IMAGE VIA TAVISTOCK RESTAURANT COLLECTION
Cañonita (Website), a full-service Mexican restaurant and bar from Tavistock Restaurant Collection, opens Tuesday, November 10, at Lake Nona West.
The restaurant is at 5947 Lake Nona Boulevard [GMap] in the new open-air shopping and dining center with Nordstrom Rack. It is the first full-service restaurant for Cañonita, a concept born in Las Vegas nearly 30 years ago. Tavistock Restaurant Collection already operates Cañonita Street Taqueria at Boxi Park in Lake Nona, where they tested the menu (and let us have a preview back in April when we recorded “The Orlando Shine Show” there).
The kitchen serves Mexican cuisine with tortillas, queso, guacamole, and seven salsas made fresh daily in view of guests. Heirloom masa, beans and árbol chiles come directly from regions across Mexico. At the bar, the team squeezes, steeps, and infuses everything in-house, and every tequila is 100 percent agave. Not that we double-checked, but we’re choosing to believe them.
Large plates served on a lazy Susan include a fajita platter, taco bar and parrillada. The drink menu features house-infused margaritas, a margarita flight called La Banda de Tres and a table-side drink called Mojito Me. The menu also includes vegan and gluten-free options, a plant-based chorizo, zero-proof cocktails, and aguas frescas made each morning.
The space was designed by Anna Woodman Interior Design, with architecture by Interplan LLC, and is inspired by the monarch butterfly’s migration through Mexico. It has three areas: a bar and lounge with a heritage mural and a glowing back bar of tequilas, a dining room with 10-top tables for family-style dishes, and a covered patio with a butterfly-themed bar overlooking green space. The patio hosts groups of up to 30. The fact sheet says the restaurant can accommodate parties from 10 to full buyouts of 450.
Cañonita is open from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Happy hour is Monday through Friday from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m., and brunch is Saturday and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. The restaurant also offers takeout and delivery.
