Central Florida is rapidly growing with new development and businesses coming to the area every day.
Among those businesses is a bevy of new restaurants set to open their doors to hungry customers in 2022.
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To help you keep track of all the new eateries around the area, we’ve compiled a list of the new places to eat opening up in the new year.
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King Bao
King Bao is looking to open its third location, this time setting up shop in Winter Park.
The new location is opening at 1881 W. Fairbanks Ave. The owner, chef Vic Nguyen, said that he hopes to have the new location open in mid-January.
Nguyen added that the business plans to begin hiring for the new location in early January and that the restaurant will need 10 to 15 employees.
You can read more about the opening by clicking here.
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Pig Floyd’s Urban Barbakoa
Pig Floyd’s Urban Barbacoa is set to open up a second location in 2022.
The new shop is set to open up in Winter Park at 1471 Lee Road — the former site of the original Bubbalou’s Bodacious Bar-B-Que which closed in September.
Pig Floyd’s owner, Thomas Ward, predicts that the new Pig Floyd’s will open the spring, possibly in April or May.
This will be the first Pig Floyd’s location with a drive-thru.
You can read all about the new location by clicking here.
Café-Boutique PIANO
Café-Boutique PIANO is getting ready to open up in Winter Park’s Hannibal Square, according to Visit Orlando’s website.
The tourism agency said the restaurant will feature European cuisine and nightly piano shows.
No firm date has been announced, only that it will open in 2022.
Chick’nCone
Chick’nCone is a Pennsylvania-based which is opening its first Central Florida location in Winter Park.
The restaurant is opening up at 501 N. Orlando Ave. The restaurant chain claims to offer a “fork free” spin on chicken and waffles, opting to serve its poultry in a waffle cone.
The franchisee, Michael Vaz, said he hopes to be open sometime in February 2022, but did not offer an exact date.
You can read more about the restaurant by clicking here.
AVA MediterrAegean
A new Mediterranean restaurant is set to move into Winter Park, taking up residence in the location that used to house Luma on Park, 290 S. Park Ave.
The restaurant plans to offer several dining experiences with formal and informal dining spaces along with a traditional bar and an underground mixology-focused bar, according to the news release.
So far, no official opening date has been set, but Visit Orlando said in a news release it will be opening in “early 2022.″
Click here to find out more about the restaurant.
Cafe Don Juan
Cafe Don Juan is a small chain of coffee shops located in Puerto Rico, but it will soon be opening its first mainland outpost in Winter Park, according to the city’s chamber of commerce.
The cafe is set to open up in the mixed-use retail space City Place, which sits at 1100 S. Orlando Ave.
In addition to coffee, the Cafe Don Juan serves pastries, along with breakfast and lunch fare — such as sandwiches and wraps — according to its social media.
No opening date has been set.
Susuru Juju
Susuru Juju will be a Showa-themed Japanese restaurant in Orlando’s Milk District.
The restaurant is currently under construction as the owners look to make the shell of a former Pizza Hut, located at 700 Maguire Blvd., look like a Japanese home.
Susuru Juju was originally set to open before the end of the year, but the company said they now expect construction to be finished sometime in February with the opening happening after that.
The chef and owner of Susuru, Lewis Lin, first announced plans to open the flagship location of the Japanese yakitori restaurant in July.
You can read more about the restaurant by clicking here.
F&D Cantina
F&D Cantina is set to open a second location in Orlando’s Thornton Park neighborhood.
The restaurant is set to open up at 617 E. Central Blvd.
The owner, Charly Robinson, CEO of F&D Restaurant Concepts, originally said he planned to open in 2021, but that has not happened yet.
The owner said he hopes to open the restaurant in January, but could not yet offer a firm date.
You can read more about the new location by clicking here.
Pigzza
Pigzza is the brainchild of Thomas Ward, owner of Pig Floyd’s, and Al Palo, the owner of Stasio’s Italian Deli.
The restaurant, which is opening at the corner of Oregon Street and North Mills Avenue, will offer a hybrid of pizza and barbecue.
The restaurant was first announced in May but hit some snags with the City of Orlando.
“Midway through the process, the City of Orlando changed the rules on being able to have (a full liquor license),” Ward said in November. “We had to adjust our plans so that we can we could get full liquor and we did that and right now we are in the process.”
So far, no opening date has been set for the restaurant to open.
You can read more about it by clicking here.
Quesa Loco
Quesa Loco started out as a food truck offering up birria variations of tacos, flautas, papa asada and even ramen.
The owners are now making the jump to a brick-and-mortar location, according to the business’s Instagram page, which is opening at 971 W. Fairbanks Ave. in Orlando.
The restaurant will be holding its grand opening on Jan. 15 at 2 p.m., according to social media. The event will feature a live Mariachi band to celebrate the opening.
Fatburger/Buffalo’s Express
Famed West Coast burger chain Fatburger is looking to open 10 stores in the Orlando area.
Each store will be co-branded with the quick-service wing chain Buffalo’s Express.
The franchises are set to open over the next six years, but the first is expected to open by the end of 2022. The company has not yet said where the first store will be located.
You can read all about it here.
The BANDBOX
The BANDBOX is billing itself as “Orlando’s first spirit-free speakeasy and tasting lounge,” according to its Instagram page.
The dry speakeasy is set to open up at 1817 N. Orange Ave. in Orlando’s Ivanhoe Village right next door to Caboose, which is a traditional bar.
In addition to offering mocktails, the BANDBOX also plans to feature a vintage consignment shop selling retro collectibles and clothing, according to its website.
No official opening date has been set. The business will open sometime in spring 2022, according to its Instagram page.
Thai Farm Kitchen
A farm-to-table Thai restaurant that first opened in New York City is now opening a second location far from home in Orlando’s College Park neighborhood.
The Brooklyn-based Thai Farm Kitchen is setting up shop at 2625 Edgewater Drive, according to a Facebook post. That location used to be home to RusTeak before it pulled up stake and moved to Thornton Park.
Co-owner Jess Calvo said he expects the restaurant to open sometime in January.
Gogi Korean BBQ, Hotpot & Sushi
Gogi Korean BBQ, Hotpot & Sushi is set to open up at 7251 W. Colonial Drive, inside of a former Golden Corral, according to its Facebook page.
The business has not posted much information on what food will be offered, but the name it implies to will feature a broad, pan-Asian menu including Chinese, Japanese and Korean items.
No opening date for the restaurant has been announced.
Cupid’s Hot Dogs
Orlando will soon be home to the first East Coast outpost for Cupid’s Hot Dogs.
Cupid’s Hot Dogs is set to open at 1515 Lee Road. The franchise will be the fifth Cupid’s Hot Dog location overall and the first one outside of California.
Cupid’s is coming to Orlando by way of franchisee Sorot Boyd Chamlongsupalak.
Chamlongsupalak said he hopes to open shortly after the start of the new year, as long as he is able to hire staff quickly enough.
Learn all about the chain by clicking here.
So Dough
So Dough is a pizza restaurant set to open up at 419 E. Michigan St. in Orlando’s SoDo neighborhood., according to its Instagram page.
According to a menu posted online, the restaurant offers Detroit-style pan pizza’s and Chicago-style tavern (thin crust) pizzas.
A report from Orlando-based blog Bungalower states that So Dough is run by Tin & Taco owner Rob Bair and that the restaurant will share space with a Tin & Taco location at the same address. News 6 has reached out to So Dough to confirm this information. This story will be updated if the business responds.
No opening date for So Dough has been announced.
Bad As’s Sandwich
Chef and owner of Bad As’s Sandwich John Collazo is planning to open a second location of his popular sandwich shop near Orlando’s SoDo neighborhood.
The restaurant will sit inside Holden Hub which bills itself as “a collaborative social gathering space,” according to its website.
Holden Hub is opening up near the intersection of South Orange Avenue and Holden Avenue in Edgewood.
Collazo said he is hoping to open the new location in the spring of 2022.
You can read more about the restaurant here.
Mongolorian
Mongolorian is a Mongolian barbecue restaurant opening up in Orlando.
The restaurant will sit at 2217 E. Colonial Drive, which used to house a Firehouse Subs.
No opening date has been set for the restaurant to open. The business’s Facebook page has been silent for some time. It last posted a photo of the restaurant’s logo in July and nothing since then.
4 Rivers
The Winter Park-based barbecue chain 4 Rivers is getting ready to open a big new location in Orlando’s SoDo neighborhood.
The new 4 Rivers Smokehouse will sit at 3200 S. Orange Ave., according to a news release, which used to be home a Freddy’s Frozen Custard & Steakburgers.
The chain, owner by John Rivers, announced the new location in August but has not yet offered an opening date for the location.
Smoke & Donuts
Smoke & Donuts is making the jump from food cart to a brick-and-mortar restaurant.
The business is set to move into 601 N. Primrose Drive, not far from its current, semi-permanent location at the Milk District’s À La Cart.
As the name implies, Smoke & Donuts serves barbecue and donuts and combinations of the two.
According to the business’s Facebook page, the brick-and-mortar location will be opening in the spring of 2022.
Meet Fresh
Meet Fresh is a Taiwanese chain of dessert restaurants. It offers a menu of shaved ice, ice cream, puddings and jellies filled with flavors native to Taiwan — such as taro root, red bean, black sugar and alike.
The chain is planning to open its first Florida location at 5144 W. Colonial Drive unit 33 in the Westside Crossings shopping plaza in Orlando, according to its website.
The restaurant did not post an opening date. Its website only states “coming soon.”
Torchy’s Tacos
The Austin, Texas-based Tex-Mex taco chain Torchy’s Tacos plans to open two Central Florida locations in 2022.
The first location will be in Altamonte Springs, at 999 N. State Road 434, and then one in Orlando in the Vineland Pointe shopping complex, 11513 Regency Village Drive, according to a spokesperson for the chain.
The Altamonte Springs location is set to open in the summer of 2022 and the Orlando spot will open in late 2022, according to the company. No hard dates have been announced.
You can read all about Torchy’s here.
New York Beer Project
New York Beer Project, opening up in Winter Garden, will be built to resemble a 1900s indoor beer garden in New York’s Lower East Side, according to Visit Orlando’s website.
The brewery, based in New York, is opening a 24,000 facility at the corner of Seton Creek Boulevard and Seidel Road. The brewery broke ground on the project in early September, according to a press release.
The brewery said it will feature a “gastropub, indoor beer garden, taproom, sidewalk bistro and 3 NYC themed event space”
According to Visit Orlando, the brewery is set to open in March 2022.
Little Wekiva Brewery
A father, son duo who have spent about 10 years brewing beer at home are working to open their own brewery in Seminole County.
Chris Connor said he and his father, Richard Connor are in the process of opening up Little Wekiva Brewery at Springs Plaza, 2401 W. State Road 434. The location is 1,200 square feet, according to Chris Connor, which will serve as both brewery and taproom.
Chris Connor said the pair still has some red tape to cut through before they can start production and finish building out the brewery space. He hopes to have the brewery open in May or June.
You can read more about the brewery here.
LIME Fresh Mexican Grill
LIME Fresh Mexican Grill is planning to open a new location at Flamingo Crossings Town Center at Walt Disney World, according to a news release.
The company said this new location will closely resemble its flagship location located in Orlando’s Lake Nona neighborhood.
LIME said the new location should open sometime in mid-2022, but did not offer an exact date.
LIME CEO Vinay Rama talked more about the Flamingo Crossings location in an episode of the Florida Foodie podcast.
Salt & Straw
Another addition to a Disney property is Salt & Straw.
Salt & Straw is a boutique ice cream parlor chain based out of Portland, Oregon. It is known for unique flavor creations such as pear & blue cheese, honey lavender and olive oil ice cream.
The company is planning to open a location in Disney Springs sometime in March 2022, though no official date has been set.
You can learn more about Salt & Straw here.
Jolibee
Filipino fried chicken chain Jollibee is set to open its first Central Florida location near the campus of the University of Central Florida.
The chain is setting up shop at 11891 E. Colonial Drive.
Jollibee is a fast-food chain that focuses on fried chicken. It also offers burgers, hotdogs, a burger steak — which appears reminiscent of Salisbury steak — and its own take on spaghetti.
No official opening date has been set, but the company had previously said it was hoping to open the Orange County location sometime in early 2022.
You can read more about it here.
Taglish 2
The Filipino-inspired restaurant Taglish is opening a second location near the campus of UCF.
The restaurant is set to open at 12226 Corporate Blvd. in Orange County.
The restaurant, which opened its first location inside Lotte Market Plaza in 2019, recently underwent a menu revamp, with much of the offerings focused on burgers and chicken sandwiches.
According to the business’s social media, the new location will be opening sometime in the first quarter of 2022.
The owner, chef Mike Collantes, talked about all of his projects on an episode of the Florida Foodie podcast.
Colbie’s Southern Kissed Chicken
Colbie’s Southern Kissed Chicken is a fast-casual chain based out of New Jersey.
The chain is planning to open up at 3267 Vineland Road near Kissimmee. This will be the third location for Colbie’s overall and the first in Florida.
No opening date has been announced. The website only reads “coming soon.”
Cowboy Chicken
Cowboy Chicken is looking to open four franchises in Florida with the first one opening near Walt Disney World.
The chain plans to open at 290 Margaritaville Blvd., just off of U.S. Highway 192.
The Texas-based chain focuses on wood-fired rotisserie chicken.
It plans to open up in 2022, but no exact timeline has been given.
More details on the restaurant can be found by clicking here.
Mystic Ice Cream
Mystic Ice Cream is opening a third location, this time opening up in Eustis.
The ice cream parlor offers 32 flavors at any given time, including some “adult ice cream” which contains some alcohol.
Darrell Day and his wife, Lisa, run the business which they purchased in 2019 from the original owner when there was only one location in Fruitland Park.
They opened a Leesburg location in early 2021 and hope to open the Eustis shop in February.
Learn more about Mystic Ice Cream by clicking here.
If we missed any restaurants opening in the area, leave the name of the business in a comment below or email web@wkmg.com.