The Old Spanish Sugar Mill, which announced in August that it would close for renovations after a new vendor took it over, has reopened, though the name now is Old Sugar Mill Pancake House. The previous name must have sounded too ethnic. The popular DeLeon Springs breakfast stop had been operated for 61 years by members of the Schwarze family. Guest Services, Inc., a Fairfax, Va., company that operates concessions in state and national parks throughout the country, won the bid to operate the restaurant for the next 10 years. The concept remains the same, with guests sitting at tables outfitted with griddles onto which pancake batter is poured. Many, many people consider this to be fun.
Bruno’s Oysters has opened at Plant Street Market in Winter Garden in the facility’s Barrel Room. Culinarily speaking, whenever something with Bruno in its name opens, it’s usually either Bruno Fonseca or Bruno Zacchini of Pizza Bruno. In this case it’s Fonseca, who also operates The Foreigner, a non-Asian omakase dinner experience that pops up in different places but will eventually have a permanent home in Audubon Park. If the Winter Garden seafood joint was owned by Zacchini, it would be called Oysters Bruno.
Taco Kat has opened in the former Cleo’s Lounge space at 11 Court Ave. in downtown Orlando. According to its website, the restaurant is “the home of the Sonora wheat Tacos,” just in case you need to address mail to a Sonora wheat taco.
Also downtown, Oliv Bar, the I’d-like-to-buy-a-vowel lounge at 745 Magnolia Ave., will host Beauty & the Beast: An Immersive Cocktail Experience beginning Nov. 30. Drinks and food and a story line based on the fairy tale. It’s from the same people who brought The Alice Cocktail Experience, also at Oliv, to town last summer. That one was based on Alice in Wonderland, not Alice Cooper or Alice B. Toklas, either of which would have had more allure.
North of downtown, which for some reason is called the North Quarter and not NoDo, a new bar is planned for Camden North Quarter apartments. The Sentinel’s Austin Fuller reports that Gravity Taproom will open sometime next year. Finally! Those poor apartment dwellers have had to walk almost a block away to find a bar.
