Help - Never been to Orlando where is best to eat

[steve.m]

Hi All,
We are a family of four (2 adults & 2 kids aged 15 and 9). We have never been to USA before so it is all new to us, we have booked a villa in Davenport, Orlando for 2 weeks at the end of August, we have a hire car so driving not a problem, and we have booked Ultimate tickets and also dolphin swim ultimate, so most days will be at the parks.
We are looking for recommendations on places to eat breakfast (some days), lunch and dinner. I have also heard people mention themed dining, can any0one give more info and recommend ? maybe one of these one night. We like most foods and would prefer less expensive but good food places to eat.
Over to you all for your recommendations
Cheers
Steve:confused2

[BenH]

This is a huge area - there are so many options for dining while in Florida. You have the choice to eat on-site (in Disney) or off-site.

Disney restaurants need to be booked before you go as they are all very popular - you can find the ADR (Advance Dining Reservations) thread in this forum where it gives all the details on booking.

Some nice breakfast buffets in Disney include:

Crystal Palace Character breakfast at Magic Kingdom
Boma breakfast at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Ohana Character breakfast at Polynesian resort
Princess Storybook Character breakfast in Norway at EPCOT
Cinderella's Royal Table at Magic Kingdom

Some offsite places include:
IHOP (International House of Pancakes)
Golden Corran buffet
Ponderosa buffet
Dennys

Some of my favourite dinner/lunch restaurants are:

Onsite:
Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge
Ohana at Polynesian resort
California Grill at the contemporary resort
Yachtsman Steakhouse at the Yacht Club
Hollywood Brown derby at Hollywood Studios
TeppanEdo at EPCOT
Coral Reef at EPCOT
and many more!!

Offsite:
Bahama Breeze - delicious!

There are so many to pick from - take a look at the dining section of the site (menu on the left) or all the reviews in the dining review forum and that should give you a better idea.

Hope this helps, happy dining! :grin:

[xXxArielxXx]

Hi,:wavey:

Golden Corral is really good for offsite dining. It is a buffet style and there is loads of choice too!:D

[MattF]

Ben's suggestions are very good. I'll add a few

Offsite
Olive Garden
Cicis
Tony Romas

Onsite
Garden Grill
Citricos
1900 Park Fare
Flying Fish

[sparrow]

Dont forget Red Lobster

[san40blue]

We are going to try ihop , bahama breeze, tony romas and the cheesecake factory after recomendations from other dibbers. We have been to shorneys and dennys for breakfast which we liked, also Joes crab shack , outback steak house, hooters the wing house and rainforest cafe:tounge: We would also recomend chef mickeys for breakfast but you have to book!!!:pgig:

[steve.m]

Thanks guys, I have just checked out a few of your suggestions and they look wonderful - especially Tony Ramos, Golden Coral, Crystal Palace and Bahama Breeze - can't wait now!!!
Would anyone recommend a good show/dinner to go too? I have heard Shamus mentioned?

[MattF]

Dine with Shamu at Seaworld is very good. They also do a Shamu Rocks Dinner Buffet which is later on in the evening. More info can be found on the Seaworld website

[BillyC72]

The cracker barrell is also very good, old style american cooking with a very good meatloaf also one of the few places i found with meals that had veg (just cos teh kids are on holiday they still need their green's), they do a nice breakfast also.

If the kids are too old for disney character breakfasts the spiderman breakfsat at IOA was very good and the breakfast choices fantastic.

[tessdog]

We like Sweet tomatoes, its a nice buffet with healthy options makes for a nice change..
x

[truesdpr]

If you're staying at Davenport you must try　Manny's Chophouse (http://www.mannyschophouse.com) Great food, great atmosphere and very reasonable prices. It's ALWAYS busy so be prepare for a wait or use call-ahead seating but srill be prepared for a but of a wait. You can see a couple of pics in my latest trip report. Think it's Day 9 or thereabouts.

Also love Earl Of Sandwich at DTD for lunch. Best sandwiches you'll ever tastｅ！

Ｐａｍ

[sunshineheaven]

just on us 27 near to you is webbs ice cream parlour a must visit over 150 flavours with more topping than you can think of just head towards haines city its on the left

[Nikki'Andrew]

There are loads to choose from but some of our favourites

OFF SITE

Buffets- Ponderosa
Golden Corrall

Table service - Chilis
Dennys
Out back
Uno chicago grill
Olive Garden
Tony Romas
Cheesecake factory
TGI Fridays
Freindlys
Bennigans

Onsite / Theme parks

Chef Mickeys
O hanas
Liberty Tavern
Cape May
California Grill
House of Blues

I suggest that you go onto the websites of some of these Resturaunts and have a look at there menus so it gives you an idea of what they do

[SamsCalling]

I would recommend the Golden Corral or Sweet Tomatoes for off-site dining 'buffet style'. Loads of choice, nice food, we've eaten there several times.

At Downtown Disney we loved the Rainforest Cafe. Great theming & good food.

Crystal Palace at Magic Kingdom is good if you want to do a character buffet - again a huge selection of food & the characters (Winnie the Pooh, Tigger, Piglet etc) come round so you can get your photos.

There's SO many places to choose from you'll be spoilt for choice!!!!

[barneymag]

Breakfast - "Dennys" or my fav "Perkins" Corned Beef Hash and two eggsover easy :tounge:

Lunch - We generally pick up counter service (loads to choose from) in whichever park we're in so Burger, Club Sandwich, Turkey Legs (they're huge !!) Hot Dogs, Fish n Chips etc etc etc

Dinner - Red Lobster if you fancy nice affordable seafood
Bahama Breeze
Outback Steakhouse
Chillis
TGI Fridays (much better than the UK versions)

..... and you've got to try some Buffalo Chicken Wings !!! try "Buffalo Wild Wings" or if your 15 year is a lad try "Hooters" ;)

[bubbleb]

One of our faves is the B Line Diner in the Peabody Hotel on i Drive.It's a 50s style diner and very cool and they have a good kids' menu too. Non residents can eat there and they have the most amazing fridge full of deserts that I have ever seen! The Key Lime Pie is worth the trip

[kev007]

Hi Steve M

Bennigans
Bahama Breeze
Sweet Tomatoes
China Jade
TGI
Jimmy Buffets
Hard Rock Cafe

Enjoy your holiday :)

Kev

:wavey:

[Bridget]

FOOD! My favourite subject :D

We like:

Breakfast:

IHOP
Ponderosa
Perkins
Cracker Barrel

Lunch/Dinner:

Bahama Breeze
Outback
Red Lobster
Ruby Tuesdays
Black Angus
Longhorn's Steakhouse
Logans Steakhouse


Trying for first time:

Tony Romas
Applebees
Friendley's
Market Street Cafe @ Celebration.

We've never eaten at any of the on site table service restaurants as get the impression they're overpriced from what I've read on here.. they might be very nice but I don't want to pay an excessive amount of money for steak, ribs etc when I know I can get a great meal for $50 for 2 adults on the 192 :)

[onionspal?]

bahama breeze is supposed to be walking distance from our hotel

at universal we love pastamore - excellent service and atmosphere

chef mickeys was great for the kids and worth every penny

i love buffalo chicken:d: