Welcome to Monday Morning in Orlando
So when people subscribe to this newsletter, I welcome them and ask what their favorite restaurant is. One of the top spots I read in responses is Beefy King on North Bumby Ave. Well, we finally hit that spot for a roast beef sandwich lunch on Saturday, and what a throwback treasure!
In today’s issue: 👇
- Forty-Niners Special
- She Made Meringue
- Adega Gaucha
- ….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 ⏪
Forty-Niners Special
At two in the morning on a Saturday on East Colonial Drive in 1967, most of Orlando was fast asleep. Uncle John's Pancake House was not.
The lights stayed on until 3 a.m. on weekends, 39 kinds of pancakes kept rolling off the griddle, and the Forty-Niners Special, all-you-can-eat stacks for 49 cents, had shift workers, teenagers, and night owls happily planted in their booths long after every other kitchen in town had called it a night.
The whole thing started when World War II veteran Jack Holder and his wife Anne swapped a Dairy Queen in Oregon for something of their own, opening the first Uncle John's in Santa Clara, California. The concept caught on fast. By 1961, roughly 60 locations were running across more than 20 states.
Orlando's outpost slipped away without a farewell write-up, a photograph, or even a closing date anyone thought to record.
Yet locals still talk about it decades later, unprompted, in Facebook groups, with the kind of fondness usually reserved for people, not pancakes.
For a restaurant that left almost nothing behind, that's a pretty impressive last impression.
🥞 Hungry for the full story? How 49 cents bought you a booth, an endless stack, and a front-row seat to Orlando's late-night dining scene before anyone called it that. Dig in, right here.
THE SQUEEZE 🍊
Life Gave Her Lemons. She Made Meringue.
Susan Sharp didn't set out to become a cookie queen.
After nearly 20 years in HR, eight of them with a company she loved, the layoff hit hard. The job market offered nothing back. So she did what any reasonable person would do: she started whipping egg whites.
Meringue cookies, to be exact. No flour, no dairy, no fat. Just egg whites, sugar, and flavor baked so low and slow they practically float off the pan. Fifteen flavors, vegan options, and every one hand-piped because shortcuts aren't really her thing.
By May 2026, Sunbeams & Sugar was officially open in Winter Garden. Two months into selling at the Oakland Farmers Market, a business came knocking, unprompted, asking to carry her cookies. Wholesale license? Incoming. Storefront? On the horizon. Cookies shipping across the entire US? Already happening.
Susan’s six kids are watching mom build something from nothing.
Turns out getting laid off was just the universe's way of saying: go make cookies.
👩🍳 Oof, look at these beauties. I may need my own wholesale account with Susan! 🤣
The Stands Had the Right People
It was the first inning when Jason James, coaching his daughter's softball game in Orlando, felt light-headed and hit the ground. His heart had stopped, though he had no idea.
As luck would have it, sitting in those stands were an oncology surgeon, a critical care physician, and a fire battalion chief, all three of whom jumped into action and started CPR. A fourth bystander made a mad dash to the concession stand and returned with an AED. James had a pulse before the ambulance even showed up.
Now, months after that wild March afternoon, the Orlando Fire Department is bringing everyone back together today, reuniting James with the strangers who saved his life, and honoring the heroes who made sure he made it home.
A Fresh Look, a Fresh Start, and a Fashion Show
Sometimes, all it takes to change the trajectory of someone's life is the right outfit and someone in your corner.
That's exactly what Connected Hearts is all about, led by Lori DeFalco and her team.
Based in Longwood, this energetic new nonprofit is suiting up local men and women who are rebuilding after domestic abuse, trafficking, incarceration, recovery, foster care, and other life detours.
Beyond professional clothing, they offer workforce coaching, emotional support, and real community connections.
And they're launching in style. Their kick-off fundraiser is a fashion show at Altamonte Mall's Dillard's on August 22nd, because apparently summer can do runway.
🔥 Tickets are affordable, too, right here!
👉 Partner With Orlando Signal 👈
💼 This Week’s Curated Jobs
Sourced from the Orlando Signal Job Board!
🎡 Director, Product Strategy, Universal Moments Universal Parks and Resorts | Orlando
Shape how millions of guests capture, share, and relive their Universal experiences, building a memory product strategy that spans technology, commerce, and theme park magic.
💰 Competitive salary | 👉 Learn More & Apply
🎨 Creative Marketing Assistant The Bold Brand Collective | Orlando (Hybrid + shoots)
Write captions, design graphics, film content, and show up on camera for a female-founded startup agency that's growing fast and building brands people actually care about.
💰 $18/hour (contract, 10-20+ hrs/week) | 👉 Learn More & Apply
🏥 Project Manager, Communications Stryker | Orlando (60% field-based)
Lead complex healthcare equipment installations for one of the world's top medical device companies, wrangling budgets, timelines, and hospital stakeholders like a seasoned pro.
💰 $89.3K-$148.8K/year | 👉 Learn More & Apply
📋 Specialist Field Attendance Admin AT&T | Orlando (5 days/week on-site)
Keep AT&T's workforce compliance engine running smoothly, tracking attendance, advising managers, and navigating union and HR processes with precision and cool-headedness.
💰 $64.2K-$96.4K/year | 👉 Learn More & Apply
📦 Communications Representative Limitless East Marketing / Park 6 Logistic | Orlando
Keep messaging flowing smoothly across a fast-growing logistics company, drafting professional communications and routing information to the right people at the right time.
💰 $55K-$62K/year | 👉 Learn More & Apply
Tap/click here for lots more opportunities. Jobs added constantly!
✈️ Orlando’s best flight deal - Fenway and fresh lobstah edition
Early September and Boston is hitting its stride. The summer crowds are thinning, the Red Sox are in their late-season push at Fenway, and the whole city has this energized end-of-summer vibe that's genuinely contagious. Duck into the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, one of the most underrated art museums in the country, grab a lobster roll in the Seaport, and spend an afternoon wandering Cambridge just across the river. The weather's perfect and the harbor's beautiful.
Orlando (MCO) → Boston (BOS) for 183 bucks* (non-stop!), round-trip Thursday through Sunday, early-September. See the deal.
*Price shown above is accurate as of the time this newsletter was sent.
TASTY NEWS 🧑🍳
Orlando Area Eateries Coming & Going
1️⃣ NOW OPEN: Whataburger - Orlando's Long-Overdue Comfort Food
Whataburger (Insta) is back in Orlando, and its fans never really moved on. Since Harmon Dobson flipped the first patty in Corpus Christi in 1950, the chain has run on one stubborn promise: made-to-order, never frozen, just like you like it. Now, at East Colonial Drive, that promise runs 24 hours a day.
2️⃣ NOW OPEN: Olea Taverna - College Park's Newest Table Is Set
College Park has a new reason to make dinner plans. Olea Taverna (Insta) has arrived on Edgewater Drive, bringing a full Mediterranean spread to the neighborhood. We’re talking hummus, gyros, eggplant caponata, kibbeh, kabobs, and falafel, all rooted in traditional recipes. Reservations or walk-ins. Either way, but show up hungry.
#ORLANDOSIGNAL 📸
Old School Classic Right Here
📷 via @orlandosignal |📍Lake Nona
Tag @orlandosignal to get your photo featured in the newsletter!
FOODIE FIND, FORK YEAH! 🤩
Adega Gaucha
📍8204 Crystal Clear Ln #1700, Orlando, FL 32809. Map to this location.
Long before the word "steakhouse" existed, the gauchos had already figured it out. Skilled cattlemen of southern Brazil who cooked over open flames with one simple belief: good meat, good company, good life.
That spirit landed in Orlando when Adega Gaucha (Insta) opened in 2021, and Central Florida hasn't eaten the same since.
Expect premium cuts carved table-side, a gourmet spread of fresh salads, carpaccio, and traditional sides, all served with the kind of Brazilian hospitality that makes you want to stay for one more skewer.
👉 Check out the menu, right here 👈
Source: Adega Gaucha
MORE PULP! 😎
Weekday things to check out
🍳 Cooking with Confidence: Plant-Based Paella
📅 Wednesday, August 12th | 6-7pm
📍 4Roots Farm Campus – Education Building
Executive Chef Delaño Lambertclare brings layers of spice, color, and garden-fresh flavor to this iconic one-pan dish. Your weeknight cooking game is about to level up!
👉 Paella Power
🎷 Timucua Jazz Jam
📅 Thursday, August 13th | 7-8:30pm
📍 Timucua Arts Foundation
Central Florida Jazz All Stars Per Danielsson, Gerald Law II, and Thomas Milovac bring groove-oriented, funky sounds. Sit in or sit back and soak it in.
👉 Jazz It Up
🎒 Tote-ally Creative Workshop
📅 Thursday, August 13th | 6-7:30pm
📍 Meredith Sand Designs Studio and Gallery, 221 S Bumby Ave
Paint, pass, and build on each other's tote bag designs in this wildly fun collaborative workshop with resident artist Megan Hernandez. Complimentary food and drinks included!
👉 Tote-ally Fun
🎬 Popcorn Flicks: Raiders of the Lost Ark
📅 Thursday, August 13th | 8pm
📍 Central Park, Winter Park
Celebrate Indiana Jones' 45th anniversary under the stars: Nazis, snakes, booby traps, and the Ark of the Covenant, all for FREE!
👉Adventure Awaits
🎭 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
