Keeping it Local and Safe In Ivanhoe Village

By: Christian Switzer

The pandemic has changed a lot of things in Ivanhoe Village. Businesses are enacting new safety protocols and creating new ways to experience their hyperlocal concepts. Here are some highlights of things to do and experience while keeping it safe.

1. Day Trip for Shopping and Lunch

When you shop small, you support your neighbors’ businesses, but you also limit the amount of people you come in contact with. Stop by Yay! Tiny Shop and pick out the perfect gift for the baby shower that is happening virtually, I personally recommend the super cute avocado rattle. Head up the road to Miscellaneous Market where you are sure to find just the thing you didn’t know you needed. Then head over to Autumn and Ro, who has changed spots and is now on Virginia Drive, sharing a space with an art gallery, that’s a two in one deal right there. Grab some lunch at Santiago’s Bodega, just across the street and enjoy their shaded outside seating. Afterward, stop by Matador and pick up cocktails for home. All of these businesses have new safety procedures, sanitizer outside of Yay!, crafted sanitizer at Miscellaneous, mask requirements at all and options to buy handmade masks at Autumn and Ro. Santiago’s accepts reservations, making spacing guests easier and their outside seating offers a safer option while going out. 

1. Dive into Culture

 The Orlando Museum of Art has wide open and large galleries full of art from a variety of different cultures, time periods, and techniques and offers sanitizer, temperature checks, and a check in process when you enter. Afterwards, head to The Hammered Lamb for lunch. This innovative location was one of the first in Orlando to require masks and has a handwashing station right up front. Their staff is serious about keeping you safe while you sip on their well known “train shots” as the Sunrail zooms by. After lunch, check out Gentry’s BBQ just down the way and pick up some curated meats and rubs for dinner. Keep it local and head to Ivanhoe Park Brewing, where you can select from a number of beers brewed in house, now for your home. 

1. Spa and Pampering Day

Ivanhoe Village boasts so many different types of spas and pampering locations. You can take the more medical route at Serrao Rejuvenation Center and receive a Calming Hydrating Facial which is sure to help with those dark circles from endless Zoom meetings. You can also go the more homeopathic route and check out Radiant Massage and Skincare, try their 30 minute acupuncture and feel relief from allergies and aches. Afterward it’s clearly time for a new do, so you have to go to Mosaic Hair Studio, where owner Mike van den Abbeel has been on the task force to Reopen Orange County during the last few months. There is a handwashing station out front and mask requirements throughout your appointment. After all your pampering, choose something local to take home at GB’s Bottle Shop, I recommend Parish Sips Pinot Noir Black Current, or if you’re in the mood for a cocktail, stop by Lucky Lure and pick up a Rum Runner.

Ivanhoe Village businesses continue to work together with the community to make this area a safe place to shop, visit, and eat, whether your comfort level is coming in, curbside pick up, or ordering online for delivery. When you keep it local, you keep your friends and neighbors employed, and the diversity of businesses in Orlando strong.