Fun, themed offsite restaurants & cost comparison with onsite

[elainesj]

I'm curious - ppl keep talking about how eating offsite is better and cheaper. I've been looking for restaurants that would compare with Disney's TS places, including the theming (or other "fun" aspects). To be honest, I haven't been able to find much offsite but to be fair, I'm probably not looking in the right places. Mostly, the places recommended on the Dis are Giordano's pizza, Cici's pizza, golden corral, Chick FilA and the like.

Other than fast food or cheap buffets (and for this stuff, YES it's cheaper offsite), what are the prices like at comparably themed, fun, TS-like places to eat? NOT places like Olive Garden and Applebees or TGI Fridays which are a dime a dozen anywhere, kwim?

Texas de Brazil is talked about a lot and it sounds like a better quality version of Ohanas. Price? $42 pp for dinner compared to Ohana's $32.99 pp.

Cafe Tutu Tango is another one brought up a lot. I guess there's no real comparison to anything in Disney as it's tapas style with app sized dishes brought out to share - at abt $10 per dish, it would cost about $30 ++ pp which sounds rather comparable to typical TS prices. Admittedly, the food quality is probably LOTS better. But still, people keep saying cheaper and in this case, the cost is comparable.

Am I missing out lots of other fun places wth better food than Disney at better prices? Keep in mind that I'm thinking of theming and "fun" atmosphere at the same time. I'm not thinking about signature style places.

 

[Disney grandma]

T Rex at DD is a dinosaur themed restaurant and the food is very good.

 

[TotoToo]

Am I missing out lots of other fun places wth better food than Disney at better prices? Keep in mind that I'm thinking of theming and "fun" atmosphere at the same time. I'm not thinking about signature style places.

IMO your mixing apples and oranges. The problem tends to be that the "theme" places have so-so food at best - but often at top quality pricing.

The off site places can have great food - that is why they exist - but little or no theme as it actually detracts from what they do best - great food.

If what you really want is the show then stick with the on site joints as there are none better. But if you want food quality & value all the best are away from the property. And there are some really great ones. We've found that one visit or two per year to the theme type is more than enough for us (maybe none now days) while the quality and value of Charley's or Giordano's and others like Texas De Brazil in the area keep us coming back over and over. And we fel we get our money's worth unlike the on site, theme places where we often leave saying "It was cute but the food wasn't great and SO expensive for what you got..."

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I have to agree with the PP--Disney food is way overpriced, and mediocre at best. However, you're paying for the experience, and because you're in a theme park, you're a captive audience.

I find the food comparable between Chef Mickey's and Golden Corral. But, CM's is three times the price. Of course, it has characters, so you have to decide if the characters are worth the huge price difference. That's a personal decision, but it has little to do with the food. I've found lousy Chinese food, both in and out of WDW. I like Mama Melrose, but found better and cheaper pizza offsite. And on and on. Back in the day, my MIL would take us to WDW on the platinum plan--3TS a day--so we tried many restaurants. Most were forgettable, frankly. These days, my kids prefer to stay offsite and have me prepare the meals (simple stuff--it's my vacation, too!). So, we do very little restaurant dining.

If you look in the Unofficial Guide, they have a section on restaurants with different styles. I'm not sure what you mean by theming--places with like Medieval Times or Arabian Nights? Ethnic food? Aside from character meals, I don't find Disney's theming to be all that original. Maybe I'm just not into a "dining experience"

 

[jeff968]

There is a thread here on "must visit" restaurants that you should read. I would agree that food is great off site and cheaper. This past February we went to sweet tomatoes which is a very reasonable place with great food. Bahama breeze is a must. Fudruckers has great burgers. We tried and had a great time at tu-tu tangos which has an artist theme. Lots of great choices.

 

[juliebean]

We are going to try Sweet Tomatoes, it sounds like food we'd really like. And we have a Fuddruckers where we live - very good hamburgers and salads. Not really a theme, but ours has a play area and some games for the kids.

It sounds like you are really looking for more along the lines of dinner theater or unique experiences... I've heard the magic/pizza party at Wonderworks is a lot of fun, or the Arabian horse dinner or mystery party are fun too. We have a mideval times here too, so we wouldn't really consider that. BUT, those shows costwise are really on par with a show or experience like Askershus, or WCC or Coral Reef.

Do what we do - do a few of the onsite experiences during the week and then plan the rest of your meals for restaurants that appeal to you foodwise. For us, it's all about the princesses this time! If you don't have a hibachi restaurant, that would be a good choice for off site too. Melting Pot is also a lot of fun - just way too expensive for what it is...

 

[Jason71]

Sand Lake Road, up near the convention center and Universal, has a lot of restaurants where the atmosphere matches the dining experience, tho I don't know if I would go so far as to call them "themed." Pointe Orlando (on I-Drive) and CityWalk (part of Universal) each have a number of "themed" restaurants in more the Disney sense.

Prices vary, but generally I find CityWalk's to be a bit cheaper than Disney's. On Sand Lake, it varies from somewhat cheaper to even a little pricier (tho many argue the quality is far superior).

 

[elainesj]

thanks! it makes sense to think of Dis restaurants as themed places like Rainforest Cafe etc and really, their prices seem fairly on par with that and the food is just OK. Like PP said - chef mickey's is similar to Golden Corral food but way more expensive.

I did free DDP last time and loved it. But it is true - there were only 2 or 3 (out of 9) places we ate that we would like to go back to - pretty much everywhre else was your generic OK food. DH is nuts about Ohana's and Sci Fi is another must for the theming.

We're not crazy over the character meals. I did CM and Ahershus last time and we liked it. But for the characters we really cared abt like Mickey and Minnie and Ariel, we went to their Meet n Greet lines for the posed pics I wanted and cannot get at a meal.

And a PP pointed out that really, a lot of the places I want to eat at aren't that elaborately themed anyway and I can do a couple of must-dos like Sci Fi and Ohanas on site and then go offsite for the rest. I'd probably spend about the same but get much much better food for my money. and if I want to eat Golden Corral type food, I'll only pay $10 pp instead of $30++!!

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

I will admit, we're doing both princess meal venues this next trip, despite my thinking they're overpriced. Why? My younger DD will be 8 this trip. we only go every other year, so I'm figuring this is my last chance to do princess stuff with her. We'll also do Chef Mickey's--DS5 loves the monorail, and the characters there. Last on our list is Boma--my older kids (DD15, DS14) requested it, the food is a little different, and we love hanging out at AKL. So, those are the restaurants that have value to our family at this point in time.