Help!!: Offsite Special Dining Suggestions for XMas needed....

[ps17]

We have been spending the holidays at WDW for the last 6 years and typicaly XMas dinner has been spent in-style to the likes of California Grill.

This year, it turns out that after spending 6 days prior at WDW at the YC/BC, we will be offsite at Hard Rock on XMas day and we are seeking suggestionsfor that special place to have an XMas dinner. We have ressies at Yachtman's but it is for 9:30PM and we'd rather not drive back to WDW.

Candidate restaurants include Palm (already have resssies there for another night), Texas De Brazil, DelFriscos. Any comments on these or any other suggestions?

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Our favorite Universal restaurant by far is Emeril's at CityWalk. As a matter of fact, it's our fav. Orlando restaurant. We haven't been to V&A yet, but have eaten at several of WDW's Signature restaurants, including YSH.

Mama Della's at Portifino Bay is also very good. It's not fine dining compared to Emeril's, but everything we've tried we've liked. Be aware that the portions are huge. We couldn't eat 1/2 of what we ordered, but we do like to order 3 courses each, & taste a bit of each dish. This often leads to too much food. MD's has the best salad, served family style, that I've eaten. It has a more lively, Italian atmosphere. There's also Bice at PBH you may rather try.

Several people love Tchoup Chop @ Royal Pacific Resort, but we've personally had two bad meals there. I definitely wouldn't recommend it.

We love staying at HRH, especially our DS. We like to go for a week, & never leave Universal property. We've had many great meals there.

 

[ps17]

Tarheel,
It is refreshing to find someone else other than us who does not like Tchoup. Our family went there a fw years ago when the opened and most of the things we had were bad. I posted the review here and really got criticized by many saying that we ordered the wrong things. That place does seem to always get great reviews.

We like the Palm but usually save that for our last night of our trip which is Dec. 29. The Kitchen is a cool place for our kids to hang out, but we'll do it one night and we'd like a little better food for XMas. Looking forward to HRH as always, but we do need ressies for XMas and as I am now coming to find, even the offsite "premier" places are filling up (Emeril's Citywalk probably booked although we don't care for Cajun cooking themes)....

 

[tarheelmjfan]

Tarheel,
It is refreshing to find someone else other than us who does not like Tchoup. Our family went there a fw years ago when the opened and most of the things we had were bad. I posted the review here and really got criticized by many saying that we ordered the wrong things. That place does seem to always get great reviews.

We like the Palm but usually save that for our last night of our trip which is Dec. 29. The Kitchen is a cool place for our kids to hang out, but we'll do it one night and we'd like a little better food for XMas. Looking forward to HRH as always, but we do need ressies for XMas and as I am now coming to find, even the offsite "premier" places are filling up (Emeril's Citywalk probably booked although we don't care for Cajun cooking themes)....

Have you ever eaten at Emeril's? Their food isn't really cajun style at all. It's definitely fine dining. I did notice that opentable.com has a 9pm opening. Walking to Emeril's & having dinner @ 9, vs. dining at YSH at 9:30 would be an easy decision for me. We don't usually eat dinner until 8:30 or so anyway. You could always check back with Opentable trying for an earlier reservation. If you just don't want to eat at Emeril's, you could still check Opentable to see what restaurants are available, & go ahead & get a reservation somewhere. You could always cancel later, if you decide to go somewhere else. Good luck finding a reservation you're happy with.

 

[ps17]

We are looking into Emerils but it now looks like 9:30 is when we can get in. as our party is 5

Do you have any experiences with any of the following local restaurtants?
Vito's Chop House
Timpano Chophouse + Martini Bar
Ruth's Chris
Texas De Brazil??

Do you have any perspective on these? For some reason we still entertain the idea of giving Tchoup Chop and anther chance.

Thanks for you help...

 

[disneyjunebug]

I've eaten at Ruth Chris's at several cities. Very good, very expensive. It is a chain, so there is one in most big cities.

I would go for Emeril's or Tchoup. Or look at the Gaylord and see what they are doing special. They have a couple of really good restaurants there and they may be having a special dinner deal.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

We are looking into Emerils but it now looks like 9:30 is when we can get in. as our party is 5

Do you have any experiences with any of the following local restaurtants?
Vito's Chop House
Timpano Chophouse + Martini Bar
Ruth's Chris
Texas De Brazil??

Do you have any perspective on these? For some reason we still entertain the idea of giving Tchoup Chop and anther chance.

Thanks for you help...

Sorry, I'm not much help with offsite restaurants. We never leave UO property, when we stay there. We do the same at WDW. I would think one Ruth's Chris would be the same as another. I don't know, if I'd want to go there & The Palm the same visit. OTOH, if you're really into steak, that would be a good choice.

Gaylord Palms is a good idea. You could visit the Ice Exhibit, when you're there.

If you do choose to give TC another try, try the Filet. Out of the 7 entrees we've tried that one was actually very good. You may also want to consider the Chef's menu. We haven't tried it, but it gets good reviews.

I wonder if any of Universal's restaurants are having a special Christmas menu. That may be nice. Good luck finding a reservation you're happy with.

 

[Hopefully]

I ate at Texas de Brazil in Aruba, not Orlando, last year. It was very good and lots of food, but I would not consider it "fine dining". That location was very busy and very noisy.
Waiters circulate throughout the dining room with Skewars of different types of meat for you to choose. There was beef, a filet, chicken, pork, lamb, sausage. Each was seasoned a bit differently and cooked over an open flame.
We enjoyed it and left stuffed, but I don't know if it is what you are looking for for Christams dinner.