Offsite dining

[Luthien_Rei]

Luthien: are there any authentic Greek restaurants that you know of in the Orlando area? We have been over to Tarpon Springs but its such a long drive..thanks!

I love taking a trip to Tarpon for some Greek food . It's about 2 hours from Orlando, but I have family in the Clearwater area and we'll make a day of it. If you haven't tried Hellas yet, make sure to try them on your next visit to Tarpon Springs. They have some fantastic Greek food. Metro Orlando has some wonderful Greek restaurants that easily compare to what you will find in Tarpon Springs.

The Greek Corner is a great place to go for good food at fair prices. Not anything fancy but the food is what matters. The appetizer platters are so ample and so tastey that they can easily be a meal for two. They are located at 1600 N. Orange Ave, in Orlando.

Greek Flame Taverna is very popular with locals. The family that owns it is always on hand running things and they are extremely friendly. The seafood dishes here are a real treat. They are located at 1560 N. Semoran Blvd. Winter Park, FL. If you are not familiar with Winter Park it is North of Orlando, just a few miles from downtown.

I posted this in another thread, but I'll repost it here incase you'd like to have it. It's a list of reader and critic favorites by category in Orlando, from the orlando Sentinel:

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment/dining/orl-db-foodies-search-pg1,0,4674295,results.formprofile?Lib=turbine_cdb_lib%3Aresult_doc_id+result_doc_rank+document_id+cdb_num+cdb_01_txt+cdb_02_txt+cdb_03_txt+cdb_04_txt+cdb_05_txt+cdb_06_txt+cdb_13_txt+cdb_07_txt+cdb_08_txt+cdb_09_txt+cdb_10_txt+cdb_14_txt+cdb_12_txt+cdb_11_txt+cdb_15_txt+cdb_16_txt&SortBy=COMPOSITE_RANK+desc%2Ccdb_16_txt%2Ccdb_02_txt&PageSize=52&Page=1&MinCoarseRank=500&QueryType=CONCEPT&Query=

 

[suggies08]

We've ate at the Outback Steakhouse and the Golden Corral. Both were nice restaurants and good meals. Golden Corral is buffet style so its all you can eat. Sorry if this is repeating anybody.

 

[Figment22]

Many good choices are already listed here but I'll add two of my favorites:

Bubbalou's Bodacious Bar*B*Cue for the best BBQ around.

Seasons52 is wonderful for a more upscale dining spot.

 

[hmp2z]

We live here, and here are a few of our favorite places:

Moe's Southwestern Grill - it's a fast food chain, but they don't use lard or other unpleasant ingredients. The Ruprict nachos there are great.

Tijuana Flats - again, it's a chain, but a local one. There are a few of these in the area. Their hot sauce bar has quite an extensive selection.

Lee & Rick's Oyster Bar - this place is AWESOME if you like seafood. You sit right at the bar, and they shuck the oysters there for you. It's $16.95 for a big bucket of steamed oysters.

Roy's - this one is more upscale; it's on Sand Lake Road and is, again, a chain. The tuna there is UNBELIEVABLE. I would love to eat there more than we do, because it's just great, incredibly fresh fish.

Cheers!
Heather W

 

[JCornell]

-"Bahama Breeze is definately kid friendly. It is owned by Dardin(sp?)"

I must admit I'm somewhat stupefied by the replies on where to eat outside of WDW (the comparison to some other parts of the country left me with horror) . Metro orlando is home to a vast array of superior restaurants and has a burgeoning and quite amazing culinary scene. The key however is to leave the tourism areas, which are overloaded with mostly commercial franchises.

If you are adventurous and want to discover more of what Orlando has to offer I highly recommend traveling East on I4 towards Downtown Orlando and the metro areas. Spend an afternoon on Park Ave in Winter Park, take in the amazing scenery and sample world class cuisine at establishments like Luma and Dexter's, or take the kids for brunch and ice cream at any number of fantastic bistros and eateries. Spend an evening walking around downtown, taking in the lights, skyline and nightlife and try award winning eateries like Hue, Le Coq au Vin, and Manuel's on the 28th. Orlando is a fantasticaly diverse place and boasts some of the the best Vietnamese cuisine this side of Saigon in it's own "little Saigon" and some of the best latin and hispanic cuisine north of Cuba. It's a shame that so many people come every year to WDW but so few travel any futher past I-Drive to experience metro Orlando itself and discover very little about it.

This is more in line with what I'm looking for. Are there any threads or links on good eating in the Orlando area? I'm not looking for fine dining so much as good authentic cooking, especially authentic ethnic food.