Here's a look at the best new Orlando restaurants, hotels, party rooms, corporate event venues, conference centers, and private rooms to open this fall. These new and renovated Orlando venues can accommodate groups large or small for private and corporate events, meetings, business dinners, cocktail parties, conferences, weddings, and more.
White linen-covered tables and deep red walls adorned with paintings of French scenery provide a cozy atmosphere at Bistro CloClo, a French restaurant that opened in April just off Restaurant Row. The restaurant seats 80 people inside and 48 on the covered patio. The menu includes traditional French fare such as moules marinierès, steak au poivre, and coq au vin. Management is currently updating the menu to add more small plate options.
Cooper’s Hawk Winery and Restaurant opens on International Drive September 15. The 11,000-square-foot venue will include a casual restaurant, a full-service bar, a private barrel-aging room, and a Napa-style tasting room and retail store. The main dining area will have seats for 262 people inside and 71 on a patio. There will also be a private dining room for 50 people. The menu will offer contemporary American dishes with bin numbers listed next to each item to guide guests in selecting one of the company’s proprietary wines.
Highball & Harvest is the newest restaurant at the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes, offering casual, interactive dining and handcrafted cocktails. The menu is focused on Southern Lowcountry fare and Cajun-inspired dishes, with ingredients from local vendors as well as the resort’s own 7,000-square-foot Whisper Creek Farm. It's open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Thick drapes section off two semiprivate dining rooms, one for 46 people and the other for 35. The restaurant’s design was inspired by old-fashioned railroads and includes communal seating, a large bar and lounge area, a raw oyster bar, and two outdoor areas. The restaurant opened September 6 and seats 385 people.
Walt Disney World Resort has a new luxury hotel with the opening of Four Seasons Resort Orlando in August. The 443-room hotel has a 37,750-square-foot conference center that includes a 14,000-square-foot ballroom. The hotel also has a variety of outdoor areas suitable as event venues for as many as 720 guests. There are six dining options on property, including the rooftop Capa restaurant, scheduled to open in late September. The resort also has a full-service spa, a Tom Fazio-designed golf course, and views of the nightly Magic Kingdom fireworks.
South Florida-based Duffy’s Sports Grill will open in late September near Mall at Millenia, in the space that was formerly Crave restaurant. The 8,000-square-foot venue will have two private rooms, one for 40 people and the other for 75, and a covered patio that will seat 50. Sports fans will appreciate the more than 100 62-inch, HD TVs throughout the restaurant. The menu will offers sports bar fare such as burgers and wings along with sandwiches, pasta, and grilled items.
RA Sushi opened June 30 at Pointe Orlando. The restaurant’s Asian architecture and decor accentuate the menu of sliced-to-order sushi, signature rolls, and sashimi along with Japanese-fusion dishes and Asian-inspired cocktails. The 6,500-square-foot space seats about 260 people or holds 400 for receptions. There is a semiprivate dining area for 24 people and a patio with seating for 73. This is the chain's 26th location.
The Rosen Centre Hotel opened Harry’s Poolside Bar & Grill in June. The restaurant offers indoor and outdoor seating in a casual atmosphere accented with live tropical music. The combined indoor-outdoor space is also available for buyout and seats 60 people banquet-style or holds 200 for receptions. The menu offers a mix of Cuban and Caribbean flavors such as a Jamaican jerk turkey burger and a mojo chicken sandwich.
B Resort & Spa opened near Walt Disney World in June. The hotel has 394 guest rooms and suites and more than 25,000 square feet of flexible event space, which includes a 5,400-square-foot outdoor area. A separate banquet kitchen allows for the hosting of kosher and other culturally authentic functions. The hotel’s main restaurant, American Q, was developed with Jeffrey Chodorow of China Grill and Asia de Cuba fame. The restaurant’s appetizer buffet is served from the bed of a 1950s Ford pickup truck. The hotel also has a zero-edge pool with cabanas and an Aveda spa.
Starwood Hotels & Resorts has turned Tampa’s century-old federal courthouse into Le Méridien Tampa. The building underwent a $26 million renovation before opening in late June. Elements of the original courthouse remain, including the marble and terrazzo lobby as well as oak door frames and window casings. The hotel has 130 guest rooms and more than 4,000 square feet of event space, including a ballroom for 150 guests seated banquet-style. The hotel also has a full-service restaurant and bar, an outdoor pool, and a fitness facility. Guests can use their room cards for complimentary access to the nearby Tampa Museum of Art.
Charlotte, North Carolina-based Firebirds Wood Fired Grill opened its first Florida location in July in the Market at Mills Park. The upscale-casual restaurant is open for lunch and dinner and also offers catering. As the name implies, the menu is focused on wood-fired entreés such as steaks, chicken, seafood, and ribs, all prepared in an exhibition kitchen. The restaurant seats 50 on a patio and 330 inside, which has a large bar and decor of dark wood with stone accents.
