Christmas Dinner in Orlando restaurant?

[hmp2z]

Hi! This will be our first Christmas here as locals, and I wanted to take my husband out to eat. WDW restaurants are fairly booked up, so we were wondering whether any of you have done Christmas dinner at an Orlando restaurant (not WDW). I know that most places close down, but didn't know if anyone had done Christmas dinner here in the past, or if any locals know where I can look to find any advertised Christmas dinners. We don't want anything on 192 - those places are highly questionable, sanitation-wise - but we're open to anywhere else.
Thank you!
Heather W

 

[FLParadisevilla]

Heather,
I have no idea about the resturants, but I just have to say I love the picture of your dog! What a personality!

 

[Topper]

http://www.grandbohemianhotel.com/theboheme/about.asp

http://www.grandelakes.com/calendar_of_events/calendar_of_events.cfm#rc_events

 

[webray]

I would try Capriccio's in the Peabody resort on International Drive...we have been there many times on the holidays, they really do it up right.

Also, check swandolphin.com. They offer wonderful holiday dining options.

 

[swilshire]

We don't want anything on 192 - those places are highly questionable, sanitation-wise - but we're open to anywhere else.

Just curious as to why all 192 restaurants get the thumbs down on sanitation. Not that I would disagree with you on some of them. In fact, a lot of restaurants in the area far off 192 concern me about sanitation .... the Golden Corral on Vineland comes immediately to mind.

In fact, restaurants in general everywhere, not just in Orlando, are a bit suspect at times. The only way to be sure you don't have restaurant sanitation issues is to never eat out. Even then, you've got to worry about how clean the food you buy at the grocery store is. I try not to think too much about it myself.

Sheila

 

[lovethattink]

Just curious as to why all 192 restaurants get the thumbs down on sanitation. Not that I would disagree with you on some of them. In fact, a lot of restaurants in the area far off 192 concern me about sanitation .... the Golden Corral on Vineland comes immediately to mind.

In fact, restaurants in general everywhere, not just in Orlando, are a bit suspect at times. The only way to be sure you don't have restaurant sanitation issues is to never eat out. Even then, you've got to worry about how clean the food you buy at the grocery store is. I try not to think too much about it myself.

Sheila

We ate at the Golden Corale on Vineland last Sunday and doing it again this Sunday. Every time I ate there, their staff was constantly cleaning, sweeping, wiping things down, checking temps, etc. I'm eating there today too.

I like Fishbones off of I-drive and sand Lake road , although I never ate there for Christmas and not sure it's open Christmas day. http://www.fishbonesrestaurants.com/

 

[hmp2z]

Thank you for the suggestions! I will have to check some of these places out, to see what is our best option. I was just having a tough time finding things that were open on Christmas Day! Oh, and thank you for the comment about my dog - she is a cutie for sure

Just curious as to why all 192 restaurants get the thumbs down on sanitation. Not that I would disagree with you on some of them. In fact, a lot of restaurants in the area far off 192 concern me about sanitation .... the Golden Corral on Vineland comes immediately to mind.

Well, we live on 192, and, honestly, have had a disgusting incident at every single restaurant that we've been to that's in this little near-WDW strip. They range from mold to bugs hovering over the buffet to bugs actually in the food that was served to me. Yes, I know that it's difficult to tell for sure what places are sanitary, especially in Florida where they don't have to post their sanitation scores, but we've consistently had awful experiences in the restaurants in this particular area.

I figure they are very touristy, and have probably a lot of turnover in the workforce, and they don't seem very interested in service or sanitation since they have such a vast influx of the 192 hotel guests coming in regardless. We do mystery shopping, and I turn down anything now that is offered to us in this area. As mystery shoppers, we've gotten really observant about sanitation, much more so than we used to be, and I have yet to find an acceptable restaurant here.

I would just prefer to avoid this whole area. I'm sure there are some exceptions to this rule, but I haven't found them yet, and at this point, I'm disgusted with the dining options in this particular part of town. I'll stick with WDW restaurants or else will venture farther afield to places like Clermont, Mount Dora, or West Sand Lake, where my experiences have been better.

Cheers!
Heather W

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

You've got me worried now!
We normally enjoy Perkins & Ruby Tuesdays in this area. Please say you weren't talking about these establishments???

 

[HappyLawyer]

We are doing Sleuths murder mystery dinner on Christmas Night,
i do need to figure out what to do for breakfast.

 

[hmp2z]

We've done Sizzler, Golden China, an Indian place (can't remember the name offhand), Taco Bell, Krispy Kreme, Subway, and another buffet place that I can't remember the name of. So no, Perkins & Ruby Tuesdays weren't on our list, but, since we've found every single place we've been to on 192 to have obvious & questionable sanitation, we won't be trying those. I'd rather go a bit farther afield & feel more confident about my choice - Hunter's Creek is close and we've had better experiences there. Even Crossroads shopping center, just past the DTD resort hotels, seemed to be more acceptable.

But some people aren't bothered by the cleanliness standards on 192, so I know my feelings aren't universal. As I said, since we do mystery shopping, we've become a lot more attuned to our food, service, and atmosphere, so we probably notice things that the average customer wouldn't. Though I still think that bugs hovering over the buffet or swimming in cheese sauce are pretty obvious to anyone. Blech!

Cheers!
Heather W

 

[Figment22]

Thanks to the recommendation of a fellow DISer on this forum, we had Thanksgiving dinner last week at Mimi's Cafe. It was terrific! The food was very good (and plentiful!) and the service was excellent. The prices were very reasonable for the quality and quantity of food we received. It's a bit of a drive to Mimi's but worth the trip in my opinion; it's located on Osceola Parkway at John Young Parkway. I don't know if they'll be open on Christmas or not, but as they were open on Thanksgiving, it's a possibility.

 

[CarolA]

What about the Ritz Cartlon Grand Lakes?

We used to do Christmas Dinner at the Ritz in Atlanta and it was VERY nice.

 

[Topper]

So.....where did you wind up having dinner on Christmas?

 

[hmp2z]

We actually ended up having dinner at Raglan Road. It was lovely! We got a nice table right in front of the fireplace, with armchairs instead of the wooden chairs, and we had a great time. Good server - very attentive without being obtrusive - good food, good time

Thank you for the suggestions! We hadn't even thought about Raglan Road at the time, but then we went with my in-laws and realized it had quite a few food options we could eat (we're pescatarians), so we booked it for Christmas dinner.

Cheers!
Heather W

 

[bschelle]

Mimis is closed Christmas Day! Just called them.