Orlando Restaurants & Bars

[AmIReal]

7 hours ago, AmIReal said:

Bar Louie is filing chapter 11 and closing numerous stores, but not all of them. No word, as of yet, on the 4 Orlando area locations.

https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/27/investing/bar-louie-bankruptcy-trnd/index.html

 

update, I guess they continue.

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2020/01/28/despite-bankruptcy-proceedings-orlandos-bar-louie-locations-plan-to-stay-open

 

[HankStrong]

Hooray?

[AmIReal]

I have been waiting for forum favorite Scott J. to review Elize, but since he has not yet I want to chime in.

Elize is in 55W and replaced The Rusty Spoon which was owned by the most highly decorated chef in the area. The Rusty Spoon was the type of place local foodies and out of towners who like to dine with Beard nom chefs would go to searching for local sourced food executed really well. Many people were concerned with the Blake's selling The Rusty Spoon there would be a huge fall off of quality restaurants downtown. I'm happy to say that does not seem to be the case. After several trips to Elize in the past couple of weeks I will put in my early nomination for Elize as best new restaurant of the year.

The transitional period of October through December from The Rusty Spoon to Elize was pretty rocky. The food was still coming out pretty good, but the minor changes and the huge downsizing of the menu made us wonder what direction they were going with Elize. It turns out their rock star quality, celebrity chef from the Netherlands was tied up getting his visa. He arrived a few weeks ago and the new menu is phenomenal.  All of the local chefs that source local ingredients prepare pretty much the same dishes with a few tweaks. The Elize chef brings totally different flavors and techniques that few others in the area are doing. 

I know not many of the posters here seem to like fine dining, but if you want to try something special- say before a DPAC show or Valentine's is coming up- this is certainly worth a look.

I noticed OW mentioned Elize in their most anticipated restaurants column today- https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/from-food-halls-to-fine-dining-orlandos-most-anticipated-new-restaurants-of-2020/Content?oid=26719673&showFullText=true

Photos of the new interior and menu are here-https://www.elizefoodwine.com/ 

[bqknight]

1 hour ago, AmIReal said:

I have been waiting for forum favorite Scott J. to review Elize, but since he has not yet I want to chime in.

Elize is in 55W and replaced The Rusty Spoon which was owned by the most highly decorated chef in the area. The Rusty Spoon was the type of place local foodies and out of towners who like to dine with Beard nom chefs would go to searching for local sourced food executed really well. Many people were concerned with the Blake's selling The Rusty Spoon there would be a huge fall off of quality restaurants downtown. I'm happy to say that does not seem to be the case. After several trips to Elize in the past couple of weeks I will put in my early nomination for Elize as best new restaurant of the year.

The transitional period of October through December from The Rusty Spoon to Elize was pretty rocky. The food was still coming out pretty good, but the minor changes and the huge downsizing of the menu made us wonder what direction they were going with Elize. It turns out their rock star quality, celebrity chef from the Netherlands was tied up getting his visa. He arrived a few weeks ago and the new menu is phenomenal.  All of the local chefs that source local ingredients prepare pretty much the same dishes with a few tweaks. The Elize chef brings totally different flavors and techniques that few others in the area are doing. 

I know not many of the posters here seem to like fine dining, but if you want to try something special- say before a DPAC show or Valentine's is coming up- this is certainly worth a look.

I noticed OW mentioned Elize in their most anticipated restaurants column today- https://www.orlandoweekly.com/orlando/from-food-halls-to-fine-dining-orlandos-most-anticipated-new-restaurants-of-2020/Content?oid=26719673&showFullText=true

Photos of the new interior and menu are here-https://www.elizefoodwine.com/ 

Is the menu pricing small plate / large plate?

[AmIReal]

46 minutes ago, bqknight said:

Is the menu pricing small plate / large plate?

Yes, which is something we really like. The two of us might get a small deviled eggs, small salad and 2 small entrees and food costs of maybe $50. If we want to have the bread with the ham and sardines it may go to $60 and that is plenty of food. Not bad, as a comparable my dinner at Dovecote tonight was $90- salad, entrée and  alcohol.  If you drink bourbon then Elize hasn't caught up on their pricing model yet, so the prices are really low. I'm sure they'll be adjusting those upward in the future (although I didn't tell them). If anyone is a wine drinker they have a really interesting selection of low intervention/ natural wines.

I know its not everyone's schtick, but we're super happy to not have to go to WP or Disney for this quality of food.

 

[AndyPok1]

On 1/28/2020 at 12:11 PM, HankStrong said:

I've been taken there a half dozen times and never got it.

I enjoyed going there in college for dollar burger night... The Dr P location wasn't a bad "going-away" happy hour location when people were taking new jobs, but yeh otherwise... meh.

[AmIReal]

If you happen to have the munchies you'll soon be able to pop into Cheba Hut Toasted Subs at one of their 3 Orlando locations.

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2020/02/01/orlandos-first-weed-themed-sub-shop-set-to-open-this-summer

Hopefully, in the interest of public safety, they will be providing via Uber Eats also.

 

[spenser1058]

19 minutes ago, AmIReal said:

If you happen to have the munchies you'll soon be able to pop into Cheba Hut Toasted Subs at one of their 3 Orlando locations.

https://www.orlandoweekly.com/Blogs/archives/2020/02/01/orlandos-first-weed-themed-sub-shop-set-to-open-this-summer

Hopefully, in the interest of public safety, they will be providing via Uber Eats also.

 

I feel like such a Republican sticking with PubSubs...

[JFW657]

Orlando has achieved the title of The Nation's #1 Food Truck City. 

There are over 33 food trucks for every 100k residents, more than SF or NYC.

Not only that, but the #1 manufacturer of food trucks is also located here.

https://www.wftv.com/news/video-most-countrys-food-trucks-are-built-orlando/J5Z65ZPX4JQZLPG7X6ZDU5JAAM/?_website=cmg-tv-10070

WE'RE #1!!!! 

[spenser1058]

31 minutes ago, JFW657 said:

Orlando has achieved the title of The Nation's #1 Food Truck City. 

There are over 33 food trucks for every 100k residents, more than SF or NYC.

Not only that, but the #1 manufacturer of food trucks is also located here.

https://www.wftv.com/news/video-most-countrys-food-trucks-are-built-orlando/J5Z65ZPX4JQZLPG7X6ZDU5JAAM/?_website=cmg-tv-10070

WE'RE #1!!!! 

Woohoo! @Mark Baratelli will be proud!

Edited February 2, 2020 by spenser1058

[HankStrong]

I like the food truck culture.  

[spenser1058]

Scott J’s flog readers name Dubsdread Tap Room Best Burger for 2020. They’ve won several times and I’m also a fan. The food’s good and the place warms my preppy soul.

https://www.scottjosephorlando.com/foodster-awards/past-winners/5072-best-burger-foodster-award-2020

[popsiclebrandon]

After 2-3 years of looking for a buyer Eola Wine finally sold. Kinda surprised actually given the asking price, declining sales, and time left on lease.

[AmIReal]

8 hours ago, popsiclebrandon said:

After 2-3 years of looking for a buyer Eola Wine finally sold. Kinda surprised actually given the asking price, declining sales, and time left on lease.

Good for him... been at it a long time. Any word on who bought?

[Jernigan]

[bqknight]

@popsiclebrandon any update on that rumor of Jeni's Ice Cream coming to town? Or did that fall through?

[popsiclebrandon]

50 minutes ago, bqknight said:

@popsiclebrandon any update on that rumor of Jeni's Ice Cream coming to town? Or did that fall through?

So I was told they signed their lease but then they announced Tampa without any mention of Orlando so not sure. It was supposed to go into The Yard but I just signed my lease a few weeks ago and any exclusivity from them were not part of my document like Foxtail and Dogtopia were so yeah not sure whats going on. Doing a hard hat tour next week hopefully so might get info then.

[AmIReal]

3 hours ago, popsiclebrandon said:

So I was told they signed their lease but then they announced Tampa without any mention of Orlando so not sure. It was supposed to go into The Yard but I just signed my lease a few weeks ago and any exclusivity from them were not part of my document like Foxtail and Dogtopia were so yeah not sure whats going on. Doing a hard hat tour next week hopefully so might get info then.

Congrats on this big step. Please update us to proposed schedule when it is clear.

 

[popsiclebrandon]

Another victim of the great TP slumber. Surprised they held on this long.

[spenser1058]

I’m assuming that’s Jax. It was awfully generic so even though I’m less than a block away, I only went once. I still miss Cityfish (or for that matter, CCM’s to go meatloaf!)

Edited February 24, 2020 by spenser1058

[spenser1058]

As @popsiclebrandon noted above, Eola Wine has been sold. More on that from Scott J:

https://www.scottjosephorlando.com/news/5085-eola-wine-company-under-new-ownership

[nite owℓ]

1 hour ago, spenser1058 said:

I’m assuming that’s Jax. It was awfully generic so even though I’m less than a block away, I only went one. I still miss Cityfish (or for that matter, CCM’s to go meatloaf!)

Before World of Beer (and before craft beer became a thing), there was Jax - the OG. They were more known for their vast selection of beer & the jars of pickles than their deli menu. The original location was on Court Ave from the late 90's to mid 2000's prior to the construction boom, then they expanded to College Park & Lake Mary and eventually sold everything off. Never visited the new location myself, but I think they were trying to revive what it once was hence the return to downtown.

 

[AmIReal]

4 minutes ago, nite owℓ said:

Before World of Beer (and before craft beer became a thing), there was Jax - the OG. They were more known for their vast selection of beer & the jars of pickles than their deli menu. The original location was on Court Ave from the late 90's to mid 2000's prior to the construction boom, then they expanded to College Park & Lake Mary and eventually sold everything off. Never visited the new location myself, but I think they were trying to revive what it once was hence the return to downtown.

 

Back in the old days on Court Ave. we would pop in for a late nite skid row sandwich... peanut butter, banana, granola and honey on wheat. I was younger and thinner back then. Its also funny to think of what we called "craft beer" back then. Oh, they have St Pauli...

[jack]

7 minutes ago, nite owℓ said:

Before World of Beer (and before craft beer became a thing), there was Jax - the OG. They were more known for their vast selection of beer & the jars of pickles than their deli menu. The original location was on Court Ave from the late 90's to mid 2000's prior to the construction boom, then they expanded to College Park & Lake Mary and eventually sold everything off. Never visited the new location myself, but I think they were trying to revive what it once was hence the return to downtown.

 

It was the only game in town for so long in the 2000's. I had plenty of good beers at the college park location.  

[spenser1058]

59 minutes ago, jack said:

It was the only game in town for so long in the 2000's. I had plenty of good beers at the college park location.  

I always thought of the Biff Burger that was originally there when I went to that one...

https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaurant_Review-g34607-d827182-Reviews-Biff_Burger_of_49th_Street-St_Petersburg_Florida.html

 

Edited February 24, 2020 by spenser1058