Nice(er) dinner place near Palm Pkwy or Universal?

[missnic]

We are headed over on Thursday, doing Sea World and staying at Springhill Suites on Palm Pkwy Thursday night before moving to the Hard Rock and Universal on Friday/Saturday. We are maybe wanting to do a nicer sort of dinner on Thursday or Friday night. We normally go cheaper with off site restaurants so I'm in need of suggestions. (We have Silver APs and no actual tickets to Universal so nothing in park, but we do have TiW) Maybe a really good Italian place?

 

[hiroMYhero]

We are headed over on Thursday, doing Sea World and staying at Springhill Suites on Palm Pkwy Thursday night before moving to the Hard Rock and Universal on Friday/Saturday. We are maybe wanting to do a nicer sort of dinner on Thursday or Friday night. We normally go cheaper with off site restaurants so I'm in need of suggestions. (We have Silver APs and no actual tickets to Universal so nothing in park, but we do have TiW) Maybe a really good Italian place?

We like Jack’s Place at the Rosen Plaza Hotel near Sea World. They have pasta dishes, steak, and seafood.

On Friday nights, an artist offers complimentary caricatures while you are dining. That was fun as the artwork was excellent!

 

[writerguyfl]

When traveling from your first hotel to Universal, you'll cross West Sand Lake Road. If you head west (away from the International Drive area), you'll come across what's informally called Restaurant Row. Some people refer to the area as Dr. Phillips, too.

There are a large number of upscale dining options. I'm not sure how current this list is, but here's a list of some of the restaurants from a tourist website:

https://www.wheretraveler.com/orlando/where-eat-orlandos-famed-restaurant-row

 

[hrhdhd]

You could try Teak, which is north on Kirkman Road in Metro West. Or Agave Azul for Mexican; that's at the corner of Kirkman and Conroy.