Orlando-- Downtown Establishments

[jzquince69]

there's two spaces being built out right now on the Orange Ave. block between Central & Pine, on the City Arts Factory side of the street; not sure what they'll be yet.

Embers-- good food;

Rustic Steakhouse-- reasonable prices; great atmosphere- haven't eaten there yet.

Hamburger Mary's-- super busy Halloween night; usually busy at night in general.

NYPD Pizza- PTP-- good food; good atmosphere; taking over the former Cool Blue space with nightclub/bar/big group concept;

PTP-- couple of chains looking into getting a spot in the retail level;

Dynetech-- Tastings- going thru buildout- should open this winter.

Black Olive- PTP- looking sharp; great buildout; delays b/c of the City; but getting close; will compliment Pine St. Corridor nicely. will have outdoor seating component;

55W-- it's done for cripe's sake. figure out the hotel deal and let's get some retail in there already; it's beautiful;

[MNiemann]

Quality Clothing just opened up at the corner of Pine & Church St. I like how the store looks, but it's on kind of a dead corner :-\





Exterior shot of Ember



Exterior shots of the new downtown Publix at the Paramount:





...and by the way has anyone noticed how DENSE Central is starting to look in Thornton Park now that the Paramount is finished?

[SkyDiveJunkee]

^Yes, Central is now a complete street wall. Ten years ago it would be unrecognizable--The Waverly, The Paramount, Post Parkside, Eola South, and Capital Plaza were all developed in that short time.

[jzquince69]

great shots.

Forty VII opened up in that space at Church & Magnolia at the SE corner of Solaire. It is a dead corner, but they are doing many ad promotions with downtown clubs and they are maintaining late hours to cater to that crowd... its a great buildout for sure.

Also, Senso Supper Club is U/C on Orange just north of City Arts Factory near Ichiban.

[jzquince69]

The unit in the corner of Central & Orange next to Incredible Ink is a new nightclub (Club One?), and the other unit is Senso Supper Club. Senso is technically open as of yesterday. The buildout was really nice; the place looks snazzy; don't think the kitchen is open yet.

[jzquince69]

The Rhythm & Flow space is becoming "Jimmy John's."

"Tastings" inside Dynetech opened a couple of weeks ago. DOP was there on Thursday.

[MNiemann]

Originally Posted by jzquince69

The Rhythm & Flow space is becoming "Jimmy John's."

omg are you kidding?

now we have Subway, Sobiks, Quiznos, Pita Pit, and now a Jimmy Johns all within about 1 mile from each other. they might as well add another pizza place too

[jzquince69]

Originally Posted by MNiemann

omg are you kidding?

now we have Subway, Sobiks, Quiznos, Pita Pit, and now a Jimmy Johns all within about 1 mile from each other. they might as well add another pizza place too

lots of college towns have Jimmy John's. Winter Park has one near where I live. Awesome subs.

As for pizza... you know about the newest Gino's across from Gibson Guitar, right? I think it is only a takeout or has extremely limited seating; very small space, and very New York Cityish.

And that's the interesting thing about downtown. When you're in the other Gino's on Orange, you don't even realize it's Orlando; the building is a hundred years old and it looks like it could be in any northern US city. And that holds true for dozens and dozens of other downtown hot spots.

[jzquince69]

Jimmy Johns is getting close; Club One is close, Senso has opened, Tastings inside Dynetech has opened, and Black Olive is dangerously close to opening inside PTP.

[Hia-leah JDM]

Has all the new retail downtown stayed open going back to the real boom days, how have most of them held up? Has the economy had any effect on these small businesses.

[MNiemann]

Originally Posted by Hia-leah JDM

Has all the new retail downtown stayed open going back to the real boom days, how have most of them held up? Has the economy had any effect on these small businesses.

I think it's held up pretty well in this economy, compared to the rest of orlando--or the rest of the state for that matter. more places downtown seem to be opening than closing.

Coldstone closed at PTP...but no one really goes downtown for ice cream anyway, so that made sense. I'm not sure if Rustic steakhouse ever even opened on Church St or not, but it's gone now. Quizno's closed near the courthouse. Obviously if you click back through the post you'll see all the places that have opened, and those are the only 3 places that closed that I know of. With more people moving downtown it will offset the money that these businesses will lose with the downtown companies' layoffs.

There's also a new café that opened on Livingston St on the side of the BofA building, I'm not sure what it is called though. And Nature's Table will open anyday now where Toastissimo used to be at Jackson & Orange.

[jzquince69]

Jimmy John's opened up yesterday between Central & Pine on Orange Ave. (in Flow's old space) across the street from the Ichiban/City Arts/Rojo/Incredible Ink/Senso/Club One/Italian pizza & sub place/et. al. block.

Black Olive is getting closer inside of PTP...

[MNiemann]

Originally Posted by jzquince69

Jimmy John's opened up yesterday between Central & Pine on Orange Ave. (in Flow's old space) across the street from the Ichiban/City Arts/Rojo/Incredible Ink/Senso/Club One/Italian pizza & sub place/et. al. block.

Black Olive is getting closer inside of PTP...

omg the line was down the street today at jimmy johns. were they giving subs away for free or something?

[jzquince69]

wow. that's good news. what is it, Midnight Pizza and/or Dan's that's right next door to them?

The buildout was nice; I'm curious what's on the second level though.

I'm excited b/c it is increasing the foot traffic to that block big time. I think Banco's lobby is adjacent to them as well.

I hope the new Firestation One doesn't interfere too much with Embers once it opens.

The Gino's on Central by Gibson Guitar is like 12' by 12'. It's tiny; takeout only. Small, yet effective. I think the club between it and Incredible ink is still there...

[MNiemann]

Originally Posted by jzquince69

wow. that's good news. what is it, Midnight Pizza and/or Dan's that's right next door to them?

The Gino's on Central by Gibson Guitar is like 12' by 12'. It's tiny; takeout only. Small, yet effective. I think the club between it and Incredible ink is still there...

That little Gino's stand is so reminiscent of New York or Chicago...even Miami doesn't have stuff like that, it's great streetmosphere.


Went by Jimmy john's today and there were like 12 people working behind the counter, which is awesome that at least some people are getting jobs around here. Dan's Midnight Pizza is next door. Jimmy John's hurts it I'm sure because during the day they sell sandwiches and stuff. But JJ's looks so much cooler!

Also saw a sign go up on Pine St. next to Backbooth for a new Irish Pub/Restaurant. (Once again, there are 2 others within .5 sqmi of it, but hey whatever makes money and creates jobs...) There's also a "new downtown business" sign at Central & Rosalind, but I can't figure what it is for.

Oh oh oh! And also the former Erik's on Lake Eola across from the swans just got a huge facelift and changed their name. The menu expanded like threefold. It has been PACKED out everyday that it has not been cold or raining (from what i've seen). The food is amazing (it always was), but probably the best Greek food i've had in Orlando. And it's probably the best place you could take someone from out of town to get the "Lake Eola" feel.

[jzquince69]

well, the good people at BOA or rather the landlord had some sort of something with the people at Emmanuels on the 28th and Harvey's Bistro and now, there are none. Gone. Gone in sixty seconds? Maybe not, but gone nonetheless.

all I can say is whoah, WTF?

[MNiemann]

Originally Posted by jzquince69

well, the good people at BOA or rather the landlord had some sort of something with the people at Emmanuels on the 28th and Harvey's Bistro and now, there are none. Gone. Gone in sixty seconds? Maybe not, but gone nonetheless.

all I can say is whoah, WTF?

wow, where will people go now when they want to spend $200 per person on a meal? and i don't say this condescendingly, but I kind of felt like having a really really expensive restaurant at the top of downtown that the rich and celebrit-esque could go to is kind of what every "big city" has to have. that totally blows.

[jzquince69]

I keep getting it wrong; its Manuel's on the 28th;

yeah, I think, and its just a gut feeling, that the Manuel's people might start talking with the 55W people, since they announced plans to perhaps have an eatery on their top floor.

[jzquince69]

Black Olive had their Grand Opening last week. the place looks real nice. good food, great atmosphere.

[MNiemann]

O'Naturals and Häägen-Dazs both closed and vacated the Central Ave food court :-(

Brick and Fire and the famous Cheyenne Saloon both closed on Church St :-(

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Senso opened on Orange next to Pita Pit. The atmosphere is wonderful, the lunch food is good, but dinner is too pricey.

Nature's Table opened up in the old Toastissimo location at jackson & orange

Tropical Smoothie Café (yes they really do have a good, large selection of food) opened up on Washington near the railroad tracks.

Club Icon opened up (again?) on Central Ave.

530 Lakeside restaurant opened up at the base of the American Momentum building on Central. The food is really good, and lunch prices are reasonable.



So things downtown are closing...but there's also a lot opening, so it's only slightly sad.