Booze and Balloons: The story of Sam Teele’s Building on Church Street

Long Live Rock!

When I was growing up in the 1970s, my brother and I considered ourselves hard rock aficionados. Led Zeppelin, The Who, the Rolling Stones, and Van Halen were among our favorite bands. We wanted nothing to do with the disco movement and were known to proclaim "Disco sucks!"—much to our mother's dismay. So, when Phineas Phogg's Balloon Works discotheque opened at Church Street Station, we would have been decidedly unimpressed. In fact, quite the opposite.

Housed in a historic building constructed by restaurateur Sam Teele, Phogg's was created by Bob Snow at the height of the disco craze in an effort to capitalize on its popularity. While the nightclub may be the building's most memorable tenant for many Orlandoans, its story begins decades earlier with a Greek immigrant who became one of the city's most beloved restaurateurs and philanthropists.

The Good Greek

Sam Stavrou, better known as Sam Teele, was born on July 18, 1892, in Moutsara, Greece. He immigrated to the United States on July 8, 1910, beginning his career in the restaurant business in New Hampshire before moving to Georgia, then Jacksonville, and eventually settling in Orlando, likely in the early 1920s. He filed his declaration of intention to become a U.S. citizen in February 1926.

Teele's petition for immigration, 1926

Before that, the Orlando Sentinel announced the opening of Teele's first downtown Orlando restaurant, the Royal Palm, in the fall of 1922. Owned by Teele and Charles Tassios, the restaurant opened on Armistice Day—November 11, 1922—and operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week. It was located at 128 S. Orange Avenue, between Church and Pine Streets, on the site now occupied by the Orange Avenue side of the Kress Building.

Orlando Evening Star, November 9, 1922

On January 1, 1925, the Royal Palm advertised a special New Year's dinner, but only a few days later the Sentinel reported that the building's owners, the Cooper-Atha-Barr Co. (CABCO), were "dismantling and shipping the fixtures" of the restaurant to "other parts," signaling the end of its operation.

Orlando Evening Star, December 23, 1921

Teele also operated the popular Sanitary Restaurant at 118 S. Orange Avenue, where he earned a reputation for feeding anyone who was hungry, regardless of their ability to pay.

In 1924, Teele moved into the building on Church Street that today bears his name. The Teele Building became home to Sam's Bar and Grill. Beyond his business ventures, Teele was a leader in Orlando's Greek-American community, serving on the board of directors of the Greek Orthodox Society and helping raise funds for the construction of the city's first Greek Orthodox church.

In 1929, the Orlando Sentinel reported that Teele was returning to Greece to visit family and find a bride. Although he spent nearly a year abroad, his thoughts were never far from Orlando. In a letter published by the Sentinel, he wrote, "I get the blues and homesickness for our little city. I have traveled 64 days, but I have not seen anything like Orlando or Florida climate. You fellows do not know how to appreciate a good little city and the best state in the world."

After eleven months overseas, Teele returned to the city he loved with his new wife, Olga. The couple would raise three children in Orlando: daughters Mary and Evangeline, and a son, Terry.

Sam's Place ad, Orlando Evening Star, April 5, 1945

By the 1940s, 101 W. Church Street was home to Sam's Place, a "cut-rate liquor store." It is unclear whether Sam's Bar and Grill had evolved into the liquor store or whether the bar continued to operate alongside it. Classified advertisements from the period, however, sought waitresses and barmaids for the Church Street address, suggesting that a bar remained part of the business.

Sadly, Teele died in 1946 while vacationing in Daytona Beach. His passing was deeply felt throughout Orlando, where he had become one of the city's best-known and most beloved restaurateurs. His pallbearers reflected the esteem in which he was held, including Orlando Sentinel publisher Martin Andersen and Orlando Mayor William Beardall.

The Sentinel devoted a prominent article to his funeral, publishing a photograph of mourners gathered on the steps of St. Luke's Episcopal Church downtown to pay their respects. The newspaper remembered Teele as the "good Greek," honoring not only his success in business but also his generosity to those in need and his leadership in Orlando's civic and fraternal organizations.

Orlando Evening Star, August 6, 1946

Before and After Sam

Early Sanborn Fire Insurance maps show that the site where the Teele Building would later stand—just west of the railroad tracks on the north side of Church Street—served a variety of purposes before Sam Teele arrived. Orlando pioneer Joseph Bumby operated a warehouse nearby where he sold hay, grain, and fertilizer. When the South Florida Railroad reached Orlando in 1880, the building briefly served as the town's railroad depot. Having previously worked for the railroad in England, Bumby also became Orlando's first railroad ticket agent before later constructing the Bumby Hardware Building in 1886. 

The 1887 Sanborn map also shows the T.O.&R.R.R. depot nearby, while later maps depict orange packing facilities and lumber storage on the property. Sanborn maps published after Teele's death simply identify the site as a restaurant. However, Orlando Sentinel references indicate that Sam's Place remained in business long after its namesake passed away. As late as 1966, the newspaper reported a purse-snatching at Sam's Place. By then, downtown Orlando—and Church Street in particular—had fallen into decline, and the neighborhood had acquired a somewhat seedy reputation.

Church Street's fortunes began to change in 1974 when entrepreneur Bob Snow opened Rosie O'Grady's, launching what would become the Church Street Station entertainment complex. He painstakingly restored a collection of historic buildings, adding Apple Annie's Courtyard in 1976 and Lili Marlene's Aviator's Pub and Restaurant in 1978. That same year, Snow unveiled his newest attraction in the Teele Building: Phineas Phogg's Balloon Works, a disco inspired by the hot-air balloon adventures of Jules Verne's fictional world. The nightclub was designed to capitalize on disco's soaring popularity while adding another themed destination to Church Street Station's growing collection of immersive entertainment venues.

Church Street Station marketing image of Phineas Phogg's

Postcard showing the interior of Phogg's

Purveyors of Balloons, Burgers and Boogie

 Bob Snow debuted the first Phineas Phogg's Balloon Works at Seville Quarter in Pensacola in April 1978, about eight months before opening the Orlando location. An Orlando Sentinel notice announced that the Church Street Station nightclub would open the day after Christmas, so newspaper reviews did not appear until early 1979.

The Sentinel described the new discotheque as both a nightclub and a hot-air balloon museum:

"The almost total restoration of the building housing Phineas Phogg's has turned what was Sam's Bar in the early part of this century into a sleek 1890s-type museum with a dance floor. Able to seat 450, Phineas Phogg's brings customer capacity of the Church Street Station complex to 1,500. Phogg's 40 employees bring the staff to a total of 270. There are 26,000 square feet of floor space in the Church Street Station, which is composed of Rosie O'Grady's Good Time Emporium, Apple Annie's Courtyard and Lili Marlene's Aviators Pub & Restaurant along with the new Phineas Phogg's Balloon Works."

Admission to the entire Church Street Station complex at that time was just $3—free for membership card holders. Sentinel entertainment columnist Dean Johnson gave Phineas Phogg's a glowing review, praising its sound system, spacious dance floor, and light show, which he called "pleasantly different." He also singled out the second-floor balloon basket seating as "a neat touch."  

Seville Quarter's Phineas Phogg's opened in April 1978

January 1979 Sentinel review of Phogg's

Postcard courtesy of Orlando Memory

The balloon theme extended well beyond the décor. Press materials described the venue as an "1890 Balloon Museum," featuring photographs and artifacts chronicling some of history's most famous balloon flights, from the Montgolfier brothers to the transatlantic journey of the Double Eagle II. A large display honored Orlando's own Col. Joe Kittinger, whose pioneering achievements in high-altitude ballooning made him one of the world's most celebrated aviators.

Snow recruited Kittinger away from Martin Marietta to head Rosie O'Grady's Flying Circus, and his influence could be seen throughout Church Street Station. In addition to overseeing the Flying Circus, Kittinger and his wife, Sherry, offered champagne balloon flights, with tickets sold from their balloon and kite shop in the restored railroad depot.

From the collection of the Orange County Regional History Center

Nickel Beers, Teeny Bikinis, and a Basket Brawl

As disco faded in popularity during the early 1980s, Church Street Station adapted by introducing promotions designed to keep the crowds coming.

One of the most successful was Nickel Beer Night, which moved from Rosie O'Grady's to Phineas Phogg's. My office was directly across Church Street from the Teele Building, and every Wednesday afternoon patrons would begin lining up outside carrying stacks of plastic beer mugs, eager to claim a good spot before the doors opened.

Nickel Beer, 1999

Nickel Beer mug, designed by yours truly, via Reddit

Another crowd favorite was the Miss Hawaiian Tropic Contest. Preliminary and regional competitions held at Phineas Phogg's drew packed houses throughout the late 1980s and into the 1990s.

Perhaps the nightclub's most infamous moment came in 1997, when NBA superstar Charles Barkley was arrested after throwing another patron through the club's plate-glass window. One of Church Street Station's marketing executives had developed relationships with professional athletes while working at a theme park and frequently invited them downtown, knowing their presence would attract crowds. During an evening at Phineas Phogg's, Barkley became involved in an altercation with a much smaller man, picked him up, and hurled him through the front window facing Church Street. Barkley was arrested, later released after a teammate posted bail, and the case was ultimately settled out of court.

The Sentinel recently reviewed the incident as part of their 150th anniversary stories

Although Phineas Phogg's operated for only about two decades, it occupies an outsized place in the memories of many Orlandoans. For me the history of the Teele Building is clouded in the haze of personal nostalgia surrounding Phineas Phogg's. The nightclub closed in 1999, ending one of Church Street Station's most colorful chapters. The historic Teele Building, however, would continue to reinvent itself through a succession of new tenants in the 21st century.

Caught in Downtown's Decline

I have not stepped inside the Teele Building since Phineas Phogg's closed, but the space has lived several different lives in the 21st century. The first was Bliss Ultra Lounge, a nightclub that transformed the Victorian ballooning theme into a contemporary dance club. It was followed by Lion's Pride Pub & Grill, an eatery affiliated with Orlando City SC and the Orlando Pride that featured more than 40 television screens, a 200-inch projection screen, and a menu of pub favorites.

Photos of Bliss Ultra Lounge from social media

In 2020, during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, the building became home to HAOS on Church. Spectrum News 13 described it as "a trailblazer in the local arts community" where "the concept is about food, drinks, acceptance, and activism." With entertainment ranging from burlesque performances to Orlando Fringe Festival events, the historic building once again buzzed with activity. Unfortunately, that revival proved short-lived.

The Church Street Social Club reportedly opened in the building in 2023, according to the sign out front, but the space has since gone quiet. Today, the Teele Building once again awaits its next chapter.

Remembering Sam, Bob, and Joe

Looking back, I realize I came of age during my years working at Church Street Station. I stood in line for Nickel Beer Night, attended a few Hawaiian Tropic contests, and—even though I was a self-proclaimed rock-and-roll kid—spent more than a few evenings dancing to disco at Phineas Phogg's. Those nights became some of my favorite memories of downtown Orlando.

The restaurants and clubs that followed Phogg's may never have achieved the same place in Orlando's collective memory, but each added another chapter to the story of this remarkable building. While tenants remodeled the interiors and updated the exterior over the years, the heart of Sam Teele's 1924 building has endured.

The Teele Building tells the story of more than brick and mortar. It is the story of Sam Teele, the immigrant restaurateur whose generosity earned him the affection of an entire city; Bob Snow, whose vision helped revive a struggling downtown; and Col. Joe Kittinger, whose adventurous spirit became part of Church Street Station's identity. Each, in his own way, left Orlando better than he found it.

Bob Snow and Col. Joe Kittinger

More than a century after Sam Teele built it, the Teele Building still stands as a reminder that historic places matter—not simply because they are old, but because they preserve the stories of the people who shaped our community. Ensuring its preservation means that future generations will be able to remember Sam, Bob, Joe, and the many others whose lives intersected within its walls.