The Best Places to Eat Near Cedars Cafe, by the Record

1. James Beard Awards 2026 · Semifinalist · Best Chef: South · Toni Elkhouri

Concrete floors and a black ceiling a few blocks from the ocean in Cocoa Beach set the tone for this compact Japanese restaurant where the kitchen treats "Japanese styles" as a loose suggestion. Omakase is available by reservation for when you're feeling flush, and bento boxes keep lunch grounded. The sake list rewards a slow read. The Michelin Guide has taken notice.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

1. USA Today Restaurants of the Year

A chocolate sphere melted tableside sets the tone at this Latin American restaurant inside Lake Nona's Wave Hotel: dramatic is the operating mode. Warm wood, vivid color, and ceilings tall enough to lose a drone in frame a menu that roams Central and South America with a tropical lean. Small plates and bigger signature dishes share the card, and a service robot circulates among the banquettes without anyone seeming to find it unusual.

1. AAA Four Diamonds
2. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant
3. Time Out The 20 best restaurants in Orlando

Inside the Lake Nona Wave Hotel, Nami is a contemporary Japanese restaurant with two modes: a dining room running skewers and maki, and a chef's counter tasting menu that treats beef and broccoli as a philosophical problem worth solving with wagyu. The room leans moody and high-ceilinged, which suits a menu that takes equal pleasure in a corndog riff loaded with caviar and in a quiet bowl of rice pudding.

1. Michelin Guide Selected Restaurant

1. Eater The 38 Best Restaurants in Orlando

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Jimmy and Johnny Tung

1. James Beard Awards 2023 · Semifinalist · Outstanding Restaurateur · Jimmy and Johnny Tung