Need honest feedback on where to stay and where to eat in Lakeland, FL., during the Tigers 2006 Spring Training.

Seems like a gastronomic wasteland...And a collection of Bates Motels. Please help me here.

The Terrace Hotel (terracehotel.com) is a nice place to stay. It looks nice from the outside although I've never been in a room (I know that they have AAA rates). It's downtown, which will provide you with several decent restaurant options.

As for restaurants, there really isn't too much offered that is haute cuisine. However, I love Sonny's Barbecue- inexpensive barbecue that I like to eat when I'm in that area (it's a chain found in Fl and other parts of the south). A reliable choice is the chain italian restaurant Carrabba's. I recall hearing that the restaurant at the Terrace Hotel was good. There is a restaurant downtown that I've eaten at that is New Orleans style, with an emphasis on seafood and steak, and it was pretty good.

Keep in mind that the food in Lakeland is not going to be cutting edge or metropolitan. But if you are happy with simply prepared seafood or steak (or bbq), you will be happy. it's definitely not my favorite place to eat in the world, but i had to make the best b/c a family member lived there until recently.

I'd also suggest the Terrace Hotel downtown which is a beautiful building. You might find downtown to be livelier than expected as there is little "big business" there so it appears pleasant (there's a park in the core of downtown and I think some antique shops). I've eaten at the Terrace Hotel for a fixed-menu anniversary celebration. It was quite good with dependable American cuisine, nothing terribly imaginable, but good. As for other places, my favorite is the Red Barn, an old barn-type building in the middle of a cow pasture (yep -- what you see is what you eat, and the smell is rather vivid as well). It is very good steak & potatoes, casual popular place, and their specialty item is fried green tomatoes. Again, think American. There is a place on South Florida Avenue (the main drag) called the Reececliff that is an older place with burgers and terrific pies. I believe it is still open. There are also other restaurants in the vicinity on S. Florida Ave.

I recently saw a food review on local TV about the restaurant at the Lakeland regional airport. It looked to be very popular and an unusual sort of place with (again) solid American food. I'd definitely give it a try. and if you haven't had enough American food, there is a all-you-can-eat buffet called Buddy Freddy's off I-4 btwn. Lakeland and Plant City that is very good. I recall seeing a food review in the newspaper awhile back about a nouveau American cuisine restaurant in Lakeland at a strip mall. I'll try to find it for you.

Your post reminded me that Spring Training will soon be here. I love Legends Field in Tampa. How is the Lakeland field?

Thank you mah and Tandoori for your reponses. In the cold light of day, my inquiry seems more brutal than I really wanted it to be. So much for being clever. We're anything but gourmets, just looking for well-prepared meals with good service, and lodging that is clean and comfortable. This will be our first trip to Spring Training--first to FLA as a matter of fact, and I want to travel well.

You could check out the Indians in nearby Winter Haven. Andy's Igloo for soft-serve and shakes is a must in WH, as is Harry's Old Place for seafood.

E, is Harry's on a lake?

Yes, but please don't ask me which one! I may never get them all straight...

Harry's Old Place 3751 Cypress Gardens Rd, Winter Haven, 33884 - (863) 324-0301

I think I stumbled on it one Sunday. It was crowded with lots of people and there were lots of lake activities going on. Boating. Fun.

It's always packed, and they don't take reservations. It's my favorite place in WH, which is otherwise Chain Heaven. Harborside isn't bad either--on par with the Colonnade, though. Harry's is better.

What brought you to WH?

I don't recall. It was awhile ago. I remember we had my son and were driving looking for a place to eat. He was little so it was awhile ago.

but WH isn't exactly foreign to this former Lakeland resident and Santa Fe high school grad, many years ago

Tandoori Girl,

I went to college with a girl that went to high school at Santa Fe.

yikes. she's probably not as old as me (lately I feel no one is as old as me). I graduated in 70.

hey! maybe she IS me! I went to UF.

she graduated in 1998 and lived across the hall from me my freshman year in the honors program at Florida State.

my sister is in graduate school right now at Florida.