Offsite dining

[ZPT1022]

I'd love to know what people's favorite off property places to eat are. We're going to be near WDW, but not going to WDW in April. Since this is kind of a last minute thing we're looking at seeing some things we wouldn't normally see on one of our typical WDW trips. I'd love to hear it all, but kid friendly would be the best. Thanks!

 

[CoralCayTownhome]

If you are going to be in the Kissimmee area we tried the Macaroni Grill on the 192. Very nice Italian food and the kids meals were good. Our kids (10 & 6 at the time) enjoyed the fact that they could write all over the table cloth!

We will definitely be back to that one.

Tracey

 

[ZPT1022]

If you are going to be in the Kissimmee area we tried the Macaroni Grill on the 192. Very nice Italian food and the kids meals were good. Our kids (10 & 6 at the time) enjoyed the fact that they could write all over the table cloth!

We will definitely be back to that one.

Tracey

Thanks Tracey! We have that at home and they love it, so it's good to know that there's one in the area in FL too!

-Becky

 

[Alicnwondrln]

olive garden was really good on our last trip

 

[FLParadisevilla]

Here are some of our favorites!

http://www.smokeybones.com/ Great BBQ and a nice menu for the whole family!

http://www.celebrationfl.com/market_street/home.html
Market Street Tavern has awesome food!! The shops are nice! There is a lake to sit by and a new Movie Theater

http://www.joescrabshack.com/
this is a fun place too!

We also enjoyed about half a day at Gatorland
http://www.gatorland.com/

 

[bearzabout]

CiCi's Pizza is just north of Disney World and serves all you can eat pizza for under $5. I love it for a fast, filling meal.

Sweet Tomatoes up by Universal is a great salad bar. They have soups, pastas and frozen yogurt with toppings for dessert.

The Cheesecake Factory at Millenia Mall has something for everyone.

I like NY China Buffet for lunch. Get there at 11am when they open so everything is hot. Your kids may like their many chicken dishes. I go to load up on flavorful vegetables after too many days of fast food in the parks. There are so many items to choose from. They have fruit and soft ice cream for dessert.

To get your fix of Disney without spending the cash, go Animal Kingdom Lodge and spend some time looking at the animals. If you get hungry, grab a bite at Mara. Another fun day would be to take a bus from the Marketplace to Fort Wilderness and see the free petting zoo. Ride the boat to Wilderness Lodge and possibly rent bikes or eat at Whispering Canyon. Take a bus back to the Marketplace.

We loved our visit to the Orlando Science Center. It is expensive now because of the Body Within special exhibit (which is NOT for young kids). They may offer discounted admission without the exhibit. The Imax movies Mission to Mars and Living Seas were fantastic.

Race Rock is popular with boys who love Nascar.

Have fun!!

 

[TiggerStac]

CiCi's Pizza is just north of Disney World and serves all you can eat pizza for under $5. I love it for a fast, filling meal.



The Cheesecake Factory at Millenia Mall has something for everyone.





Have fun!!

I'm trying to figure out where the millenia mall is, as wehave a CCF gift cert I want to use while down there. Mapquest says exit 78 off of i-4....is that before/after the parks/DTD exits??? Just trying to picture in my mind.

My suggestions...Nascar Cafe, if into Nascar, with my entire family into nascar, we usually go there once or twice a trip.

If you go to city walk at Universal there are a bunch of restaurants there...we love margaritaville!!

I love Perkins for Breakfast. They have great muffins. ANd kids meals (no matter what time of day) get a cookie...huge cookie. At least they have in the past. I always have ours for DS in the parks.

 

[Mari annie]

There are alot of great dining sites for Orlando/areas.

Try this site
WWW.Orlandoweekly.com under dining*There are coupons, reviews, menus.

great reviews of different places and also look at/reg at Resteraunt.com
they have great offers for Orlando/area(s) resteraunts, along with menus.

If you haven't been to Celebration, FL, there's a few places that are great, if you go for early lunch, less crowded and after reg dinner time hours, it's the best, too, low crowds.
IE Market Street-dinner with assorted foods, great values. Best place to go on a Sunday am, read your paper and enjoy a great breakfast!
Upper Crust, tiny pizzeria, good pizza.
Celebration Town Tavern, one of our fav's, owned by a Boston Favorite (aka Kelly's Roast Beef amongst many)--the BEST place to NE Seafood, it's flown in, prices are what you'd pay anywhere and it's fresh, salads are excellent.
Pub style.
Next door same family owns Boston Garden, more upscale fine(r) dining for NE seafood/steak.
Columbia Resteraunt-one of the greatest places in FL to get Spanish food, they prepare the sangria as well as their famous 1905 *the year they started their business* Salad right in front of you.
Cafe D'Antonio a very good Italian Resteraunt, lots of great items, great atmosphere as well as foods. I am Italian and we have the greatest of Italian Rest w/40 minutes of here from Boston's NE and Providence's Federal Hill, and being 1/2 Italian (being fussy about Italian food) this is place is a great thumbs up.
If you can't tell, I am a cook and a foodie, and we have a place in Celebration so I am very parcial to this place.

Also, if you are interested in a night out, try the now turned to Starbucks (formally Barnies) and go sit at the lake rock in rocking chairs and you can listen to piped in music! Very enjoyable. Very low crowds, Friday nights/Saturdays are more busier, but the later you go, the less crowds!
Nice place to chill and talk* with your partner or family.

They have also put in alot of little stores in the beg of Celebration, there's PJ"S Coffee/Wine Bar w/free wifi, very quiet and owned by celebration locals, newpapers, and very very low key atmosphere.

Whatever you choose, have fun, there's so many places in Orlando, and the area(s) to enjoy!

4/10 can't wait to go back!!!

 

[mjh8955]

Bahama Breeze and Tu Tu Tango.

 

[crazelion]

Try Tony Romos's on International Drive.

 

[Taratink]

Bahama Breeze was really nice and beautiful. My hubby wore a teeshirt but it said collared shirts on a sign. It is not that dressy a polo shirt would be fine.
Tara

 

[ZPT1022]

Bahama Breeze was really nice and beautiful. My hubby wore a teeshirt but it said collared shirts on a sign. It is not that dressy a polo shirt would be fine.
Tara

Is it a fancy kind of place or still kid friendly?? The polo shirt thing is not an issue as that's what DH normally wears but any time there's a dress code I worry that it's not for kids.

 

[ZPT1022]

By the way, THANK YOU to everyone for all of the suggestions. I'm saving them to run past DH when we go next month!!!

 

[Joan S.]

There are alot of great dining sites for Orlando/areas.

Try this site
WWW.Orlandoweekly.com under dining*There are coupons, reviews, menus.

great reviews of different places and also look at/reg at Resteraunt.com
they have great offers for Orlando/area(s) resteraunts, along with menus.

If you haven't been to Celebration, FL, there's a few places that are great, if you go for early lunch, less crowded and after reg dinner time hours, it's the best, too, low crowds.
IE Market Street-dinner with assorted foods, great values. Best place to go on a Sunday am, read your paper and enjoy a great breakfast!
Upper Crust, tiny pizzeria, good pizza.
Celebration Town Tavern, one of our fav's, owned by a Boston Favorite (aka Kelly's Roast Beef amongst many)--the BEST place to NE Seafood, it's flown in, prices are what you'd pay anywhere and it's fresh, salads are excellent.
Pub style.
Next door same family owns Boston Garden, more upscale fine(r) dining for NE seafood/steak.
Columbia Resteraunt-one of the greatest places in FL to get Spanish food, they prepare the sangria as well as their famous 1905 *the year they started their business* Salad right in front of you.
Cafe D'Antonio a very good Italian Resteraunt, lots of great items, great atmosphere as well as foods. I am Italian and we have the greatest of Italian Rest w/40 minutes of here from Boston's NE and Providence's Federal Hill, and being 1/2 Italian (being fussy about Italian food) this is place is a great thumbs up.
If you can't tell, I am a cook and a foodie, and we have a place in Celebration so I am very parcial to this place.

Also, if you are interested in a night out, try the now turned to Starbucks (formally Barnies) and go sit at the lake rock in rocking chairs and you can listen to piped in music! Very enjoyable. Very low crowds, Friday nights/Saturdays are more busier, but the later you go, the less crowds!
Nice place to chill and talk* with your partner or family.

They have also put in alot of little stores in the beg of Celebration, there's PJ"S Coffee/Wine Bar w/free wifi, very quiet and owned by celebration locals, newpapers, and very very low key atmosphere.

Whatever you choose, have fun, there's so many places in Orlando, and the area(s) to enjoy!

4/10 can't wait to go back!!!

Hi, I am from RI(my dad was born and raised on Federal Hill) and in RI it is THE PLACE for GOOD ITALIAN! (Might as well add that PROVIDENCE in general has a very HIGH # of EXCELLENT restaurants considering we are the SMALLEST state! )So when I saw your post on Cafe D'Antonio -I had to ask -Is this located in CELEBRATION?? We visit Orlando 2-3 x per year and hope to own a second home there in the near future so we are always looking for good places to eat! Thanks, Joan

 

[jkelly86]

Bahama Breeze is definately kid friendly. It is owned by Dardin(sp?) who runs Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, and Red Lobster. Try the Ultimate Pina Colada (Not sure of the name, but it's good) A tip I got on this board is that although they don't take reservations, you can call ahead on your way there.

 

[KStarfish82]

Eating is such a big part of vacation for my family for a few reasons...

First, we live in NY so we cannot get many of the places that are in Orlando such as Sonic and Denny's (yes, Denny's)

Gotta agree with the Olive Garden and also Chili's!

Also, Cici's...what a bargain! Don't go if you are looking for real Italian...cause it is not. But if you are looking for an inexpensive, but decent filling meal...definitely go! Those little coupon books also have 10% off coupons!!

Also, Golden Corral is a nice place to get full. But be warned, do not plan on doing the parks afterward!!

Happy eating!

 

[Mari annie]

My dh is from Cumberland!!!
Yes, Cafe D'Antonio is in Celebration! They even have an outside patio, if it's cold, they roll down the plastic panels/sides and put the heaters on (Feb was a bit chilly)LOL! and walah! Great place to go!

We've probably bumped into you guys over the years going to FL, this is our 18th year, we drive and go 3x's a year, too!
Our ds is going to college outside Orlando in a few months, so it looks like we'll be enjoying even more!

Have fun!

4/10 can't wait, 2 weeks, not long enough!!

 

[dougsmom98]

We had never been to a Golden Corral before and did on our last trip. It was pretty good. They had a wide variety of items at the buffet and they were fresh. My husband liked the steak wrapped in bacon. I loved the mashed potatoes and fried chicken. We all loved the desserts - cake, pie, cookies, ice cream... We would go here again.

 

[Jason71]

Is it a fancy kind of place or still kid friendly?? The polo shirt thing is not an issue as that's what DH normally wears but any time there's a dress code I worry that it's not for kids.

I've been dozens of times and never even noticed the sign about the dress code. Not sure it's ever enforced.

Definitely a kid-friendly place, not stuffy at all--in fact, very relaxed. Even though it's a chain, it feels like a local Florida place, which is a nice change of pace down here.

 

[weezy26nm]

We too loved the Golden Corral and CiCi's Pizza. The kids also got a kick out of the drive in A&W. We used to have them here in Nova Scotia when I was a kid but sadly they are no more. One night we went to the SuperWalmart and bought a whole BBQ chicken and salads and a tub of ice cream for dessert and just ate in our room. It was a cheap and relaxing supper. It was hubby's idea of a home cooked meal instead of all the fast food.