Orange Avenue blossoms
The magnetism of downtown Orlando isn’t just about the buzzing clubs, the varied culinary choices or the magical year-round icicle lights hanging from the trees that line the streets. It’s not just the rush of joining stampedes from Amway Center and Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre, or the easy days you can while away in the complex that houses the Plaza Cinema Café. And it isn’t simply that downtown is the mixing bowl of all of Orlando’s people and cultures, that it’s typically neglected by tourists and sacred ground to those who reside here year-round. No, the true pull is not a business, a restaurant or even the swans at Lake Eola Park – it’s all of this and more, and it’s the defining locale for our most immediate initial memories as residents of the City Beautiful.
EAT
Ceviche Tapas
125 W. Church St.
321-281-8140
ceviche.com
Gringos Locos
20 E. Washington St.
407-841-5626
eatgringos.com
The Rusty Spoon
55 W. Church St.
407-401-8811
therustyspoon.com
DRINK
The Courtesy Bar
114 N. Orange Ave.
407-450-2041
thecourtesybar.com
Independent Bar
68 N. Orange Ave.
407-839-0457
facebook.com/independentbarorlando
The Woods
49 N. Orange Ave.
407-203-1114
thewoodsorlando.com
SHOP
CityArts Factory
29 S. Orange Ave.
407-648-7060
cityartsfactory.com
Furnish 123
62 W. Colonial Drive
407-440-4300
furnish123.com
Siegel’s Clothing Co.
130 S. Orange Ave.
407-481-2155
siegelsonline.com
PLAY
Plaza Cinema Café 12
155 S. Orange Ave.
407-982-5444
cobbtheatres.com
Lake Eola Park
195 N. Rosalind Ave.
407-246-4485
cityoforlando.net/eola
GO
Downtown Food and Wine Fest
February 2015
downtownfoodandwinefest.com
Various restaurants participate in this annual event, which gives attendees a chance to sample the best food and drink the downtown district has to offer.
Florida Music Festival
April 24-26 2014
floridamusicfestival.com
Various venues downtown
It’s an industry conference, a music festival featuring big-deal headliners and a local-music showcase all in one.
This article appears in Mar 26 – Apr 1, 2014 and City Guide (2014).