Favorite Restaurant Off Property

[disynut]

No flames, please, but we are just getting a little tired of the direction that dining on property is going. The kids meals do not offer much for the money and no variety(they are the same no matter where you eat!)and while we'll probably eat a time or two on property, I'm leaning toward going out off property most of the nights we're there. I've read a lot of people on other boards like Sweet Tomatoes, but I'm not much on buffet type food.

We've eaten at Carraba's a few times and will probably go there one night(we don't have one nearby). What are some other dvc'ers favorite restaurants?

 

[bwvBound]

Bahama Breeze (casual) and Emeril's (at Universal City Walk, dressy)

 

[Tara]

Seasons 52 on West Sand Lake Rd between Dr Phillips and...I can't remember. But it's pretty close to Disney. The menu is all seasonally fresh food, and all entrees are under something like 475 calories. Delicious!

 

[robertdangelo]

Our DD(now 22 months old) loves Rainforest Cafe. We took her there in DL at 14 months and at WDW at 20 months. We are planning on trying T-Rex(Owned by same Company) this year.
Cracker Barrel in Kissemmee is a good option.

 

[Tara]

We've also enjoyed Los Generales, a casual Mexican restaurant on John Young Parkway, which is a very easy drive down 417. Here's a Google map I've created with some of the places we frequently stop. Both restaurants I mentioned are listed on the map, as well as several Cracker Barrel restaurants.

 

[bmalonef45]

Bahama Breeze (casual) and Emeril's (at Universal City Walk, dressy)

We LOVE Bahama Breeze. I was headed here to type that when I saw the topic but you beat me to it.

 

[OrlandoMike]

Assuming you will have a car....you really cant beat "Restaurant Row" just 15 minutes from Disney....

Just about every type of restaurant you could imagine, all on one 5 mile stretch of Sand Lake Road.



http://www.tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-i10550-Restaurant_Row_in_Orlando.html

 

[manning]

Great buffet at the Villa De Flora in the Gaylord palms. Here's a list of restaurants there


http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylor...ing-activities/kissimmee-orlando-restaurants/

 

[jekjones1558]

Another vote for Bahama Breeze. And if you like salad bars, we think that Sweet Tomatoes is great. There is a brand new one in the Crossroads Center behind TGIFridays.

 

[BCV23]

Assuming you will have a car....you really cant beat "Restaurant Row" just 15 minutes from Disney....

Just about every type of restaurant you could imagine, all on one 5 mile stretch of Sand Lake Road.



http://www.tripadvisor.com/GoListDetail-i10550-Restaurant_Row_in_Orlando.html

Have you been to Fresco there, Mike? I hear it's excellent.

We liked Season52 but my DH thought it was pricey. WDW prices almost.

Tara, we'll have to try that Mexican restaurant.

We love Cafe d'Antonio in Celebration. We tried a newish Italian restaurant in the Water Tower center on 192....kind of NY Italian? Good and a real family feel.

 

[thelionqueen]

Giordano's hands down!!
We also like Bob Evans for breakfast
Buffalo Wild Wings to "hang out" and play games, eat some wings
Steak n' Shake-kids eat free on weekends, and even without that perk the best bang for the buck for sure!

 

[Tara]

We liked Season52 but my DH thought it was pricey. WDW prices almost.

Is it? To be honest, we've eaten there several times, but always while visiting my brother and his wife - it is my brother's FIL's favorite lunch spot and the FIL would always insist on paying. (It's hard to argue over the check with someone who...well, he lives in the same gated community made a little more famous recently by a certain golfer who had an incident at his house there...)

Their flatbreads are awesome, though...and the desserts in the tall shot glasses are perfect for me since I can usually only take a few bites of really sweet stuff anyway.

Tara, we'll have to try that Mexican restaurant.
.

Just be aware that it's what my friends and I call "cheap Mexican" - casual, simple food, not fancy Mexican cuisine. In this case, I vastly prefer cheap.

 

[BEASLYBOO]

We like several local eateries not far from Disney. We like to have lunch at Chick Fil A, it's a right at Crossroads, then about a mile down on your right, maybe less. Of course every chain is represented as well from Red Lobster to the Olive Garden. We also love Timpano's Italian Chop House, they have a website and have fantastic food and great ambiance. We always do Giordano's pizza (web site also) delivery to the resort but you can also go there and eat. I agree that the price and food quality has really been a disapointment at Disney, it was so much better years ago, the DDP, Free Dining and Disney's profit margin are to blame

 

[penlanspice]

We only really eat on site if we're doing the dining plan, usually we will do a split stay with one week on the DDP and the other week we eat offsite. (DDP is too much food for us).

Our fav's are Black Angus, Logans, Pancinos, Chilis, Buffalo bills and steak and shake for milkshakes, all found on the 192 or at the crossroads.

 

[kddlm]

Agree with BeasleyBoo above on the chain restaurants. There is also a Chili's. We like Orlando Ale House too! Same vicinity!

 

[chalee94]

celebration town tavern is a new favorite for me the last couple of years for seafood.

 

[JasonDVC]

I know this won't get mentioned by anyone else so I'll throw it out there...

We don't have a Sonic near where we live and I think the food is great (for fast food) so we try to make there each trip.

 

[disynut]

Thanks for all the great responses! I'm taking notes... We've eaten at a Bahama Breeze, but it's been a while. I'm intrigued by the restaurants at Celebration--I've heard some good things about them. We also do like Mexican but I'm glad to get a recommendation because I never eat at a restaurant that I've not heard people talking about that isn't a chain.

 

[disynut]

OH, and we do have a Sonic, but ours is kind of gross(greasy, greasy food). Not that I don't mind a good old cheeseburger, but their stuff kind of tastes yucky--like the oil is old or something.

 

[RumpleMom]

We like Anthony's for pizza. It's in the plaza behind Whole Foods on Sandlake Road. It is near the Micheal's craft store.

It is pizza cooked in coal fired ovens. The founder is from New York.