Notable Trends:

Food Halls – We’ve seen the opening of The Marketplace at Avalon Park; Milkhouse; Gatlin Hall Brewing; Henry’s Depot; and Hall on the Yard. In the works are Bumby Arcade Food Hall; South Orange Provisions (those two within a block of each other on Church Street); and Southern Box Food Hall.

Chicken, chicken, chicken – It felt like I was noting the opening of a new restaurant specializing in chicken or chicken sandwiches every week when in reality it was more like every other week. Chicken Guy opened its second location, in Winter Park, and brought traffic to a halt on Orlando Avenue; also Chicken Fire; Itsa Chicken, bb.q Korean chicken; Jollibee, Filipino chicken; and PDQ.

Ghost and Virtual Kitchens – The Pass, Brad’s Underground and several others operate in collaborative kitchens or out of warehouse space that offer food for delivery or pickup only. And Virtual Kitchen Concepts uses the facilities of existing restaurants to offer menus of restaurants that don’t exist.