Once an unassuming stretch of old Orlando lakefront loaded almost exclusively with old furniture stores, the recent rehab of Antique Row into something organically (yet cleverly) fashionable has been nothing short of revolutionary – an urban planner’s dream.
There are still numerous fantastic places to buy modular couches that sill dream of Jeannie, like 1618 Something Different (1618 N. Orange Ave, 407-897-6707, somethingdifferentretro.com), but, to some degree, even those formerly static retail haunts have adapted to the alcoholic flow of time. The Imperial at Washburn Imports (1800 N. Orange Ave., 407-228-4992, imperialwinebar.com) lights up the dark wood of the global-imports store with fine wines, beers and conviviality by night (usually with convenient food trucks right outside).
Further up the Row, new watering hole the Hammered Lamb (1235 N. Orange Ave., 407-704-3200, facebook.com/thehammeredlamb) sparkles up the evening with casual bites and hefty train shots out on the garden-district-like patio. You can even spruce up your withering image while drinking by heading up the patio stairs to Copperhead Salon (1235 N. Orange Ave., 407-898-6636, copperheadsalon.com), because hair and booze are great bedfellows.
Just off the path, but still in character, is the Venue (511 Virginia Drive, 407-412-6895, thevenueorlando.com), local whirling performance-art dervish Baby Blue’s burlesque-y brothel of bounce. The weirdness only increases when you pop into novelty shops like Boom-Art (1821 N. Orange Ave., 407-895-0280) and more frighteningly, the house of skulls and oddities called Curio (1809 N. Orange Ave., 407-620-6181). “We had a waiting list for fetal pigs on Valentine’s Day,” we overheard the owner say. You can literally find anything on Ivanhoe Row.
Oh, you’ll need to eat. The Greek Corner (1600 N. Orange Ave., 407-228-0303, thegreekcorner.net) and White Wolf Café (1829 N. Orange Ave., 407-895-9911, whitewolfcafe.com) are good bets; White Wolf just opened Wolfie’s Pizzamia right next door, if you want a slice to go with this un
