
[Photo courtesy Bösendorfer Lounge in Orlando, Fla.]
(See also: Last Call: The Courtesy in Orlando, Fla.)
Downtown Orlando

[Photo courtesy Mathers Social Gathering in Orlando, Fla.]
Bösendorfer Lounge at the Grand Bohemian Hotel, across the street from the gazillion-dollar Dr. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts, offers live jazz, bites from the award-winning Boheme restaurant, and big city attention from some of the best bartenders in town. A Klimt Kiss cucumber smash (cucumber vodka and elderflower liqueur) refers to the gilded Klimt rotunda, where a unique $500,000 Imperial Grand Bösendorfer piano lives. Even a simple Manhattan is far more exotic than you’d expect. Ask for Ivy at the bar.

[Photo courtesy BauHaus in Orlando, Fla.]
On brick-lined Pine Street is Mathers Social Gathering, a hipster club with an intimate parlor air. With butlers—seriously. Echoing the more than 140-year-old building, the beverage menu ranges from absinthe and bourbon-laced lemonade to legacy old fashioneds and 1930s-resonant, Florida-inspired libations of house-made cordials, bitters, and syrups. One block west is a duo of treasures: BauHaus at walk-in ground level of the 1884 Hanson Building; and Hanson’s Shoe Repair, a Prohibition-themed speakeasy on the third floor.

[Photo courtesy Hansen’s Shoe Repair in Orlando, Fla.]
Mills 50
The Bohemia of Orlando, encompassing Malaysian, Latin fusion, bao, taco, and Vietnamese restaurants on one end (Orlando has one of the largest Vietnamese populations in the country), and museums and Orlando Shakespeare theater on the other. Bars and music venues (Will’s Pub for both) keep it lively, and funky lounges make it unmissable.

[Photo courtesy Maxine’s On Shine in Orlando, Fla.]
Across the street, Wally’s has been a fixture since 1954. Not always a clean and bright fixture, but like a puppy that starts out cute and turns into a drooling slob, Wally’s was the definition of dive. Version 1.0 closed in early 2019, to reopen under new ownership several months later. Now, slightly more polished, most of the regulars have returned (original owner Walter “Wally” Updike’s ashes have a place of pride on a shelf), and for a $3 PBR, a shot, and cocktails that are mostly alcohol, this is the place.

[Photo by Kristine Young; courtesy Tori Tori Pub in Orlando, Fla.]
Theme Park Area
Who can better afford creative cocktail talent than the theme park giants and their neighbors?
The 16th floor, Dali-inspired Dahlia Lounge at Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort (between Epcot and Animal Kingdom) takes its cue from the Toledo tapas restaurant down the hall. Rooftop views of Star Wars Galaxy’s Edge are accompanied by crafts drinks such as the Jerez Martini (Amontillado sherry, Solera Reserva, Torres Magdala orange, and St. George pear brandies) and Spanish bar preferido, the gin tonic.

[Photo by Steven Diaz; courtesy Dahlia Lounge in Orlando, Fla.]

[Photo courtesy Pharmacy in Orlando, Fla.]
Winter Park
The “suburbs” of Orlando proper, Winter Park is just five miles from downtown. But this town, founded as a resort community by rich Chicago-ites in 1881, is a brick street, big money haven for the arts (including two world-class museums), shopping, and restaurants. Its libations are equally posh.

[Photo courtesy Strong Water Tavern in Orlando, Fla.]
A block south at Proper & Wild, chef Chelsie Savage’s groundbreaker in high-end plant-based dining captures that market for drinking as well. Try a Sunstorm of Yuki Otoko sake, Aperitivo Cappelletti, carrot, mango, habanero tincture, and cilantro.

[Photo courtesy Alfond Inn in Winter Park, Fla.]
Ravenous Pig brought the idea of the modern gastropub to Central Florida. James Beard Award semi-finalists James and Julie Petrakis (the only chefs to ever be nominated as a couple), built a mini-empire on meticulous Southern cooking. They have brewmaster Larry Foor to thank for the onsite Ravenous Pig Brewing Co., producing small-batch beers such as Lone Palm Golden Ale and Saison Du Cochon. The bar serves gin and tonics on tap, and drinks like The Ravenous Pig Old Fashioned (featuring bacon-infused Old Forester bourbon), and The Long Voyage Home with brandy, rye, vermouth, and tobacco bitters.
Most of these bars pour the whiskey, vodka, rum, and prize-winning Bear Gully Bourbon of Winter Park Distilling. Their Bear & Peacock Brewery is next door to the craft spiriter’s location.

[Photo courtesy The Old Jailhouse in Sanford, Fla.]
Road Trip
For an excursion beyond Orlando’s immediate confines, the town of Sanford is a half-hour drive (or trip on SunRail), its histories since the 1800s culminating in a thriving food and drink community. Eight breweries surround scenic Lake Monroe, including Deviant Wolfe, Sanford Brewing, and Orange County Brewers (not actually in Orange County, but …).

[Photo courtesy Bitters & Brass in Sanford, Fla.]
The Old Jailhouse is just that, a brick building circa 1890 that was home to blacksmiths, stables, and the Seminole County jail. It’s now a sublime restaurant, with bar manager Nick Sprysenski making a mean Hard Thyme of herb-infused bourbon, pear brandy, white vermouth, and lemon to complement local legend chef Bram Fowler’s Florida-meets-Sun Belt menu.