Daddy's Fancy Restaurant

Orlando's new digs, Columbia Firehouse, opened officially this week. The place has a lot of charm, and it's much larger than M&O's was. But it's not just one open room. There is a bar, a private dining room downstairs, upstairs is the more formal steakhouse that will open in a few weeks, and through the doorway to the left is a bright, open, airy, casual dining room.


As you enter, you see the bar, and the stairs to bathrooms, old fashioned phone booths (now used for cell phone calls) and more formal steak house dining room.

As family, we were given the opportunity to participate in the soft opening, which was fun. After we ordered from the limited menu on offer that evening, we were given a copy of the menu they expected to use for opening. On the back were about 20 questions about the food, the service, the decor and the like. It was actually really fun thinking about the new space beyond the food, which we knew would be wonderful.


Fried Grilled Cheese, Crab Hushpuppies and the "Rochambeau You For It" cocktail

Myney, Anastasia and I each tried different items from the menu including mussels in curry, blue crab hushpuppies , and fried grilled cheese to start. Then we moved on to scallops, salmon, and sirloin for entrees. Sorry, I was too focused on enjoying the food to take pictures of it, even though my camera was on the table. Suffice it to say the food was amazing, and I'm not just saying that because he's my husband. The three of us loved eating at what Anastasia has termed "Daddy's fancy restaurant".

The dining room, built in the original alley next to the old firehouse, is beautiful, with high, arched glass ceilings, and very fun light fixtures which make the room feel a little more modern.



There are also two levels to the dining room, which makes it feel a little less cavernous. One of our comments was that they needed something on the green wall at the back of the room.



The next time we were there, we found that they'd taken our comments to heart, but again, no pictures because I was focused elsewhere.



The dining room is pleasant and not too loud, the food is wonderful (we can't wait for the upstairs to open, so we can see the fancy stuff, too) and all the staff seem to have a real joy for the place. Two visits down, countless more to go.