Address	629 E. Central Blvd.
City	Orlando
Phone	407-849-1800
Price	$$$
Scott's Review

The latest buzz generator in downtown Orlando restaurants is Soco, the first "from scratch" restaurant from Thornton Park Restaurant Group. The menu is Southern contemporary (which is why it's called Soco) and highlights include a stylized vesrion of chicken and dumplings and a three-meat-blend meatloaf on lobster mashed potatoes.... Read more

Address	25 W. Crystal Lake Street
City	Orlando
Phone	407-286-4225
Price	$$
Scott's Review

Sodo has a new sushi bar and grill. It’s called Sodo Sushi Bar and Grill. It took over the space of the oft troubled Olv, whose name had no hidden meaning or acronymic message. Sodo, or SoDo, is shorthand for south of downtown, which is where it is. And that’s a good place for this new restaurant, too, because there aren’t any other sushi joints anywhere nearby. Bars and grills, yes, but not sushi bars and grills. All that seems to have been required to transform the Olv space into a sushi restaurant was to plop a refrigerated case on top of the bar. Voila — or dekiagari, as they say in Japan — sushi bar. ... Read more

Address	2107 E. Semoran Blvd.
City	Apopka
Phone	407-703-4850
Price	$$
Scott's Review

The fast-casual treatment for seafood. Good quality, nice people.... Read more

Address	1915 E. Colonial Drive
City	Orlando
Phone	321-800-6352
Price	$
Scott's Review

There are several restaurants in the area that specialize in Asian street fare, but Sticky Rice sticks to the foods of Laos. The title dish comes in a plastic bag instead of a bamboo steamer as it might on the streets of Vientiane, but you eat it the same, by pulling off a bit with your fingers and dipping it into one of the provided sauces.... Read more

Address	100 S. Eola Avenue
City	Orlando
Phone	407-730-3400
Price	$$
Scott's Review

The folks who own RusTeak, the casual bistro with locations in Ocoee and College Park, have taken over the corner restaurant/bar space in the Sanctuary Condominiums building in downtown Orlando and installed the Stubborn Mule. This space most recently was occupied by Sonoma Kitchen, which originally was called Sonoma Draught House, and before that was a place called Beacon. If you’re a fan of the food at RusTeak, you’ll probably like what you taste at the Stubborn Mule. That’s not to say the menus are identical, but they do both have the same feel and approach to casual American cuisine. The Mule’s menu is smaller, something that isn’t unexpected considering that this is a smaller venue and the focus here, as with previous occupants, is more to offer edible sustenance to go with the sloshable quaffs. Indeed, the restaurant’s name is derived from the currently repopular classic Moscow Mule cocktail served in a copper cup.... Read more

Address	216 N. Park Ave.
City	Winter Park
Phone	321-422-0321
Price	$$
Scott's Review

Though smaller than the Orlando location, the Winter Park restaurant offers a dining experience that is simultaneously intimate and distanced, using the interior dining room with its full-wall window looking out to an atrium with covered dining under a never deciduous tree. And if that isn’t enough, there are also tables on the sidewalk fronting Park Avenue.... Read more

Address	2411 Curry Ford Road
City	Orlando
Phone	407-203-6505
Price	$
Scott's Review

Long anticipated brick and mortar operation for a favorite food truck. Get the tamales -- it's not called Taco Co.... Read more

Address	501 N. Orlando Ave.
City	Winter Park
Phone	321-207-0760
Price	$$
Scott's Review

Tamarind brings fine Indian cuisine to an area of town that could use some diversification. The main menu is extensive, with categories of chicken, lamb, seafood and vegetarian entrees as well as a selection of tandoori items and dosas. The lunch menu has a fraction of the items found on the dinner menu, which was disappointing at first -- I wish I had had more options, especially in terms of soups and appetizers, which are essentially nonexistent at lunchtime, a samosa being the only exception.

But everything I sampled was wonderful, and service was warm and gracious.

... Read more