ponderosa v golden coral

[gemmamouse]

just wondered if you eat outside disney wher do you normally go? we have often been to the ponderosa and golden coral if we wanted just a cheap meal, but what is your favourite and where do you recommend?

 

[AndRu]

I prefer Ponderosa over Golden Coral, it just felt cleaner / more friendly but my absolute favourite is Perkins on International Drive. Their eggs benedict with pancakes to follow is delightful.

 

[gilld]

We have eaten at the Ponderosa in the past, but I do wonder how safe things are after sitting around for so long.

 

[daveyoghurt]

If you want a really nice breakfast then you can't do any better than Dennys. It's more expensive than Ponderosa but at least it's not been sat around for ages, plus the guys that serve will sit down and chat if they're not too busy. I think that Ponderosa is false economy because although it's cheap, the quality of food isn't the best.

 

[sharon78]

Our fav 2 off sight restaurants are Sweet Tomatoes MMMMMMMMmmmmm
check there web site out, www.sweettomatoes.com and Race Rock there Chicken Pie is HUGE and the Exploding Onion is amazing.

 

[annette_tr9]

we always eat at ponderosa or golden coral!! we prefer golden coral for breakfast and ponderosa for tea but they are both equally as good. each restaurant does vary though, the best ponderosa we have found was half way up international drive on the left (going up!) and the best golden coral was down on the 192 near splendid china.

 

[SimonV]

From my experience, the quality of both of these chains can vary from place to place. On the whole, I rate Golden Corral the better. However, similar places worth trying are Friendlys (on I-Drive and US 192), Perkins, Cracker Barrel, and the Black Angus chain (some great breakfast buffets). There is a whole slew of new restaurants on I-Drive in the last few months, but I still haven't got round to checking them out yet. The most intriguing is Salt Island - check out this review: http://orlando.diningguide.net/data/d100217.htm

 

[juliebro]

Another vote here for Cracker Barrel! Fanatastic breakfasts - cooked to order.

Julie

 

[Latte Lover]

Our favourite all-you-can-eat restaurants are Golden Corral and The Las Vegas Buffet on the 192. We also love The Longhorn Steakhouse and Bennigans, both on the 192. We have also had good (and cheap) meals at the IHOP restaurants.

 

[daywalker]

Ponderosa is disgusting, usually full of disgusting Brits too. Golden Corral is only slightly better! Only been to each on once on our first ever trip, too many kids running around sticking their messy fingers in the food as their parents can't or don't care to control them, this was mainly a problem in Ponderosa.
You're better off going to a decent restaurant IMO, getting better quality food for not much more $, portions are generally huge everywhere so you wouldn't feel the need to stuff yourself liek you've never eaten before.

 

[Beth__WDW23/6/02]

I like all, and usually vary where we go everyday.
I've never tried sweet tomatoes but looks and the menu looks very good! so I will definately try this out when we go next!
Everyone varies with there opinions,but I like all, you try it once and if you dont like you dont go back!

 

[squitty]

I would chose the Golden Corral out of them. DH wont try Sweet Tomatoes, I would love too, it always looks so lovely.

 

[kevin harrison]

Golden Corral is much better than Ponderosa in my opinion. No comparrison.

 

[Scottish_Maleficent]

Our favourites are Bennigans, Friendlys and Sweet Tomatoes, which is fantastic IMHO.
I really dislike both Ponderosa and Sizzlers!!! Dennys is not so bad though - but not great.

 

[fizz13]

Just got back yesterday and tried a few. Our favourite was Cracker Barrel for choice, service, value and food.
Ponderosa was ok but it should only be considered if there is nothing else around, which lets face it, is not going to happen.

Claire

 

[Flo_and_co]

hmmm - I'm wondering - has Ponderosa gone down hill in the last 4 years or so?

My family (myself included) used to LOVE it there - especially the one on I-Drive - it formed one of the highlights of our holiday each year! (I promise you my kids never stuck their fingers in the food - so hopefully I'm not one of the "awful Brits"!)

The food was always delicious - and of course plentiful! and I was never worried about it standing around as you used to see the servers replacing it really regularly (in fact I used to worry more about the amount of waste)

Such incredibly good value too - don't know what the prices are nowadays but back then you could get all-you-can-eat brekkie for $3.99 and lunch for $4.99. We used to stock up there at brekkie time before we hit the parks, and then we wouldn't need to eat again until the evening. Saved us a fortune! Also meant we could go on the rides when everyone else was eating at lunchtime, which cut the queue sizes down a bit.

I'm looking forward to checking out the Golden Coral as I haven't been there before. I also personally love the sound of Sweet Tomatoes - but not sure my vegetable-averse kids would be overly impressed. Do they have a kids menu?

Flo

 

[terrynewpack]

Both Ponderosa and Golden Coral are variable in their performance and food quality.
Another vote for Cracker Barrel. Been going there for 4/5 years and hardly a problem. Gets very busy and sometimes service goes downhill but the food is still good.

Terry

 

[KayleeUK]

Terry

Just wanted to chip in and say Welcome to the DIS

 

[Tron[ADS]]

We like the breakfasts at Ponderosa, but as someone said, they vary in quality between outlets. I have found the one on the 192 near old town (over the road) to be the best.
We tried cracker barrel last trip, and the quality was excellent, but I was left still feeling hungry afterwards. I like to stuff myself silly on all you can eats, and not have to eat for the rest of the day until T time, and I wasnt able to do that at cracker barrel.