Move over turkey legs, Orlando’s local food scene brought even more flavor to town this year. The king of Flavortown himself, Guy Fieri, along with Andrew Zimmern and many other foodie world luminaries dropped by to feature local Orlando favorites like Domu Ramen and Orlando Meats.
Food Trends in 2018 included:
New openings (and some closings) of taco joints
– Chela Tacos and Tequila downtown, Cinco Tacos and Tequila, Four Rebels (now closed)
Lots of new poke bowl joints in Orlando
– including Poke Hana, PokeStop, Da Kine poke at Market on Magnolia in downtown Orlando.
Disney Springs
– Formerly Downtown Disney, this mega-complex continues to grow as a mecca for celebrity chef restaurants with openings from Terralina to Chicken Guy to Wine Bar George and more.
More Regional Asian cuisine
– Laotian at Sticky Rice in the Mills 50 District and Sichuan Chinese cuisine at Taste of Chengdu in West Orlando
Orlando Loves Ramen
– New spots included Jinya in Thornton Park, The Ramen in downtown Orlando, and new locations for Domu in Waterford with more to come.
Orlando Loves Coffee
– Foxtail Coffee continued to expand its reach in Central Florida this year
– New notables include: Craft and Common, Deeply Coffee, La Kuma
Orlando Loves Grocery Stores
– iFresh market and Golden Sparkling market added to the list of Asian grocery store
– New markets in Central Florida include Sprouts in Winter Park, EarthFare in Lake Nona, and more outposts of Lucky’s Market added this year.
More Vegan Food options
– including DaJen Eats in Eatonville, Leguminati, and The District at Mills 50
New Orlando Pop-Up Dining Experiences
– including Peruvian Papa Llama, Bangrak Thai Street Kitchen, Chinese-inspired Little Giant, and even a pop-up food truck stop at A La Cart
Excited to see what 2019 will bring to our city, continue to make Orlando the City Beautiful to play, work, and eat!
