What are Your Best Recommendations for Dining Options OFF-SITE???

[kathy884]

I am going to second my two favorites previously mentioned.

For a modest priced chain place we love Sweet Tomatoes. We used to have these where we live. But many restaurants have closed including the two that used to be close to our home, so hitting this favorite of ours is a special treat. It's also very reasonably priced. There is more than one location. Here are trip advisor reviews (very good - received Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence) for both locations: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...9-Reviews-Sweet_Tomatoes-Orlando_Florida.html and https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...8-Reviews-Sweet_Tomatoes-Orlando_Florida.html

For a special dinner that is going to be closer price wise to a Disney table service, we love the small plates place Café Tu Tu Tango. Local artists and a taro card reader are there too, so it can be a really fun evening. Someone else already posted this, but here is their website again. Take a peek and see if this might interest you. I can highly recommend. My nephew who lives in Orlando recommended this place to me and I thought it was an excellent recommendation. http://cafetututango.com/
Here are trip advisor reviews (another place with a Trip Advisor Certificate of Excellence which does not surprise me in the least): https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...Reviews-Cafe_Tu_Tu_Tango-Orlando_Florida.html


Also, here is another chain (more expensive - closer to Disney table service prices) that is a favorite of my son who is a picky eater that my husband and I like too and take him to for special occasions (the one near our home): Maggianos at Pointe Orlando. It's a good Italian restaurant. Trip Advisor reviews: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Restaur...-Maggiano_s_Little_Italy-Orlando_Florida.html -- Interesting -- it has a Trip Advisor certificate of excellence too. I haven't actually been to this one yet (have only been to the one at home). But we are taking my nephew who live in Orlando out for dinner one night on our next Disney trip, and DS very easily talked me into this place for that dinner.

 

[dish rag]

I never understood the love for sweet tomatoes like I see on the dis. I have tried it twice. Salad is salad. And that's ok. But the food items are awful. The pizza is awful. Being a budget place I found the place full of free range children. Running all over. A mad dash for the buffet. For some reason families in budget places feel it's ok to let their children run free and help themselves. I would never recommend this place.

 

[Wubar]

We stayed offsite one night before our onsite stay last week and ate at Wild side BBQ in Kissimmee. We all really liked it. Big portions, friendly staff. If you like meat, this place is decent.

 

[HoboDan2012]

Just visited Orlando last weekend:
Steak & Shake (burger chain)
Miller's Ale House (chain. Cheap eats and drinks)
Ford's Garage (burgers and Ford licensed merchandise)

All fantastic!!

 

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

@choppee , do you live in the USA? That makes a huge difference in some of the recommendations I'd make. We are Canadians now living in Michigan, but when we visited Orlando while still living in Canada, we LOVED getting the chance to eat at some of the wonderful chains that we didn't have at home. Now that most of those chains are available to us in Metro Detroit, while on vacation in the south we like to eat at places we don't have here.

If you are not from the US, then many of the chains already mentioned here are great choices.

Miller's Ale House and Sweet Tomatoes are chains in the south, but not here in the north, so we enjoy eating at both on our trips.

Hash House has also been noted and is well wort a visit.

A few other suggestions that haven't yet been noted that we really like are.....

Kobes (a Japanese Steakhouse)
Maggiano's (Italian)
Smokey Bones
Bubbalou's (BBQ)

Trattoria del Porto at Portofino Bay (their pasta buffet is wonderful!) ... pretty sure they will validate parking if you dine there

Breakfast at the Kitchen at the Hard Rock Hotel .... again, pretty sure they will validate parking if you dine there

Toothsome and Margaritaville are also good choices, but those are at Universal's CityWalk and would require a parking charge.

 

[GoofyDad_4427]

Miller's Ale House, especially if there is a sporting event on that you want to watch.
And slightly more expensive we have had a couple really good meals at Johnnie's Hideaway.
Also we like Carabba's, which I know is a chain available in most of the US, but not where we live.

 

[arminnie]

Ooh, I didn't know there was an Uncle Julio's in Orlando. My wife and I ate at the one in Reston, VA earlier this year and thought it was excellent. I will put that on our list for future trips. Thank you.

I loved Uncle Julio's when I lived in Dallas in the late 80s. I was recently in Dallas for my goddaughter's wedding and ate there one night. When looking at their web site I discovered there was one in Orlando and made it a point to go eat there on our last trip. It was just as good as the original. Uncle Julio's and Bruno's are now on our must do list.

 

[Lewisc]

Most of the posters are suggesting chain restaurants. Seasons 52 is a Darden restaurant. Chances are whatever chain restaurant you like has multiple locations near Disney.

Open Table and Trip Advisor are good sources of information. I'm not sure I'd make a decision based on a single poster on DIS, unless that poster has previously posted restaurant reviews/recommendations you agree with.

 

[DaisyDuck001]

My thought on chain restaurants is that if you have the same chain back home, it's probably not worth doing on vacation, but if you don't have that one at home, then it may well be worth a visit.

 

[dish rag]

Most of the posters are suggesting chain restaurants. Seasons 52 is a Darden restaurant. Chances are whatever chain restaurant you like has multiple locations near Disney.

Open Table and Trip Advisor are good sources of information. I'm not sure I'd make a decision based on a single poster on DIS, unless that poster has previously posted restaurant reviews/recommendations you agree with.

Seasons 52 is a good restaurant.

 

[kaykels]

Celebration is a great place to walk around and go eat. We love the Thai place
Thai Thani

 

[arminnie]

There are chain restaurants like Denny's, Applebees or McDonald's that are just what they are. They have standardized food that is consistent across locations - be that good or bad.

There are other chain restaurants that are the same across locations - but the level of "sameness" is at a different level. Shula's, Ruth's Christ, etc are chain restaurants because they have multiple locations across state lines. If you like a chain restaurant's product then it is not a bad decision to go to their location whether it is just okay or better. That's your choice.

I personally do not go to WDW for the food. I live in New Orleans where fabulous food is available 24/7 and not just at the famous places. The best fried chicken I've ever had is at a gas station 3 blocks away from our condo. My DH and I travel by car a lot and try to find local places and that sometimes work and sometimes don't. But we are always willing to try.

When we are at Disney we want to be fed and to eat food that is decent. We have no problem eating offsite. But I have also eaten at so many of the Disney restaurants over the years that I do not feel deprived. I ate at V&A chef's table twice plus once in the regular dining room. I've eaten at almost every signature restaurant except for the ones that have recently opened.

But my advice is to just eat where you want to eat. I realize that it can be difficult to eat offsite if you have no car. If that's the case just eat where you want that you can easily get to.

 

[Judique]

I never understood the love for sweet tomatoes like I see on the dis. I have tried it twice. Salad is salad. And that's ok. But the food items are awful. The pizza is awful. Being a budget place I found the place full of free range children. Running all over. A mad dash for the buffet. For some reason families in budget places feel it's ok to let their children run free and help themselves. I would never recommend this place.

I wouldn't say the food items are awful. I would say they are ordinary. And you can't beat the price as a cost cutter on a visit to Disney. Because it's a casual place with food that kids will eat, it attracts families and that's okay. I go there occasionally but I don't expect an upscale experience. I enjoy a salad and a bowl of soup and lots of bread items for a very reasonable price and then I can also enjoy a small bit of dessert - just enough and I've not broke the bank, which enables me to live it up at somewhere more expensive. We don't have these in my state and it's not an everyday thing for me.