Here are some quick tips for Valentine’s Day in Orlando, plus Mardi Gras, Super Bowl Sunday and more.
You’ve got a busy two weeks ahead. Super Bowl, Mardi Gras, Valentine’s Day… I’m stuffed just typing that. What to do? Edible Orlando writer John Graham has looked into the future and has your food fun best bets around Orlando and Central Florida for the next 14 days.
Ongoing
The Seven Seas Food Festival is back at SeaWorld Orlando on select dates through May 19. Park admission gets you access to purchase and sample 50 global cuisine options, more than 80 wine and cocktail selections and 65 craft beers. Food choices include smoked lamb ribs, mojo pork tostones, and whiskey maple bacon cinnamon rolls. Premium packages include food and beverage discounts and better seating for concerts including Josh Turner, Night Ranger, Kool and the Gang, and Gente De Zona.
Universal Orlando is celebrating Mardi Gras season through April 7, included with park admission. Food options for purchase include global Carnival foods such as crawfish étouffée from Louisiana, patatas bravas and ensalada de pulpo (fried potatoes and octopus salad) from Spain, and zabaglione with berries from Italy. Concerts on select nights include Luis Fonsi, Queen Latifah, Walker Hayes, and Barenaked Ladies.
At EPCOT and Walt Disney World, the International Festival of the Arts wraps up on Feb. 19. Options at food kiosks include duck and dumplings, Japanese wagyu buns, lobster tostada, and bone marrow with onion marmalade.
Saturday, Feb 3
The Cookout! (with exclamation point) will be at Nona Adventure Park, 3 – 7 p.m., with local barbecuers competing to be declared the best and BBQ vendors selling to spectators. Live music will be jazz and DJs with games including spades, dominoes, and cornhole. Adult admission to Nona Adventure Park is $13.32 for adults and free for kids up to 12. VIP passes for $41.74 let you sample all barbecue competitors and vote for the people’s choice award.
Monday, Feb. 5
The Audubon Park Community Market is celebrating 15 years of night markets at Stardust Video and Coffee, 5 – 8 p.m. That means, in addition to the market, they’ll have live music, prizes, and pop-ups from former merchants. As far as food, Chef Jes Tantalo (now nearby at Redlight Redlight) will be serving up fish tacos with Wild Ocean Market. And since we’re talking Redlight, the brewpub will be serving a roselle (aka Florida cranberry or hibiscus) lemonade hard seltzer with Everoak Farm.
Thursday, Feb. 8
Sushi Saint, at Downtown Orlando’s Creative Village, is setting aside 6- 8 p.m. to team with Monte Rio Cellars for a night of wines paired with small plates. Monte Rio’s owner/winemaker Patrick Cappiello will be there for what Sushi Saint plans as the start of a winemaker series. Tickets are $87.21 with tax and fees.
Saturday, Feb. 10
It’s cold beer and hot chili at Hourglass Brewing in Longwood, 2 – 7 p.m. for a Craft Chili Cookoff. Your $24.80 (after tax and service charge) ticket gets you unlimited sampling of 20 chilis and 50 percent off your first beer. 
The Wah Lum Kung Fu Temple’s lion dance team will be stopping at a few Mills 50 restaurants (and beyond) to celebrate the Lunar New Year and bless the businesses. They’ll hit Pho Huang Lan at 11:15 a.m., Anh Hong at 11: 45 a.m., Paris Banh Mi at 12:15 p.m., iFresh Market at 12:45 p.m., Peter’s Kitchen at 1:30 p.m., Pho Drive Thru on South Orange Blossom Trail at 2 p.m., Crazy Buffet on S. OBT at 3 p.m., P.F. Chang’s in Winter Park at 5 p.m., Poke Hana (at in Mills 50) at 5:30 p.m., Chi Kin at 6 p.m., Lam’s Garden at 6:30 p.m., and Mamak at 7:15 p.m. If you miss all that, Sunday, the dragon team will be at Phuoc Loc Tho Super Oriental Market at noon and Crazy Buffet on W. Colonial at 1:30 p.m.
Sunday, Feb. 11
Chef Richard Blais will spend Superbowl Sunday at his Four Flamingos restaurant in the Hyatt Regency Grand Cypress Resort for a Super Brunch from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. promising fresh Florida ingredients and an optional bottomless Mimosas or Bloody Mary bar. Menu items will include raw bar, slider station, ricotta pancake station, tailgate station and two small plates with options such as PB&J wings, BBQ shrimp and grits, and coffee-rubbed NY strip. The price is $92 for adults and $45 for children 12 and under. That bottomless mimosa/bloody Mary bar is $25. All prices are before taxes and 18% service charge.
The new Stadium Club at Caribe Royale Orlando is open for an exclusive ticketed event that just so happens to be on Superbowl Sunday. Tickets range between $25 and $55 depending on where you’re sitting, but the sports bar does have over 100 screens. They’ll also have DJs, free soft drinks and chips and salsa, drink specials, a special menu, and an after-party that goes until 2 a.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 13
Mardi Gras, or Fat Tuesday, is a chance to get in that last bit of gluttony before Lent. Of course, Tibby’s New Orleans Kitchen is having a party, 5 – 10 p.m., at all three locations: Altamonte Springs, Winter Park, and Brandon. That’s a live band, $10 hurricanes, special menu items, and Mardi Gras costumes are encouraged.
To others, Feb 13 is Galentine’s Day, and you can celebrate that too. Reyes Mezcaleria is throwing a “Dia de Galentines” party with an elote (Mexican street corn) bar, light bites, a welcome drink and drink specials after that, plus loteria (kinda like bingo), for $69.99 per two people. Vanberry’s Public House Galentine’s Party is hosted by Emily Fontano (SAK Comedy Lab) and Sabrina Ambra (RealRadio 104.1) with bingo, drink specials featuring woman-owned breweries and distilleries, and market with booths by women creators. Each $55.20 ticket includes two cocktails/mocktails, light bites, dessert, and a swag bag. Vines on Sand Lake Rd. will celebrate Galentine’s Day with an $85 three-course prix fixe menu or a $175 four-course meal for two and live music by Ella and the Bossa Beat , 6:30 – 9:30 p.m.
Wednesday, Feb. 14
What do you make for dinner on Valentine’s Day? Reservations!
Domu (on Corrine) Wine Down Wednesday has a special Valentine spin, 5:30- 9 p.m., with bottomless wine, sangria, bubbles, and beer on tap; light bites (as long as they last), DJ Omakase (Edoboy), and spilling out into the East End Market courtyard. Tickets are $24.69 after taxes and fees.
The restaurants of JW Marriott Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort & Spa have all kinds of plans for Valentine’s Day. Michelin-rated Sear + Sea Woodfire Grill has a Bubbles & Caviar dinner, actually Feb. 10-14, with $250-per-couple (plus tax and tip) three-course meal including welcome glasses of Taittinger Champagne. Asian-inspired rooftop lounge Illume will offer a Valentine’s omakase for $95 per person (before tax and tip). If you want to do Valentine’s breakfast, UnReserved Food Bazaar has a buffet with a welcome glass of Taittinger Champagne (again, actually Feb. 10-14). Choices including lobster Benedict with truffle hollandaise and the morning includes a long stem red rose. That’s $42 per person (before tax and tip).
Infusion Tea is throwing a Very Vegan Valentine’s Dinner with four courses and wine or tea pairings. With seatings at 6 and 8 p.m., $73.46 (including tax and tip) gets you miso kale salad with spicy almond dressing, roasted beetroot soup with cashew cream, spice-crusted cauliflower with bang bang Brussels sprouts, and dark chocolate mousse.
Summer House on the Lake is at Disney Springs just opened where Bongo’s Cuban Café used to be. A California-inspired menu while also partnering with local farmers, Summer House is offering Valentine’s Day specials including cracked Jonah crab claws, hearts of palm and Key West pink shrimp salad, and Florida lobster risotto. The specials will remain on the menu through Sunday, Feb. 18.
Downtown Orlando’s Grand Bohemian Hotel has several options including fondue, two glasses of Champagne, and live music poolside at Altira Pool + Lounge ($81.03 for two after tax and fees), a three-course prix-fixe menu inside The Boheme restaurant ($125.24 per person), and a caviar tasting in the Bosendorfer Lounge with a bottle of house Champagne ($316.25 for up to four).
Helena Modern Riviera is soft opening in the old Tapa Toro space at ICON park with a Mediterranean menu. (The official grand opening will be in the spring.) The prix fixe Valentine’s Day menu is $110 per person including lobster bisque, chicory salad, lump crab with avocado, beef Wellington, and cherry chocolate bombe glacée.
Howey in the Hills’ Mission Resort and El Conquistador restaurant are celebrating Valentine’s Day with an $89 (before tax and fees) three-course, prix fixe dinner. Options include she crab soup, feta and watermelon salad, hickory/molasses-charred beef tenderloin, Muscovy duck duet, sea bass with PEI mussels, baked lobster Savannah with scallops, chocolate espresso cake, Edelweiss torte, or tableside s’mores.
Thursday, Feb. 15
It usually gets quiet the day after Valentine’s Day, but Bites & Bubbles in Mills 50 is back with its wine dinner for February. The menu includes a cosmo reception at 6:30, sea scallop and pancetta with a Sea Sun chardonnay, glazed pork belly with Sebastiani pinot noir, sliced filet of beef tenderloin, with bearnaise sauce and a Caymus cabernet sauvignon, and bourbon pecan pie and vanilla ice cream with a Chappellet Mountain cuvée. The meal is $149 including tax and tip.
For more inspiration, visit our archives.
