Bar Hopping in Baldwin Park

If you're not familiar with it, Baldwin Park is a planned community located about 3 miles east of downtown Orlando, near the Fashion Square Mall. Formerly a naval training center, the neighborhood of Baldwin Park has grown to include a large variety of homes, apartments, offices, restaurants, and shops.

A group of friends decided to go out Friday night to say farewell to a coworker who is moving to California. We met up immediately after work, around 5pm, at Colibri Mexican restaurant. Situated on Lake Baldwin, the patio offers a great view of the neighborhood. We ordered margaritas and Coronas for happy hour, and munched on chips and salsa.

After an hour or so we headed over to CaddyShanks, a brand-new sports bar located in the heart of the village center. They serve a ton of different beers and microbrews, as well as a few frozen drinks and mixers. They have lots of flat-screen tvs, two pool tables (one of which was converted to a ping pong table), three tvs hooked up with Wii, a foosball table, two virtual golf simulators, and two race car simulators. There is a fee for each of the games, and we ended up playing pool and ping ping for a few hours. Someone brought in a bunch of barbecue ribs and chicken wings to share, so we feasted on food, beer, and games.

Our next stop, around 9pm, was the UpTown Park Wine Bar. They offer a huge variety of different beers from all over the world. There was a DJ that night (he visits about once a month), and of course my crazy group were the only ones dancing in the middle of the bar! Generally, though, the UpTown Park Wine Bar is a nice quiet place to unwind and relax with a glass of wine or an international beer.

Our last stop of the evening was Seito Sushi Japanese restaurant. After all that drinking and dancing, it was time for more food! Seito's is probably my favorite restaurant in Baldwin Park. I love their fried gyoza, miso soup, house salad, and specialty sushi rolls. It was a great end to a fun-filled night.

So, if you're looking for some nighttime fun outside of the busy theme parks and away from the craziness of downtown Orlando, give Baldwin Park a try. It's classy, full of variety, and easy to hop from one place to another!