MCO Macaroni Grill

[CarolynK]

We like Macaroni Grill - anyone try the one in the airport? Is it a full service restaurant?

 

[bavaria]

IT's a full service AND A takeaway. Service was abysmally slow in past; with longer security waits in the past year I didn't bother anymore. Frankly it was mostly empty whenever I walked by.

Hopefully others have had a better expereience and can share.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

We ate at Chilis on 8/30 - right next door and owned by the same chain. We only had appetizers and drinks, but the service was great and the food as good as any other Chilis I have eaten at. It was almost empty mid day, but it was also a Wednesday. We had no wait at all in the security lines by the way. I noticed when we flew in Friday 8/25 around 11:00 am that there were also no waits for security.

 

[Niagara2]

We had a 90 minute connection wait at MCO yesterday. We went into the main terminal and ate at Macaroni Grill. We were in and out in about 50 minutes. We were served by a pleasant waitress and the food was very good. The tables were about 80 percent full the whole time. We got back into the security line that had no wait and had almost half an hour to spare.
We enjoy this restaurant and may arrive early to the airport next trip to have a great meal before heading home. The menu is scaled back a bit from the restaurant one we are used to but had enough to please the 4 of us. I had the chicken scallapini. Yum

 

[m4travel]

We ate dinner at the Macaroni Grill last January (were staying Saturday night at the MCO Hyatt before our DCL cruise). Service was a little slow, perhaps, but we were there during a shift change, I believe. Food was fine.

We also ate at Chili's on the return trip. Food was good, but service was abysmal. Perhaps it was just an off day for them, but waited forever to place our drink order, much less order our meals. We're sure we were on anyone's station.

BTW, the staff at Macaroni Grill was great when we arrived at the DCL terminal on Sunday only to discover that my primary credit card had been left in the restaurant. Had to use another for the cruise, but contacted the manager by cell phone from the terminal and made arrangements to pick up the CC upon our return. And it was there!

 

[bavaria]

We ate at Chilis on 8/30 - right next door and owned by the same chain. We only had appetizers and drinks, but the service was great and the food as good as any other Chilis I have eaten at. It was almost empty mid day, but it was also a Wednesday. We had no wait at all in the security lines by the way. I noticed when we flew in Friday 8/25 around 11:00 am that there were also no waits for security.

This worries me; once the lines at MCO security started to get long last year, I asked some of the shops which I frequent at MCO if they were seeing a decrease in business (the ones before security). They quoted some pretty staggering figures - if people see the security line snaking past the foodcourt and past the moving walkway, they are less likely to browse and dine before joining that long line.

I've been in the Chili's many times over the years; every weekday when I went around mid day it was packed with travellers as well as airport employees. The unusally long lines at MCO security have not just had an impact on travellers, but on the businesses and their employees.

 

[Letsbgoofy]

I've been in the Chili's many times over the years; every weekday when I went around mid day it was packed with travellers as well as airport employees

I don't know if their business has been slow lately, but remember that Wednesday 8/30 was the day Ernesto was in Orlando. I'm not sure how that effected the airport. Out flight left 1/2 an hour late, but it was due to a ground stop in Philly, not weather in Orlando.

 

[disneyeveryyear]

We went to Macaroni Grill for dinner on 8/11 (spending night at Hyatt MCO before a.m. flight home on 8/12).

I was really disappointed to find out that while they are a "full-service" restaurant, they do not carry the "full" menu of a regular Macaroni Grill. They didn't offer the Ensalada Bleu (my favorite).

We had an okay dinner - but know in advance that if you have a favorite dish at a regular RMG - it may not be available at MCO.