50 Best Restaurants in Orlando, Florida

The dining rooms at this Cuban restaurant feel as if they're movie sets of Old Havana, with dramatic touches upstairs and down. Start your meal with a meat-filled arepa rellena corn cake or a platter of two to four empanadas filled with savory ground beef and olives, chicken, cheese, or pork; for the main course, consider the churrasco à la Cubana (grilled skirt steak) with a lemon-onion sauce plus a watercress-mushroom escabeche salad. Go traditional with a pressed Cuban sandwich, which is part of the classic platter featuring black bean soup, salad, and chips, or a good version of the traditional ropa vieja, shredded beef brisket with tomatoes, bell peppers, and onions in a red wine sauce.

Sleek and stylish, Dragonfly is a bit of everything the young and beautiful people want—a pretty space featuring sushi, colorful martinis, and modern, izakaya-style small plates. Groups of dressed-up twenty- and thirtysomethings gather indoors and out to share plates of robata-cooked meats and vegetables, along with tempura, rolls, noodle dishes, and salads, all beautifully presented. The daily happy hour is hugely popular with locals.

Named after Jimmy Buffett's beloved yacht, the Euphoria Fish House is just off of the lobby of the Margaritaville Resort Orlando. It's open for breakfast and lunch, as well as dinner, when featured dishes range from lobster rolls to pan-seared Chilean sea bass served with citrus-marinated bok choy. Be sure to ask your server about the margarita of the day—after all, you are in Margaritaville!

Hampton Social covers many bases with its menu of "coastal-inspired food." With options ranging from California-style pizzas and lobster rolls to steak or seafood tacos and crispy calamari, there's likely to be something for everyone in your party. Weekend brunch adds boozy and nonalcoholic bevs, as well as live music.

Sushi-ya Henry Moso makes hip, modern-day variants of old-school sushi, with everything from standard spicy tuna rolls to tempura-fried St. Louis sticky ribs. The noteworthy, 10- to 15-course omakase events cost as much as $300 and feature such rare delights as Japanese flying fish or live scallops.

This elegant-but-casual, Michelin-starred eatery is helmed by two-time Top Chef contestant John Tesar (you know, the mean one) and focuses on turf (prime, house-aged steaks) and surf (raw bar, local seafood). Interesting dishes include sushi-grade tuna and torched foie gras or 45-day, dry-aged, 32-ounce, bone-in rib eye (at $130). As is typical for a steak house, sides like kimchi creamed spinach or fried potatoes with caviar are extra.

A local favorite since 1947, this down-home steak house serves good cuts of meat, expertly cooked and reasonably priced. Butchery is done on premises, and there are no TVs over the bar to distract from a pleasant conversation over a great steak. The menu is short and to the point, including about a dozen steaks (most of them different sizes of top sirloin strip, filet mignon, or T-bone) and just enough ancillary items to fill a single page. Among the fish selections is the 12-ounce blackened red snapper. The chicken, veal, or eggplant parmigiana topped with marinara sauce and mozzarella is good for nonsteak lovers. With every entrée you receive a salad plus a choice of spaghetti (which isn't particularly noteworthy), baked potato, steak fries, green beans, or broccoli. There's even an old-fashioned early bird special for seniors before 6 pm.

A holdover from when neighborhood restaurants were actually in a neighborhood, award-winning Maxine's is casual, hip, local, and friendly. The menu ranges from sophisticated seafood to brisket burgers and Black Angus filet mignon. The wine list is unique and special, and the bar rivals the extended outdoor seating for popularity. There's live music several times a week, an unusual Friday brunch, and special events feature wine dinners and drag cabaret nights.

The big draw here is fondue, and the bubbling pots of bouillon, cheese, or chocolate on offer give fans of food on skewers a chance to share plates with friends. It might seem like an old idea, but Melting Pot continues to draw families and dating couples for a surprisingly fun meal. Lunch is available weekends, and there are midweek and date-night specials, too.

In the Key West atrium of the Gaylord Palms Resort, a large, anchored boat in the indoor lagoon welcomes guests aboard for a delicious meal. This restaurant partners with local farms and fishmongers to bring fresh, quality dishes to the table. Chicken, steaks, and pork chops are also featured, however seafood is the star here. 

This fine choice among Orlando's many steak houses looks like a sophisticated private club, and youngsters with mouse caps are not common at the nationwide chain's local outpost. Center stage in the kitchen is a huge broiler, kept at 900°F to sear in the flavor of the porterhouses, sirloins, rib eyes, and other cuts of aged beef. For true value, nibble on "bar bites" in the lounge area during happy hour, when they're half price, and you'll enjoy top-quality sliders and such for $6 to $7 a plate. The wine list has about 350 vintages from around the world.

Part tavern, part bistro, and part sports bar, Nona Blue has a little something for everyone. Kettle chips smothered in blue cheese or Buffalo chicken wings, check; burgers and salads, check; filet mignon or a 16-ounce, $54 Delmonico rib eye, also (very much) check.

From the Berries & Bubbles martinis that start off the meal to the chocolate peanut butter dessert draped in bittersweet chocolate ganache, Ocean Prime wows. This local outpost of an upscale chain holds its own with consistently good food, if uneven service. The jumbo-lump crab cake with pickled fennel is a good way to begin, as are the white truffle caviar deviled eggs, ahi tuna tartare, and goat cheese ravioli. Follow with a simple grilled steak, sea scallops with Parmesan risotto and citrus vinaigrette, or the teriyaki salmon. Locals find the daily happy hour to be a bargain.

Don't let the 1930s-era ocean-liner interior fool you—as theme restaurants go, this place is a good one. The straightforward preparation (grilled or broiled, brushed with lemon butter) is welcome, and the chefs change the menu every day based on what's fresh. Lobster bisque is a standout, as is the chilled shellfish platter and the day's fish specialties. Save room for the baked Alaska, which is flamed at the table.

Family recipes and beyond-standard Indian dishes makes Saffron a small gem in Orlando's subcontinental culinary scene. The classics—lamb korma, tandoori chicken, and tikka masala—are joined by specialties from Chettinad, Goa, and Kerala.

The bright, shiny, and oh-so-hip ette hotel is home to this eatery, created by celebrated chef Akira Back, who has 22 restaurants worldwide and a Michelin star to his credit. The menu delights with Mediterranean-Asian (emphasis on Asian) dishes that might include miso black cod with pickled cauliflower or garlic maple soy chicken. The hotel and restaurant are strictly nonalcoholic, so drinks from the creative mixology menu won't trigger any breathalyzers.

It's hard to believe that a chain restaurant can offer healthful yet hearty and very flavorful food, but the innovative Seasons 52 does just that, with some of its menu changing weekly as well as seasonally. Nearly everyone orders the flatbread starters, and entrées might include wood-roasted, dry-rubbed pork chop with braised cabbage 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, indulgent classics like pecan or Key lime pie and carrot cake are 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.

Best bets at this family-friendly restaurant on Highway 192 are the signature, ½-pound, Wagyu-beef burgers, or you can go wild and order the jalapeño peanut butter burger with pepper jack cheese. Lunch specials include salads, wing baskets, and mashed-potato bowls.

In addition to excellent Greek staples and a nice selection of meze (small plates), this restaurant has a fun, high-energy ambience. The ouzo flows like a mountain stream, the Greek (and global) music almost reaches the volume level of a rock concert, and the roaming belly dancers actively encourage diners to join in. The only thing missing is the tradition of throwing dinner plates, made up in part by the throwing of small paper napkins, which sometimes reaches near-blizzard level. Menu 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 or more are available at $48 and $58 per person. The best dessert is the baklava.

Using locally sourced ingredients, the chef at this small, independent redbrick eatery on Sanford's main drag creates Southern-fusion dishes. His house-made biscuits and gravy are renowned, the Saturday brunch menu features a Southern-style croque monsieur with candied collard greens, and dinner choices include pan-seared Florida catfish with bacon from Tennessee and the ever-popular shrimp and grits with corn from Zellwood, Florida.