After over a 2-year lapse, three area restaurants are offering Dementia-friendly Dining!
Dementia-friendly Dining restaurants are food service establishments that provide friendly, safe, and enjoyable places where families and friends may bring their loved ones who are living with Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia. Initially starting in January 2020, Dementia-friendly Dining in Central Florida was put on hold due to COVID. Now that our positive cases are lowered, we can now resume sharing a meal out of the house among families and friends that reduces isolation, increases social contact, encourages opportunities for engagement, stimulation, communication and creates memories. These quality-of-life experiences expand making our community more dementia-friendly. Compassion, understanding, shared caregiving and a more relaxed and enjoyable meal is a joy for all!
Dementia-friendly Dining in Central Florida was started by Dennis Dulniak, Care Partner for his wife Nancy who was diagnosed with Early Onset Alzheimer’s in 2015. Though she passed on in January 2021, he continues to team with Toni Gitles, author and Certified Caregiving Consultant for identification and training of restaurant staff and servers. Starting in May 2022, three area restaurants will be open for Dementia-friendly Dining. Orlando’s The Meatball Stoppe,7325 Lake Underhill Road, returns as the first Dementia-friendly Dining spots and will be welcoming families and loved ones with Alzheimer’s and other form of dementia every Tuesday from 2 – 5 pm beginning May 10th. Owners and Chefs Isabella and Jeff Morgia personally know the difficulties faced by caregivers and families who continue to struggle with the challenges of dementia. Isabella shared that “we have had three family members who have suffered through this terrible disease of Alzheimer’s. We want to make The Meatball Stoppe a place of comfort and a place that may remind them of home while feeding them a wonderful meal at the same time.”
Oviedo’s The Townhouse Restaurant, 139 N Central Avenue, will lead the Central Florida Dementia-friendly places when they open their back room every Wednesday from 2 – 5 pm beginning May 4th. Be prepared, some staff are expected to be there in Star Wars costumes – “may the Fourth be with you!”! Sanford’s Patio Grill, 2900 South Orlando Drive, is the third Dementia-friendly Dining location in Central Florida open to serve every 2nd Tuesday from 9 am to 2 pm beginning May 10th.
Instrumental in bringing Dementia-friendly Dining to Orlando has been the coordination and support with the Senior Resource Alliance (Area Agency on Aging of Central Florida) and the Central Florida Dementia Care and Cure Initiative (Florida Department of Elder Affairs) who continue to work toward creating dementia-friendly communities with services and supports in place to make that our community hospitable to someone living with dementia, their care partners, and loved ones. Additional information is available here.
