Once upon a time there was a storied nightlife venue in downtown Orlando called Church Street Station. One cover charge got you into multiple venues. Disney didn’t like that so many of their guests were leaving property at night for DTO that they built a nightclub competitor called Pleasure Island. Universal Studios soon followed with a nightlife district of their own called CityWalk. Between the two of them, they knocked Church Street Station out of business. Numerous nightlife venues along Church Street came and went over the subsequent years but right now, with the City of Orlando seemingly trying to put downtown bars out of business, Church Street is the bleakest it’s ever been. We visited to check it out.Today we’ll visit the two block stretch between Garland Avenue and Orange Avenue and we’ll concern ourselves just with the north side of the street. Right at the Garland corner, this most recently was a branch of Cleveland-based restaurant Harry Buffalo. As part of Church Street Station, this was Rosie O’Grady’s Goodtime Emporium and it contains a large interior space and large bar. Operating as Harry Buffalo, they tried to attract nighttime crowds by playing sports on their televisions and being the local outpost for specific college and professional sports teams. It closed post-Covid19. Before Harry Buffalo, this was Mojo’s. CURRENT STATUS: CLOSEDImmediately next door was Ceviche, a seafood restaurant with Spanish flair. Notice all the amazing wrought iron, part of the Church Street Station decor. They closed during covid19. CURRENT STATUS: CLOSEDMoving onward and adjacent the SunRail tracks, this is another storied building currently labeled as Church Street Social Club. The sign says “Established 2025” so perhaps they will open next year. Their website though says “Established 2023” so we’re not so confident. As part of Church Street Station, this was once the complex’ main disco called Phineas Phoggs Balloon Works. The interior is jammed with wrought iron and polished brass fixtures. CURRENT STATUS: PendingMost recently this was home to Häos on Church with Blue LaLa Lounge upstairs. It was part restaurant, part show lounge with DJ’s occasionally playing upstairs. Don’t think they ever figured out what niche they were going for.Before that this space was Lion’s Pride, home for fans of Orlando City Lions and Orlando Pride. We saw soccer fans in there before and sometimes after games but they didn’t stay open late that we can recall.And before Lion’s Pride, the building sat idle for many years but before that, this was home to Bliss Ultra Lounge. It was one of just a handful of downtown venues playing EDM music at the time and was nearly always jammed.Crossing the tracks we reach the 55West apartment/condo building. On one side of the courtyard is this restaurant space. CURRENT STATUS: CLOSEDAt one time this was home to a popular farm-to-table restaurant called Rusty Spoon which seemed to be in there for a good number of years. Eventually they succumbed to downtown realities; we believe it closed around 2019 and it’s been empty ever since.On the opposite side of that courtyard is Artisan’s Table, another restaurant. While it looks to still be in business, a sign on the door says “Closed For Maintenance” and that sign has been there for more than a month. When first opened this was home to Heat Tandoor, an Indian restaurant that also had DJ’s on weekend nights. UPDATE: Sources say the place has been abandoned and permanently closed. Thus, CURRENT STATUS: CLOSEDMoving east, this place was in the news last week as one of the new downtown closures. This was home to Irish Shannon’s, one of the few places downtown that offered live bands. In reality, this place has been closed for awhile. During our passby’s, it was never open anymore. CURRENT STATUS: CLOSEDWhen nightclub Antigua closed, it was renovated and split into two venues The Dubliner Irish Social House and Don Jefe’s Tequila Parlour. There were crowds at times, but not often enough.Yes, this was once home to Antigua, the Caribbean-themed DJ dance club. It was always crowded when we visited so not sure why they closed and split it into two. In the news this past week was the closure of the three clubs located within this building. On the ground floor was Chillers, home to alcoholic-Slurpee-like frozen drinks. In the middle, Cahoots was a beer-centric bar with sports games. It was previously called Big Belly Brewery. And up on the rooftop, the recently renamed High Tide. CURRENT STATUS: CLOSEDHigh Tide was previously called Latitudes and was likely one of downtown’s oldest rooftop venues. Along with the name change, a thorough renovation had just taken place. It was home to the “Orange Drop” on NYE, akin to the big apple drop on NYE in NYC. Apparently no more.Next door, the sign at Go Go’s Disco Lounge still reads “Opening 2022”. We peeked inside and nothing is going on in there. CURRENT STATUS: CLOSEDFor awhile, this was Studio 27.And before that, dance club Native Social Bar. A lot of big name DJ’s played here. Before that, Mako’s.Next spot over, 1-Up game room with extreme theming seems to be doing well. We always see a crowd inside and often a queue at the door. CURRENT STATUS: OPENWhile the space did sit idle for awhile, it was previously home to Schumann’s Jager Haus, a German restaurant and bar.And prior to that, popular nightclub, the east-Asian themed Dragon Room.That brings us closer to Orange Avenue. The historic Kress Building is home to Kress Resturant and a law firm. No bars or clubs here. CURRENT STATUS: OPENOur tour ends at the corner of Church Street and Orange Avenue. While mostly an office building, a small Walgreens operated on the ground floor for more than a year but it too is gone. The City wants downtown retail but when a Walgreens can’t survive, that says a lot. CURRENT STATUS: CLOSED As you just saw, Church Street has become a “vast wasteland” (with apologies to Newton N. Minow) and once all the downtown bars and clubs are ALSO gone, so will all the other streets.
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