Good Orlando Restaurants

Texas de Brazil!

Bumping this-- any other good restaurants in Orlando??

I hear the Red Lobster is good!

Here's 10 best's...um...10 best
http://www.10best.com/Orlando,FL/Restaurants/Best_Restaurants/

And users-reviewed top 94:
http://www.10best.com/Orlando,FL/Restaurants/suggestions.html

We have Texas De Brazil here and I can say that it's a pretty fine experience almost every time. Pricey though.

I've never tried anywhere at Universal. I've heard good and bad about places like Margaritaville and Emeril's. What's the clientele like?

I'm somewhat curious about all these "Steakhouses" I see advertised on Taxis...

Stuffed Pizza from Giordano's.. the best pizza right down the street from disney.. and lets face it disney worlds pizza could be better.

Glad to hear a suggestion from a local (or near-local). Sometimes on a long trip you want something "new." We eat so many of the same dishes every time we're here since we have to hit all our favorites. You're right that pizza is also one of the things that is sub-par at Disney.

Awesome, we'll have someplace to try next time we're there. Thanks for the advice Sara!

Orlando has a number of excellent restaurants. Some are at WDW -- Victoria & Albert's, California Grill, Flying Fish Cafe -- but many others are located in the "real" Orlando, the part of the city that few visitors ever see.
There's K Restaurant & Wine Bar in the neighborhood known as College Park; The Ravenous Pig, one of my current favorites that has inventive food and a stylishly vibrant atmosphere in Winter Park; Graze in downtown Orlando, with a talented chef named Jephanie Foster; Luma on Park in Winter Park, where Brandon McGlammery does great things, especially with seafood; Cityfish, a funky seafood joint in downtown; Manuel's on the 28th, on the top floor of the Bank of America building with a great view of the city; Doc's restaurant, south of downtown (SoDo) where a former personal chef for the Kennedy family, Neil Connolly, serves, among other things, some of the best clam chowder you'll ever taste; Rocco's for very good Italian (be sure to have the veal Milanese!); and Le Coq Au Vin, a countrified French restaurant that many consider to be the best restaurant in the city.
Add to those Del Frisco's, Seasons 52, Antonio's La Fiamma, Terramia and a host of others. And I have many others listed on my flog at www.scottjosephorlando.com.

Great to have you here Scott!

Are there any good hole-in-the-walls we should know about?

Thanks, Brad. Nice to be here.
A favorite hole-in-the-wall is Black Bean Deli, a Cuban eatery in Winter Park. It's a tough sell for tourists, however, because it is almost exclusively takeout (there is some counter space for eating there). But it's wonderful Cuban, and since good Cuban is hard to come by in the rest of the country, I recommend it for people who have never tried it and are looking for a taste of local cuisine. (Since Cuba is only 90 miles off of Key West, it's sort of local.)

Hi,

Good to have you here, Scott! Though I've always wanted to try restaurants outside of WDW, my lack of a driver's license keeps me in the World. Sounds like some good places.

Jim

We really do have a lot of good restaurants here -- we just don't get the recognition. Good wines, too. In fact, the wine cellar at Jiko at Animal Kingdom has the largest collection of South African wines in North America.
And here's something else to consider: Orlando has four certified Master Sommeliers -- that's one more than all of New York City!

So great to have you here, Scott! I look forward to your insights--there are a lot of foodies around here.

We LOVED Jiko when we were there, and the wine cellar is indeed stocked.

How many of the sommeliers are in Disney restaurants? I know California Grille has a Master Sommelier, and I imagine V&A?

Is there a good Asian place in Orlando? Chinese or Vietnamese preferably?

Actually, there is only one master sommelier now on Disney property, though several of them got their starts there. John Blazon is the only cast member, and he is in the food and beverage office rather than associated with any one restaurant. (He did put together the wine cellar for The Wave, which consists almost exclusively of screw-cap wines.) George Miliotes, who used to be the GM at California Grill, is now with Seasons 52, and Brian Koziol, also a former case member, works for a private distributor (the fourth MS is Andrew McNamara, who comes from the Breakers Resort in Palm Beach.)
But even though those are the only master sommeliers, there are many other people working in the restaurants who have been certified in higher levels of the wine program. You can be assured that all of those people have extensive knowledge of wine. Getting to that last step of MS certification is difficult and rare -- there are only 162 worldwide!

As for good Asian restaurants, soup, I like Ming Bistro for Chinese and Lac Viet Bistro for Vietnamese. Both are in the Asian district of Orlando centered around Mills Avenue and Colonial Drive.

Man I'm pumped to learn Orlando has an Asian district! Now I just have to convince my better half to give it a try. She's not big on trying new things, especially when there's a Disney alternative available!

Just wanted to bump this thread in case any of our newer members have favorites in Orlando to share. DW and I are filling out the eating plan for october.

The only offsite restaurant I've been to is Roy's. It was Fabulous! I'll be going back there again for sure. Here's the menu.

That place look amazing!!! Ribeye with tomato and smoked gouda fondue??? YUM.

But I'm a little hesitant about the "Airline Grilled Chicken." How is that supposed to sound appetizing?!?