The normal pace for new restaurants at the James Beard-nominated Good Salt Restaurant Group is one every two to four years, Jason Chin tells me.
In 2025, he and his wife and partner, Sue, opened two.
This, in a year that he and others in Orlando’s restaurant scene cited as economically challenging.
“Not only in general terms, but for the economics of restaurants in particular,” Chin noted.
The past few years, he said, COVID-19 and beyond, “have kind of left us all somewhat reeling, trying to figure out everything with inflation and wages and other things.”
And in an industry famous for its razor-thin margins, “we’re always flying by the seat of our pants.”
As in most years, Orlando’s restaurant scene had a crush of openings.
Chef/partner Michael Cooper and owner Jason Chin strike a pose during the remodel of Osteria Ester, now operating in the Thornton Park space where Soco used to be. It was the second new restaurant for Good Salt Restaurant Group in 2025. (Courtesy Good Salt Restaurant Group)
Some notables included The Chapman and Corner Chophouse in Winter Park, along with the long-awaited arrival of the newest Pig Floyd’s out on Lee Road and a stunning new Glass Knife on Park Avenue.
Out in Doctor Phillips, a crush of great international fare joined a growing U.N. on Turkey Lake Road (Rawsha Mediterranean Cuisine and Wonderful Hand-Pulled Noodle).
Henry Moso of Kabooki Sushi, another multi-year James Beard semi/finalist chef, expanded his portfolio with two Mosonori locations.
And the TMG Group, whose renown for places like Mather’s Social Gathering and other nightspots was briefly eclipsed by the pricey housemade hot dog at Primrose Lanes, added twin stars to their roster with Nuri’s Tavern and its thin-crust pies and the Thornton Park stunner, June.
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Conversely, a Michelin recommendation didn’t keep Barkada from shuttering (though early peeks at Perla’s Pizza next door, a swank resurrection of a concept from 2021, seem decidedly positive for restaurateur Michael Collantes). The Aardvark said goodbye in Curry Ford, as did Lewis Lin’s Hinabe concept in Doctor Phillips.
We lost Chez Vincent, Little Saigon, and the late Harris Rosen’s favorite for family gatherings amid his hotel portfolio: Shōgun Japanese Steakhouse.
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In the shadow of City Food Hall, Arden, which moved food concepts from small plates delivered by Seth Parker and Eliot Hillis of Red Panda fame, changed tack, offering Asin at Arden with chef Dj Tangalin at the helm before shuttering altogether.
“We knew it was going to be a rough year,” says Hillis. “And so our way of stemming the blood loss was to open [fried chicken truck] Baba Yaga and try to diversify as much as possible.”
The summer proved particularly hard.
“There was a general decline in enthusiasm,” says Hillis, echoing the experience of many who said the same amid the dog days.
The new truck, now a staple at Tuesday’s Tasty Takeover event in Orlando’s Milk District, did give them a pop.
“Even with that, we were down 11 percent year over year as we were getting out of summer,” he says. “Despite the new truck, despite a lot of good press and all the good stuff. I can’t imagine how it was for everybody, because for us it was really bad.”
Downsizing, he said, was the answer. So he and Parker did more and sold fewer things.
“You have to make sure you can keep your core alive, and so you become more selective about what you do to save money.”
In the time since, moving their Red Panda Noodle truck into a permanent spot at downtown’s A La Car City has been a boon for moving the line from red to black.
As downtown’s Art² park opens, À La Cart City provides the food and beverage
“We’ve enjoyed a massive downtown worker crowd, new people who were excited because they never got to try us. Now we’re their favorite lunch spot.”
Tangalin, who, after several years working at his own indie spot, Danilo’s Pasta Bar at East End Market, and several Collantes projects, including the City Food Hall rebirth of his Lotte Market concept, Taglish, as well as its upstairs French restaurant Chez Le Copain, was on hand for those closures, as well as the Asin effort at Arden.
Chez Le Copain, meant to be a thoughtful French homecoming for the pair, who met while cooking for world-renowned chef Eric Ripert, had a rough start due to delays at the food hall, Tangalin said.
“There were a lot of blockades getting it open,” he said, noting that the dates kept moving. They trained entirely new staff twice, working toward opening dates that were repeatedly moved. It was devastating.
“It used up a lot of capital,” he said, “and so on the third round we had to open, whether or not the downstairs was activated. We were six months behind. The funds were going to run out.”
Orlando Sentinel Foodie Award winners and Ramen Rumble champs Ramen Takagi are among those who’ve left their stalls at City Food Hall behind this year. Their successful Oviedo ramen-ya remains open. (Courtesy City Food Hall)
They opened amid the holiday season, “but one of the biggest struggles was that we had to do it without a liquor license.”
Delays there further hamstrung the efforts. By the time everything was in place, the cost had been too great.
Liquor may not have even saved them sooner if you look at drinking trends.
Chin says they’ve definitely affected the bottom lines at all the Good Salt venues, which include Seito Sushi, The Osprey, Reyes Mezcaleria and the two newcomers: Sparrow and Osteria Ester.
“People are already dining out less because the economy is tight and everything is more expensive, but the younger generation — there’s this trend of not drinking. And that used to be a big part of where the profitability was.”
Pizza Bruno owner Bruno Zacchini, pictured here with an order of his giant garlic knots at his Maitland Social location. “2025 was probably a very hard year for most, including myself.” (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
The same increases Bruno Zacchini sees in his home grocery bill are mirrored at his Pizza Bruno locations (Maitland Social, College Park, Curry Ford West).
“Our normal Costco costs for the month have gone up almost 50 percent,” Zacchini said, but he’s trying hard not to raise prices.
“It’s harder for small businesses to do that,” he says. “You want to give people good value, but meanwhile, those behind-the-scenes costs, they just keep going. I just got my monthly insurance bill today, and it’s double, but you can’t explain that to every guest.”
Zacchini says he’s auditing expenses with a finer eye than years past.
“There’s only so much you can charge for something.”
Labor, a challenge in years past, seems to be in a better place, all reported. Though wages, far higher than ever, are often the lion’s share of restaurant expenses, good help has been much easier to find.
Eliot Hillis and Seth Parker of Red Panda Noodle high-five at Art Squared/A La Cart outdoor venue on Orange Avenue in downtown Orlando. Permanently parking their truck here was a financial bright spot for the pair in a challenging year. (Joe Burbank/Orlando Sentinel)
“Restaurants have been closing,” says Hillis, who dug in hard with his partner and went skeleton crew for a time. “We kind of pulled back, and now, jobs are harder to come by, people are enthusiastic to have the opportunity, and they’re sticking around.”
Chin, whose company enjoys very high retention, hired two staffs this year, and says it’s been easier.
“I think some of the people who left during COVID have come back to hospitality,” he theorizes. “We saw a lot of people leave back then, but if you’re a true hospitality professional, there aren’t a lot of other environments you can thrive in.”
Returning to wages that are at an all-time high is likely a motivator, as well.
“Seeing the going rate for a dishwasher or an entry-level line cook? It’s quite a bit higher than it was pre-pandemic.”
Similarly, the adventurous diners of the post-pandemic, says Chin, have dialed back into comfort foods in 2025.
At the time, he says, reflectively, people were spending money on all sorts of new experiences, “just getting out there and trying to live their lives to the fullest.
“What’s resonating now is familiarity,” he says. “The things they know and love.”
Tangalin, whose farm-to-table-heavy career has circled back to the hotel realm, is now the chef de cuisine at Primo Grande Lakes, the Melissa Kelly venue at the JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes. He is ready to tackle new challenges in the coming year, but believes that despite the tough climate, Orlando’s scene will continue to develop.
Chef Dj Tangalin, pictured here at his former pasta-bar concept in East End Market, is now the chef de cuisine at Primo Grande Lakes following a roller coaster year in 2025. (Courtesy photo)
“It’s similar to what I experienced when I moved to San Diego in 2010, years before Michelin and the scene was just beginning to creep.”
In a year or two, he notes, it was a restaurant destination in a different way than before.
“It’s an exciting time here. Lots of new things opening. A lot of great chefs doing great stuff. Every other week, it seems like there’s something big happening. It’s very inspiring.”
Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.