The Winter Park 17/92 corridor is one of the hottest commercial real estate markets in the Orlando area right now with new and renovated supermarkets, restaurants, and retail now open or will soon to be open. The Olive Garden across from Winter Park Village is participating in all of this growth as well with a $250,000 plus renovation that will give the restaurant a more contemporary look along with a new logo.
Olive Garden in Winter Park
The renovation of the Winter Park Village Olive Garden began on Monday, April 21st, 2014 and is expected to take about eight weeks to complete. The restaurant will be open to the public during the renovation that will take place at night. As you can see from the picture above and the video below, the renovation brings a contemporary look to Olive Garden and looks a lot different than the Tuscany look that can be seen at the Millenia location.
Olive Garden Menu Overhaul
In addition to the transformation taking place at the Winter Park Olive Garden, the restaurant is overhauling their menu across the country that fits in with the contemporary theme of being able to pick your pasta’s, sauces, and toppings in their cucina mia section, small plates consisting of parmesan olive fritta and polenta alla grecca, a lighter dish in Chicken Abruzzi and a center cut filet mignon.
Great Italian Burger
This is the part of the story where we need to disclose that our lunch was provided to us for this preview because of what we are about to say. A new item on the Olive Garden menu is an Italiano Burger and it was pretty awesome. In fact, I think I enjoyed it more than 5 Guys and that is saying something because I really 
like 5 Guys. We aren’t ready to make the case that it is the best burger in Orlando yet, but it was really good.
With the transformation of the dining room and bar area (see pictures at right) at the Winter Park location, we can say that Olive Garden will be a legitimate place to go and watch a ball game at the bar and have a great hamburger or to spend some quality time with friends and family. Spicy Calabrian Chicken Wings are on the menu for a limited time as well.
Olive Garden Soup and Salad
With all of the new menu items available, Olive Garden still has their signature soup, salad, and bread sticks available. However, the anti-pasta topping available to add to the salad (see video below) added an additional kick. I’ve always been a big fan of the lasagna at Olive Garden that has always been my mainstay dish but some of these other menu items are interesting and will entice guest to try something different and help position Olive Garden in a modern direction that the restaurant look will also soon reflect. The Winter Park location will be the first in Orlando to display the new logo.
Check out our videos below featuring the new menu and the plans for the new Winter Park Olive Garden:
Olive Garden New Menu
Winter Park Olive Garden Renovation Preview
Olive Garden Winter Park Map