Best of ORL 2025: Food & Drink Spotlights
Take a closer look at the first place winners you voted for in the 2025 Best of ORL!
Visitors to Lotte Plaza Market enjoy the food court.
Winner: Specialty Food | Lotte Plaza Market
Yes, Lotte Plaza Market is a full-fledged grocery store, but it devotes half its space, if not more, to a food hall that’s packed with more choices than you’ve ever seen at the hot foods section at a Whole Foods—and foods that are much more adventurous, catering to both casual and serious aficionados of Asian cuisine.
Let’s start with the market side. The sheer volume of produce will astound you. There are numerous types of pears and potatoes, melons and eggplants—everything you’d expect, more than you didn’t. Starches such as rice can be found in bulk. Then there’s a fish market where you can get your selection deboned in so many different ways—gutted head on or off, gutted and scored, butterflied—there are so many choices. Fresh crab and lobster are also available. Then there are staples such as ramen, sake, beer and a tempting meat counter. Grab a large cart on the way in.
Fans of bubble tea will be in heaven here, as will those who love sushi—the options are seemingly endless. There are so many items to take away, plan to spend some time going through it all.
If you’ve come here for lunch or dinner, come hungry, you’ll find everything from Thai bowls, pho, Korean delights, katsu—even Tous Les Jours has a location here.
Those shopping for non-food items can pick up beauty products, greenery and kitchen implements here. Should you get tired from all this goodness, massage chairs await!
Painkiller cocktail from Permanent Vacation. Photo by Omag Staff.
NEW CATEGORY
Winner: Cocktails | Permanent Vacation
Orlando magazine readers love this colorful tiki bar in Maitland, hidden behind a secret door inside The Copper Rocket, which already has a reputation for being a quirky and immersive rum bar/speakeasy with a playful, island-inspired vibe. The door in question is marked “employees only”; make your way through to the other side for a tropical-themed destination that seats about 40 people.
Once your eyes adjust to the dim lighting, there are plenty of sights to behold: cargo nets and lanterns, shrunken heads and other curiosities. Adorable mini flashlights are handed out while ordering, and the cocktail menu progresses by strength of drink, ranging from zero-proof “placebos” to knock-you-on-the-floor “tranquilizers.” If you’re going to have more than one drink—and you’ll want to have many—try at least one “tranquilizer.” Besides, they’re delicious.
The most fun feature of Permanent Vacation, however, are the activations that are triggered by ordering certain cocktails—the bartenders will pull some secret switches that trigger special effects such as a thunderstorm or an angry island god demanding a sacrifice. That sacrifice is your ability to drive home, so you might as well make it easy and take a rideshare to begin with.
Permanent Vacation operates on a reservations-preferred basis (weekends are a must), although walk-ins are available on certain evening.
A selection of Chef and partner Huy Tin’s masterpieces.
NEW CATEGORY
Winner: Sushi | Seito Sushi
First appearing in the Best of ORL in 2020, Seito Sushi has been a Baldwin Park staple since 2000. It’s part of the Good Salt Restaurant Group’s stunning stable of eateries, and in 2025, Good Salt’s Sue and Jason Chin were named finalists in the Outstanding Restaurateur category of the James Beard Foundation Awards.
Orlando magazine’s Brendan O’Connor has high words for the restaurant ownership team, saying “they really get how a good restaurant design can impact and lengthen a dining experience.”
The Baldwin Park location is intimate, sexy and contemporary, while a second location on Sand Lake Road, operated by Jason Chin’s sister, Jennifer Springer, is equally as gorgeous and has a flower-
encrusted Hanami Lounge full of rich velvets and wood. It strikes the perfect tone for enjoying sushi and contemporary Asian cuisine that includes everything from ramen to Japanese A5 Wagyu.
When it comes to Seito’s sushi, the menu is an experience to be savored—you can enjoy your sushi one of five ways (or all five ways). Sushi Tastings serve up imaginative combinations such as Hamachi Tartare; next, it’s on to the Sushi Sets and chef’s premiums selections. Composed Nigiri is one piece per order, with hand rolls and maki maki rounding out the mouthwatering goodies.
White- and milk-chocolate-dipped glasses make cocktails, beer and wine dessert drinks at Better Than Sex.
Winner: Something Sweet | Better Than Sex
We’re not going to get into whether or not dessert restaurant Better Than Sex lives up to its name, but suffice it say that you can’t easily get these desserts and cocktails out of your head. One doesn’t easily forget the name or taste of a dessert called Peanut Butter Perversion—but more on that later.
One of our favorite date-night spots, Better Than Sex’s desserts are large enough for two people and made for sharing. They’re made in-house and truly look like masterpieces. And rest assured, you’ll have privacy while diving into those desserts—most tables have curtains or walls on three sides.
Husband-and-wife team Dani and Len Johnson are behind Better Than Sex. Realizing they shared a passion for desserts, the Johnsons fueled it into a long list of culinary creations that are on the “best of” lists time and time again. The couple opened their first restaurant in Key West in 2008, and since then, Better Than Sex has expanded to Orlando and four additional locations.
Now, on to the desserts! The aforementioned Peanut Butter Perversion is a peanut butter silk pie atop a chocolate chip cookie dough crust. The Morning After is a divine chocolate and brie grilled cheese, buttered in Bread Kiss Cinnamon Sugar and toasted. Want to pair it with a side, as is typical with grilled cheese? The Strawberry Champagne Soup is the perfect accoutrement.
Dessert cocktails are particularly divine. Love Potion 69 is a mix of sweet almond-infused vodka, vanilla bean and honey, topped with whipped cream. For hops lovers, the Milf Shake is milk stout poured over vanilla bean ice cream in a glass covered in white chocolate and topped with malted milk balls.
Winner: Tacos | Agave Azul
Founded in 1998, Agave Azul Cocina Mexicana is family owned and operated with a fun, high-energy vibe and flavorful menu.
There are several delicious dishes here, but the standout—verified by our readers—are the tacos, and we can’t get enough of the Taqueria de Casa, with options that include skirt steak (Monterrey), shredded chicken Tinga (Tex-Mex Duros), grouper (Ensenada Style Grouper) and a vegetarian option (Roasted Cauliflower).
If you want these options, come for dinner, as they’re not on the lunch menu, although you can get a tostada with the shredded chicken Tinga for that meal.
The dinner menu also offers Street Taqueros, served in fresh, hand-pressed corn tortillas with cilantro, onion, salsa, Mexican rice and refried beans. Choose from the following meats: carne asada, Guajillo citrus chicken, carnitas, al pastor chorizo or shrimp al carbon. The carne asada is always our first choice, but Agave Azul comes up with innovative flavors for its chicken, so we shift over to the light side every once in a while.
Agave Azul doesn’t disappoint on the beverage front either—there is a long list of margaritas and other great cocktails, plus beer, wine and a refreshing sangria. We love a spicy twist, so the Amante Picante margarita is perfect—the kick comes from the charred jalapeño. Looking for some sweetness? The Rico Suave features crushed watermelon.
Agave Azul has five locations in Central Florida, with a sixth to open soon.
