Restaurant of the Year: Transformative June dawns new era in Thornton Park dining • Bird is the word: Small, sexy Sparrow is a high-flying hit, named Best New Restaurant in Foodie Awards
Orlando Sentinel Evening Update Friday, March 6, 2026 | | |
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WEEKLY
A look at entertainment and sporting events in Orlando and around Central Florida.
Sign up | | Foodie Award winners | Orlando plan to lure high-profile events | Maxwell on textbooks | Kissimmee police lieutenant arrested | Downtown plaque honors history | Time-change debate | | | | Which restaurants did Orlando Sentinel food writer Amy Drew Thompson pick as the best of the best? How did her selections compare to the ones chosen by the readers? See if your favorite place won! | | | | | Food writer Amy Drew Thompson picks June in Orlando's Thornton Park as the 2026 Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards Restaurant of the Year. | | | | | Chef Wendy Lopez helped the North Quarter scene with Reyes. | | | | | The local sports commission is seeking to bring high-profile events to city using Orange County tax money. It promises tourist spending and a higher profile for the region. | | | | | Maxwell: As Florida censors a college textbook on sociology, cutting mentions of 'racism' down from 115 to 6, the whitewashing of history and facts continues in the "Free State of Florida." | | | | | Santone was promoted last December despite an internal investigation finding she violated agency policy two months earlier. | | | | | The date and location of Orlando's biggest news day is officially marked at the former Cherry Plaza Hotel downtown. | | | | | This is the weekend clocks move ahead, causing angst, lost sleep and health issues. | | | | | Joseph Ladapo made national news in September when he said he wanted to abolish all school vaccine mandates, but the Legislature never took up his proposal, and even its weaker bill looks dead this year. | | | | | A new NASA authorization bill moving through the U.S. Senate would extend the International Space Station's life among other directives. | | | | | Gov. Ron DeSantis continued his pursuit Friday for a statewide "Artificial Intelligence Bill of Rights," even as the bill is stalled and likely dead for the legislative session. | | | |
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