Off-site, local restaurants?

[TMJJS]

I usually stay on-property and eat on-property, but this coming July our group of 12 (6 adults, teenager & 5 children) will be staying off-property and not going to the parks everyday. I need to know of some good places to eat outside WDW. Our group is watching the pennies, so I'm looking for good value. We are adventurous and like to try new, local places - why go to McDonald's or Golden Corral when we can do that back home.
I had planned on splurging one night to go to Boston Lobster Feast, but someone in the party said they didn't want to go.
Therefore:
1) Are there other good buffets? My youngest loves the idea of getting his food without having to wait.
2) We all like Sushi - are there any all-you-care-to-eat sushi places?
3) What are some fun, unique places to eat?
4) Any places to go for good bargains?
5) Any place for whatever reason I should consider going to?

Thanks in advance for any help!

 

[VAN]

We recently went to the following off-site restaurants and really enjoyed ourselves. I believe you can check menus/prices on-line:

Bahama Breeze
Kobe Japanese Steakhouse
Joe's Crab Shack
Chevys Mexican

Now if you don't order alcohol or the most expensive things on the menu, you could probably eat at these places quite reasonably. The size of the entrees could easily be shared by two at a couple of these places.

 

[bangzoom6877]

I am interested to know about good family eateries off-property too. As a possible alternative for the first night.

How is Cici's pizza that is close to property? Does it get very crowded? What about Shoney's? We like those two chains, but would prefer if it didn't get TOO crowded...like meaning we could get a table easily. If it was a Sunday between 5 and 6 PM, how would that be? It would be summertime, but not around July 4th.

 

[Time Traveler]

Sonny's BBQ isn't exactly a "local" place but its a chain of restaurants in the southeast US and they (quickly) serve good BBQ. We always used to order the Big Deal which speaks for itself. Lots of tasty BBQ at a good price!

 

[MattM]

How far are you willing to travel? Winter Park has tons of actual local, non chain restaurants.

 

[TMJJS]

How far are you willing to travel? Winter Park has tons of actual local, non chain restaurants.

For the right experience, I would say anything less than a hour drive's away! Any particular restaurant in Winter Park?

Thanks!

 

[Keacc]

One of our favorite places to go to on every trip is Manny's Chop House in Haines City. Take I4 towards Tampa and get off at 27 south bound. Go about 6 miles and it is on your right. It takes about 20 minutes to 1/2 hour from the WDW area. Big menu with great prices. Food is excellent and they give you plenty of it. Check out the menu at http://www.mannyschophouse.com/#

 

[TMJJS]

One of our favorite places to go to on every trip is Manny's Chop House in Haines City. Take I4 towards Tampa and get off at 27 south bound. Go about 6 miles and it is on your right. It takes about 20 minutes to 1/2 hour from the WDW area. Big menu with great prices. Food is excellent and they give you plenty of it. Check out the menu at http://www.mannyschophouse.com/#

Looks great! Thanks for the tip, just the type of place we are looking for.

Any others?

 

[lisajl]

One of our favorite places to go to on every trip is Manny's Chop House in Haines City. Take I4 towards Tampa and get off at 27 south bound. Go about 6 miles and it is on your right. It takes about 20 minutes to 1/2 hour from the WDW area. Big menu with great prices. Food is excellent and they give you plenty of it. Check out the menu at http://www.mannyschophouse.com/#

WOW! I am so glad you posted this! We are not going to WDW until Oct., but I think I will suprise my DH with this place.

Thanks!
Lisa

 

[Keacc]

There are two other places that we always go to: Logans Roadhouse on 192 at 417 and Bubbalou's Bodacious BBQ.

Logans has a good menu from sandwiches to outstanding steaks at decent prices, peanuts on the table and a fun atmosphere, http://logansroadhouse.com/menu.aspx

Bubbalou's has the best BBQ in the Orlando Area. We go to the location near Universal Studios at 5818 Conroy Road. We always order an extra 6 slabs of ribs to freeze and take home on the plane. They always have coupons at: http://www.bubbalouscatering.com/Restaurant-Coupons.aspx

 

[MattM]

^ I will say that Bubbalou's is way better than Logans. And Logans is a chain, not local.

Here is a link to all the restaurants on Park Ave:

http://www.parkave-winterpark.com/html/restaurants.html

I would also highly recommend Houston's in Winter Park. It sits right on Lake Killarney and has great views, especially at sunset. There are a lot of locals there too. It is a chain, but not in the sense of your Olive Garden's etc. There arent many of them.

http://www.hillstone.com/#/restaurants/houstons/

 

[bearzabout]

My favorite off site budget friendly options:

NY China Buffet on 535 near Palm Parkway. Only go if you can arrive at 11 when they open so the food is hot and fresh (you may have to wait for some dishes). They do serve all you can eat sushi, but I've never tried it. Most of the dishes are good. Look for a 10% off coupon (lunch will be less than $7 each) in the orange foldout maps.

Sweet Tomatoes is a chain, but unlike any other restaurant in most states. Sign up for their emails for coupons. A new one opens soon in Crossroads just north of Disney. About $8 each. In the hot summer, nothing is better than salad, foccaccia and frozen yogurt for dessert.

Fuddruckers in Crossroads - Good, cheap burgers and fries. They play sports games on the tvs. Has great "fixin" bar. Less than $7 each.

CiCis Pizza - the one on Palm Parkway is the best. Look for a coupon in the many coupon books. Less than $6 each. 8586 Palm Parkway

Disney's Beach Club Resort- make sure to stop by the marketplace for some fresh gelato. It is only $2.79 for a large and the flavor is great. We like chocolate, mango, raspberry and lemon and stop their often. Don't miss it.

Also stop at Beaches & Cream at the Beach Club for an ice cream sundae only. Their food if pricey but the atmosphere is great. $8+tax+tip for 3 scoop sundaes.

Lunch at Bubbalous will be less than $9 each. Go around the corner to the Dessert Lady and get a piece of the best carrot cake I've ever had for $9/slice - expensive but worth it.

I like Mara at AK Lodge for a cheap Disney meal. Their soups are great and cost only $2.50/cup.

Earl of Sandwich at Disney's Marketplace is always on our list. Their $6 grilled sammies are fabulous.

 

[TMJJS]

My favorite off site budget friendly options:

NY China Buffet on 535 near Palm Parkway. Only go if you can arrive at 11 when they open so the food is hot and fresh (you may have to wait for some dishes). They do serve all you can eat sushi, but I've never tried it. Most of the dishes are good. Look for a 10% off coupon (lunch will be less than $7 each) in the orange foldout maps.

Sweet Tomatoes is a chain, but unlike any other restaurant in most states. Sign up for their emails for coupons. A new one opens soon in Crossroads just north of Disney. About $8 each. In the hot summer, nothing is better than salad, foccaccia and frozen yogurt for dessert.

Fuddruckers in Crossroads - Good, cheap burgers and fries. They play sports games on the tvs. Has great "fixin" bar. Less than $7 each.

CiCis Pizza - the one on Palm Parkway is the best. Look for a coupon in the many coupon books. Less than $6 each. 8586 Palm Parkway

Disney's Beach Club Resort- make sure to stop by the marketplace for some fresh gelato. It is only $2.79 for a large and the flavor is great. We like chocolate, mango, raspberry and lemon and stop their often. Don't miss it.

Also stop at Beaches & Cream at the Beach Club for an ice cream sundae only. Their food if pricey but the atmosphere is great. $8+tax+tip for 3 scoop sundaes.

Lunch at Bubbalous will be less than $9 each. Go around the corner to the Dessert Lady and get a piece of the best carrot cake I've ever had for $9/slice - expensive but worth it.

I like Mara at AK Lodge for a cheap Disney meal. Their soups are great and cost only $2.50/cup.

Earl of Sandwich at Disney's Marketplace is always on our list. Their $6 grilled sammies are fabulous.

Thanks!
We love Sweet Tomato and was sad when our nearest Fuddrucker's closed down up here in the Chicago suburbs. We also just got CiCi's up here and enjoy it for a treat now and then - love the cinnamom roll pizza dessert!
I'll have to try the NY China Buffet, seems right up our alley!

 

[lovindonald]

My kids love Cici's and sadly we still don't have one at home so we are in a holding pattern. We go there at least 2x when we are down there.

However, the best place we found last time around was the Orlando Ale House. They have a little bit of everything, great choices for the kids, HUGE portions and the food was great! Each time we ate there (which was a LOT) we got a survery and when we did it we got a $5.00 off coupon. The first time we went I spoke with the manager and told him how much we enjoyed it and he gave us a coupon for a free appetizer. That saved us $10.00. App choices of my kids were the cheese fries and the BBQ chicken nachos. Both were huge servings and the nachos went almost untouched they were so big. The zingers there are also a favorite (chicken fingers with your choice of about 6 different sauces). They also have a drink special every day and I think I remember the prices for the drinks were pretty good (I don't usually drink,but I did think about it). Worth taking a look at! It is just around the corner from DTD if you exit near the Sheraton Safari (in front of you) turn left and then left by the Olive Garden it is immediately on your right, behind the gas station.

 

[exbjd]

Does anyone know how much it costs per person at Texas De Brazil????

 

[powellrj]

Does anyone know how much it costs per person at Texas De Brazil????

The last time we were there it was $40 a person, but if you sign up for their email club, they send coupons!


To the person going to Boston Lobster Feast, also sign-up for emails from them too, we got a coupon last month for $24 a person anytime!

 

[nifferearly]

It's a chain, but our best deal in Orlando is happy hour at Buffalo Wild Wings. It's in the strip mall across from the entrance to Downtown Disney by the hotels. I think the mall might be Crossroads? There's a McDonald's by the street. Anyway, BWW is one of our favorites at home. This location has happy hour Sun-Thurs from 4 to 8. Their "beer of the month" is $1/pint and most appetizers are 1/2 off. Our family of 4 can eat for less than $20, including drinks!

We also always eat at Earl of Sandwich in Downtown Disney and Cheesecake Factory in the Millenia Mall (exit 78 off I4).

 

[littlestar]

Flippers Pizza - best breadsticks I've ever had (they taste like mom's homemade bread) Yum. There's a new one by Downtown Disney in the Crossroads shopping area.

http://www.flipperspizzeria.com/

 

[TMJJS]

Thanks for all the replies! I'm getting hungry just reading about these places. It also looks like we might have another 6 people join us (4 adults and 2 children), so I'm sure I can use all the recommendations possible - it'll be hard to get 18 people to agree

 

[Bay Hill]

Agree with BWW...great spot.

Olive Garden and Red Lobster have coupons in Sunday's paper. Both locations will honor the coupons..near DTD.

We like Joe's Crab Shack, 2 locations in Celebration and near DTD.

mousesavers.com has a list of dining near WDW...
http://www.mousesavers.com/meals.html#offsite