Taqueria and barbershop will share building

A second Black Rooster Taqueria and another location of the Floyd’s 99 Barbershop chain are planned for a former ABC Fine Wine & Spirits store in Orlando’s Hourglass District.

The taco restaurant will occupy about 2,200 square feet, more than double the size of the 1,000-square-foot Black Rooster on Mills Avenue, said owner Juliana Calloway. Its opening is targeted for late spring.

Black Rooster has been looking for a larger space and bigger kitchen to expand catering offerings, Calloway said. The second location will also have a patio, a priority after the coronavirus pandemic spurred diners to eat outside.

“As of March of last year, it was our No. 1 must have for a new location,” Calloway said.

She said the restaurant at Curry Ford Road and Crystal Lake Drive will be looking to hire about 35 people.

When the first Black Rooster opened on Mills in 2016, Calloway said she felt like that neighborhood’s food scene was blossoming, a parallel for her second location.

“We feel like that’s what’s happening there now,” Calloway said.

The new Floyd’s 99 Barbershop is expected to open in spring. The barbershop was needed to offer relief to the nearby Floyd’s on South Orange Avenue, said Sarah Sleeth, the Florida franchise partner for Floyd’s.

Before the pandemic, the South Orange Avenue Floyd’s was the busiest of the chain’s Orlando area locations, serving 130 to 160 customers per day, Sleeth said.

“We want to be able to keep wait times down,” Sleeth said.

The Curry Ford Floyd’s will be about 1,500 square feet and employ about 15 people to start, Sleeth said. The number of employees will grow once the pandemic wanes. The barbershop is operating with every other chair open as a coronavirus precaution.

The two businesses are looking forward to being neighbors.

“Floyd’s being our neighbor there was a big selling point for us,” Calloway said.

Portillo’s to open March 2

The much-anticipated opening of the

Portillo’s near Walt Disney World is set for March 2.

The restaurant, known for its Chicago-style hot dogs and Italian beef sandwiches, will be at 7715 Palm Parkway in Unicorp National Developments’ Village at O-Town West in Lake Buena Vista. Other Florida locations of the chain are in Tampa and Brandon.

“This new restaurant will allow us to bring Portillo’s to longtime fans and firsttime guests in the Orlando area, as well as serve the many tourists in one of the country’s most popular destinations,” Portillo’s CEO Michael Osanloo said in a news release.

New Portillo’s restaurants hire about 150 employees on average.

The Orlando restaurant will be 7,800 square feet, have two covered patios and double drive-through lanes.

The first Portillo’s hot dog stand opened in Villa Park, Ill., in 1963, and the chain now has more than 60 restaurants.

White Castle is also slated to return to Florida with a restaurant opening in the same development.