Top Chef winner Hung Huynh is bringing a surge of Southeast Asian flavor to Orlando’s Mills 50 neighborhood with Pomelo, a new bar and restaurant on the way. The 2,600-square-foot, roughly 120-seat spot is moving into the former Twisted Handle/Brass Tap building at 1632 N. Mills Avenue and is aiming for a spring 2026 debut. Backed by restaurateurs Johnny and Jimmy Tung, Pomelo is set to lean into live-fire cooking, shareable plates, and a citrus-forward cocktail program.
According to Orlando Weekly, Pomelo will be heavily cocktail-focused and built around a live-fire kitchen that includes planchas, grills, and wok stations. The outlet reports that Huynh is planning skewers, seafood towers, charred octopus, and other shareable plates that lean into bold, tropical flavors. The stand-alone building’s large outdoor patio and ample parking were key reasons the team chose to plant the project in Mills 50.
What Pomelo Will Serve
TastyChomps describes Pomelo as a laid-back, indoor-outdoor bar centered on “vibrant Southeast Asian flavors” and tropical cocktails, with seating for about 100 guests. The site notes that Huynh was especially drawn to the outdoor area and quotes him saying he wants the menu to feel like a “tropical oasis,” a place for sharing good food and lingering into long nights. WhatNow adds that a formal menu has not yet been released and that the project listed a spring 2026 target on social media.
Chef’s Local Role And Pedigree
Huynh is a Culinary Institute of America graduate who trained at Lespinasse and Per Se and took home the title on Bravo’s Top Chef Season 3 in 2007, according to the Culinary Institute of America. As culinary director at Mills Market, he has helped incubate vendors like Saigon Snow and Bánh Mì Boy and has led limited-run pop-ups, according to Mills Market press materials. That local track record helped convince the Tung brothers to back a stand-alone Mills 50 restaurant from Huynh.
What It Means For Mills 50
Pomelo’s arrival is another sign that Mills 50 is evolving into one of Orlando’s most kinetic dining corridors, with local outlets chronicling a steady wave of new openings and concepts. As Bungalower reported, the Tungs and Huynh see the project as a way to channel the energy of Mills Market into a full-service neighborhood hangout. Neighbors can expect a lively bar program, outdoor seating, and the kind of shareable, flavor-forward plates that have become a Mills 50 calling card…