Orlando Neighborhoods

Downtown 11 spots The Central Business District around Orange Avenue, Church Street and Wall Street Plaza, plus Creative Village on its west side: a Kress five-and-dime turned steakhouse, a rooftop speakeasy on one of the oldest buildings downtown, and music rooms that have been booking bands since 1921. Lake Eola & Thornton Park 9 spots South Eola and Thornton Park, the blocks along Central Boulevard and Washington Street on the south and east sides of Lake Eola, where patios face the fountain and a tiki bar sits on top of a Vegas-style lounge. Mills 50 18 spots The district where Mills Avenue meets Colonial Drive, State Road 50, and the heart of Orlando's Vietnamese community: pho houses, a bánh mì stall in business since 1988, Michelin-listed kitchens in small rooms, and a stretch of bars and music venues up Mills Avenue. Milk District 5 spots The neighborhood around Robinson Street and Bumby Avenue, named for the dairy that anchored it, where a pie-and-waffle bakery and a barbecue-and-donut shop share a block and a roast beef counter has been open since 1968. Ivanhoe Village 4 spots North Orange Avenue along Lake Ivanhoe, where George Russell once ran a pineapple farm and Orlando's first attraction park. Now a strip of antique shops, a bistro that started as one, a wine bar inside a furniture showroom, and a bar that calls itself Orlando's iconic gay bar. Audubon Park 6 spots The Audubon Park Garden District around Corrine Drive and East End Market, the food hall where several of Orlando's most decorated kitchens got their start as stalls and pop-ups. Baldwin Park 4 spots New Broad Street by Lake Baldwin, a short run of storefronts holding three Michelin stars between two dining rooms, one of them Orlando's only two-star restaurant. College Park 4 spots Edgewater Drive and the blocks around it, with a diner that has served the neighborhood since 1969 and a vegetarian teahouse since 2004. Parramore 4 spots Orlando's historic Black neighborhood just west of downtown, where a Carter Street restaurant has fed the community since 1949 and a lounge on West Church Street shows local artists in its own gallery. SoDo 3 spots South of Downtown along Orange Avenue and Michigan Street, home to a blue-ribbon pie bakery and a family Thai kitchen cooking from Phuket recipes. Winter Park 10 spots The city just north of Orlando, centered on Park Avenue and Central Park, with sidewalk cafes, a gastropub whose owners were James Beard semifinalists four years running, and restaurants that have been on Park Avenue since the 1980s and 1990s. Dr. Phillips 5 spots Restaurant Row on Sand Lake Road and the Dellagio center, where independent dining rooms opened among orange groves in the 1980s and a James Beard winner's New World kitchen now sits. Winter Garden 4 spots Historic Plant Street in downtown Winter Garden, with a chef's table inside a historic hotel, a brewery-and-food-hall market, and an eight-seat sushi bar where guests fold cranes from the paper.