, we’re turning the corner with some coaches that understand how to thrive with the huge changes in the sport.

Also, a shout out to Marc Daniels, who, while not as bombastic as Bianchi, has been willing to call out mediocrity.

All three have noted that, despite the propaganda the Magic and their apparatchiks have been trying to sell, is that the current “tanking” strategy is not new but has been rolled out for a decade whenever they once again fail to perform

In every case above, the important thing to do when you find yourself in a rut that has become a massive hole, is to stop digging.

Although I’m a proud Democrat, I’m all about performance. Don’t make excuses (and this town is chock full of them), solve the problems or get out of the way if you can’t and let someone who can do the job.

And, yes, it’s even worse when people whose values are the exact opposite of what this city espouses do a lousy job and think we should sit quietly while they fail.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 1, 2022 by spenser1058

[AndyPok1]

On 3/6/2022 at 11:00 AM, popsiclebrandon said:

Thai Farm House place that just opened in College Park is really damn good. Need to see their full menu and try a few more things but its possibly going to pass SEA Thai for me.

We did have some real asshole guys tell the owner to go back to where he came from while we were there so that was lovely.

I'm one of the only people that doesn't seem to love Sea Thai.  I much prefer Naradeva near Millenia.

On 3/10/2022 at 8:44 PM, spenser1058 said:

M Lounge, the rooftop bar in Ivanhoe Village, has closed, and all the exotic cars that were on display on the building’s first floor have been driven off (or towed, it isn’t clear).

That didn’t last long…

From Scott J
 

.... It was open like 5 years?  That's pretty long.  Also, it's being reopened (sans cars) shortly with some new capital.

19 hours ago, spenser1058 said:

I have always liked his sense of humor and he is big on noting something that drives me crazy, that service in too many restaurants in this town (a town whose economy depends on its “hospitality “ industry), is nothing short of atrocious. One wonders who trains these people.

That's fascinating.  To me his humor is why I literally despise him.  Well that and the complaints about mostly nonsense.  And the time he reviewed Church Street Tavern that was decorated with Pittsburgh memorabilia and was serving Primanti Bros style sandwiches and was befuddled why the french fries were on the sandwich when a 4 word google search of "french fry sandwich pittsburgh" would have solved it and not led to a entire paragraph diatribe of complaints and bad humor.  And I'm from Ohio, we hate Pittsburgh!  And the lack of effort still annoyed me.

[HankStrong]

On 4/1/2022 at 11:32 AM, AndyPok1 said:

That's fascinating.  To me his humor is why I literally despise him.  Well that and the complaints about mostly nonsense.  And the time he reviewed Church Street Tavern that was decorated with Pittsburgh memorabilia and was serving Primanti Bros style sandwiches and was befuddled why the french fries were on the sandwich when a 4 word google search of "french fry sandwich pittsburgh" would have solved it and not led to a entire paragraph diatribe of complaints and bad humor.  And I'm from Ohio, we hate Pittsburgh!  And the lack of effort still annoyed me.

That's the same for me.  Most of his reviews are fine until they reach the point where he micro-focuses something he either loves or hates and then the wheels on the review completely fall off.  Or silly things like harping on things like in your example.

 

As a sidebar, Pitt really messes with food in a weird way.  Sometimes it would creep over to Ohio and it was awful.

[popsiclebrandon]

2 hours ago, HankStrong said:

As a sidebar, Pitt really messes with food in a weird way.  Sometimes it would creep over to Ohio and it was awful.

I will not stand for this slander!

While I do think Primantis is incredibly overrated I also think putting fries on more things is solid plan. Pittsburgh is a great food city. We need more central/eastern Euro cuisine here.

[HankStrong]

I dated a girl from Pitt and she had a lot of weird toppings things.  She put ketchup on mashed potatoes.  She mixed mayo & ketchup for her fries.  She ate a weird knock-off of poutine sometimes.  She put coleslaw on anything and everything.  Chicken sandwich? COLESLAW!  Hamburger?  COLESLAW!  Cheesesteak? COLESLAW!

She was several inches shy of 5' tall and 85lbs, but she had the soul of a 7' tall 500lb man.

[spenser1058]

Just now, HankStrong said:

I dated a girl from Pitt and she had a lot of weird toppings things.  She put ketchup on mashed potatoes.  She mixed mayo & ketchup for her fries.  She ate a weird knock-off of poutine sometimes.  She put coleslaw on anything and everything.  Chicken sandwich? COLESLAW!  Hamburger?  COLESLAW!  Cheesesteak? COLESLAW!

She was several inches shy of 5' tall and 85lbs, but she had the soul of a 7' tall 500lb man.

There is nothing more Southern than a slaw dog! (I had my first one in Jax in ‘74). 

[jrs2]

3 hours ago, popsiclebrandon said:

I will not stand for this slander!

While I do think Primantis is incredibly overrated I also think putting fries on more things is solid plan. Pittsburgh is a great food city. We need more central/eastern Euro cuisine here.

...not to go too far down the road of absurdity in an attempt to entertain, but Space Ghost Coast to Coast had an episode titled "Batmantis."

[popsiclebrandon]

18 hours ago, HankStrong said:

She ate a weird knock-off of poutine sometimes. 

You have my attention.

[HankStrong]

2 hours ago, popsiclebrandon said:

You have my attention.

Poutine, at least to me as a Midwest guy with a lot of Ontario connections, is french fries with cheese curds and gravy.

She ate what was basically skillet-fried potatoes (I'm not 100% certain, but I believe  they were done in Crisco) with gravy on top and what I believe was sour cream or a type of crema drizzled around the top.  It was extremely oily, extremely heavy,  extremely soaked in gravy, and extremely horrible for you on every possible front.

Edited April 5, 2022 by HankStrong

[AmIReal]

A couple downtown F&B items- a group is opening 6 different themed bars on Church St (although half of them are in the same building). "1-Up Orlando, an arcade-themed bar that will open at 25 W. Church St. as early as May; High-T, an Alice in Wonderland-themed bar and tea room that likely will open at 23 W. Church St. in June; GoGo’s Disco, a 70s-style club slated to debut at 27 W. Church St. this summer; Outer Rim Tiki Cabaret, a space-themed bar and lounge set to open at 37 W. Pine St. this summer; Two smaller concepts, tentatively named The Society, a private membership venue, and Red Door, both set to open this summer.

"All of the concepts are expected to be heavily immersive and include themed drink and food menus."

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2022/04/05/group-has-wave-of-themed-bars-in-works-downtown.html

also, Team Market Group (TMG) have been putting their imprint on downtown and Milk and about 6 mos ago bought a warehouse in Parramore. I speculated at the time they would be opening a new venue there, and they are now pitching it to the City. 1000 W. Central  may include "an outdoor area, slated for 6,555 square feet of new pavers, would include "local food vendors, live music, art exhibits and community events" 

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2022/04/05/team-market-group-proposes-conversion-of-warehouse.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_11&cx_artPos=7#cxrecs_s

[jgardnerucf]

You forgot about Wicked Whiskeys! Lol

[bqknight]

13 hours ago, AmIReal said:

A couple downtown F&B items- a group is opening 6 different themed bars on Church St (although half of them are in the same building). "1-Up Orlando, an arcade-themed bar that will open at 25 W. Church St. as early as May; High-T, an Alice in Wonderland-themed bar and tea room that likely will open at 23 W. Church St. in June; GoGo’s Disco, a 70s-style club slated to debut at 27 W. Church St. this summer; Outer Rim Tiki Cabaret, a space-themed bar and lounge set to open at 37 W. Pine St. this summer; Two smaller concepts, tentatively named The Society, a private membership venue, and Red Door, both set to open this summer.

"All of the concepts are expected to be heavily immersive and include themed drink and food menus."

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2022/04/05/group-has-wave-of-themed-bars-in-works-downtown.html

also, Team Market Group (TMG) have been putting their imprint on downtown and Milk and about 6 mos ago bought a warehouse in Parramore. I speculated at the time they would be opening a new venue there, and they are now pitching it to the City. 1000 W. Central  may include "an outdoor area, slated for 6,555 square feet of new pavers, would include "local food vendors, live music, art exhibits and community events" 

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2022/04/05/team-market-group-proposes-conversion-of-warehouse.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_11&cx_artPos=7#cxrecs_s

I know 1-Up is the same people who had Joysticks, which I enjoyed thoroughly, so excited for that one to open. Hopefully the other concepts are good as well, Church St. bars need help, the ones that exist now are...trash. 

[popsiclebrandon]

14 hours ago, AmIReal said:

A couple downtown F&B items- a group is opening 6 different themed bars on Church St (although half of them are in the same building). "1-Up Orlando, an arcade-themed bar that will open at 25 W. Church St. as early as May; High-T, an Alice in Wonderland-themed bar and tea room that likely will open at 23 W. Church St. in June; GoGo’s Disco, a 70s-style club slated to debut at 27 W. Church St. this summer; Outer Rim Tiki Cabaret, a space-themed bar and lounge set to open at 37 W. Pine St. this summer; Two smaller concepts, tentatively named The Society, a private membership venue, and Red Door, both set to open this summer.

"All of the concepts are expected to be heavily immersive and include themed drink and food menus."

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2022/04/05/group-has-wave-of-themed-bars-in-works-downtown.html

also, Team Market Group (TMG) have been putting their imprint on downtown and Milk and about 6 mos ago bought a warehouse in Parramore. I speculated at the time they would be opening a new venue there, and they are now pitching it to the City. 1000 W. Central  may include "an outdoor area, slated for 6,555 square feet of new pavers, would include "local food vendors, live music, art exhibits and community events" 

https://www.bizjournals.com/orlando/news/2022/04/05/team-market-group-proposes-conversion-of-warehouse.html?cx_testId=40&cx_testVariant=cx_11&cx_artPos=7#cxrecs_s

I just don't see Church St ever coming back and I think it would be ok to just admit that. Lot of boomers seem to want to talk about bringing it back but its dead and will probably remain that way. Especially with the rep these owners have being super abusive to staff, especially LGBT+ members.

[bqknight]

2 hours ago, popsiclebrandon said:

I just don't see Church St ever coming back and I think it would be ok to just admit that. Lot of boomers seem to want to talk about bringing it back but its dead and will probably remain that way. Especially with the rep these owners have being super abusive to staff, especially LGBT+ members.

Wait, the owners of Joysticks, soon to be 1-Up? That's news to me - any more info? As a gay man, if that's the case, I would not visit their establishments in the future. 

[popsiclebrandon]

23 minutes ago, bqknight said:

Wait, the owners of Joysticks, soon to be 1-Up? That's news to me - any more info? As a gay man, if that's the case, I would not visit their establishments in the future. 

Yeah they outed trans employees to patrons, harassed and assaulted a bunch of people, they are all around garbage. Thought this was super well known, it went everywhere on FB/Twitter/Insta a while back.

https://www.facebook.com/100000116284042/posts/4492821137398385/?d=n

[jack]

On 4/8/2022 at 1:39 PM, popsiclebrandon said:

Yeah they outed trans employees to patrons, harassed and assaulted a bunch of people, they are all around garbage. Thought this was super well known, it went everywhere on FB/Twitter/Insta a while back.

https://www.facebook.com/100000116284042/posts/4492821137398385/?d=n

I know/knew trump supporters that supported blm. Its a lot more crossover than you think. I don't know if they still are supporters of either group since, well....you know. 

[aent]

On 4/8/2022 at 1:14 PM, bqknight said:

Wait, the owners of Joysticks, soon to be 1-Up? That's news to me - any more info? As a gay man, if that's the case, I would not visit their establishments in the future. 

I've heard this before, and there's a whole other side to the story, I have no idea whats true, but it sounds like a private matter between an owner and someone they met on a dating site, who they turned out to be trans without their knowledge, who they hired to work for them, and blew things up. Considering the number of LGBT people who work there, its unlikely the owner is anti-LGBT.

[spenser1058]

Scott J has blurbs about Ruth’s Chris to the former Pier One space at WPV, a little extra info about dining at the Milk’s incredible shrinking bowling alley, a Park Avenue Tavern opening in WP that’s not on, ummm, Park Avenue. Also, just for @prahaboheme, a NYC outfit is coming to Celebration.

Also, info about Epcot’s F&W festival and the mysterious case of Red Lobster’s CEO taking a powder after only 8 months (which we also knew about).

https://www.scottjosephorlando.com/news/6003-newsy-nuggets-4-11-22

One certainly can’t say Scott doesn’t get around town…
 

[AmIReal]

Another downtown bar is heading elsewhere. Courtesy 2.0 will be in the old Bear and Peacock location next to the original Foxtail in WP. They are also adding a kitchen (BarSwine) with the cople behind Swine and Sons. Coming late summer.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/food-restaurants/os-et-courtesy-bar-leaves-downtown-winter-park-swine-and-sons-partnership-20220414-h52f7oquhrb2hgecrv3c4qke4u-story.html

[bqknight]

18 hours ago, AmIReal said:

Another downtown bar is heading elsewhere. Courtesy 2.0 will be in the old Bear and Peacock location next to the original Foxtail in WP. They are also adding a kitchen (BarSwine) with the cople behind Swine and Sons. Coming late summer.

https://www.orlandosentinel.com/food-restaurants/os-et-courtesy-bar-leaves-downtown-winter-park-swine-and-sons-partnership-20220414-h52f7oquhrb2hgecrv3c4qke4u-story.html

Sounds like the Bear and Peacock will be moving to their Creative Village location in Fall though.