Get FREE email communications from Fodor's Travel, covering must-see travel destinations, expert trip planning advice, and travel inspiration to fuel your passion.
Dining in Orlando ranges from fast food and national chains to celebrity chefs—both international and local—serving locally sourced foods, creative preparations, and clever international influences. The theme parks now 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 are 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. And big-name chefs are now well represented in Disney Springs, though less so at Universal's CityWalk.
Around town, locals flock to the Ravenous Pig, the Rusty Spoon, 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. Disney has since 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.
Modern spins on locally sourced Southern staples are the crux of this sprawling restaurant, where scratch cooking by Ritz chefs is the rule, and produce is grown on the resort's own private Whisper Creek farm. Dinner entrées change regularly and might include Florida shrimp and grits, waffle fried quail or diver scallops with wild mushrooms. The "devil" chocolate cake and homemade doughnuts with coffee gelato are choice sweets.
At this restaurant, award-winning, James Beard–nominated chef Braden McGlamery emphasizes innovative American dishes. Sophisticated barbecue might find a place on the menu next to Florida redfish as well as some of the best burgers in the area. The bar serves creative cocktails crafted with house-made tinctures, and the Sunday brunch is a must.
You'll be transported to Calabria at this comfortable restaurant, which is divided into a trattoria and a pizzeria. It puts out a fresh menu of Italian specialties every evening, and the finishing kitchen is in the dining room, so diners lucky enough to snag the few indoor seats (the outside patio has extras) can watch chefs create the dishes. You might feast on fried pecorino drizzled with honey, a lasagna worthy of a return Orlando visit, pear-and-cheese pasta pockets, wine-marinated duck breast with spicy mushroom risotto, or seared tuna with cauliflower puree. Most desserts are made in-house.
Progressive Italian cuisine in a casual, bustling, wood-and-brick setting immediately made Michelin Recommended Prato a local favorite. Every item, from the pancetta to the amaretti, is crafted from scratch, and many are prepared in one of two imported Italian wood-burning ovens, dubbed Johnny Cash and June Cash because "they make music," the chefs say. The menu changes regularly, but standouts include the duck with fig jam and pastas such as rigatoni cacciatore made with shredded rabbit and orange zest. The hand-tossed pizzas are also popular, as are the tiramisu and seasonal gelato.
Standing out in a town saturated with taco places, Reyes brings authentic (meaning real Mexican) cuisine to Orlando. Michoacán-born chef Wendy Lopez honors the food of her homeland while adding inventive modern touches; Yucatán pork ribs, duck enchiladas, and a mixed grill of NY strip, chicken, and shrimp are just a taste. An extensive variety of agave-based liquors and the one-of-a-kind mezcal-soaked chocolate cake ends the meal on an alcoholic peak.
The epitome of modern Japanese cuisine, Seito offers crowd-pleasing traditional and contemporary ramen bowls as well as unique, handcrafted sushi combinations and Japanese "kitchen food." The sophisticated and fun bar specializes in Japanese cask whiskey and multiple exclusive sake brands.
Tabla's reputation for great Indian food has lasted since 2008. Start with a selection from the enormous range of house-made breads before choosing from the menu of biryanis, curries, tandoor-fired meats, or vegetarian dishes like bhindi masala and sautéed paneer.
Armando Martorelli has opened many local restaurants in his career since coming from Italy to Florida, but his namesake eatery is the epitome of his craft. It has a relaxed neighborhood vibe and serves what is perhaps the area's best Neapolitan-style pizza. Other menu highlights include daily fresh-seafood specials, veal saltimbocca, and a signature pollo di Tatiana with vodka cream sauce.
Open from early breakfast to dinner and desserts in the Hyatt Regency, this slick modern diner is not exactly cheap, but the salads, sandwiches, and griddle foods are tops. The classic B Line Burger is done beautifully. And there are lots of selections you'd never expect to find here, like a stuffed avocado salad and a portobello quesadilla entrée.
Exceptional cuisine served in a relaxing, indoor-outdoor setting is a welcome surprise among the big-budget chains on Sand Lake Road. Servers at this independently owned neighborhood favorite bring to the table piping-hot, oversize lavas (hollow bread) to dip in appetizers such as a hummus, ezme (a zesty, garlicky, chilled chopped salad), and baba ghanoush. Many twosomes make a meal of the bountiful mixed-appetizer platter with a lavas or two. Following are oversize platters of char-grilled whole or filleted sea bass, kebabs, and lamb dishes, each prepared expertly. Light eaters enjoy the boat-shape spinach-and-cheese Turkish pastry. Other locations are in Winter Park, Lake Nona, and Winter Garden.
The food here is served tapas-style, and although everything is appetizer sized, it's plentiful and relatively inexpensive. The restaurant is designed to resemble an artist's loft, so painters work at easels while diners take a culinary trip around the world with dishes such as Cajun-chicken egg rolls or Moroccan turkey meatballs. Thanks to a patio, diners can also share their small plates alfresco. The drinks list includes 50-plus craft beers and more than 35 wines from several countries, with most offered by the bottle or the glass. Belly dancers, flamenco dancers, Bolivian dancers, and African drummers are among the entertainers who perform on weekends.
This family-owned Lebanese eatery, set in a major upscale strip shopping center that's become part of Restaurant Row, serves Middle Eastern standards like shish kebab, baba ghanoush (an ultrasmoky variety that is the very best in town), and hummus as well as tasty daily specials. One of the most notable regular entrées is the shawarma cooked on a rotisserie. More formal than the average Orlando-area Middle Eastern restaurant, and featuring a cocktail menu, Cedar's has tables with white-linen tablecloths and diners who tend to wear resort-casual attire. Musicians or belly dancers perform on some Friday and Saturday nights; hookah pipes are popular on the back patio.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
