Restaurant Opinions

[Andy Lou & Meg]

Can anybody give me any information about the following restaurants eg Quality of the food, cleaness, value for money etc etc or even give me some recommendations of your own

Rainforest Café
Golden Corral
Chilis
Planet Hollywood
Jungle Jims
Black Angus
Ponderosa Steakhouse
Captain Nemos
Planet Hollywood
Perkins
Bennigans
B Line Diner IHOP
Olive Garden
Rainforest Café
Tony Romas
Everetts Old Tymes Eatery

Sorry for all the posts but as the clock is ticking I am realising that there is still so much to do.

Thanks for your help

:thewave: :thewave: :thewave: :thewave: :thewave: :thewave: :thewave: :thewave: :thewave: :thewave: :thewave: :thewave:

 

[mrsminniemouse]

The Olive Garden is great! Really wide menu, loads of food, great service. Definitely try it!

I got food poisoning from the buffet at Ponderosa once, we wont EVER go back.

We often visit the Rainforest Cafe, it is lively and fun, especially for kids. However, the menu doesn't change much and after a few trips we have had enough of it for a while. Nice food and good cocktails though.

Planet Hollywood is fun too, but once you have been a few times it gets a bit samey if you know what I mean. Both that and Rainforest are fun if you have never been, I do recommend them.

Hope that helps

Mandy xxx LOOK AT MY COUNTDOWN!!!!!

 

[jwhiting]

Just reading that list makes my mouth water!!!!

Personally I would try to avoid the big chain restaurants such as Planet Hollywood and Rainforest Cafe. Both are ok but there are much better alternatives in my opinion.

Bennigans have two branches on International Drive. We found the one nearer the Sea World end to be quieter but not as organised (there were tables left for ages to be cleared etc). The one near Wet & Wild was brilliant but very busy and we had to wait half an hour for a table. Food is brilliant.

As an alternative from your list also on I Drive is Darryls. This is our bestest restaurant in Orlando, food to die for and service rarely beaten. Very cheap as well. Unless they have sold up, there is one on 192 as well.

We went to the B Line Diner in the Peabody last June. Our timing was off as despite it being a 24hour restaurant, when we went in there at 9.30pm it was empty. The service and food was top notch but it was a little atmosphereless for obvious reasons. If you time it right I'm sure you can have a wicked time watching the food being prepared in front of you.

I hope this has helped. There are so many options in Orlando....I almost forgot Race Rock. Worth an evening alone!!

Enjoy

Julian

 

[rhysd2]

Rainforest Café been to several of these all over the world. always good quality food good staff and a nice place

Chilis only eaten here twice in FL on I-Drive but it was good food. good portions. yummmmmyy ribs

Planet Hollywood PH was good but portion and quality wise it didnt live up to hard rock IMO. good milkshakes though

Ponderosa Steakhouse eaten here a buncha times for dinner and brekfast. great value for money and always good food though often crowded and noisy at peak times

Perkins my all time favourite for brekfast. cheap cheap cheap. nice clean place. good service generally. good food. also open 24 hours from memory

IHOP HATE this place with a vengance. been in 4 times. every time my order got messed up and the server was rude.

 

[fizz13]

Rainforest Cafe-apparently the one at AK is better than downtown disney. We ate at Downtown though and found it fun with good food and service.

Planet Hollywood-average food and the service could have been less rushed and more polite. The kids still have their souvenir cups and they loved it.

Ponderosa- only been for the breakfast buffet which is staggering. We should definately have these in the uk. The service was lovely and you can't beat it for quantity at that price. The choice is baffling. Quick too, if you are trying to fill up before a park day.

Hope this helps. BTW I second the vote for Race Rock. Its great for food, service and decor. I had never seen dragsters, monster trucks and we had a brilliant time.
Much pixie dust,
Claire

 

[floridalol]

My opinions:

Rainforest Cafe - Very Good
Planet Hollywood - Good
Jungle Jims - Horrible - walked out when we were taken to a dirty table
Ponderosa - Horrible
Perkins - Even worse
Bennigans - Very Good
B-Line Diner - Very Good
IHOP - Breakfasts Excellent
Olive Garden - Excellent

Can recommend Red Lobster - good value for money

Have a great time

Lol

 

[allie5]

Rainforest Café - nice food but expensive. Very loud and a bit too intense for sensitive under 5s. Wear a cardy, its FREEZING in here!

Golden Corral - YUK. Hate these places. Dirty plates, lukewarm food of dubious quality.

Chilis - Great food at reasonable prices, would recommend.

Planet Hollywood - Havent eaten here for years, but hear the service and food is better these days. Great setting and you probably wont go wrong with a burger.

Jungle Jims - OK. Rest of the family prefer it more than I do. BIG portions and reasonable. A bit run down and could do with a refit IMHO.

Black Angus - never tried them but have heard terrible reports and one branch appeared in a list of Orlando restaurants with "hygiene" concerns.

Ponderosa Steakhouse - HORRIBLE. Avoid like the plague.

Captain Nemos - never tried.

Perkins - Never tried

Bennigans - OK, nothing special.

B Line Diner IHOP - not my thing!

Olive Garden - Hear good reports will be trying this time!

Tony Romas- Average food but quite reasonable prices.

Everetts Old Tymes Eatery - Never tried.

 

[Miffy2003]

Hiya,

Golden Corral - not my cup of tea at all I'm afraid
Chilis - never been but will be! Have heard great things
Planet Hollywood - Yes I like it here but it's quite loud if you have a littlun. Food's nothing special but is fine.
Black Angus - see Golden Corral.
Ponderosa Steakhouse - see Golden Corral
Perkins - We love Perkins. Great food, good service and very reasonably priced
IHOP - good for a cheap quick meal. Love the pancakes but would only want to do once on a trip unlike Perkins which I will visit several times
Olive Garden - yes fantastic. Huge portions, excellent cooking.


Those are the only ones I've been too. We also like Cracker Barrel and I recommend Denny's for a cheap, diner style meal

 

[UKDEB]

We always eat at the Rainforest Cafe at AK because the other options there are dire. It gets slated time and time again on these boards, but I just don't get it - it <i>does</i> seem to be more expensive than other themed restuarants (Hard Rock, Race Rock, et al), but the food is probably slightly better and the portions are huge - I usually have a pizza and only manage about half of it (and I can eat for England!). Like mrsminniemouse, we have done it to death, but we loved it the first time we ate there. A couple of people here have mentioned the temperature (again I don't get it), so I took special note when we were there in July - it didn't seem any different to any other restaurant to me.

We ate at a Ponderosa during our first trip in 1992 and friends tried to take us back there in 1998, but we turned around at the door. If your idea of eating out is to stand in line with a load of other Brits to eat copious amounts of sub-standard food, then by all means try it. There are so many top-quality options in Orlando that it really isn't necessary to patronise these places. Nuff said.

We've only eaten at the B-Line Diner once and it was a nice diversion, but I don't think I'd go out of my way to eat there again.

Haven't eaten at Tony Roma's since 1996. At the time, I remember being impressed with the food and the service, but I'm guessing that I would probably be disappointed if I went back now.

There are so many places to eat, but it's difficult to recommend places without knowing your preferences and what will fit in with your plans/where you are staying. As I said, we invariably eat at RFC when at AK simply because it's better than the other options. There's also something about the Hard Rock Cafe which draws us back time and again - the food is just OK (although good value for money), but it's a special place and somewhere everyone should visit at least once.

 

[juliebro]

Depends what you're looking for - cheap & cheerful with large portions - or something a bit more up-market and better quality. As some are chains, quality can vary from branch to branch

Rainforest Café - Tried the one at Doentown Disney - was OK - a nice experience but wouldn't rush back

Golden Corral - Cheap buffets - Ok if you like that sort of thing

Chilis - Ok - not overly special

Planet Hollywood - Haven't been

Jungle Jims - Haven't been - heard varying reports

Black Angus - Not heard anything good about these

Ponderosa Steakhouse - Have to agree with UKDEB on this one - OK for breakfast IF you're in a rush and want to fill up before a park visit - full of Brits in football shirts!

Captain Nemos - haven't been

Perkins - haven't been

Bennigans - ate there back in April - very good steaks and ribs

B Line Diner - love it - great burgers

IHOP - some branches are very ropy

Olive Garden - one on I-Drive was great - one near Florida Mall was poor in comparison

Tony Romas - was quite good - onion loaf starter was huge - too much for 3 of us!

Everetts Old Tymes Eatery - haven't tried


I recommend Cracker Barrel for breakfasts, too.
Hard Rock Cafe was a great experience last time - especially as we had an 'All Access' pass. Mythos at Islands of Adventure was memorable - wonderful food.
Sweet Tomatoes is a healthy, good-value option too.

Julie

 

[Andy Lou & Meg]

Just to give you some background

There are 3 of us travelling myself, DH and DD4 and we are staying on I Drive.

We are looking for good value and decent food for the most part but are also looking at a few upmarket type places - for a couple of nights.

This is where is gets complicated, I am one of the most fussy eaters in the world, I dont eat anything spicy or very hot, any fish, indian and chinese (difficult I know), but I am a lover of pasta dishes. DH will eat anything and DD is not too bad either.

Our plan is to eat breakfast in our room on a theme park day (I need all the extra zzzz's I can get) and then go out most nights for dinner.

We are going on next Thursday (hurricanes permitting) and will be there for 3 weeks.

Thanks for all your help.

:thewave: :thewave: :thewave: :thewave: :thewave:

 

[rhysd2]

if your on I-Drive i suggest you take a look around citywalk for some nicer places. its no more than a short drive or taxi ride away and theres a greater concentration of nicer restaraunts there.

there's hard rock cafe(which does plain stuff for you and more exotic stuff for your family) pastamore(think its called this) jimmy buffets etc all of which do a wide variety of stuff from regular to wierd. so all members of your family shouldnt have a problem where ever you eat.

two things worth noting i've heard poor reviews of both bob marleys and moetown recently so might be worth avoiding those places.

 

[SidB]

Food, my favourite subject. Here goes;

Rainforest Café at AK is DIRE. Don't believe anything they're telling you. The service was awful both times we visited (thought the 1st time was an off day). Although you do get big portions the air-conditioning is set so low that the food is cold before you've finished. For what you get it's very expensive. Too expensive. DON'T DO IT !

Golden Corral. Average food. Better breakfasts available. If you're a fussy eater they do serve ice-cream for b/fast.

Chilis. The one on ID is excellent. The one on the 192 is average.

Planet Hollywood - Never been.

Jungle Jims - Never been.

Black Angus - Never been.

Ponderosa Steakhouse - Average for breakfast.

Captain Nemos - Never been.

Perkins - We quite enjoyed this one.

Bennigans - Never been.

B Line Diner - Never been.

IHOP - Love it

Olive Garden - Always a queue. OK if you want something plain.

Tony Romas - The kids liked it.

Everetts Old Tymes Eatery - Never been.

My top restaurant in Orlando is Sweet Tomatoes. I've never seen a bad report. It's the best buffet I've ever been to. My 8 year old, who is going through a fussy eating phase, kept going back for more. We had to stop her after 9 trips. I'm not a great fan of "rabbit food" and don't eat salad in this country, but this place is something else. Perfect for veggies and meat-eaters. Besides salad they serve rice, pasta, fresh baked muffins and bread, soup etc etc. The best thing about the place is that there aren't any Brits in their football shirts. It sounds snobby but I reckon there's a better class of customer here.

 

[keswick1uk]

Chilis- Very good value
Jungle Jims-OK
Olive Garden -Excellent value

Few of my own:
Bahama Breeze-Long wait worth every minuite of it. Don't miss
Outback-Very enjoyable. Little more expensive.
Boma-Onsite. Lovely and great value for Disney
Chef Mickeys brekkie-party at 8 in the morning!
CRT-Go on push the boat out...(if you have little princesses in tow)

 

[Madjock]

Rainforest Café – It’s good fun for kids, the food is fine and we like it
Planet Hollywood – Same as above
Ponderosa Steakhouse – only ever had breakfast which is okay but would never consider any other meal here
Bennigans – we had a good meal here
Olive Garden – I know people rave about this place but we had a terrible experience with this one and would never go back
Tony Romas – we had a good meal here

One I would add to my list would be Bahama Breeze we had a great time here and the food was good but word of warning the portions are huge!

Annmarie

 

[disneyuk]

For what its worth .....

Rainforest Cafe. We like it - the food, the atmosphere, the Drinks. Prefer AK to DD.
Planet Hollywood. We find it similar to the Rainforest Cafe. So thumbs up from us.
Perkins. Our favourite. Good staff, good selection, cheap, and quick service if your in a hurry.
Olive Garden. Really enjoyed. Would go back.

Others. A big thumbs up for Boma (AKL)
Mixed for Hard Rock Cafe.

 

[debkorb1]

We adored the Rainforest Cafe (both at AK and DTD) - the food can be a bit hit and miss, although always passable and often good. But if the grub is not outstanding the atmosphere is and considering you're in WDW the prices are not too bad.

I also ate at Planet Hollywood - food was quite good (especially the Mashed Potato), but with that long list I doubt it will rank in the top 5 or 6.