Here's a look at the best new 10 Orlando restaurants, hotels, party rooms, corporate event venues, conference centers, and private rooms to open this winter. 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.
Take in views of all four Walt Disney World Resort parks from the terrace at Capa, a rooftop restaurant that opened at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando in October. The elegant restaurant is decorated in grey, crimson, and black with dark wood, high ceilings, and an open kitchen. The menu is inspired by Basque culture of northwest Spain and southwest France with appetizers such as escargot with chorizo, tomato, and fennel and entrées such as paella and several varieties of steak. The terrace seats 31 people and the inside restaurant seats 122. Capa also has two private dining rooms that each seat 35.
The long-awaited $500 million Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts kicked off two weeks of grand-opening events November 6. The 330,000-square-foot facility in downtown Orlando has two performance theaters, a community theater, an outdoor plaza and performance space, and classrooms. The facility is available for rental for meetings and other private events, including intimate lobby spaces and a reception room with views of downtown.
The Thornton Park building that was previously home to Hue restaurant has been renovated and opened in September as Soco Restaurant. Led by executive chef and partner Greg Richie, formerly of Emeril’s Tchoup Chop and Roy’s, the kitchen specializes in Southern contemporary cuisine such as crab-stuffed deviled duck eggs and grilled meatloaf on lobster mashed potatoes. The 4,500-square-foot restaurant has a semiprivate area for 30 people and a chef’s table that seats six. There’s also a patio with seating for 50 guests.
A water-pumping station built in 1903 has been turned into Ulele, a restaurant and brewery that opened in Tampa in August. At nearly 7,000 square feet, the restaurant seats 240 people inside, 95 people in its beer garden, and 50 on the rooftop terrace with views of the Hillsborough River. The property can also accommodate private events of 400 people on its lawn. The menu is focused on items that reflect Florida’s Native American and multicultural influences, using local meats and seafood. Many items are prepared on the restaurant's barbacoa grill.
Rock 'n' roll icons Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley of KISS will open the first East Coast location of their Rock & Brews restaurant chain in Oviedo later in November. The 7,500-square-foot restaurant will have a climate-controlled patio available for semiprivate events. The menu will offer American comfort food and a full bar with a large selection of international and local craft beers. Multiple screens around the restaurant will display video footage from notable moments in rock history.
After years of sitting vacant and in disrepair, one of downtown Orlando’s iconic venues is now available again to host private events. Tremont Realty Capital purchased Orchid Garden off Church Street and invested $2 million in renovations. The updated facility has been open since May. The 9,500-square-foot venue is reminiscent of a Victorian palace, with wrought-iron railings lining sweeping staircases and balconies, opulent light fixtures, and stained-glass windows. The facility also has a fountain courtyard that holds 250 people.
Elliott’s Public House opened in August in Ivanhoe Village. The 3,800-square-foot restaurant seats 75 people inside and about 30 on a patio overlooking Lake Ivanhoe. It’s open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and focuses on pub fare made with seasonal ingredients. Items include a variety of sandwiches, salads, and burgers, along with entrées such as braised beef short ribs, grilled hanger steak, and fish and chips.
The DoubleTree by Hilton Orlando East-UCF Area opened in September following an eight-month, multimillion-dollar renovation to the property that had been a Holiday Inn. The updated 246-room, six-story hotel has a contemporary design filled with bright colors and abstract art. The hotel has 5,700 feet of event space, which includes a ballroom and seven meeting rooms, and it holds as many as 400 people for events. The hotel’s main dining option, Mingo’s Restaurant & Lounge, is the second location of the downtown Orlando eatery.
The Homewood Suites Lake Mary completed a $2 million renovation in September that included restructuring of its suites, lobby, conference space, and courtyard. The hotel has 112 suites and 1,600 square feet of meeting space, which is divided among three rooms.
Sheraton Lake Buena Vista Resort will open five additional breakout rooms in mid-December. The rooms, totalling 2,400 square feet, will be in addition to the property’s existing 20,000 square feet of meeting and event space.
