Orlando’s dining reputation may now reach audiences through food television, streaming and major culinary awards, but the Central Florida food story began long before the region became identified with theme parks, according to an Orlando Sentinel retrospective marking the newspaper’s 150th anniversary.
The report traces that foundation to the area’s farms, ranches and citrus groves. Corn was a major Central Florida crop in the 1800s, while Kissimmee cattle ranchers were raising free-ranging animals before the modern farm-to-table movement. Zellwood began growing corn in the 1940s and became closely associated with sweet corn by the 1970s, when its Sweet Corn Festival gained popularity.
Former Sentinel food editor Heather McPherson said the region’s weather and agricultural economy remain central to its cuisine. McPherson, who spent 28 years as the paper’s food editor, recalled her family seeking out locally raised beef and sweet corn after relocating to Seminole County in 1969.
Citrus also helped define the region, though growers endured devastating freezes in 1894 and 1895. The Orange County Regional History Center reported that the later freeze left growers saying 21,727 acres produced no fruit; the December freeze killed fruit, while the February freeze killed trees.
The Sentinel’s own food coverage evolved alongside the city. In 1949, longtime Orlando journalist Grace Warlow Barr wrote a column called “What’s Cooking?” Barr, who served 27 years at the paper as Women’s and Food Editor, connected local ingredients with home kitchens and recipes, including wild orange marmalade.
Several family-run restaurants featured in the retrospective illustrate the multigenerational side of Orlando’s food culture. Linda’s La Cantina began in 1947 as Edie and Rudy’s La Cantina and is now operated by their granddaughters Karen and Lorie, along with longtime chef and meat cutter Steve. Beefy King, the Orlando sandwich shop founded in 1967 and purchased by Freeman Smith the following year, also remains in the family.
The story places those longstanding businesses within a changing Orlando, where neighborhoods including the Milk District have become dining destinations while restaurant families continue traditions that predate the city’s modern culinary visibility.
