10 New Venues in Orlando/Central Florida for Spring Meetings and Events

Kona Grill, with locations in 23 states, opened its first Central Florida location in November in Winter Park. The menu is a mix of global fare including flatbreads, burgers, pasta, and sushi. The 7,000-squar-foot restaurant seats 248 people, with 160 seats inside and 88 on a patio. It’s also available for buyout for as many as 300. The restaurant serves lunch and dinner daily.

Following a multimillion-dollar renovation to the physical structure and menu, Planet Hollywood’s flagship location at Disney Springs reopened January 30 as the new Planet Hollywood Observatory. Walls and glass displays throughout the restaurant are filled with imagery and a curated collection of memorabilia from the film industry. The four-story venue is available for buyout and accommodates 1,100 people. There are multiple options for smaller groups, including the outdoor Stargazers lounge, which holds 150 people for receptions, and the second, third, and fourth floors of the building, which holds between 200 and 525 people each for receptions. Updated technology has been added to the space, including a 4,500-square-foot video wall that can display a custom message for people attending private events. The menu includes a selection of burgers and sandwiches created by celebrity chef Guy Fieri. It’s open daily from 11 a.m. to 1 a.m.

In keeping with the transformation of Downtown Disney into Disney Springs, Levy Restaurants has updated its iconic restaurant aboard a steamboat—the former Fulton’s Crab House—into Paddlefish. The nearly 32,000-square-foot venue seats 525 people inside and holds 1,000 people for receptions. Docked on the shores of Lake Buena Vista, Paddlefish is the only restaurant in Disney Springs to offer rooftop-level, waterfront seating, with space for 234 people. There are also two private dining rooms that accommodate 40 and 80 people, respectively. It opened February 4 and serves lunch, dinner, and Sunday brunch. The rooftop deck is open for late-night drinks and dining until 2 a.m.

Main Event Entertainment opened its first Florida location in November. The 50,000-square-foot dining and entertainment complex at Pointe Orlando houses more than 100 virtual and interactive games, a ropes course, laser tag, 22 bowling lanes, a new multiplayer virtual reality game called V-Play Reality, and 64 flat-screen TVs. The venue is available for buyout for as many as 1,200 people. There are also two private rooms that hold 50 and 90 people, respectively. For dining, Main Event serves casual fare such as sandwiches, pizza, salads, and steaks. It also has a full bar.

Ravenous Pig opened in a new location December 3. The restaurant took over the 6,000-square-foot space that used to house Cask & Larder, owned by the same husband-and-wife partnership of James and Julie Petrakis. The menu is largely the same—gastropub fare based on seasonal ingredients—with some of the most popular Cask & Larder items available as well. The restaurant has seating for 140 people, and the space is available for buyouts of 200. A private room located between the main dining room and the bar seats 30. For groups of as many as 12, a table can be placed inside the on-site brewery. There are also 25 seats on the front patio. For groups of 10 or more people staying near the Orange County Convention Center, the restaurant will pay for roundtrip van transportation. It’s open for lunch and dinner Monday through Saturday and for brunch on Sunday.

Park Lights Hospitality Group, owners of Luma on Park and Prato, have opened Luke’s Kitchen and Bar in Maitland. The menu is focused on “classic American cuisine and cocktails,” such as peppered prime rib with heirloom carrots and béarnaise and a seafood tower with oysters, Florida shrimp, Alaskan king crab, bay scallops, lobster, and clams. The 6,700-square-foot, two-story venue has a contemporary design with an open kitchen and oyster bar. It seats 220 guests. There is also a private dining room that seats 24 and a patio that seats 58. Luke’s serves lunch and dinner daily. It opened January 9.

Hemisphere restaurant at the Hyatt Regency Orlando International Airport reopened in November following a $3 million renovation. The 3,000-square-foot restaurant is located on the ninth floor of the hotel and has floor-to-ceiling windows facing the airport runway. The restaurant has seating for 164 people. There is also a private dining room that seats 24 people. The menu is focused on international flavors made with local ingredients. Hemisphere serves a breakfast buffet daily and dinner Monday through Saturday.

Bulla Gastrobar opened in September in Winter Park. The 5,500-square-foot restaurant serves Spanish fare and seats more than 200 people in the dining room and 46 on a patio. There is also a private dining room that seats 55 and can be divided into two spaces. The decor is a mix of deep blues, leather, and dark and light wood tones. Menu highlights include Huevos Bulla, with eggs, homemade potato chips, Serrano ham, potato foam, and truffle oil, and Croquetas de Jamón, Iberian ham croquettes served with fig jelly. The restaurant is open daily for lunch and dinner and serves brunch on weekends.

The Grove Resort & Spa is billing itself as an alternative to traditional meeting hotels. The first phase is scheduled to open March 10, with 184 suites and 6,000 square feet of flexible indoor meeting space as well as poolside, lawn, and garden venues. When it’s completed, the 106-acre property will have 878 one-, two-, and three-bedroom suites with full kitchens, screened balconies, and full-size washers and dryers. For entertainment, the property will offer four swimming pools, a spa, a water park with a surf simulator and lazy river, and fishing at the resort’s Lake Austin Pier. There will also be multiple restaurants and bars on the property, including Valencia with indoor and outdoor seating for 221 people.

The Brewstillery in Winter Park is a new venue that houses the Bear and Peacock Brewery and Winter Park Distilling Company. The 2,000-square-foot venue opened in November and is available for buyout for as many as 80 people. There’s also a large lawn area that can be used by private groups. Tours and tastings are available. The distillery and brewery are separated by a glass wall where customers can watch the distilling process.