Please help...Dining outside of Disney

[deb1835]

We will have a rental car and are looking for places to eat dinner at night that are outside of Disney. We are looking to save some $$ but still want great food. Any suggestions?

thanks

 

[Epcotgal8]

Not sure where you're staying but the Crossroads shopping center is easy to get to and has many choices not only in the shopping center but also that whole area is filled with eateries. At the Crossroads thee is a place called Jungle Jim's which is your basic burge/ sandwich/salad place with very reasonable prices. One of our best "finds" was Chevy's if you like Tex-Mex which we do. Have been there twice and both times left happy. Good food, service, and prices. There is a TGI Fridays, and of course a McDonald's (although I doubt you're looking for a Mickey D's). Very close by is a Pizzeria Uno. I've read a lot of positive reviews so we tried it and weren't happy. They say it's Chicago type pizza which sounded great but it wasn't to us. When our kids leave pizza uneaten you KNOW there is a problem lol. It was also what we considered to be fairly high priced for pizza. I ordered a salad and asked for Italian dressing. They didn't have any. No Italian dressing in a pizza/Italian place? Ok. How about ranch. Nope, don't have that either. It was Thousand Island or nothing. I got the vibes the side salad idea wasn't such a good one Sorry to those that like this place this was just our experience. Just down the street from there is an Olive Garden and a Romano's Macaroni Grill. We opted for the Macaroni Grill since we have Olive Garden's at home. It was similar to an OG and we enjoyed our meal there. There's is also a Landy's Seafood on that same road. BIL and his family ate at the one there and enjoyed it. We have eaten at Landry's in Dallas and liked it. I'm sure others will have more recommendations. Sorry this turned into such a long post.

 

[sconstantz]

We don't eat much outside Disney, except where we may be staying. However, we did have a HUGE breakfast one morning at the Perkins right outside Downtown Disney. The staff was awesome. We thought we were back in Disney with the CM's. And the food was very good and very filling, for less than we would have paid at Disney.

I know other's have Perkins where they live, we don't. I just thought the staff was really good here as well as good food. Good on the budget for morning, and we were full all day.

Shelly

 

[sconstantz]

We don't eat much outside Disney, except where we may be staying. However, we did have a HUGE breakfast one morning at the Perkins right outside Downtown Disney. The staff was awesome. We thought we were back in Disney with the CM's. And the food was very good and very filling, for less than we would have paid at Disney.

I know other's have Perkins where they live, we don't. I just thought the staff was really good here as well as good food. Good on the budget for morning, and we were full all day.

Shelly

 

[deb1835]

thanks sconstantz and Epcotgal8 (not a long post, very informative!)

We will check out OG (we've only been once and loved it). My SIL has not been to many of the chain restaurants and I'm sure will be happy with whatever we choose !! I've never been to Perkins but it sounds like a great way to start the day! I think I read on one of the posts about a restaurant named Pebbles. Has anyone ever eaten there ??




I'm getting very anxious !!

 

[Cyndiu]

We ate at Pebbles while in Orlando in August. Service was great, food was great, but it was a tiny bit too fancy for us and a little more expensive than we normally like too. But, if you're looking for a sit down meal, it was certainly good.

I vote for Jungle Jim's myself. It is theme decorated and their burgers are really amazing. We visit there every visit, without fail!

Have a good time!

 

[baileybrad]

We have eaten at Pebbles' located in the back of the Crossroads area. It was better than average. I don't remember exactly what I had.....it was around 3 1/2 years ago but I do remember that the inside of the restaurant was very classy.... a very nice atomsphere with candles on the tables.

We have eaten at the Landrys Seafood restaurant. There is a steak house....Lonestar, I believe right next to it. Across the side street, Vineland, is a Bahama Breeze, we have one here and find it to be fine, but not quite as good as the folks who operate the place think it is....it can be a little too something for us. Great key lime pie, but pricey at $7 a slice. We have eaten at this particular location, also, and it too is fine....Caribbean dishes, sandwiches, wood-fired pizzas, etc.

This may sound crazy but growing up in the south with hot Krispy Kremes available.....a really good, as in tasty and not for you, treat would be to have someone pick-up a dozen of hot glazed donuts at the KK on 192 and having them for breakfast or a late treat. You can also dine at the KK if you wish. We have eaten at the Red Lobster at the Crossroads for an early dinner everything was served good and hot (that is my all time pet peeve when dining out.....I want my food served good and hot). We have eaten at a Shell's seafood restaurant down in Kissimmee on 192, very good clam chowder. Macaroni Grill is preferred by my family over Olive Garden when it comes to chain Italian places.

Not trying to defend Uno's Pizzeria but we find it to be decent....they do offer thin crust pizzas for those that do not enjoy "Chicago-style" pizza. We have eaten at the CR location and also carried out from there. There is one near us at home that we have eaten at several times and they did happen to have many different types of salad dressings so those folks in Orlando should get on the ball.

Not that you asked but our favorite meal currently in or around WDW is the lunch buffet at the Hollywood and Vine restaurant in MGM. We love the food...it is also a character meal so the kids enjoy that but the food is wonderful. They had pineapple upside down cake and strawbery short cake as 2 of their many desserts in early December and they were BOTH wonderful.

 

[lcborn2run]

Chilis is great food for VERY reasonable prices. We had 2 adults and 2 kids and ate a great meal for under $35. They are very kid-friendly, which is a plus.

Have fun...

p.s. We also ate at Pebbles in Crossroads, and the food, service and ambience was great.

 

[ToyStoryMom_inRI]

I have 2 words for you....BAHAMA BREEZE!!!! We ate there in early Dec and it was fabulous! Actually, of all the good meals we had both off and on site this meal was the best meal of the trip. DH and I are both in total agreement on this one. The service was fantastic and the food was fresh and simply out of this world! We had the Spicy Shrimp and Coconut Onion Rings for our appetizers, DH had Grilled Jerk Chicken and the house beer (he typically only drinks Sam Adams, but he loved this beer) and I had Wood Grilled Scallops over angel hair with Cilantro Pesto. We wished we had room for dessert, but we didn't. It was all good!

 

[deb1835]

Lots of great suggestions everyone...I'll be printing out this post !!