Orlando Opinions Episode 34 - Gideons Bakehouse Will Never Sell Out



Episode 34
Written by Mark Baratelli

Gideons Bakehouse, a cookie shop inside East End Market, regularly sells out of its delicious $4.26 half-pound cookies. To fix that issue it recently acquired a 2,000 sq ft production warehouse which will allow it to increase product numbers and storage capacity. Full buildout of the space will take 60 days. The expansion means no more sellouts as well as a few new jobs created. At the same time the warehouse announcement came out, Gideons revealed a 74 cent increase in price for the cookies. The half pound cookie will go from $4.26 to $5.00.

The funky roofed Mills50 location of Tako Cheena at 948 N. Mills Ave is one step closer towards opening after it moved into the space two and a half years ago.  On March 8th of this year the health department conducted a food licensing inspection of the space which is what restaurants looking to open to the public request. They passed! Also, Tako Cheena is applying for a second license for the same location. It is unknown for what purpose it's being attained. We've reached out to Tako Cheena with questions about the inspection and the second license.

It was June 2015 when Tako Cheena announced it was taking over the Mills50 retro restaurant spot. Exterior walls got painted. A food truck got parked out front.. And then nothing for two and a half years. Thanks to the Orange County Regional History Center, The Daily City learned that the original tenant of the funky fronted building they're occupying was Chik-N-Pit. Chik-N-Pit served fried chicken and BBQ. Most recently the building housed Forbidden City restaurant.

Need a place to live downtown with 899 other apartment dwellers? Well wait a few years and you'll be in luck! A new 900-unit, multi-family, mixed-use development called Golden Sparrow is currently in development across the street from the Orange County Courthouse at 434 N. Orange Ave in downtown Orlando. Midtown Opportunities LLC submitted a Master Plan amendment and a request for framework Master Plan approval with a request for an intensity bonus. It will go before the Municipal Planning Board in May.

Looking for a place to show off your new hobo mee-maw blouse while also showing love for your city? Wanna hold a melting vegan cruelty-free ice cream cone shaped like a swan in front of a wall that's not all over your feed? Need a place to film your self peeing at 3am? Your online persona is about to jushed to the gods thanks to 16 new selfie murals that went up in a parking garage in Thornton Park. Just look for the Starbucks, park and snap away. The project was created by the Thornton Park Main Street District using 100% local artists as a way to bring attention to this centralized parking garage that the group says is always empty during the week. Go give those murals some company!

The Curry Ford West Market District just welcomed The Hourglass District into its fold. What? Let's dig in.

To create some of the marketing muscle magic that helped developed places like Mills50 and Audubon Park in the Curry Ford West area of town, a 2017 a group of merchants and residents joined together to create Curry Ford West Market District. Its boundaries run east of Conway Road along Curry Ford Road to the west of Bumby.

Eventually Curry Ford West wants to become another of the City’s successful and popular Main Street organizations. For now its official designation is that of a Market Street. Neighborhood commercial districts that are unable to meet Main Street America’s 10-point criteria for National Accreditation for Main Street are eligible for this program. This enables the City of Orlando to abide by Main Street America’s trademark and “Use of the Name” policy, while still providing training and technical assistance to individual neighborhood commercial districts throughout the City.

The group recently added The Hourglass District to its efforts. The Hourglass District is a collection of older buildings at the corner of Bumby and Curry Ford Road purchased and revitalized by a company called National Real Estate (WEB). This is the same company that bought and are in the process of redeveloping the restaurant and retail hub in Milk District at the corner of Robinson & Bumby The company filled each building in the Hourglass District with small local businesses including Foxtail Coffee and Tamale Co.