From the races at Daytona Speedway to the space launches in Cape Canaveral, with miles of beaches in between, Florida’s east coast has it all—and great restaurants, too.
Daytona Beach
“The culinary scene in Daytona Beach includes some unexpected and amazing options,” said Linda McMahon, director of group sales for the Daytona Beach area CVB.
“Award-winning waterfront grills serve the freshest locally sourced seafood,” McMahon continued. “Gourmet fine dining features artisan cocktails, and we have a growing number of vibrant and eclectic craft breweries, wine cafes and fabulous food trucks that literally burst with delicious possibilities.”
When groups come to town, McMahon likes to show off the diversity of dining options.
“We go to Mai Tai Bar across from our convention center, Ocean Center, with an indoor and outdoor lounge and its tiki torches outside,” she said. “It’s a very popular spot, unique to our destination and features really great food.”
The VIP section can seat up to 50, and events in the entire bar can accommodate up to 300. Meanwhile, nearby Ocean Center offers more than 205,000 square feet of meeting space.
Zappi’s Italian Garden also has indoor and outdoor seating for up to 50 outside.
“It’s on Beach Street, which is filled with quaint shops and cafes,” McMahon said.
Another group favorite is The Cellar Restaurant, located in the historic district of Daytona Beach. It was once home to President Warren G. Harding, who used it to escape cold Ohio winters. Now owned by Culinary Institute of America graduate chef Sam Moggio and his wife Lina, it serves upscale Italian fare such as gnocchi alla Bolognese and bucatini carbonara.
“We welcome groups of up to 40 in the restaurant,” Lina said.
McMahon recommends a few restaurants north of Daytona in Ormond Beach, as well. One is the 31 Supper Club, housed in a Victorian home and once part of Henry Flagler’s Ormond Hotel. Built in the 1800s, today it’s furnished with Art Deco period items, including a bar from a Chicago speakeasy.
“It’s very high end with a Frank Sinatra feel, wonderful steaks and seafood with live jazz and blues played on a grand piano,” McMahon said.
Next door, Rose Villa Southern Table and Bar boasts the “best Southern fried chicken anywhere” according to Joanna Voss, administrative manager. With two dining rooms, a gazebo and front porch, groups of up to 40 can be accommodated.
“We also have the Roosevelt Room, filled with Theodore Roosevelt memorabilia that seats up to 20,” Voss said.
In the midst of a top-to-bottom renovation at the 323-room Plaza Resort & Spa in Daytona Beach, a brand-new oceanfront restaurant will be unveiled in 2018.
“To enhance your dining experience, a new menu and extensive wine list will be introduced upon the opening of the new restaurant,” said Chris Capozzi, director of sales and marketing. “Resort guests and groups attending conferences will enjoy the new concept and ambience that it offers.”
As part of its recently completed $25 million renovation, Hilton Daytona Beach Oceanfront Resort opened Don Ricos Fresh-Mex Grill. The restaurant’s private room seats up to 35 for such fare as Don Ricos crab-stuffed avocado, grilled pineapple and jalapeno guacamole and Baja fish tacos.
Opened this month, the 200-room beachfront Hard Rock Hotel Daytona Beach features the signature Sessions restaurant and bar and the Wave Terrace with local beer, craft cocktails and raw bar.
ONE DAYTONA, the sprawling and spectacular 300,000-square-foot mixed-use project across the street from Daytona International Speedway, is opening in stages and will introduce a few restaurants, including Rock Bottom Restaurant & Brewery, offering craft beers, pub fare and Tex-Mex. It will offer a rooftop patio for 140, a private dining room for up to 40 and seating for groups of up to 500 that take over the entire restaurant. Another dining option will be BUILT Custom Burgers with seating for up to 131 outside.
PageBreakSpace Coast
South of Daytona is Florida’s Space Coast. With its 72 miles of beaches, it’s a vacationers dream. But meeting groups, too, flock to the towns of Cocoa Beach, Melbourne and Port Canaveral, among others. It’s an area with well-known hotel brands, wonderful area attractions and loads of outdoor activities. The region offers great places to kick back for a drink or a meal.
“We have everything from fine dining to barbecue in settings from the beach to the river, or in one of our many restaurants in our downtown areas,” said Bonnie King, deputy director, Florida’s Space Coast Office of Tourism. “You can eat your way through the Space Coast.”
And where else in the world can you dine while watching a rocket launch? Exploration Tower is one of the most unique and impressive spots for a group to witness one of the many launches, according to Tom Bartosek, sales manager and visitor information manager, Florida’s Space Coast Office of Tourism. Groups can take over the top floor with its observation deck for spectacular views of a launch.
The maximum capacity for groups on the seventh floor Observatory is about 50 and the fourth floor meeting space maxes at up to 100 seated. Fourteen preferred caterers can cook up anything from a casual barbecue to a fine-dining experience.
According to King, a new restaurant fast becoming a favorite is Rising Tide tap & table. Located in The Cove area in Port Canaveral, the casual burger, pizza and taco menu complements any one of their numerous beers from around the world. Also in Port Canaveral, Grills Seafood Deck & Tiki Bar features a new waterside deck. The restaurant accommodates groups of up to 30 in the 126-seat restaurant.
For fine dining, Sara Malmstrom works with son and Executive Chef Jordan at Sage Bistro in Cape Canaveral, which serves up lobster pot pie and the signature chorizo-crusted sea bass with avocado mashed potatoes. With a nod to Jordan’s time in Germany, there’s also Wiener schnitzel.
“Groups have taken over the entire restaurant, where we can comfortably seat 90 inside,” Sara said.
Cocoa Beach
A lifelong resident of Cocoa Beach, John Read, director of sales at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront, said of the dining scene: “My wife and I are foodies; we really have the freshest seafood here at our hotel and at other area restaurants.”
The Hilton’s 92-seat Salt Restaurant & Lounge overlooks the Atlantic Ocean where chef Glen Gilbert serves his award-winning braised pork belly with dried apricots, apples and craisins alongside delicacies like mixed seafood grill and island-spiced grilled grouper. The hotel’s casual Longboards Tiki Beach Grille on the oceanfront dock has a bar under a 2,000-square-foot thatched roof that seats about 30, while the restaurant seats 50.
Outside the hotel, Read has his favorite restaurants, too.
“We go to Pompano Grille (groups up to 40), Florida’s Fresh Grill (groups up to 30 weekdays) and The Fat Snook,” he said.
Melbourne
Several high-end restaurants are involved in the Downtown Melbourne Food & Wine Festival each November. Trend Kitchen, three miles from Melbourne in Indian Harbour Beach, is one. After 30 years running a restaurant in St. Tropez, France, with wife Isabelle, chef Yvan Heraud recently purchased the restaurant.
“Although we only have 36 seats, we welcome groups to take over the restaurant,” Isabelle said.
Chef’s special is cold-water lobster paired with fresh linguine, lightly tossed in house churned foie gras butter, carmellini beans and shaved Parmesan, and finished with toasted lobster cream sauce.
Another Food & Wine Festival participant, The Mansion is ideal for larger groups. Fronted by a century-old house purchased in 2010 by Dean and Beth DiGiacinto, the complex now has several indoor and outdoor venues to accommodate groups, including The Garden for up to 70, the Beer Garden for up to 25 or The Cellars for private tastings. Specialties in their restaurants include Mansion surf-and-turf and grilled salmon.
