The past has presence at 1881 Restaurant & Bar in Kissimmee

Uzbekistan was a significant nation on the Silk Road, a network of trade routes that, for more than a thousand years, saw goods passing from Europe to East Asia and back. Silks and spices and all manner of goods moved along this ancient superhighway, carried by all manner of people, disseminating art and culture as readily as tea and textiles. Exchanges that have withstood the test of time.

China, Greece, Russia and Turkey are just a few nations that have left a mark on Uzbek culture, rich in all ways, not the least of which is its food. Delicious mixed grill meats, bright salads, beef-stuffed pastry and dumplings and hand-pulled noodles were among the delicacies I expected to sample when I headed out to 1881 Restaurant & Bar in Kissimmee.

What I didn’t expect was to find them being served in a historic complex with vibes far better suited to a Zane Grey novel than a stop in ancient Samarkand.

Kissimmee cowboy culture is the latest to mesh with that of the Uzbeks, it seems. And Osceola County is that much richer for it.

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The building at 308 Broadway is a beaut, one that 140 years served as the home of Makison Hardware, which was the longest-operating hardware store in the state until it shuttered in 2021. This one was built in 1884.

“But the first store, Makison & Katz, opened a few blocks south of here in 1881,” Doug Parrish tells me. “That one burned down, so they built this one a few years later.”

A stickler for the town’s true history, though, local architect Ray Parsons, a second-gen native son with an eye on preserving the charm of Kissimmee’s downtown, decided the name would reflect the year that Osceola County pioneer W.B Makinson opened the place. Parsons, Parrish says, bought the property “with the purpose of turning it into the mixed-use space it is, but also while carefully preserving what it was.”

What it is now consists of two bars, two dining spaces, an outdoor pavilion with eight commercial offices in the back and 10 residential apartments upstairs, where a large open space once served as a tannery and saddle shop. Original wood floors, exposed brick and beams, unique windows, 10-foot ceilings are among the lures. It’s also a two-minute walk from the SunRail station.

I came for lamb and laghman. But found so much more.

There was one couple enjoying a steak dinner when we wandered into the soaring, saloon-like space. Country music was playing. A few younger patrons milled around a pool table. A staffer sat us at a two-top, and while my companion noted the large, black-and-white photos depicting scenes from early-era Kissimmee, I flipped through the menu and found that, indeed, alongside the pub fare, there was a lengthy menu of Uzbek cuisine.

Weird. But I was delighted.

With a glass of wine in hand, an on-duty manager walked us through the place, explaining its history, noting repurposed items from the store — nail and screw bins that have since become lighting fixtures, pieces of the Makinson facade in the interior of the entrance and, in the breezeway, an old key cutting machine with a bin of miscut keys beneath.

“It’s kind of a comical story,” Parrish, the general manager, tells me later. “It was a very successful store — people still come in here all the time looking for hardware — but I guess they weren’t very good at cutting keys back then.”

A Disston & Sons saw hangs here, too. The Pennsylvania-based industrialist is notable for making what’s billed as the largest land purchase by a single person ever: 4 million acres of Central Florida swamp. Later, as the area was drained to become pastureland, he began to sell it off. And among the many items the Makisons left behind with the building were billing sheets that detailed these deals.

“I found boxes of records, and the names on them are the founding families of Osceola County, from Basses to Partins to Whaleys to Overstreets,” says Parrish.

The breezeway and its myriad exhibits and artifacts connect the main area to the offices and stairs to the apartments, but also a dichotomous set of businesses, each served by the same kitchen: a whiskey, wine and tequila bar and 1881 Dubai Restaurant. A luxe little oasis with sumptuous tapestries and an entirely alcohol-free venue for dining and special events.

“It’s a nice place for Muslim families who do not want to be where the alcohol is,” Parrish explains, as well as anyone else who’d like to enjoy a meal in a setting he calls “rich and opulent.”

But it’s all one kitchen, which serves no pork at all. All the meat on site is Halal, from that you’ll find in the lamb kebabs (the No. 1 seller and with good reason) to the burgers served at the bar.

Said kitchen, run by owner Shuhkrat “Sascha” Kasimov and helmed by chef Akram Ismov, handles the pub fare deftly, even while creating everything on the Uzbek and Middle Eastern side from scratch.

Flaky golden-brown samsa with rich meat filling ($3 apiece), shatter crumb and steamed manti, five generous dumplings ($18) heat things up while hummus and cukes ($8) cool things off.

The mixed grill for two ($59) features an incredible spread of chicken wings, beef, ground lamb, ground chicken and lamb chop kebabs, simply spiced and beautifully cooked. Soups, from laghman ($14) to shurva with tender beef and vegetables ($13) are peasant-hearty cold chasers of the highest order. Desserts are made on site, as well, and run the gamut from syrupy baklava ($7) and its lovely dense chew to a fruit-laden meringue roulade ($7)that’s both light on the sugar and lighter than air.

All that said, you can easily opt for burgers, steaks and chicken wraps. Many do, says Parrish.

“We needed to have items that were universally relatable,” he says. “Lots of locals were coming in to see the space — they loved it — and so the menu can seem a bit mismatched, but that’s life, right? We’re all mismatched. Diverse. Different people from different places.”

Anyone familiar with Kissimmee knows its restaurants please palates from Palestinian to Punjabi to Peruvian to (if you’ll allow the alliterative language jump) Pilipino. Tack Uzbek onto the list, in a place that used to sling tack. And tacks. One well-suited to move Kissimmee’s dining scene forward while ensuring its past has a presence.

If you go

1881 Restaurant & Bar: 308 Broadway in Kissimmee, 407-710-0022; 1881restaurant.com

Find me on Facebook, TikTok, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com, For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.