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The dining scene in Orlando was at one time epitomized by a plethora of fast-food fare, but there's been such an explosion of artisanal and locally sourced restaurants over the past five years that there are now seven local chefs and nine international celebrity chefs with James Beard Award nominations around the city. Some of the best restaurants in town can be found in resort hotels and theme-park complexes such as Disney Springs, but if you have the time, explore the local treasures beyond the resorts.
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, Artisan's Table, 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 Downtown Orlando 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.
This market-style restaurant is great for a substantial meal or just a quick, healthy bite. Made using food sourced primarily on-site, dishes might include stir-fried chicken or shrimp, vegetable korma, or oak-grilled salmon. Fruit and cheese plates plus assorted fruits and vegetables grown in the Living with the Land attraction are also available.
If you're looking for a pick-me-up after climbing the entire Swiss Family Treehouse, stop by the Sunshine Tree Terrace for a root beer float. Kids will enjoy fresh orange or strawberry ice cream just as much as vanilla or chocolate. If you're heading to the parade next, grab an order of pot stickers to split as an unusual afternoon treat.
Traveling back 65 million years requires just a short walk through the Marketplace and into this large restaurant, which is set beneath a towering brachiosaurus skeleton and is filled with primordial special effects and animated prehistoric creatures such as the restaurant's menacing namesake—a 15-foot T-rex. The dinosaur theme continues on the menu where the rib, chicken, pasta, and seafood dishes have names like Mes-O-Bones, Megasaurus, and Supersaurus Sampler. In the Paleo Zone area, kids can focus less on food and more on fossils as they dig for hidden bones and gems.
If you liked the Dole Whip pineapple float in the Magic Kingdom, stop here for another, or upgrade to the Pineapple Crisp Sundae.
Above the Mitsukoshi department store is this teppanyaki steak house, where chefs do performance cooking at 20 grills. Standouts include filet mignon and Tori chicken breast, but the restaurant also has a small sushi selection, as well as a kids' menu with Teppan-style chicken or shrimp with rice and veggies. Be sure to save room for green tea ice cream, though! Kids will enjoy watching the talented chefs while parents relax with some sake.
Under the guidance of James Beard Award–winner and Top Chef master Tony Mantuano, Terralina brings sophistication and southern Italian cuisine to Disney Springs. Meticulously planned to look like a resort in Italy's Lake District, Terralina's open design and wood-fired grills provide a stylish atmosphere and some of the best recipes Mantuano can create, including wood-fired, hand-tossed pizzas along with salads and sandwiches. The antipasti tower is a starting course eye-opener, and steaks and seafood delight.
If Expedition Everest isn't for you—or if you need something to help you relax before boarding or calm down after riding—head here for specialty margaritas and unusual beers such as the Safari Amber or Tampa Bay Old Elephant Foot IPA. If you can get a seat at the bar, this is a great place to people-watch for a bit.
Inspired by the animated classic Lady and the Tramp, Tony's offers everything from spaghetti with meatballs (meat and plant-based) to shrimp scampi with linguine. Wine and beer are available, including Italian lagers and an extensive selection of Italian wines. The most tempting dessert is the espresso-soaked tiramisu. If you can't get a table right away, you can watch Lady and the Tramp in the waiting area.
This restaurant melds old and new, with the cozy decor of a traditional Italian home and a menu of Italian-American dishes refreshed for today's tastes. Share a pizza topped with prosciutto, sausage, and capicola, or indulge in wood-fired swordfish salmoriglio. Other entrées include veal osso buco, chicken parmigiana, and truffle gnocchi. All the wines are from Italy, and you can finish your meal with a tiramisu.
It's sometimes difficult to shake off the illusion that this is a restaurant in Venice or Rome; the service and food are that good. Offerings include calamari fritti, grilled salmon in herb sauce, and traditional spaghetti or fettuccine. Desserts include gelato and cannoli. Be sure to make reservations well in advance. Outdoor seating is available. An adjacent cavernous wine cellar, Tutto Gusto, has a limited menu and 200 wine options, and is often a faster way to get fed. Since they do not accept reservations, it is a good place to try on a busy day.
Loud, mad, bustling, and chaotic, this casual, family-friendly restaurant features authentic, thin-crust, Neapolitan-style pizzas cooked in massive ovens named after Italian volcanoes. Toppings include an array of cheeses, spicy Italian sausage, truffle oil, prosciutto—even melon. Particularly good is the seasonal and very authentic carciofi (artichoke) white pizza. The menu also has a large selection of southern Italian favorites; the tortellini is an outstanding pizza alternative. Adults will appreciate the selection of Italian beer, wine, and cocktails. You're very close to neighboring diners here, so make friends.
This cart is ready for hungry trailblazers, who stop in to enjoy jalapeño poppers or corn-dog nuggets, complete with a fresh-off-the-trail frozen lemonade. And what hungry cowboy doesn't want candied bacon on a skewer? This cart also offers breakfast. If you've entered the park, and the lines at the Main Street Bakery are halfway down Main Street, keep moving, and stop here. Grab a breakfast sandwich to eat while in line for Big Thunder or Tiana's Bayou Adventure.
Celebrity chef Wolfgang Puck's California-crafted eatery serves a mixture of dishes, from signature wood-fired pizzas to entrées such as mesquite-grilled pork chops, bacon-wrapped meat loaf, roasted sea bass, or chicken Weiner schnitzel. Gooey desserts and craft cocktails complete the cosmopolitan scene.
A lunch box meal never tasted so good! The turkey sandwich comes with tomato-basil soup, and the BBQ Brisket Melt has a deliciously tangy sauce, but the grilled three-cheese sandwich is so popular that Disney has actually shared the recipe on its website. Splurge on the adorable alien slipper cup for your drink. If you find yourself deep in the park without breakfast, this is a great place to stop by for a breakfast bowl power-up.
The chefs at this New England–themed steak house are proud of their high-quality, aged beef, which is hand-cut on-site and can be seen mellowing in a glass-enclosed butcher shop near the entryway. Although not easy on the wallet, dishes such as the 12-ounce New York strip with peppercorn-brandy sauce and truffle mac and cheese are quite tasty. Other options include rib-eye, prime rib, and filet mignon, as well as seafood dishes like lobster bisque or king salmon. Nice selections of dessert wines and scotches round out the menu.
This two-story, 250-seat restaurant offers everything from noodles, curries, and wok dishes to Korean barbecue, with standout entrées that include seared miso salmon or roasted duck with plum barbecue sauce (an occasional prix-fixe menu is offered as well). The decor is pleasantly faux-Asian, with cracked plaster walls, wood carvings, and tile mosaic tabletops, and the adjacent bar is a surprisingly intimate place to escape from the crowds and grab a drink while the kids are getting wet at Kali River Rapids.
Within this shop, hidden in the back of the Africa section, you'll find enough to satisfy any sweet tooth. A constantly changing selection of candied apples, Mickey-theme cookies, and cupcakes can be found in abundance. Order in advance on the Disney app to avoid long lines.
