In this week’s Orlando dining news round-up: several openings, special menu items, and a wine dinner. Are you hungry? Let’s dive in…
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Voodoo Doughnut is now officially open at Universal CityWalk at Universal Orlando and is the first Voodoo Doughnut on the east coast. Co-founders Kenneth “Cat Daddy” Pogson and Tres Shannon led the celebration, where – for the very first time live in person – they introduced the brand icon, the Baron of Voodoo Doughnut.
Food Network’s Eat St. show will be returning to Orlando to film a Flavors of Florida episode, and fans are invited to show up and maybe be filmed, as well.
Six Orlando trucks have made the cut for the show, and here is the list and when their segments will be shot:
Friday, January 10 – Bem Bom
Location: Southeast Steel (63 W. Amelia St., Orlando) at noon
Serving up Portuguese food, the menu for the shoot will include Chicken Piri-Piri Prego, “Running Duck” Tacos, Fresh Ground Lamb Burger, and Mango Painted Fish Tacos.
If you’re like me and you’ve been waiting for a west side location to all of these food truck gatherings, you’ll be happy to know that it looks like Dr. Phillips will be added to the list by the end of the month.
The DailyCity.com is organizing one that will be held at the Jewish Community Center (JCC) parking lot starting August 31, 2011, and then every Wednesday after that. The event will run from 4:30pm to 9pm.
The initial Dr. Phillips Food Truck Pod so far has six trucks lined up: Bigwheel Provisions, Treehouse Truck, The Crooked Spoon, Korean BBQ Taco Box, WInter Park Fish Co and the Yum Yum Cupcake Truck.
The JCC is located at 11184 S. Apopka-Vineland Rd, about a mile up the road from the intersection of Palm Parkway and Apopka-Vineland, by Walt Disney World.
So, if you live on the west or southwest side of Orlando and have been wanting to check out some of Orlando’s food trucks, this makes it a lot easier.
Got plans for dinner tomorrow?
Then you’ll want to head over to the Plaza Live for their first ever Food Truck Heaven event.
Yup, it’s another food truck gathering, but it sure saves you the trouble of having to hunt them down individually, right?
Local food trucks participating in the event include Las 4 Estaciones Orlando, Taco Loco, Jauncho’s Grill, Arepas el Cacao, Shipyard, The Taco Lady, Big Brunos Bites, Pupusas, Pinchomania, Casa De Chef, Jazzydog, and Mr. Softee Ice Cream, to name a few.
Other local vendors who will be participating in Food Truck Heaven include: Tia’s Plantain Chips; Demeter’s Harvest (selling fresh salsas and dips); Luther’s Produce (local produce farmer); Universal Spiritual Elements (selling empowering Quartz Crystals/ precious stones & jewelry); Pleasant Earth Soap Co. (selling handmade healthy soaps); and De la Cruz (featuring amazing artwork).
This event takes place from 5pm to midnight and features over 15 trucks, a beer garden, entertainment and free parking.
You’ll find Plaza Live at 425 North Bumby Ave, just south of Colonial Plaza and E. Colonial Ave.
The food truck phenomena has firmly taken hold in Orlando, so since the first Orlando Food Bazaar in March went so well, The Daily City has decided to organize another.
Bazaar #2 will take place this Sunday, May 1, 2011, in the Dillards parking lot at Fashion Square Mall (E. Colonial Dr). The event will run from 7pm to midnight and that’s a firm cut-off – if you’re in line and haven’t ordered by midnight, you won’t be able to. So get there early.
The second incarnation of the Bazaar will feature more food trucks to try out. As of today, the following trucks are scheduled to appear:
There will also be DJs, live podcasting and an Orlando Food Blogger table so you can meet the people behind several local food blogs.
The event is free; the food is not. Bring chairs or something to sit on while you eat. Bring cash in low denominations ($1 & $5 bills). Bring patience – the lines are usually long and trucks may occasionally run out of items.
Most importantly, bring your appetite.
Find out more about the event at The Daily City blog.
While I’m working hard to bring you news and reviews of things happening around Orlando and its surroundings, there are some other great blogs out there who are doing the same.
So here are some recent posts that you might enjoy reading:
The Orlando Sentinel has a recap of last Wednesday’s first Orlando Food Truck Pod downtown at the Firestone Live. Don’t forget – it happens every Wednesday.
YourBeerNetwork has an article about drinking around the World at Epcot. Dave should come back in the fall for Food & Wine fest when there are even more beer options.
Travelin’ Gringo headed out to last weekend’s Leesburg Bikefest and brought back photos.
Travel Channel’s Bert the Conqueror was out at Universal’s Wizarding World of Harry Potter and has a teaser video to prove it.
Back to the Orlando Sentinel, where the review of Ricky Martin’s recent concert makes me wish I’d been there, too.
Pulse of Central Florida attended the Scissor Sisters show at the Hard Rock Live. I love that band! Some great photos, too.
Another great photo gallery to check out is Tasty Chomps post on the Great American Pie Festival from last weekend.
Have you written something about Orlando online, or have you read something worth sharing? Drop us a note with the link and we could share it here next week.
While I’m working hard to bring you news and reviews of things happening around Orlando and its surroundings, there are some other great blogs out there who are doing the same.
So here are some recent posts that you might enjoy reading:
The Orlando Sentinel reports on last Saturday’s PILLOWLANDO pillow fight downtown – with video, even. Central Florida Top 5 also has a small video clip from the event.
Eat Local Orlando recently did a Latin Food Truck crawl along South O.B.T., near the Central Florida Parkway – sounds yummy.
Meanwhile, the Pulse of Central Florida checked out Velvet Sessions with Taylor Dayne at the end of March. Got some great video and photos, too.
Glen covered the Mustangs & Mustangs show at Fantasy of Flight in Polk City for his blog Travelin’ Gringo. Very cool photos.
Orlando Attractions Magazine has a short video clip of Duran Duran taping their Ellen DeGeneres performance at CityWalk.
Back at the Orlando Sentinel is this photo recap of the Spring Fiesta in the Park last weekend.
And we wrap up with the Orlando Sentinel‘s photo gallery from tonight’s Lil Wayne concert at the Amway Arena.
Have you written something about Orlando online, or have you read something worth sharing? Drop us a note with the link and we could share it here next week.
It seems the food truck phenomenon is catching on in Orlando. As a result, more truck collective events are being staged.
First was last month’s The Daily City Food Truck Bazaar, and now comes Food Pod Wednesdays.
Not sure if this will be a weekly event, but the inaugural one will take place April 6, in the parking lot of Firestone Live (578 North Orange Ave) in downtown Orlando.
Food trucks scheduled to attend include:
The event starts at 6pm and is free to attend, just pay for your food and drinks. You can RSVP or get more information from their Facebook or Yelp pages.
Sounds like fun!