Orlando Area Dining News Round-Up For April 17, 2020: Hunger St. Tacos, Gideon’s Bakehouse, Sonny’s BBQ, Tako Cheena, and More .. #OrlandoFoodies

- Michelle Snow

Hunger St. Tacos in Winter Park has partnered with Gideon's Bakehouse in Orlando for an exclusive Mexican chocolate chip cookie.

There’s a lot of Central Florida foodie news to report on from new collaborations and restaurants, to meal deals and closings.

Here is the news you need to know this week:

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Hunger St. Tacos in Winter Park has partnered with Gideon’s Bakehouse in Orlando for an exclusive “Mexican chocolate chip” cookie.

This twist on Gideon’s Original Chocolate Chip mixes the sweet crunch of Mexican Stone Ground Chocolate with their classic Cookie, adding an extra layer of flavor and texture.

It will be available, for a limited time (while supplies last daily), daily with your Hunger Street order.

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Sonny’s BBQ is launching a “Grab and Go Kit” for $47.99 this week for families to assemble as a meal.

The kit includes:

  • A slab of St. Louis ribs and two pounds of pulled or sliced pork
  • Six sandwich buns
  • Four 15 oz. Sidekicks (BBQ beans, coleslaw, green beans, or mac & cheese)
  • Option to add a rack of St. Louis ribs for $12

Available through online ordering for curbside pickup or drive-thru (where available) at all its Central Florida locations, this deal will run through May 31.

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ABC Fine Wine & Spirits is now offering contactless curbside pickup for online orders made at abcfws.com.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B-uEKyDhI4M/

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Tin & Taco has been invited to open a location inside of Orange County Brewers located in Lake Mary. Owners say they hope to have take out offerings available soon.

This will mark the Orlando brand’s fifth Central Florida location. Now they just need one on the SouthWest side of town so I don’t have to drive so far. LOL

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Tako Cheena in the Mills50 District has opened a new pizza pop-up called Pop’s Pizzeria, serving up Pizzas, Calzones and Strombolis.

Offerings are exclusively found on @ubereats (Pops Pizzeria) Tue-Sat 6pm-11pm.

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Yard House at ICON Park Orlando is now offering alcohol to go with any food purchase.

House Beer starts at $14 for 64oz growlers/$5 12oz cups, and starting at $5 for cocktails and hard seltzers.

Plus through April 30, use code YHTOGO15 to get 15% off take out orders.

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Orlando’s Taste of Chengdu has temporarily closed as of April 13. Per a note on the restauraunt’s Facebook page:

“While it is difficult to predict when it will be safe for us to reopen, rest assured that we will enthusiastically reopen to serve you again once an “all clear” is announced and we can resume dine-in service.”

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Sarasota-based First Watch has made the decision to temporarily close all of its corporate owned restaurants, including all Central Florida locations.

CEO Chris Tomasso posted a letter on the brand’s website stating:

“Our priority while our doors are closed will remain the protection of our people. We are committed to continuing our restaurant managers’ existing healthcare benefits, and First Watch will cover 100% of out-of-pocket costs, co-pays and deductibles for any medical visits related to Covid-19.

We’ve also invested in telemedicine benefits for every First Watch employee and their family, at no cost to them, so all have access to medical professionals who can diagnose, authorize testing and even prescribe medications.

Finally, we have committed to making our restaurant managers financially whole by providing a bonus upon their return to work to close the gap between the federal and state benefits they received and their First Watch salary.

These benefits are being funded in part by significant cost reductions and senior leadership pay cuts through 2020, to ensure the security and longevity of our restaurant teams.”

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FoodFirst Global Restaurants filed last week for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. They are the Orlando-headquartered parent company of Italian restaurant chains Brio and Bravo.

Several locations, including the Brio at Mall at Millenia and Brio Tampa, are still open for curbside pickup during the pandemic, but the Brio in Winter Park Village no longer appears on the company’s website page of restaurant locations.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B_C3kMMBF9U/

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The 2020 Tampa Bloody Mary Festival, scheduled for April 26, has been postponed to the fall. New date TBA. All tickets will be valid for the new rescheduled date.

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[Top photo courtesy Hunger St Tacos]

About Michelle Snow

Michelle is the owner and editor of CitySurfing Orlando. She also owns Zengrrl.com, is a freelance writer specializing in travel and entertainment, has authored/co-authored four guidebooks on Orlando and Florida, and is head editor/writer at TheDisneyBlog.com. She's lived in Orlando near Walt Disney World since 1995, and still finds there's so much fun to be had in Central Florida.
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