Orlando’s food scene was hit with a lot of change in the past 12 months. The city lost some old favorites and gained plenty of promising new ventures, and despite everything 2023 brought, there’s still more to come. From sushi pizza to lobster rolls to teppanyaki and Shaq-style chicken, Orlando has some major openings to look forward to.
Here are the 20 most anticipated restaurants heading to Orlando in 2024.
Moso Nori
1100 S. Orlando Ave., Winter Park
Henry Moso, the man behind Kabooki Sushi in Colonialtown and Dr. Phillips, will open a hand roll bar serving a variety of temaki in Winter Park next summer. Moso Nori will feature an island bar with 30+ seats, where Moso and his chefs will serve cylindrical rolls fashioned from premium roasted Japanese nori and filled with everything from dry-aged fish to foie gras to vegetables. Credit: ACRE Commercial Real EstateI Love Orlando Cafe
151 E. Washington St.
I Love Orlando Cafe is set to open late September (according to the count down clock on it’s website) just across the street from Lake Eola Park in the former spot of B. Nice Patio Bar. They’ll serve breakfast as well as smoothies, ice cream, wine and beer. Credit: Screengrab via Google MapsEastwood
1024 N. Mills Ave., Orlando
Team Marketing Group is set to open this 3,300-square-foot, live-fire restaurant across the street from Plantees. The resto will feature a sizable custom wood-burning grill over a blend of oak and hardwood lump coal, as well as a large-scale smoker. Both will be used to fire, char and flavor meats, fish and vegetables, as well as influence some of Eastwood’s cocktails. Credit: Photo courtesy GrillworksLight on the Sugar
Waterford Lakes Town Center
This bakery favorite has a few locations around town and in Jacksonville, but has just announced yet another spot to grab pastries, baked goods and more treats. This upcoming location marks the chain’s fourth sweets-filled location. Stay tuned in to Light on the Sugar’s Instagram account for opening details and more. Credit: Photo via Light on the Sugar/InstagramPacking District Food Hall
Princeton Street and North Orange Blossom Trail
The old Great Southern Box Co. building on the southeast corner of Princeton Street and North Orange Blossom Trail is being preserved and repurposed into a 22,400-square-foot food hall featuring an elevated plaza with outdoor green space (read: shade). Hospitality HQ, run by award-winning chef Akhtar Nawab, whose restaurant Alta Calidad in Brooklyn earned a Michelin Bib Gourmand in 2018, has been selected to operate the hall with vendors focusing on “immigrant cuisine.” Credit: Image via PackingDistrictOrlando.comWave Asian Bistro
360 E. Horatio Ave., Maitland
The popular Mount Dora sushi house known for its creative sushi presentations (burritos, doughnuts, burgers and the like) will anchor the soon-to-open Maitland Social in a 1,373-square-foot space with a 500-square-foot outdoor patio. Credit: Photo via Wave Asian Bistro/FacebookMid Drive Dive
2401 Edgewater Drive
Mid Drive Dive is described as a midcentury-inspired restaurant and bar serving American classics. The concept comes from the longtime tenants at East End Market Matt Hinckley (Hinckley’s Fancy Meats) and Jacob Zepf (The Neighbors, Freehand Goods). On the menu will be American classic snacks, salads, sandwiches and mains. At the bar, guests can five into simple yet crafty cocktails, plus staple beers and wines. Credit: Photo via Google MapsSorekara
4979 New Broad St., Orlando
The restaurant will embody “the Japanese philosophy of culinary arts re-created with European imagination,” said Chef William Shen. Credit: image courtesy of Sorekara
TBA This “zero human interaction” automat-style restaurant announced its upcoming Orlando location back in fall 2021 and, although it hasn’t released an official opening date yet, we’re hanging onto that “coming soon” plastered on its site. Brooklyn Dumpling Shop offers 32 varieties of dumplings, including traditional and not-so-traditional dumplings, like vegan cheeseburger, peanut butter and jelly, and cheese pizza. Credit: Photo via Brooklyn Dumpling Shop/FacebookNatsu Omakase
777 N. Orange Ave.
Natsu Omakase, the exclusive 10-seat sushi omakase concept, is set to finally open its doors soon. The restaurant, from the same team behind Seafood Dock in Gainesville, will open on the ground floor of the Camden North Quarter building, just across the street and two doors down from Shin Japanese Cuisine. Credit: Image courtesy Natsu OmakaseDebonair Supper Club
183 S. Orange Ave., Orlando
This new immersive restaurant and lounge concept is set to open soon in downtown Orlando. Guests will be surrounded by vibrant, fantastical artworks and design touches across the dining area, VIP lounge, presidential space and wine lockers. Former Walt Disney World sous chef Thomas Wilkinson will serve as executive chef. Credit: Screengrab via Google Maps
Pho Ga Hien Vuong
5282 W. Colonial Drive, Orlando The owners of Z Asian Vietnamese Kitchen opened their appropriately named chicken pho concept, Pho Ga Hien Vuong, Sept. 9 at 5282 W. Colonial Drive. In addition to the eponymous Vietnamese chicken soup, com ga hai nam (Hainanese-style chicken and rice), goi ga (chicken salad) and other chicken dishes are offered. Credit: Screengrab via Google MapsBig Chicken
250 E. Michigan St.
The slam dunk of chicken into fryers, Shaq-style, is looming ever closer for Orlando. The casual chicken spot’s menu is a combination of Shaq’s home-cooked childhood favorites and the hottest trending flavors, chock-full of chicken sandwiches, tendies and more. Credit: Photo via Big Chicken/Facebook
TBA Pepper Lunch — a teppanyaki concept where customers grill their own meats and veggies on an iron griddle — is headed to Orlando in 2024. On offer at the restaurant are steaks, curry rice dishes, teriyaki and even pasta. The chain prides itself on diners being able to get in, cook their meal, chow down and head back out the door in 20 minutes (if they so choose) with a price point under $20. Credit: Courtesy photoJeff’s Bagel Run
1351 Alafaya Trail, Oviedo
This latest Jeff’s Bagel Run will move into a 1,200-square-foot space in the Alafaya Square Publix shopping center. This bagel spot will mark Jeff’s sixth location in the greater Orlando area. Credit: Photo courtesy Jeff's Bagel Run/FacebookMason’s Famous Lobster Rolls
2 S. Orange Ave., Orlando
The Maryland-based chain will serve both Maine- and Connecticut-style lobster rolls from the former Embassy Irish Bar space downtown. Mason’s boasts lobster hauled right from the sea off the coast of Maine, where they’re brought inland to be cooked simply and then prepared according to tradition. Credit: Photo via Mason's Famous Lobster Rolls/FacebookStadium Club
8101 World Center Drive
Caribe Royale Orlando will collaborate with James Beard Award-winning chef and Top Chef contestant Jeff McInnis and his wife, Janine Booth, herself a Top Chef contestant and James Beard Award nominee, on their new 9,000-square-foot, two-floor, immersive Stadium Club venue slated to open in January. The pair will work with the resort’s executive chef on a menu balancing “innovative versions of heavy hitters expected of a sports bar paired with unique, worldly creations that will have mass appeal.” Credit: Photo via Stadium Club
TBA Founded in 1926, Rainbow Cone specializes in their “world-famous” five-flavor “Rainbow Cone,” which features orange sherbet, pistachio, Palmer House (vanilla with cherries and walnuts), strawberry and chocolate flavors “sliced” on top of each other. The menu also boasts a variety of sundaes, cakes, doughnuts and milkshakes. The company did not give any specifics on exactly where or when the new Florida locations will debut. Credit: Photo via Rainbow Cone/FacebookSickies Garage Burgers & Brews
11701 International Drive, Orlando
The menu at Sickies Garage boasts 50 different kinds of burgers and sandwiches, including the signature Sickies Burger, Turbocharged Twin Cam and Glazed Doughnut burgers. Credit: Photo via Sickies Orlando/FacebookRaising Cane’s
7105 Palm Parkway, Orlando
The Louisiana-style chicken finger purveyor earlier this fall announced it will open its first three Central Florida locations before the end of 2023. Raising Cane’s is set to open its first Orlando location Nov. 7 not far from Walt Disney World. Two more chicken spots will follow not long after. Credit: Photo via Raising Cane's/InstagramCredit: Photo via Big Chicken/Facebook
