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Walt Disney World | Universal Orlando | Orlando Metro Area
You’ll find burger-and-fries combos everywhere in Orlando, yet the ambitious chefs behind Orlando’s theme-park and independent restaurants provide loads of better options—much better. Locally sourced foods, creative preparations, and clever international influences are all the rage here. Theme-park complexes have some of the best restaurants in town, although you may opt for a rental car to seek out the local treasures.
The signs of Orlando’s dining progress is most evident in the last place one would look: Disney’s fast-food outlets. Every eatery on Disney property offers a tempting vegetarian option, and kiddie meals come with healthful sides and drinks unless you specifically request otherwise. Chefs at Disney’s table-service restaurants consult face-to-face with guests about food allergies.
Around town, locals flock to the Ravenous Pig, the Rusty Spoon, the Smiling Bison, and other gastropubs where the menu changes regularly; Luma on Park, a suave home of thoughtfully created cutting-edge meals; and any number of dining establishments competing to serve the very finest steak. Orlando’s culinary blossoming began in 1995, when Disney’s signature California Grill debuted, featuring farm-to-table cuisine and wonderful wines by the glass. Soon after, celebrity chefs started opening up shop. And in 2013, Disney completely revamped California Grill so it’s a trendsetter once again.
Orlando’s destination restaurants can be found in the theme parks, as well as in the outlying towns. Sand Lake Road is now known as Restaurant Row for its eclectic collection of worthwhile tables. Here you’ll find fashionable outlets for sushi and seafood, Italian and chops, Hawaiian fusion and upscale Lebanese. Heading into the residential areas, the neighborhoods of Winter Park (actually its own city), Thornton Park, and College Park are prime locales for chow. Scattered throughout Central Florida, low-key ethnic restaurants specialize in the fare of Turkey, India, Peru, Thailand, Vietnam—you name it. Prices in these family-owned finds are usually delightfully low.
Meal Plans
Disney Magic Your Way Plus Dining Plan allows you one table-service meal, one counter-service meal, and one snack per day of your trip at more than 100 theme-park and resort restaurants, provided you stay in a Disney hotel. You’ll also receive a refillable drink mug for use at your hotel’s fast fooderies. For more money, you can upgrade the plan to include more; to save, you can downgrade to a counter-service-only plan. Used wisely, a Disney dining plan is a steal, but be careful to buy only the number of meals you’ll want to eat. Moderate eaters can end up turning away appetizers and desserts to which they’re entitled. Plan ahead, and use “extra” meals to your advantage by swapping two table-service meals for a Disney dinner show, say, or an evening at a high-end restaurant like California Grill.
Universal Meal Deal offers one sit-down and one quick-service meal at participating walk-up eateries inside Universal Studios and Islands of Adventure, plus a snack and soft drink. Daily prices are $52 and $18 (both parks) and must be purchased with a resort stay. A quick-service-only arrangement, with one meal a day, is $20 and $13. All-you-can-drink soft drinks are $12 daily for all.
Reservations
Reservations are strongly recommended throughout the theme parks. Indeed, make reservations for Disney restaurants and character meals at both Universal and Disney at least 90 (and up to 180) days out. And be sure to ask about the cancellation policy—at a handful of Disney restaurants, for instance, you may be charged penalties if you don’t give 24 to 48 hours’ notice.
For restaurant reservations within Walt Disney World, call | 407/939–3463 (WDW–DINE) or book online at www.disneyworld.com/dining. You can also get plenty of information on the website, including the meal periods served, price range, and specialties of all Disney eateries. Menus for all restaurants are posted online and tend to be up to date. For Universal Orlando reservations, call | 407/224–9255 (theme parks and CityWalk) or | 407/503–3463 (hotels). Learn about the complex’s 50-plus restaurants at www.universalorlando.com/dining.
In our reviews, reservations are mentioned only when they’re essential or not accepted. Unless otherwise noted, the restaurants listed are open daily for lunch and dinner.
Walt Disney World
Magic Kingdom
Fodor’s Choice | Be Our Guest.
$$$ | BRASSERIE | Traverse a bridge flanked by gargoyles and gas lamps to reach the Beast’s castle, home of this massive new restaurant with a Beauty and the Beast theme, French flair, and the Magic Kingdom’s first and only wine and beer served at dinner. The 500-seat restaurant has three rooms: a gilded ballroom, whose ceiling sports cherubs with the faces of Imagineers’ children; the tattered West Wing, with a slashed painting that changes from prince to beast during faux storms; and the Rose Gallery. Decor comprises French provincial furniture, suits of armor, and heavy drapes. Food, scratch-prepared on-site, includes pan-seared salmon, grilled steak, and maybe a pork rack with red wine au jus. The signature kids’ soft drink comes in a light-up castle cup, and desserts, while sweet, are made without refined sugar. Be sure to accept a dollop of “the grey stuff—it’s delicious.” Lunch is a no-reservations fast-casual affair with the likes of quinoa salad and a braised pork stew with mashed potatoes, ordered on a touch screen and delivered to the table. | Average main: $26 | Fantasyland | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining | Reservations essential.
Liberty Tree Tavern.
$$$$ | AMERICAN | This “tavern” is dry, but it’s a prime spot on the parade route, so you can catch a good meal while you wait. Order Colonial-period comfort food for lunch like hearty pot roast cooked with a Cabernet wine–and-mushroom sauce, or turkey and dressing with mashed potatoes. Dinner is the family-style Patriot’s Platter, with turkey, carved beef, sliced pork, and sides. The restaurant is decorated in lovely Williamsburg colors with Early American–style antiques and lots of brightly polished brass. Each of the six dining rooms commemorates a historical U.S. figure, like Betsy Ross or Benjamin Franklin. | Average main: $32 | Liberty Square | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining.
Epcot
Akershus Royal Banquet Hall.
$$$$ | SCANDINAVIAN | This restaurant has character buffets at all three meals, with an array of Disney princesses, including Ariel, Belle, Jasmine, Snow White, Aurora, Mary Poppins, and even an occasional cameo appearance by Cinderella. The breakfast menu is American, but lunch and dinner find an ever-changing assortment of Norwegian specialties. Appetizers are offered buffet style, and usually include herring, goat-milk cheese, peppered mackerel, and gravlax (cured salmon served with mustard sauce) or fiskepudding (a seafood mousse with herb dressing). For your main course, chosen à la carte, you might try traditional ground pork and beef kjottkake (dumplings), venison stew, or a grilled pork chop with Jarlsberg mac and cheese. Aquavit, wine, and specialty drinks are offered. All meals are fixed price. | Average main: $48 | Norway Pavilion | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining | Reservations essential.
Biergarten.
$$$$ | GERMAN | Oktoberfest runs 365 days a year here. The cheerful, sometimes raucous, crowds are what you would expect in a place with an oompah band. The menu and level of frivolity are the same at lunch and dinner. Mountains of sauerbraten, bratwurst, chicken or pork schnitzel, German sausage, spaetzle, apple strudel, Bavarian cheesecake, and Black Forest cake await you at the all-you-can-eat buffet. Patrons pound pitchers of all kinds of beer and wine on the long communal tables—even when the yodelers, singers, and dancers aren’t egging them on. Prices change seasonally. | Average main: $40 | Germany Pavilion | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining | Reservations essential.
Le Cellier Steakhouse.
$$$$ | CANADIAN | This charming eatery with stone arches and dark woods has a good selection of Canadian wine and beer. Menu options are à la carte and include the signature cheddar cheese soup and filet mignon with wild-mushroom risotto and truffle–butter sauce. Of the many nonbeef entrées, consider the seared lamb loin with mustard jus, and salmon with beluga lentils and bacon gastrique. As a side, add on any of three types of poutine. Desserts pay tribute to the land up north with crème brûlée made with maple sugar. | Average main: $40 | Canada Pavilion | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining.
Fodor’s Choice | Monsieur Paul.
$$$$ | FRENCH | A mere staircase away from Epcot’s busy World Showcase, Monsieur Paul is a subdued and sophisticated fine dinery. It’s owned by Chef Jerome Bocuse and named for his world-famous father, the Culinary Institute of America’s Chef of the Century, Paul Bocuse. The restaurant is expensive and sophisticated—in odd juxtaposition to the rumpled clothing and sneakers of most diners—and a delightful diversion from the theme park’s bustle. The menu is overtly French while incorporating the best of America. For example, the signature fish dish, which has “scales” of potato, braised fennel, and rosemary sauce, is made with Florida red snapper instead of the original’s red mullet. Escargot is presented in large ravioli and a parsley cream. The seared scallops and roasted duck breast are especially interesting entrées. A three-course prix-fixe menu is often available. Although the service isn’t as polished as the menu, it is heartening to hear the waitstaff converse in French. | Average main: $42 | France Pavilion | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining | No lunch.
Rose & Crown Pub & Dining Room.
$$$ | BRITISH | If you’re an Anglophile and you love a beer so thick you could stand a spoon up in your mug, this is the place to soak up both the suds and British street culture. “Wenches” serve up traditional English fare—fish-and-chips, cottage or shepherd’s pie (ground lamb with onions, carrots, and peas, topped with mashed potatoes and cheddar cheese), and, at times, the ever-popular bangers and mash (sausage over mashed potatoes). Scotch egg makes a good appetizer. Vegetarians can always find one item adapted for them, such as vegetable cottage pie. For dessert, try the sticky toffee pudding. The terrace has a splendid view of IllumiNations. | Average main: $24 | United Kingdom Pavilion | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining.
Via Napoli Ristorante e Pizzeria.
$$$ | PIZZA | When the Patina Restaurant Group decided to open a second Italian eatery in Epcot (the first was Tutto Italia Ristorante), they opted to specialize in authentic Neapolitan wood-fired pizza, importing the mozzarella from Italy and using only San Marzano tomatoes. The result is crusty, thin pies topped with your choice of pepperoni; portobello and crimini mushrooms; or eggplant, artichokes, cotto ham, and mushrooms. The eggplant parmigiana is an outstanding alternative. | Average main: $24 | Italy Pavilion | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining.
Disney’s Hollywood Studios
FAMILY | 50’s Prime Time Café.
$$ | AMERICAN | Who says you can’t go home again? If you grew up in middle America in the 1950s, just step inside. While I Love Lucy and The Donna Reed Show clips play on a television screen, you can feast on meat loaf, pot roast, or fried chicken, all served on a Formica tabletop. At $17, the meat loaf is one of the best inexpensive, filling dinners in any local theme park. Enjoy it with a malted-milk shake or root-beer float (or a bottle of wine). The place offers some fancier dishes, like grilled salmon with maple bourbon butter sauce, which is a good choice for lightish eaters. If you’re not feeling totally wholesome, go for Dad’s Electric Lemonade (rum, vodka, blue curaçao, sweet-and-sour mix, and Sprite), which is worth every bit of the $11.25 price tag. Just like Mother, the menu admonishes, “Keep your elbows off the table.” | Average main: $18 | Echo Lake | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining.
Hollywood Brown Derby.
$$$$ | AMERICAN | At this reproduction of the famous 1940s Hollywood restaurant, the walls are lined with movie-star caricatures, just as in Tinseltown. The specialty is the Cobb salad, which by legend was invented by Brown Derby founder Robert Cobb; the salad consists of finely chopped lettuce enlivened by loads of tomato, bacon, turkey, blue cheese, chopped egg, and avocado, all tossed table-side. Other menu choices include grilled salmon with golden lentils, applewood-smoked bacon, and green onions topped with fennel and citrus salad, and herb-crusted grilled loin of lamb. Dining with an Imagineer is a special option; you will have lunch or dinner with one of Disney’s creative engineers while enjoying a set-price four-course meal including soup, salad, entrée, and dessert. If you request the Fantasmic! dinner package, make a reservation for no later than two hours before the start of the show. | Average main: $31 | Hollywood Blvd. | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining.
Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant.
$$$ | AMERICAN | If you don’t mind zombies leering at you while you eat, then head to this enclosed faux drive-in, where you can sit in a fake candy-color ’50s convertible and watch trailers from classics like Attack of the Fifty-Foot Woman and Teenagers from Outer Space. The menu includes choices like steak and garlic-mashed potatoes, an Angus or veggie burger, shrimp with whole-grain pasta, and a huge Reuben sandwich with fries or cucumber salad. End with a hot-fudge sundae. | Average main: $23 | Commissary La. | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining.
Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Flame Tree Barbecue.
$ | FAST FOOD | This counter-service eatery is one of the relatively undiscovered gems of Disney’s culinary offerings. There’s nothing fancy here, but you can dig into ribs and pulled pork sandwiches. For something with a lower calorie count, try the smoked turkey sandwich served with cranberry mayo or a great barbecued chicken served with baked beans and coleslaw. The outdoor tables, set beneath intricately carved wood pavilions, make great spots for a picnic, and they’re not usually crowded. | Average main: $12 | Discovery Island | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining | Reservations not accepted.
Yak & Yeti.
$$$ | ASIAN | The location of this pan-Asian cuisine, sit-down eatery—the only full-service restaurant inside Disney’s Animal Kingdom—certainly makes sense. It’s just at the entrance to the Asia section, in a two-story, 250-seat building that is pleasantly faux-Asian, with cracked plaster walls, wood carvings, and tile mosaic tabletops. Standout entrées include seared miso salmon, roasted duck with orange-wasabi glaze, and tempura shrimp with jasmine rice and chili-plum sauce. Also tasty, if not authentically Asian, are the baby back ribs with a hoisin barbecue sauce and sweet chili slaw. | Average main: $22 | Asia | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining.
Downtown Disney/Disney Springs
Raglan Road Irish Pub.
$$$ | IRISH | An authentic Irish pub in Downtown Disney seems oxymoronic, particularly when that pub seats 600 people. But if Irish grub’s your thing, Raglan’s is the place to go. The shepherd’s pie served here is of higher quality than the usual version, prepared with beef and lamb and jazzed up with house spices. And you don’t have to settle for plain fish-and-chips (though you can for $19); there’s also baked salmon with smoked salmon and maple glaze; shiitake risotto; and lamb shanks braised with rosemary jus. Massive and ornate bars, imported from Ireland and more than a century old, help anchor the pub. The entertainment alone makes this place worth the visit. The house bands play nightly, and a troupe of Irish dancers performs every evening and during Rollicking Raglan Sunday Brunch. Another band plays outside for guests dining alfresco. A store called Shop for Ireland sells Irish merchandise. | Average main: $23 | Downtown Disney, 1640 E. Buena Vista Dr. | 407/938–0300 | www.raglanroadirishpub.com.
Wolfgang Puck Grand Cafe.
$$$$ | AMERICAN | There are lots of choices here, from wood-oven pizza at the informal Puck Express to fine-dining meals in the upstairs formal dining room. There’s also a sushi bar and an informal café; the café is quite literally a happy medium, and may be the best bet for families hoping for a bit of elegance without the pressure of a formal dinner. At Express try the butternut squash soup or the Margherita pizza. At the café, midprice entrées like rosemary chicken and bacon-wrapped meat loaf are winners, and you can always have a personal pizza, such as barbecued chicken with smoked mozzarella. The dining room offers creative entrées like smoked pork chop with maple brown butter. | Average main: $32 | 1482 E. Buena Vista Dr., West Side | 407/938–9653 | www.wolfgangpuckcafeorlando.com.
WDW Resorts
Fodor’s Choice | Boma—Flavors of Africa.
$$$$ | AFRICAN | Boma takes Western-style ingredients and prepares them with an African twist—then invites guests to walk through an African marketplace–style dining room to help themselves at the extraordinary buffet. The dozen or so serving stations have entrées such as roasted pork, Durban-style chicken, spice-crusted beef, and fish served with tamarind and other robust sauces; intriguing salads; and some of the best hummus this side of the Atlantic. Don’t pass up the soups, as the coconut-curry seafood stew is excellent. The zebra dome dessert is chocolate mousse covered with white chocolate and striped with dark chocolate. All meals are prix fixe, and prices change seasonally. The South African wine list is outstanding. | Average main: $40 | Animal Kingdom Lodge, 2901 Osceola Pkwy. | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining | Reservations essential | No lunch.
Fodor’s Choice | California Grill.
$$$$ | AMERICAN | The view from the surrounding Disney parks from this 15th-floor restaurant—the World’s signature dining establishment since 1995—is as stunning as the food, especially after dark, when you can watch the nightly Magic Kingdom fireworks. The space has stylish midcentury modern furnishings and chandeliers, while the exhibition kitchen is so well equipped that it has a cast-iron flat grill designed specifically for cooking fish. Expect locally sourced foods where possible, made-from-scratch items such as the house-made charcuterie sampler appetizer, and many items cooked in the wood-fired oven. Sushi is a highlight, alongside creative, globally inspired entrées. Specialties include oak-fired fillet of beef with heirloom tomato risotto, and scallops with piquillo pepper rouille. | Average main: $42 | Contemporary Resort, 4600 N. World Dr. | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining | Reservations essential | No lunch.
Chef Mickey’s.
$$$$ | AMERICAN | This is the holy shrine for character meals, with Mickey, Minnie, or Goofy around for breakfast and dinner. Folks come here for entertainment and comfort food, not a quiet spot to read the Orlando Sentinel. The breakfast buffet includes “pixie-dusted” challah French toast, mountains of pancakes, and even a breakfast pizza. The dinner buffet doesn’t disappoint with Thai-curry-chipotle barbecue chicken, roasted ham, and spice-rubbed beef sirloin. Finish off your meal at the all-you-can-eat dessert bar of sundaes. | Average main: $47 | Contemporary Resort, 4600 N. World Dr. | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining | No lunch.
ESPN Club.
$$ | AMERICAN | Not only can you watch sports on a big-screen TV here (the restaurant has about 100 monitors), but you can also periodically see ESPN programs being taped in the club itself and be part of the audience of sports-radio talk shows. Food ranges from a variety of half-pound burgers, made with Angus chuck (and one topped with Cajun crawfish salad), to Philly cheesesteaks and char siu sliders. If you want an appetizer, try the Pub Nachos, crispy corn tortilla chips piled high with barbecued pulled pork, spicy chili, shredded cheddar cheese, cheddar cheese sauce, sour cream, pico de gallo, and sliced jalapeños. This place is open quite late by Disney standards—until 1 am daily. Beware, the place can be pretty loud during any broadcast sports event, especially football games. | Average main: $17 | BoardWalk Inn, 2101 Epcot Resorts Blvd. | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining.
Fodor’s Choice | Flying Fish.
$$$$ | SEAFOOD | One of Disney’s best restaurants, Flying Fish is whimsically decorated with murals along the upper portion of the walls that pay tribute to Atlantic seaboard spots of the early 1900s. This is a place where you put on your “resort casual” duds to “dine,” as opposed to putting on your flip-flops and shorts to “chow down.” The chefs take the food so seriously that the entire culinary team takes day trips to local farms to learn their foodstuffs’ origins. Flying Fish’s best dishes include potato-wrapped red snapper, which is so popular it has been on the menu for several years, and oak-grilled salmon. Groups of up to six can sit at the counter that directly faces the exhibition kitchen for a five-course wine-tasting menu. The restaurant serves breakfast during the busiest tourist seasons only. | Average main: $36 | BoardWalk Inn, 2101 Epcot Resorts Blvd. | 407/939–2359 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining | No lunch.
Fodor’s Choice | Jiko.
$$$$ | AFRICAN | The name of this restaurant means “the cooking place” in Swahili, and it is certainly that. The dining area surrounds two big, wood-burning ovens and a grill area where you can watch cooks in North African–style caps working on your meal. The menu here is more African-inspired than purely African, but it does include authentic flavors in appetizers like peri-peri chicken flatbread and wild boar tenderloin with mealie pap and chakalaka. Menu items often change, but entrées might include scallops with Senegal black-eyed pea salad, or spicy Botswana-style beef short ribs with cassava-potato puree. The restaurant offers dozens of wines by the glass, including a large selection of South African vintages. Ask about the Wednesday wine tastings. | Average main: $40 | Animal Kingdom Lodge, 2901 Osceola Pkwy. | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining | Reservations essential | No lunch.
Olivia’s Café.
$$$ | AMERICAN | This is like a meal at Grandma’s—provided she lives in Key West and likes to gussy up her grub with trendy twists. The menu ranges from a shrimp pasta with vegetables in a tomato broth to pork chops with smoked Gouda fondue and a side of multigrain rice and Broccolini. Desserts are indulgent, such as the banana-bread-pudding sundae with bananas Foster topping and vanilla ice cream. The outdoor seating, which overlooks a waterway, is a nice place to dine anytime the midsummer heat is not bearing down. | Average main: $25 | Old Key West Resort, 1510 N. Cove Rd. | 407/939–3463 | www.disneyworld.disney.go.com/dining.
Fodor’s Choice | Todd English’s bluezoo.
$$$$ | SEAFOOD | Celebrity chef Todd English oversees this cutting-edge seafood eatery, a sleek, modern restaurant that resembles an underwater dining hall, with blue walls and carpeting, aluminum fish along the wall behind the bar, and bubblelike lighting fixtures. The menu is creative and pricey, with entrées like the 2-pound Maine “Cantonese lobster,” fried and tossed in a sticky soy glaze, and the daily “dancing fish,” cooked on an upright rotisserie with an apple-soy marinade. If you don’t care for fish, you can opt for seasonal chicken or steak preparations. The children’s menu is especially good. | Average main: $44 | Walt Disney World Dolphin, 1500 Epcot Resorts Blvd. | 407/934–1111 | www.thebluezoo.com | No lunch.
Fodor’s Choice | Victoria & Albert’s.
$$$$ | MODERN AMERICAN | At this ultraposh award-winning Disney restaurant, a well-polished service team will anticipate your every need during a gourmet extravaganza. This is one of the plushest fine-dining experiences in Florida, with an ambience so sophisticated that children under 10 aren’t on the guest list. The seven-course, prix-fixe menu changes daily, and you’d do well to supplement the $150 tab with a $65 wine pairing. Appetizer choices may include wild turbot with toasted capers and preserved lemon, and masago-crusted scallop with coconut-curry broth. Entrées may feature veal with chanterelles or Australian Kobe-style beef with oxtail ravioli. For most of the year, there are two seatings, at 5:45 and 9 pm. In July and August, however, there’s generally just one seating at 6:30 pm. For a more luxe experience, reserve a table in the intimate Queen Victoria Room or at the Chef’s Table, which have more courses (10 to 12) and a bigger bill ($250, wine pairing $105). | Average main: $200 | Grand Floridian, 4401 Floridian Way | 407/939–3862 | www.victoria-alberts.com | Reservations essential | Jacket required | No lunch.
Universal Orlando
Universal Studios
Finnegan’s Bar & Grill.
$$ | IRISH | In an Irish pub that would look just right in downtown New York during the Ellis Island era, Finnegan’s offers classic Irish comfort food like shepherd’s pie, corned beef and cabbage, bangers and mash (sausage and mashed potatoes), and fish-and-chips, plus Guinness on tap and a five-beer sampler. If shepherd’s pie isn’t your thing, opt instead for a steak, burger, entrée salad, or sandwich. Irish folk music, sometimes live, completes the theme. | Average main: $16 | New York | 407/363–8757 | www.universalorlando.com |.
Leaky Cauldron.
$ | BRITISH | British pub staples are fitting fare for Diagon Alley’s restaurant, which complements those hearty meals with kooky-sounding beverages from the Harry Potter books like Tongue-Tying Lemon Squash, Otter’s Fizzy Orange Juice, and Fishy Green Ale (it’s minty, with blueberry-flavored filled boba). Order at the counter, then be seated; a microchip in your “candlestick” will tell servers where to bring the grub. The Ploughman’s Platter, with its cheeses, Scotch eggs, and apple-beet salad is food enough for two average eaters. English sausages can be had in toad-in-the-hole, bangers and mash, or a sandwich with three-mustard mayo. The fish-and-chips has an excellent flaky crust; the cod is flown in daily. End with the indulgent sticky toffee pudding. | Average main: $14 | Diagon Alley | 407/224–9716 | https://www.universalorlando.com | Reservations not accepted.
Mel’s Drive-In.
$ | AMERICAN | At the corner of Hollywood and Vine is a flashy ’50s eatery with a pink-and-white 1956 Ford Crown Victoria parked out in front. For burgers and fries, this is one of the best choices in the park, and it comes complete with a roving doo-wop group during peak seasons. You’re on vacation, so go ahead and have that extra-thick shake or the decadent chili-cheese fries. Mel’s is also a great place to meet up, in case you decide to go your separate ways in the park. | Average main: $11 | Hollywood | 407/363–8766 | www.universalorlando.com | Reservations not accepted.
Islands of Adventure
Confisco Grille.
$ | AMERICAN | You could walk right past this full-service restaurant without noticing it, but if you want a good meal and sit-down service, don’t pass by too quickly. The menu is American with international influences. Entrées include pad thai, grilled or blackened fresh fish of the day with mashed potatoes and sautéed spinach in a lemon-butter-cilantro sauce, and penne puttanesca—the vodka-cream tomato sauce is enhanced with sausage, Kalamata olives, fried pepperoncini, and roasted garlic. Wash it all down with refreshing sangria, available by glass, pitcher, and half pitcher. | Average main: $13 | Port of Entry | 407/224–4404 | www.universalorlando.com.
Mythos.
$$ | ECLECTIC | The name may be Greek, but the dishes are eclectic. The menu includes such mainstays as pad thai and pan-seared salmon with lemon-basil butter. The building itself—which looks like a giant rock formation from the outside and a huge cave (albeit one with plush upholstered seating) from the inside—is enough to grab your attention, but so do sandwiches like crab-cake sliders and roast beef panini with caramelized yellow onions, roasted red peppers, and pepperocini. Mythos also has a waterfront view of the big lagoon in the center of the theme park. Except during the busiest weeks, the restaurant is open only for lunch. | Average main: $15 | The Lost Continent | 407/224–4533 | www.universalorlando.com | No dinner.
Three Broomsticks.
$ | BRITISH | Now Harry Potter fans can taste pumpkin juice (with hints of honey and vanilla) and butterbeer (sort of like bubbly butterscotch cream soda, or maybe shortbread cookies). They’re on the menu along with barbecue and British foodstuffs at this Hogsmeade restaurant modeled after the fantasy books. Rickety staircases and gaslit chandeliers set the tone for the counter-service restaurant, where families gobble down ample portions of shepherd’s pie, fish-and-chips, turkey legs, and Cornish pasty. In the adjacent Hog’s Head pub, a faux hog’s head sneers now and then. The breakfast menu has American and British staples. | Average main: $12 | Wizarding World of Harry Potter | 407/224–4233 | www.universalorlando.com | Reservations not accepted.
CityWalk
Fodor’s Choice | Emeril’s Orlando.
$$$$ | CAJUN | The popular eatery is a culinary shrine to Emeril Lagasse, the famous TV chef who occasionally makes an appearance. And although the modern interior of the restaurant with its 30-foot ceilings, blond woods, second-story wine loft, and lots of galvanized steel looks nothing like the French Quarter, the hardwood floors and linen tablecloths create an environment befitting the stellar nature of the cuisine. Entrées, which change frequently, may include andouille-crusted pan-roasted redfish with creole meunière sauce, apple cider–glazed pork “ham” chop with mascarpone grits, and mango barbecue swordfish with andouille-potato hash. Reservations are usually essential, but there’s a chance of getting a walk-in seating if you show up for lunch (11:30 am) or early for dinner (5:30 pm). | Average main: $33 | 6000 Universal Blvd. | 407/224–2424 | www.emerils.com | Reservations essential.
Universal Hotels
Emeril’s Tchoup Chop.
$$$ | SOUTH PACIFIC | The bold interior decor—with lots of bamboo, bright glazed tile, an exposition kitchen, and a long zero-edge pool with porcelain lily pads running the length of the dining room—is just as ambitious as the food at Emeril Lagasse’s Pacific-influenced restaurant. Following the theme of the Royal Pacific Resort, Lagasse melds his signature bold flavors with Asian- and Polynesian-fusion tastes. A robata (charcoal) grill that heats to 1,000°F churns out appetizers and side dishes; try the pork belly. Entrées change regularly, but representative dishes include Hawaiian-style snapper with ginger, cilantro, and sesame soy sauce; and a grilled pork chop with apple cider ginger butter. Sushi varieties are offered. For dessert, get the Hawaiian-style malasadas doughnuts. They’re served with three sauces in plastic bottles; you insert the tip into the donuts and squirt in the fillings yourself. | Average main: $29 | Loews Royal Pacific Resort,6300 Hollywood Way | 407/503–2467 | www.emerils.com | Reservations essential |.
Mama Della’s Ristorante.
$$$ | ITALIAN | This playfully themed Italian restaurant happens to have excellent food. The premise is that you’re eating at a home-turned-restaurant owned by an Italian woman. That woman, Mama Della, is played by an actress, whose warmth enhances the experience (as does the serenade by an accordionist, guitar player, and vocalist). The menu features Italian classics like chicken parmigiana and lasagna as well as more ambitious dishes like salmon with fennel sofrito and braised lamb with eggplant caponata. Outdoor seating on the patio provides a view of the hotel’s nightly Musica Della Notte (Music of the Night) opera show. | Average main: $30 | Loews Portofino Bay Hotel,5601 Universal Blvd. | 407/503–3463 | www.loewshotels.com | No lunch.
Orlando Metro Area
Kissimmee
Old Hickory Steakhouse.
$$$$ | STEAKHOUSE | This upscale steak house is designed to look like rustic cabins in the Everglades. Beyond the playful facade is a polished restaurant with a classic steak-house menu—cowboy rib eye, porterhouse, and center-cut fillet, supplemented by rack of lamb, veal porterhouse, and wild salmon, all priced for the hotel’s convention-goers. The chef gets creative with appetizers like braised pork belly with black-eyed pea succotash, but most are standards such as onion soup, shrimp cocktail, and wedge salad. Artisanal cheese plates are on the menu, and desserts are interesting, such as fudge-dipped derby pie. | Average main: $47 | Gaylord Palms Resort,6000 W. Osceola Pkwy., I–4 Exit 65 | 407/586–1600 | www.gaylordpalms.com | No lunch |.
International Drive
Café Tu Tu Tango.
$$$ | ECLECTIC | The food here is served tapas-style—everything is appetizer size but plentiful, and relatively inexpensive. If you want a compendium of cuisines at one go, try the black-bean soup with cilantro sour cream, guava barbecue-glazed pork ribs, hazelnut-lemongrass fish, and spiced alligator bites. The wine list includes more than 35 wines from several countries, with all but a handful by the bottle and the glass, and 50-plus craft beers. The restaurant is designed to resemble an artist’s loft; artists paint at easels while diners take a culinary trip around the world. Belly dancers, flamenco dancers, Bolivian dancers, and African drummers are among the entertainers who perform in the evening. Thanks to a patio, diners can also share their small plates alfresco. | Average main: $23 | 8625 International Dr. | 407/248–2222 | www.cafetututango.com.
Taverna Opa.
$$$ | GREEK | This high-energy Greek restaurant bills itself as offering “fun with a capital F—Not Just Dining, It’s an Experience!” Here the ouzo flows like a mountain stream, the Greek (and global) music almost reaches the level of a rock concert, and the roaming belly dancers actively encourage diners to take part in the mass Zorba dancing, which often happens on the tops of dining tables. The only thing missing is the Greek restaurant tradition of throwing dinner plates, made up in part by the throwing of small paper napkins, which sometimes reaches near-blizzard level. The food, by the way, is also excellent. Standouts include traditional staples like spanakopita, saganaki (the traditional flaming cheese appetizer), avgolemono (lemony chicken-rice soup), and perhaps the most famous Greek entrée, moussaka. Family-style meals for groups of four and up are available at $33 and $44 per person. The best dessert is the baklava. | Average main: $27 | Pointe Orlando,9101 International Dr. | 407/351–8660 | www.opaorlando.com |.
South Orlando
Fodor’s Choice | Norman’s.
$$$$ | ECLECTIC | Celebrity-chef Norman Van Aken brings impressive credentials to the restaurant that bears his name, as you might expect from the headline eatery in the Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes. Van Aken’s culinary roots go back to the Florida Keys, where he’s credited with creating “Floribbean” cuisine, a blend that is part Key West and part Caribbean—although he now weaves in flavors from all continents. The Orlando operation is a formal, sleek restaurant with marble floors, starched tablecloths, servers in ties and vests, eight certified sommeliers, and a creative, if expensive, menu. In addition to exceptional ceviches and a signature appetizer called Down Island French toast made with Curacao-marinated foie gras, favorites include a Mongolian-marinated veal chop, pan-cooked Florida snapper with citrus butter, and pork Havana with “21st-century mole sauce.” A six-course tasting menu is $99, $49 more with beverage pairings. Covered terrace seating is also available. | Average main: $49 | Ritz-Carlton Orlando Grande Lakes,4000 Central Florida Pkwy. | 407/393–4333 | www.normans.com | No lunch.
Fodor’s Choice | Primo.
$$$$ | ITALIAN | James Beard Award winner Melissa Kelly cloned her Italian-organic Maine restaurant in an upscale Orlando hotel and brought her farm-to-table sensibilities with her. Here the daily dinner menu pays tribute to Sicily’s lighter foods, made with produce grown in the hotel garden. Homemade pasta is served with spicy lamb sausage or all-natural beef-pork Bolognese; if the butternut-squash ravioli with butter-poached Maine lobster is available, order it. Dry-aged prime New York strip steak is enhanced with Taleggio “tater tots” and pancetta-wrapped baby leeks. Fish plays prominently, such as a whole roasted sea bass with black salsify, petite kalettes, and pistachio salsa. Desserts are just as special, with the likes of warm Belgian chocolate budino (pudding) cake or hot zeppole tossed in cinnamon and sugar. | Average main: $43 | JW Marriott Orlando Grande Lakes,4040 Central Florida Pkwy. | 407/393–4444 | www.primorestaurant.com | No lunch.
Lake Buena Vista
La Luce by Donna Scala.
$$$ | ITALIAN | Having made a name for herself at California’s Bistro Don Giovanni, Donna Scala brought the same Italian cuisine with a Napa Valley farm-fresh flair to this upscale Hilton at the edge of Disney World. Scala has since passed, but the restaurant remains as she designed it. The walls are decorated with chalk art, which changes at least twice a year. Equal effort goes into the menu, where pastas are made fresh. Try the gnocchetti with wild porcini and sausage ragu, the grilled rib eye with gremolata butter, or a simple seared salmon fillet with a tomato-chive-butter sauce. | Average main: $30 | Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek, 14100 Bonnet Creek Resort La., Bonnet Creek | 407/597–3600 | www.laluceorlando.com | No lunch.
Sand Lake Road
Seasons 52.
$$ | AMERICAN | Parts of the menu change every week at this innovative restaurant that serves different foods at different times of year, depending on what’s in season. Meals here tend to be healthful yet hearty and very flavorful. The flatbreads starters are on nearly every table. For an entrée, you might have wood-roasted pork tenderloin with sweet potato mash plus French green beans tossed with a dot of bacon, or caramelized grilled sea scallops with butternut squash and leek risotto, broccolini, and lemon butter. An impressive wine list with dozens of selections by the glass complements the menu. For dessert, have mini-indulgence classics like pecan pie, rocky road, carrot cake, and key lime pie served in petite portions. Although the cuisine is haute, the prices are modest—not bad for a snazzy, urbane bistro and wine bar. It has live music nightly to boot. Another Seasons is located in Altamonte Springs. | Average main: $21 | Plaza Venezia, 7700 Sand Lake Rd., I–4 Exit 75A | 407/354–5212 | www.seasons52.com.
Vines Grille & Wine Bar.
$$$$ | STEAKHOUSE | Live jazz and blues music fills the night at the bar section of this dramatically designed restaurant, but the food and drink in the snazzy main dining room are headliners in their own right. The kitchen bills itself as a steak house, but it really is far more than that. Entrées range from Prime steaks (alas, no longer dry-aged) to pan-seared Chilean sea bass with lobster risotto and basil beurre blanc, from a one-pound Wagyu burger with truffle fries to pork osso bucco. Be sure to start with the grilled octopus, which is simply prepared with red onions, capers, and roasted fennel. The wine list here is extensive, and the cocktails are serious business, too. The crowd tends to dress up, but jackets and ties are not required. | Average main: $62 | The Fountains, 7533 W. Sand Lake Rd. | 407/351–1227 | www.vinesgrille.com | No lunch.
Central Orlando
Fodor’s Choice | Hawkers.
$$ | ASIAN | Hipsters, families, and business groups dine side by side at this popular restaurant, a laid-back spot that specializes in serving Asian street food. Travel the continent with $3.50 to $8.50 appetizer-size portions of scratch-made specialties from Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, China, Japan, Korea, and Vietnam. Musts for adventurous diners include roti canai, a flaky bread with a chicken-curry dip; curry laksa, a noodle soup with exotic flavors; and stir-fried udon noodles. More timid eaters adore the marinated beef skewers with Malaysian satay sauce, peanut-y chilled sesame noodles, duck tacos, and any of the Americanized (but flavorful) lettuce wraps. | Average main: $16 | 1103 Mills Ave., Mills 50 District | 407/237–0606 | www.facebook.com/hawkersstreetfare.
Fodor’s Choice | K Restaurant & Wine Bar.
$$$$ | AMERICAN | A vibrant restaurant down the road from College Park’s restaurant hub, K is a hot spot for locals, serving upscale, eclectic, American and Italian cuisine in an intimate setting. Besides lunch and dinner, K hosts flip-flop-friendly wine tastings in the garden or on the patio and popular wine dinners—generally four courses for $50. Menus change daily and feature appetizers such as fried green tomatoes with sweet corn and crab salad and grain mustard dressing, and country-fried chicken livers with caramelized onion marmalade. For entrées, check out the mushroom-dusted filet mignon with red wine sauce, the mac and cheese gussied up with lobster, or homemade sausage. | Average main: $34 | 1710 Edgewater Dr., College Park | 407/872–2332 | www.kwinebar.com | Closed Sun. No lunch Sat.
Fodor’s Choice | The Rusty Spoon.
$$$ | SOUTHERN | Lovingly raised animals and locally grown produce are the menu foundation at this Downtown gastropub, an ideal spot for a business lunch or a pre–basketball game, -theater, or -concert dinner. The wood-and-brick dining room is a comfortable backdrop to hearty, seasonal American meals with Italian and Southern elements. Creatively stuffed eggs and buttermilk-soaked Vidalia onion rings are top starters. The salads—with ultrafresh greens—are always sensational. All pastas are made from scratch, whether a “remodeled” ravioli with roasted organic Seminole pumpkin, radicchio, and cremini mushrooms, or hand-cut wide noodles with a beef tenderloin/pork ragu with chili oil. The Dirty South seafood stew is a signature take on bouillabaisse. End with a very grown-up version of s’mores. | Average main: $22 | 55 W. Church St., Downtown Orlando | 407/401–8811 | www.therustyspoon.com | No lunch weekends.
Winter Park
Fodor’s Choice | 4 Rivers Smokehouse.
$ | BARBECUE | Obsessed with Texas-style barbecue brisket, John Rivers decided to turn his passion into a business upon retiring from the corporate world. The result is the über-popular 4 Rivers, which turns out barbecue standards like pulled pork and cornbread, plus more unusual items like the addicting bacon-wrapped smoked jalapeño peppers, the Six Shooter with cheese grits, and a sausage-filled pastry called kolache. Old-time soft drinks such as Frostie Root Beer and Cheerwine are for sale, along with desserts like the kiddie favorite Chocolate Awesomeness, an indulgent layering of chocolate cake, chocolate pudding, Heath Bar, whipped cream, and chocolate and caramel sauces. Some units have a Sweet Shop that sells whole oversize cakes. Additional 4 Rivers are scattered throughout Central Florida. | Average main: $13 | 1600 W. Fairbanks Ave. | 855/368–7748 | www.4rsmokehouse.com | Reservations not accepted | Closed Sun.
Fodor’s Choice | Luma on Park.
$$$ | MODERN AMERICAN | Indisputably one of the Orlando area’s best restaurants, Luma on Park is a popular spot for progressive American cuisine served in a fashionable setting. Every ingredient is carefully sourced from local producers when possible, and scratch preparation—from pastas to sausages to pickled rhubarb—is the mantra among its dedicated clique of chefs. The menu changes daily. You might discover chestnut agnolotti with Maine lobster or a cauliflower-onion tart as starters, followed by tilefish with tangerine-fennel broth or duck breast with kale, toasted pine nuts, parsnip puree, and pickled white asparagus. The wine cellar is a high point, holding 7,000 bottles—80 varieties, all available by the half glass, glass, and bottle. The restaurant offers a three-course, prix-fixe dinner Sunday through Tuesday for $35 per person, $45 with wine pairings. | Average main: $30 | 290 S. Park Ave. | 407/599–4111 | www.lumaonpark.com | No lunch Mon.–Thurs.
Fodor’s Choice | The Ravenous Pig.
$$$$ | MODERN AMERICAN | A trendy, vibrant gastropub in one of Orlando’s most affluent enclaves, the Pig is arguably Orlando’s most popular foodie destination. Run by husband-and-wife chefs James and Julie Petrakis, the restaurant dispenses delicacies such as pork porterhouse with mustard glaze and pear relish, and speckle trout with romesco sauce. The menu changes daily and always includes less expensive pub fare like rock shrimp tacos and homemade pretzels with a taleggio-porter fondue. All charcuterie is made in house, from spiced orange salami to game-bird terrine. The signature dessert is the Pig Tails, essentially a basket full of piping hot, pig tail–shaped doughnuts with a chocolate-espresso dipping sauce. | Average main: $31 | 1234 N. Orange Ave. | 407/628–2333 | www.theravenouspig.com | Reservations essential | Closed Sun. and Mon.