Off Property Favorite Restaurants

[Sammie]

Anyone have any favorite local restaurants you always visit during your Disney World stays.

Names and address greatly appreciated, looking for a good seafood or steak place.

 

[OrlandoMike]

Bonefish Grill! Excellent food and service, and very reasonably priced! The two locations closest to Disney are Restaurant Row (Sand Lake Road) and the Loop (Osceola Parkway).


http://www.bonefishgrill.com/todays-menu/

 

[mopee3]

Hummmmmmm.... I too would like to see this list of places to eat or at least the favorites of those who are tired of on site eateries.

Moe

 

[JimMIA]

We don't eat at Bonefish in Orlando because we have one right down the street from our house, but I agree it's an excellent choice for seafood. Try the Bang-Bang Shrimp appetizer!

For steak, Charley's Steakhouse, 8255 I-Drive, 407-363-0228. Great naturally aged steaks and outstanding service. Bring money.

For seafood, or just about anything else on the menu, Columbia, 649 Front Street in Celebration. Columbia is an old-line Spanish (not Cuban) restaurant from Tampa's historic Ybor City area. Wonderful food and elegant service. Start with the 1905 Salad, and ask if they have Ybor Gold Beer available.

Probably the ultimate steak house in Florida is Bern's in Tampa. 1208 South Howard, 813-251-2421. Bern's is a legendary steakhouse, generally considered one of the best in the US and possibly in the world. Bring lots of money.

 

[JimMIA]

The Talk of the Town Restaurant Group, which owns Charley's, also owns a restaurant called Fishbone's. It's often confused with Bonefish Grill, and it's supposed to be good, but we haven't eaten there.

Here's a link to a thread over on the restaurant board: Best Offsite Restaurants

 

[Shelly F - Ohio]

Kobe on rt 192. Great Japanese place!

 

[Mouse511]

Subbin

 

[mopee3]

Bring money.

Thanks for the information I was hoping you would add some places. And the money thing...... well we are going to visit the mouse.

Moe

 

[oakmanner]

With the extension of the free dining promotion I think a lot of us DVC'ers are going to be opting for more offsite dining options. Look forward to hearing more reccomendations.

 

[manning]

With the extension of the free dining promotion I think a lot of us DVC'ers are going to be opting for more offsite dining options. Look forward to hearing more reccomendations.

We have been for several years now.

There is one thing to say about the way disney is attacking their problem. It has been mentioned by some of the most successful people and that is...

You don't solve your problems with discounts and lower quality. You solve it by giving outstanding service and quality at a fair price.

Disney management...are you listening???

 

[Sammie]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I know that DVCers, even if they fly in, seem to like to have a car, so this is valuable info.

We don't mind driving around town for a good meal and after 25 plus years of trips we do know our way around.

 

[disneynutz]

I'm a cheap pig so we go for the all you can eat seafood places. The one we like the best is Boston Lobster Feast. http://www.dvcwishes.com/ads/blf/blf.htm

 

[Tara]

A place we would always go when visiting my brother in Orlando is Seasons 52 - it's a chain, but with only a few restaurants in FL and GA so far. The food is so good and it's a refreshing change - the menu changes weekly to take advantage of market-fresh foods. Portions are not supersized for a change and all the entrees are no more than 475 calories. Sometimes after all-you-can-eat everything and jumbo portions, a normal-sized meal of honest-to-goodness veggies and lean meats is a great break!

The Orlando restaurant is on Sand Lake Road between Dr Phillips and Turkey Lake Road. To be honest, I don't know how convenient it is to Disney because we'd always stay with my brother's in-laws in Windermere, but I don't think it can be more than 15 minutes from Disney.

I also ate at a great casual Mexican restaurant in March with my girlfriends - they had a very fun Mariachi band, the food was good and it was inexpensive. If only I could remember the name of the place.

 

[Dizny Dad]

. . . . . .

You don't solve your problems with discounts and lower quality. You solve it by giving outstanding service and quality at a fair price.

Disney management...are you listening???

I have mentioned in other threads - free dining always has shown it's ugly head in lower quality and a "hurried" staff. The Disney magic many times is missing and I beleive the menus change to meet the target audience - free eaters - as long as it is free, we will accept and eat anything. Mediocre food slathered in Pixie Dust gets by but does indeed take its toll in the long run.

Disney management...are you listening???

 

[deej696]

I agree with JimMIA on the Columbia suggestion. I have been to the location in Celebration and St. Augustine and they amazing. Best Palomilla steak and sweet plantains I've ever had

I also agree that Charley's has great steaks, but I would suggest the 17-92 location over I-Drive. I've been to both many times, and it always seems the steaks and service are better at the 17-92 location, which is the original I believe.

If you're looking for a fun dining experience, Cafe Tu Tu Tango on I-Drive usually fits the bill. Its basically a tappas style where you order like 10 different things and share them amongst the table.

I would be remiss not to suggest The Boheme in the Grand Bohemian hotel downtown. Very "artsy" restaurant with great seafood and steak offerings. I'm a bit partial cause I used to work at the hotel however

 

[JimMIA]

I have mentioned in other threads - free dining always has shown it's ugly head in lower quality and a "hurried" staff. The Disney magic many times is missing and I beleive the menus change to meet the target audience - free eaters - as long as it is free, we will accept and eat anything. Mediocre food slathered in Pixie Dust gets by but does indeed take its toll in the long run.

Disney management...are you listening???

I doubt if free dining (or regular DDP) is responsible for all the ills of Disney Dining. For a number of years, they have been cutting here and there to increase their profits. For example, I've seen posts on the Restaurant Board that many of the items in the restaurants are now cooked in central kitchens and trucked to the restaurants...which probably explains the food all tasting the same.

Other more experienced WDW'ers will probably know, but I've also heard that the current slide in quality is really just a return to normal. Apparently there was a big push a few years ago to make Disney Dining something special after years of mediocity. That succeeded in producing some very good dining, but fewer customers.

Now they seem to be trying to attract the maximum number of customers and "dumbing down" the menus and packing the restaurants with promotions is part of that strategy.

So, yeah, I'm sure Disney management is listening. They're just listening to the bean-counters telling them their F&B profits are up, rather than customers disappointed with the dining experience.

 

[RumpleMom]

We like Flipper's Pizza in the Crossroads shopping center.

 

[lugnut33]

We currently have planned for our trip:
Texas De Brazil
Pei Wei
Pizza from Hess gas station (yes, they make full pizzas and they are cheap and decent)
Orlando Ale House

and some others I'm forgetting, but they are all off property.

 

[Muushka]

I have mentioned in other threads - free dining always has shown it's ugly head in lower quality and a "hurried" staff. The Disney magic many times is missing and I beleive the menus change to meet the target audience - free eaters - as long as it is free, we will accept and eat anything. Mediocre food slathered in Pixie Dust gets by but does indeed take its toll in the long run.

Disney management...are you listening???

I'm listening, does that count???

I agree with DD. We have participated in free dining in the past and saw that it was being offered again this December. We considered it, thought about our last experience and decided it just wasn't worth it.

We will eat maybe 1 or 2 dinners on site, but we will go off site for the others and cook in our villa.

 

[Simba's Mom]

Does Friendly's count? We used to have one where we lived previously, and we really miss it, so we try to go to the one in Orlando whenever we're there.
A Japanese resturant that we really enjoy is Hanamisuki on International Drive.