Some of my favorite restaurants around the Orlando area
One of the things that we started doing when the Magical Express ended was renting a car was traveling off property to go to different places and have found some good restaurants in the area. I've stayed at the hotels in Flamingo Crossing so I've tried a lot of the restaurants there and there are some good choices.
Here are a few of my favorites, will keep adding as we find more restaurants or if I think of any others:
Asian:
Gyu Kaku - Japanese BBQ, similar to Korean BBQ where you cook the food yourself but the flavors are even better than Koresn BBQ imho. They have an all you can eat option that is reasonably priced too. There is one located not too far off Disney property in Flamingo Crossing as well as one near Universal on Turkey Lake Road.
Token Ramen - If you like ramen, Token ramen is a good choice - also in Flamingo Crossing
Susuru - A great Japanese Izakaya, food was very good and reasonably priced but very crowded
U and Me Revolving Hot Pot - My kids wanted to goto this restaurant because they have robots that take you to your table and deliver dessert to you. The food is pretty good and the price is very reasonable. It operates only on an All You Can Eat model, and you need to cook the food yourself in a boiling pot of soup.
Twenty Pho Hour - Their website wasn't working so I linked to their Yelp instead. A decent Pho place if you're craving it! The restaurant is all black and white, so it makes for some great photos too.
Italian:
Simply Capri - good Italian food, I've only been here once but I was impressed with the food, it wasn't very crowded when we went but it was shortly after the restaurant opened so it might be more crowded now
Bella Tuscany - Was recommended to me by a friend who is Italian and seems very popular with locals
Bella Italia - We stumbled in here on a whim because we were looking for somewhere to eat and were left impressed by the food. They give you humongous portions, so expect to have leftovers. Also seemed popular with the locals - would recommend dressing a little nicer, we felt a little out of place in our theme park clothes lol.
American
New York Beer Project - In Horizon West area, they have a rotating menu and everything I've tried on the menu has been good, plus they have a good selection of beers, some local.
Pizza:
Sal's Pizza Bar - not too far from Disney Springs, Sal's Pizza bar is decent - being originally from NJ I'm a bit of a pizza snob though, so maybe my expectations for pizza are too high. I'd eat here again if that says anything.
Flippers Pizza - its a chain, the pizza was standard fare pizza, not terrible but nothing memorable.
Giordanos - Its a chain, but they don't have any near me at all. The chicago style pizza here is good imho, but don't get delivery from here, it takes forever.
Pieology - Its similar to Blaze pizza where you make your own pizza. Probably not worth traveling off property to go here but if you're already in the area, it is fun to "make your own" pizza. Kramer's concept has come to life lol. Pizza is just average but my kids love it.
Fast Food (or stuff I didn't know where to put):
Portillo's - Its another chain but they don't have any near me either but I wish I did! The Chicago beef sandwiches are awesome
Breakfast:
Hash House A Go Go - Mostly well known in Las Vegas, Hash House A Go Go is a good breakfast place with huge portions. There are 2 locations, 1 in Flamingo Crossing and 1 on International Drive.
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SupporterRyan, what a great list! I will definitely be referring to it, when we want to try somewhere local
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Ryan, what a great list! I will definitely be referring to it, when we want to try somewhere local
Jen as a local - what are some of your favorite off property spots?
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So far, I can defintely recommend Palma in ChampionsGate for Italian, and they have a great happy hour. 4 Corners Tavern, also in ChampionsGate, is awesome for your local everyone knows your name kind of place:) really good food, indoor and outdoor seating, music on the weekends. they do trivia certain nights as well as Music Bingo. We have a lot of chains here and I am not a huge chain fan, I do like Ford's Garage,, we have one in ChampionsGate and weve tried ( not recently) the one in Promenade at Sunset Walk at Margaritaville. Speaking of which, I love the Wharf restaurant there, excellent food, including seafood, they always have sme kind of entertainment going on there, El Jefe's for Mexican. Rock & Brews ( its a chain owed by the band Kiss, fun atmosphere) . And Mikado for Japanese. in Davenport, we absolutely love it there. Those are what I can think of. off the top of my head:)
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So far, I can defintely recommend Palma in ChampionsGate for Italian, and they have a great happy hour. 4 Corners Tavern, also in ChampionsGate, is aw…
Oh Ford's garage is a good one, I forgot about them - I was a little turned off by one of their locations where they include a mandatory 20% service charge, but then say that its not a tip and they still ask you for an additional amount to tip. Seemed sort of like a way to confuse you into tipping twice.
But the food is good there and my son enjoyed all of the car theming :)
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I really want to try 24 Pho Hour and now that the wait time isn't insane, we'll have to go.
We love Portillos and Hash House a Go go was fun.
My current favorite off property places are Crooked Spoon and Salt Shack in Clermont, Hangry Bison, Whole Enchilada, Aj's Pizza, and Servando's in Winter Garden, and Rocco's Tacos and Seasons 52 in Orlando. Oh and Grand Central Station Pizza in Ocoee. I'm sure there are more but that's all I can think of right now.
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Oh Ford's garage is a good one, I forgot about them - I was a little turned off by one of their locations where they include a mandatory 20% service c…
They don’t do that anymore! They got so many complaints they changed it
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Bull & Bear at the Waldorf Astoria (in the Bonnet Creek resort area, between EPCOT resorts and Disney Springs) is my special occasion go-to. Food and cocktails are amazing and service is next level.
I always enjoy visiting Celebration and specifically like Celebration Town Tavern and Reggiano's.
Love Susuru as mentioned above but prepare yourself for a wait. It seems like it is always slammed (but very good).
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They don’t do that anymore! They got so many complaints they changed it
Oh that is good to hear. I think it would have been fine if they tacked on a 20% service charge and then said no tipping required and didn't even ask for a tip on the credit card receipt.
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Bull & Bear at the Waldorf Astoria (in the Bonnet Creek resort area, between EPCOT resorts and Disney Springs) is my special occasion go-to. Food and …
I don’t know how I didn’t think to mention Celebration Town Tavern too! We like it, being from Boston:)
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Oh that is good to hear. I think it would have been fine if they tacked on a 20% service charge and then said no tipping required and didn't even ask …
Agreed! It it’s definitely gone back to normal now luckily
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I don’t know how I didn’t think to mention Celebration Town Tavern too! We like it, being from Boston:)
I'm from Connecticut and yes, it's a nice dose of home. Great food and a fun vibe!
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Does anyone have any brewery recommendations? I've been to some other breweries in St Augustine and over by the Kennedy Space Center, but never in Orlando.
Does anyone have any brewery recommendations? I've been to some other breweries in St Augustine and over by the Kennedy Space Center, but never in Orl…
There are so many great breweries in Orlando.
Paul's favorite is Toll House in Ocoee. I love Tactical Brewing in Baldwin Park, but it's more for people who like sours. Paul doesn't love it.
Home State in Winter Garden is a decent one too. Crooked Can is fun. There is one in Winter Garden and they are building a nice one by where we live in Minneola too. They have all sorts of places to eat at Crooked Can too. We've been to Windermere Brewery a few times which is in Derek's neck of the woods. It's okay. They have some cool events. Paul likes Ivanhoe as well. I think they have a few locations. Suncreek in Clermont has some nice citrusy beers.
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I do! I agree with Amy , about Home State in Winter Garden. They are actually our favorite, we’ve become friends with some of the employees. We love Crooked Can, they have a food hall connected too it, you can make a whole afternoon there. We love Celebration Brewing ,, they are the closest to me in Davenport. We’ve also enjoyed Rockpit Brewing and Sideward Brewing , Ivanhoe Brewing in Orlando , Grove Roots in Winter Haven, Windermere Brewing in Windermere
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Thanks y’all! I’ll have to try these. I’ve had Crooked Can’s Wasabi IPA at Epcot in February and I really enjoyed it. I’m a homebrewer and I want to take a stab at recreating that. I also want to come home with some Datil peppers one of these days and use those in a beer.
Very cool, I thought I was the only one that liked the Wasabi IPA. My family thought I was crazy 🤣
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We just love Cracker Barrel 🥰. We have to go at least twice each trip - we have nothing like it in Northern Ireland so we run there! Also I’ve Formosa Winery and Tasting House. Such a lovely spot to have a drink (so many wine selections!) and a bit to eat
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