Ellie Lou’s Brews & BBQ hopes to open its third location in Flamingo Crossings in May 2022.
She said the new restaurant, her third, will look much like the others that are located in Ocoee and Clermont.
“It’s such a privilege to be there,” owner Ellen Korbin said.
Flamingo Crossings is owned by Disney and adjacent to Animal Kingdom but it is not actually in Disney World.
Korbin said she changed careers from social work and psychology to owning restaurants after a hit-and-run accident in 1987 — right after she moved to Florida from Mississippi — left her unable to do that kind of work.
She seems to have found great success and happiness in her second career. Ellie’s Brews & BBQ survived the pandemic even though her staff went from 92 to 12. “It’s coming back now. I hope to be hiring 30 people for the new place.”
While Korbin may have left her social work career behind, the kindness and care for others remains in her heart. She said she partners with Orange County schools, which has a culinary program, to help get young people get started in the business. She also has “spirit nights” when part of the proceeds go to a school in need.
Korbin, who once pushed a coffee cart around the convention center for her “Hill of Beans” business, said she wouldn’t have been able to do what she’s done without the help of Chef Dennis Chetlick, who she said is an amazingly creative chef. He will work in all three locations, training other chefs. She said her son, who is vice president of operations, and her director also deserve a lot of credit.
While some restaurant owners have to apply to get a space in the under-construction Flamingo Springs, Korbin said she was invited to bring in her brand by a board of developers. How did that happen?
“It really is a Cinderella story,” she said.
Seems she has an in. Korbin, the social worker-turned-restaurateur, has been making funnel cakes for Disney World for 26 years.
Now THAT is a sweet story.
