The
Ravenous Pig
The place
James and Julie Petrakis put Orlando's farm-to-table movement on the map with this Winter Park gastropub in 2007, and 16-plus years in, it's still the room locals point to when out-of-towners ask where to go for dinner. House-cured charcuterie, heritage-breed pork, a craft beer list pulled from the Cask & Larder brewery next door — all run by a husband-and-wife James Beard-nominated team.
The story behind one of Orlando's most important restaurants
Before "farm-to-table" was a checkbox on every Orlando menu, James and Julie Petrakis were already doing it. The husband-and-wife chef team opened The Ravenous Pig on Orange Avenue in Winter Park in 2007, and the city's dining scene didn't look the same afterward. They cured their own bacon. They butchered whole hogs from a farm 60 miles north. They poured craft beer when the rest of Orlando was still on the Bud Light track.
That early bet became the template every serious Orlando restaurant followed for the next decade. The Petrakises went on to be James Beard semifinalists multiple years running. They opened a sister brewery, Cask & Larder, in 2012 — now operating right next door, sharing the building and a beer list with The Ravenous Pig itself.
What's on the menu
The menu rotates seasonally, but a few flagships never leave. The Pig Burger — local beef, house-cured bacon, gruyère, on a brioche bun — is the lunch sandwich Orlando food writers reference like a benchmark. The pork porterhouse, when it's on the menu, comes from a heritage Berkshire farmer in central Florida and is the dish to order if you've never been before.
The charcuterie board is where the kitchen's personality shows up clearest: five rotating cures, made in-house, served with bread from local bakers and pickled accompaniments from the kitchen's prep team. The wine list is short and opinionated; the cocktail list reads like a serious bar in any major city.
Sunday brunch is its own ritual. Chicken and biscuits, house-cured bacon flights, the same craft beer program at 11 AM.
The neighborhood
The Ravenous Pig sits in Winter Park's Hannibal Square — a walkable block of independent shops, the Saturday farmers market, and the cluster of restaurants that draw Orlando food crowds north of downtown. Park Avenue is a five-minute walk; the Winter Park train station is two blocks away on SunRail. Most regulars treat it as a destination evening, not a stop-in.
How to plan your visit
Reservations are essential, especially Friday and Saturday. The bar takes walk-ins and is a legitimate option if you couldn't book — the full menu is available, and the bar staff is among the most experienced in central Florida. Sunday brunch books up faster than dinner; aim for two weeks out.
Cask & Larder, the brewery next door, shares the building and a kitchen team. If The Ravenous Pig is full, you can often eat the same food at the brewery bar and it counts as a Cask reservation, which is easier to get.
What to expect
Smart-casual Orlando dinner — date night, anniversary, taking a parent. The dining room is intimate, the music is unobtrusive, the staff is genuinely informed. Plan 90 minutes for dinner, 75 for brunch.The shop, in frames
What people are saying
Frequently asked
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Closest spots by distance
Other places to fold into the same trip — measured straight-line from The Ravenous Pig.
