Favorite Orlando, FL Spots

1,000 miles later, we're in our new fair city! Previously, I posted an entry of our last year in our downtown Orlando house. And now, through our years in Winter Park, then Thornton Park, and now in Wicker Park, I'm including the top Orlando spots that I will miss dearly. I find some of these to be the best kept secrets of Central Florida.

Also, there are only two days left for you to enter to win a pair of glasses from Firmoo.com! See my giveaway here.

Shopping

East End Market | This indoor market is my favorite place to spend a weekend afternoon. We love getting a beer or glass of wine here, then shopping for sandwiches or cheese to bring home, or sitting outside listening to an acoustic musician. There's a fabulous coffee roaster, Lineage, and my favorite garden shop, Porch Therapy. There's also the 7-seat Japanese restaurant in this market that is always busy so I've never been able to eat there! It's called Kappo and the chefs prepare the food right in front of you, and each dish is meticulously constructed with care [and sometimes tweezers].

Orange Tree Antiques Mall | This is the antique shop that S and I have been shopping at for years. It's made up of little booths, each one with it's own style. We've found many treasures here. There's affordable furniture, mid-century kitchen wares, and all the way in the back there is a room full of vinyl records. Each record is $5 and these days, it's organized by genre. Records used to be piled high and hidden low under tables, uncategorized, making the hunt half the fun.

Adjectives Market | This is a newer antique shop that we go to. It's called a market because this one is also made up of different vendor booths. A year or two ago we found an orange Plycraft chair there, and we bought it as an anniversary gift to each other. There's also a vendor that mounts taxidermy insects, so of course, we love to see what new bugs are in.

Curio Curiosity Shoppe | This shop is smaller than my second bedroom, and it's very dimly lit, like a closet full of treasures. S has found many rare items here, including an old Chinese opium pipe that a woman had to sell to them because she was moving back to China, where it's illegal to even own an opium pipe. S never bought it because it was a little more expensive than we wanted to spend for an item that we would never use, it would just sit on our shelf. After a year of thinking about it, S went back to the shop to finally buy it, because he always remembered it. When he went in, the shop owner said that he sold it not even an hour before. Like I said before, the hunt is one of the most enjoyable parts of antiquing.

Edge Salon Oviedo | I've worked at a few different salons as a hairstylist while getting my college degree. I still have my hair license and out of all the salons I've worked at, the one stylist I continue to go to is Connie at Edge Salon. She is an American Board Certified Colorist and taught me everything I know. She is a scientist with chemicals and a magician with styling. Other salons where I know the hairstylists and know how wonderfully talented they are include Bekka at Trim Salon and Spa, and Didi at Atelier Salon and Studio.

Eating

Ravenous Pig | Our favorite restaurant, where we ate many a monumental and memorable meal like the night we got engaged. Not only was it the best meal of our lives (I sincerely mean that) but that night topped all other nights because during our port wine night cap back at our apartment, S proposed.

Sapporo Ramen | This is the only place I have found in Orlando to get a good bowl of ramen! I like to get a hard-boiled egg in mine, as well as a side of takoyaki (fried octopus). It gets busy on weekends, so we try to arrive as soon as they open.

Prato | This is my other favorite restaurant, and this one's menu is Italian.  They have the best pizza pie in Orlando called the Widowmaker - so good it can kill a man. There's an egg in the middle and it comes out hot from the pizza oven in the restaurant, the egg perfectly runny for dipping by the crust in. There's also other amazing dishes like stuffed squash blossoms, beef carpaccio, and they make all of their pasta noodles in house. Heaven!

Chuan Lu | Hand. Pulled. Noodles. Yes! There an amazing dish called Dan Dan with pork and the noodles. It's incredibly savory and has a particular kind of spiciness to it that is almost like licking a 9-volt battery. It's amazing, trust me. Also, szechuan wontons. Theirs are buttery and spicy, and absolutely melt-in-your-mouth.

Nile Ethiopian Cuisine | Hidden in the touristy area of I-Drive (near the theme parks) is this fantastic Ehtiopian restaurant were you can sit inside a little hut, around a small table, eating with your hands and sharing a delicious meal with friends.

Infusion Tea | One of my favorite places to go out for lunch during the work week. I love getting 1/2 a roasted pear and balsamic salad with 1/2 of a goat cheese panini. My favorite tea here is the Genmaicha, which is a green tea and little pieces of roasted brown rice. The flavor of the brown rice makes it taste a bit like popcorn! So wonderful.

Se7en Bites | For years that S and I have lived in Orlando, we did not had a good breakfast place. Only recently did we try this place for Sunday brunch and I am so sad that I've been missing out all of these years! Every time I go my meal gets better and better. Also, in addition to walking away with a belly-full of delicious breakfast, we always walk away with a dessert from their display for later. Every single dessert has been better than the next!

Ceviche Tapas | We also visit the St. Petersburg, FL location which is on the water, but I love the Orlando location for it's downtown/lively atmosphere. I love their red wine sangria, and their plate of house-cured ham and cheeses. Everything is small plates so it's perfect for sharing and nibbling. My favorite kind of meals are made up of courses, filling up on different things rather than one large portion of the same dish.

Stardust Coffee and Video | This has been a staple to Orlando since before I started college here. It started as a coffee shop and VHS/DVD rental place for independent and hard-to-find films. Slowly, they converted the film section into more seating and a bar. At night, they have great events like local music shows and poetry slams. During the day, it was always a great place to study for exams together. The photobooth still remains, and we have many strips from that booth.

Pom Pom's Teahouse and Sandwicheria | There is a sandwich here called Mama Ling Ling's Thanksgiving sandwich. Mashed potatoes and gravy on a turkey sandwich? Always. The Fu Man Chu sandwich is also a favorite here. Plus, on weekends this place is 24 hours. There were many college nights that we would go here with friends.

Drinking 

Hansons Shoe Repair | This is a true speak-easy where you have to know the password in order to get in. Even if you know the password, finding it can be sort of tricky because you need to know where to go. It is actually up three flights, inside of another bar. Hands down, the best cocktail in Orlando is made here by the bartender Rene. It's called an English Channel made with gin, vermouth, orange bitters, and the glasses is rinsed with cynar - an artichoke liquor.

The Courtesy Bar | Also another great cocktail bar. Plus, how can  you beat $4 wines during happy hour? They update their cocktails every season, and they even serve absinthe with a chilled water drip over a sugar cube on a slotted spoon.

The Woods | Another cocktail bar, and I like to think of their cocktails as a little heartier. It's an upstairs bar on the main downtown strip so you can quietly look over the crowds if you snag a window seat. Not sure if they still do this, but onWednesdays  they serve a slice of crispy bacon with your cocktail.

Wall St | This is where we go to meet a huge group of friends for events like Halloween and St Pattys day. We bar hop and the street is closed off, making it a festive and lively time. We ALWAYS make sure to Uber home after an evening of bacchanal on Wall St.

Exploring

Downtown Thornton Park | I've written a detailed post on our little neighborhood near downtown Orlando. We love everything from the monthly wine and art walks to the tree-lined streets to the French bakery on the corner. We are close to the action like the downtown strip, but also a few minutes closer to old family homes and the weekly farmers market.

Famers Market | So many market here's! Our favorites are Winter Park, Lake Eola, and Lake Lilly. We live a few blocks away from the Lake Eola market where there's vendors, live music, and endless mimosas. However, we have a soft spot for Lake Lily's market because it calm, shaded, lots of favorite vendors like Olde Hearth Bread Company (their fig and anise baguette is incredible!) and the super affordable produce guy. Lastly, we do love Winter Park's farmers market because we rented that building for our wedding, an old train depot with market lights. It is a very special place to us. Before I moved to Orlando I would visit S and he would always take me to that market on Saturday mornings for us to walk aimlessly, share a bagel, drink some fresh-squeezed lemonade, and just enjoy what would be my future home.

Winter Park's Christmas in the Park | Of all the holiday events, this is the one S and I make sure to attend every single year. The city lights up Tiffany windows from the local Morse Museum. The historic Casa Feliz house serves cookies and has an open-house. We grab decadent hot cocoa from Barneys and we listen to the choir and carolers on the stage. Families set up elaborate picnics with chairs, tables, candles, and bottles of wine. A simple blanket or even just a walk through the park, it's enjoyable no matter how you do it.

Timucua White House | For music events, this is the place. This is actually a residential house, built for acoustics. The owners are very much involved in the music scene and built a room in their house with a stage and a spiral staircase that goes up three floors of seating. Different performances have different admission prices, but sometimes you can bring a bottle of wine to share or a plate of food to share as admission.

Flying Horse Editions | Our friend works here and actually printed our wedding invitations on these very presses! A few times a year they host a Letterpress Happy Hour where you enjoy some drinks, you're given pre-designed and pre-printed cards, you just pick the letters for the inside phrase. The staff shows you how to operate the press yourself!

Lastly, Orlando Science Center | I've learned everything I know from this museum and it's events department. From our beautiful outdoor terrace with market lights, to our dinosaur exhibit that I know so well that I could navigate it in the dark (and I have), to our observatory with the largest refractory telescope in Florida, this place has been my second home for the majority that I've lived in Orlando.