Welcome to Monday Morning in Orlando
It was so dang hot yesterday, I did what any reasonable person would do. I went to East End Market with the fam, visited Wafu, and gobbled up Dubai style soft-serve in a taiyaki cone! I had to hurry because it started melting as soon as it was handed to me!
In today’s issue: 👇
- Typewriters to Takeovers
- Favorite Food Crawl
- Rawsha
- ….and much more
Did someone forward this email to you? Join over 20K insatiably curious Orlandoans, right here.
Let’s dive in!
- Philip
P.S. Want some hawt community sourced foodie recommendations? Check out the Orlando Signal Restaurant Guide, right here.
(GREATER) ORLANDO REWIND ⏪
From Typewriters to Takeovers
In the spring of 1937, Webster Bishop looked at Orlando, a modest citrus town with big ideas, and decided that selling typewriters to ambitious office managers was a perfectly fine way to make a living. He was right.
Bishop Office Equipment spent the next six decades quietly furnishing Central Florida's back offices, one clunky desk at a time.
When Webster died, his son Sonny came home from World War II, took the reins, and ran the place for roughly fifty years, steering it through Orlando's reinventions from citrus town to space-adjacent boomtown to theme park capital.
By 1997, the company had grown to three Central Florida locations with a roster of serious corporate clients. Not bad for a shop that started out peddling ink ribbons.
Then the corporate dominoes started falling. Sonny sold to Corporate Express, which eventually landed inside Staples via a $2.65 billion deal in 2008.
Two former Bishop employees, unhappy about inherited non-compete clauses, took their grievances all the way to the Florida Supreme Court, and lost, but not before a typewriter shop helped shape Florida employment law forever.
The 1959 building at 1800 East Colonial still stands. The sign has changed four times. The city around it barely resembles the one Webster Bishop knew.
🔥 Want the full Bishop Office Equipment story, Supreme Court drama and all? Check out my expanded version, right here.
THE SQUEEZE 🍊
Orlando's Favorite Food Crawl Is Back, and It's Bringing 17 Days of Deals With It
Every summer, Orlando's neighborhood dining scene gets its moment in the spotlight. This year, that moment arrives July 24th and runs through August 9th, when Sip and Savor makes its return across the city's Main Street districts.
For 17 days, OVER 80 local restaurants, breweries, and cafes will roll out limited-time menus, curated bundles, and special pricing, the kind of offers you won't find on a regular Tuesday night.
Think craft cocktails at Reyes Mezcaleria, Thai and sushi at Oudom, and street tacos at Black Rooster Taqueria, and that's just the start.
New participants are jumping in daily, so the options keep growing right up until the first glass is poured.
Whether you're a neighborhood regular or just passing through, consider this your excuse to eat, drink, and explore what Orlando really tastes like, one sip and bite at a time.
👉 Get the full list of participating spots + deals, right here.
Keep the Quarters, Lose the Meter
Digging through your cupholder for spare change is becoming a thing of the past in Orlando.
Last week, the city kicked things off in SoDo and the Orlando Health area, phase one of three. South Eola and remaining downtown locations are up next. All meters will be replaced with digital payment via the ParkMobile app, Pay by Text, or a quick call to the number on new signage.
This isn't a wild experiment, Orlando has run with ParkMobile since 2015 and went meterless in Creative Village as far back as 2019.
Now the whole city gets the upgrade.
Bonus: plug in the ParkMobile code ParkDTO for up to two free hours.
Phase two, new hours, pricing, and enforcement rules, kicks off October 1st.
Ditch the Bag, Dodge the Bug
Your bagged salad might be plotting against you. Cyclosporiasis, a parasite-driven illness that causes severe diarrhea, loves hiding in processed, multi-source greens, and since symptoms take up to two weeks to appear, you'll never suspect the salad.
Experts say contamination happens during processing, not at the farm. One bad batch in the bag? The whole thing's compromised.
The fix is delicious: go local. Greater Orlando has no shortage of options, Winter Garden and Winter Park host Saturday morning markets, Lake Eola draws crowds every Sunday, and the Audubon Park Community Market keeps things fresh on Monday evenings.
Fresh, local, and parasite-free. That's a win.
(Skip the stomach bug and get the full scoop on buying local with Rhian Lowndes, right here)
👉 Partner With Orlando Signal 👈
💼 This Week’s Curated Jobs
Sourced from the Orlando Signal Job Board!
📦 Distribution Center Production Supervisor CVS Health | Orlando
Lead pick, pack, and replenishment teams at a healthcare distribution giant, owning every outbound shipment from 5:30 AM until the last order ships on time.
💰 $43.8K-$85K/year + bonus | 👉 Learn More & Apply
🎓 Director, Individual & Planned Giving Valencia College | Orlando
Build a major gifts program that turns community generosity into scholarships, faculty chairs, and life-changing opportunities for tens of thousands of Central Florida students.
💰 $85K-$105K/year | 👉 Learn More & Apply
☕ Cafe Retail Manager Morrison Healthcare / Compass Group | Orlando
Run a high-volume hospital cafe where great food and excellent service actually help people heal, leading a team that serves hundreds of patients, families, and staff daily.
💰 $75K-$80K/year | 👉 Learn More & Apply
🏖️ Executive Administrator, Corporate Marketing & Sales Marriott Vacations Worldwide | Orlando
Be the operational backbone for the EVP of Sales and Marketing at a global vacation empire, keeping calendars, travel, and executive comms running like a first-class resort.
💰 Competitive salary | 👉 Learn More & Apply
Tap/click here for lots more opportunities. Over 100 added last week!
✈️ Orlando’s best flight deal - Wrigley, deep dish, and river views edition
August in Chicago is the city at full volume. Street festivals every weekend, the architecture boat tours are legitimately jaw-dropping (I did one in last year!), and you're eating your way through a food scene that honestly rivals anywhere in the country. Chicago-style hot dogs, Italian beef sandwiches, and yes, deep dish at least once. Catch a Cubs game at Wrigley, kayak down the Chicago River with skyscrapers towering above you, or just wander Millennium Park and stumble into a free concert.
Orlando (MCO) → Chicago (ORD) for 215 bucks* (non-stop!), round-trip Thursday through Sunday, mid’ish-August. See the deal.
*Price shown above is accurate as of the time this newsletter was sent.
TASTY NEWS 🧑🍳
Orlando Area Eateries Coming & Going
1️⃣ COMING SOON: Viet-Nomz - Pho Real, Winter Park
Orlando's favorite Vietnamese street-fare spot is headed to Winter Park, and your pho obsession is about to get a whole lot more convenient. Viet-Nomz (Insta), known for its nearly 24-hour simmered broths, Vietnamese-inspired street tacos, banh-mi, and fresh rice bowls, opens its fourth location next month, bringing bigger kitchen ambitions and new menu items along for the ride.
#ORLANDOSIGNAL 📸
KORI hands you clear plastic gloves to tear these mochi cube babies apart
📷 via @orlandosignal |📍Mills 50
Tag @orlandosignal to get your photo featured in the newsletter!
FOODIE FIND, FORK YEAH! 🤩
Rawsha Mediterranean Cuisine
📍8956 Turkey Lake Rd, Ste B-700, Orlando, FL 32819. Map to this location.
If you haven't discovered Rawsha Mediterranean Cuisine (Insta) near I-Drive yet, this one's for you.
The city's only Iraqi restaurant just won "Best Middle Eastern Food in Orlando 2026," and one bite of their legendary Iraqi kebab will tell you exactly why.
Order the mixed grill platter, pile on the airy hummus and fattoush, and finish with a pot of cardamom tea. It's smoky, bold, and dangerously good.
Rawsha doesn't need the hype. The food does the talking.
👉 Check out the menu, right here 👈
Source: Rawsha Mediterranean Cuisine
MORE PULP! 😎
Weekday things to check out
Presented by Presented by CFCArts Youth Theatre Summer Camps:
Shrek the Musical KIDS
This weekend, Shrek the Musical KIDS arrives at the Trinity Preparatory School Auditorium in Winter Park.
Follow Shrek and a ragtag crew of fairytale misfits on a quest to rescue a princess, and find where they truly belong. Funny, heartfelt, and carrying a message bigger than any magic spell, this is one fairy tale that earns its happy ending.
Three performances only:
📅 Friday, July 24th at 7 p.m. | Saturday, July 25th at 2 p.m. & 7 p.m.
Tap/Click here for more info & grab tix
🎤 Monday Scaries Comedy Show
📅 Monday, July 20th | 7pm
📍 CityArts Orlando
Skip the overpriced iced coffee and spend $5 on a room full of people trying very hard to make you laugh, and succeeding.
👉 Laugh It Off
🎭 Forgotten Broadway
📅 Tuesday, July 21st | 7pm
📍 Judson's Live, Dr. Phillips Center
No script, no setlist, just Orlando's best improvisers turning YOUR audience suggestions into legendary Broadway showtunes on the spot.
👉 Unscripted Magic
🍽️ Culinary Arts Fusion Contest 2026
📅 Tuesday & Thursday, July 21st & 23rd
📍 Rosen College of Hospitality Management
Pro chefs battle it out creating innovative fusion dishes blending two or more cultures; 60 samples served to judges and VIP guests with cash prizes up to $1,000.
👉 Taste the World
🎸 The Australian Pink Floyd Show
📅 Wednesday, July 22nd | 8pm
📍 Walt Disney Theater, Dr. Phillips Center
The world's greatest Pink Floyd tribute delivers meticulous musicianship, spectacular lasers, inflatables, and full-album magic across 35+ countries of touring excellence.
👉 Comfortably Numb
🌱 MLK Jr. Learning Garden: Summer Plants & Paints
📅 Wednesday, July 22nd | 6-7pm
📍 Martin Luther King Jr. Learning Garden, Winter Park Library
Paint plant labels for summer transplants and take home your own garden coaster, then get your hands dirty adding amaranth, tomatoes, sweet potato, and perennial spinach to the garden!
👉 Grow & Create
🎭 Mystery Sketch Theater
📅 Thursday, July 23rd | 8-10pm
📍 The Falcon Bar & Gallery, 819 E Washington St
Draw dazzling costumed models from superheroes to drag performers in this lively figure drawing session with prizes; all levels welcome for $5.
👉 Sketch the Spectacular
🎭 Want to share an event? Use this link.
THANKS!
✅ Want to connect with 20K+ curious Orlandoans for your business?, start a conversation here.
🌟 Know a community superstar? Tell me about them, right here.
Thanks for reading! I’ll see you again on Thursday’s weekend fun issue.
My Best,
Philip - Publisher, Orlando Signal
