Orlando Area

We will be spending the winter in the Orlando area and need some suggestions for dining for all meals.

Happytrails: Do a search for "Orlando" and "Cocoa Beach" (both in Florida of course!)! After your search...will try to answer any questions. Cocoa Beach is the nearest beach to Orlando. It's about 45 minutes from the airport. Winter Park would be another good search and that's a suburb of Orlando. Let me know if I can be of any more help w/ questions. Happy eating! KokomoJoe

Everytime I am in Orlando, I take a side trip over to Titusville and Merritt Island for some birding. While in Titusville, the Sundancer strongly suggest you try the Dixie Crossroads. This restaurant is the one who figured out how to process Rock Shrimp. They are not very big but very delicious. I could go elaborate for a long time but I will simplify by attaching their web site.

This is a must if you enjoy great food.

http://www.dixiecrossroads.com/

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Of course I see that you're spending time in the community, not neccessarily Walt Disney World, but I want to tell you what pleasant experiences my partner and I had dining in WDW. We expected all their restaurants' food would come from a central commissary and be uniformly bland, but we San Franciscans were pleasantly surprised. We used the WDW "Unofficial" Guide, which steered us away from the Chinese restaurant in Epcot, but liked just about every other meal we had. The Italian Restaurant at Downtown Disney (not a theme park, and no admission to the area) was memorable. Obvious tacky chain restaurants in the same area warn you off with their unpleasant cooking smells.

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

Everytime I am in Orlando, I take a side trip over to Titusville and Merritt Island for some birding. While in Titusville, the Sundancer strongly suggest you try the Dixie Crossroads. This restaurant is the one who figured out how to process Rock Shrimp. They are not very big but very delicious. I could go elaborate for a long time but I will simplify by attaching their web site.

This is a must if you enjoy great food.

http://www.dixiecrossroads.com/

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

This is my favorite Roadfood place in central Florida. You will never find any better rock shrimp.



Another great place (real Roadfood) ishttp://www.orlandosaving.com/catfishplace.htm

Really great catfish!



If you like Cuban food, you will enjoy Rolando's Cuban Restaurant
870 Semoran Blvd.
Casselberry, FL 32707 delicious food and family owned and operated.

quote:

Originally posted by chezkatie

quote:

Originally posted by Sundancer7

Everytime I am in Orlando, I take a side trip over to Titusville and Merritt Island for some birding. While in Titusville, the Sundancer strongly suggest you try the Dixie Crossroads. This restaurant is the one who figured out how to process Rock Shrimp. They are not very big but very delicious. I could go elaborate for a long time but I will simplify by attaching their web site.

This is a must if you enjoy great food.

http://www.dixiecrossroads.com/

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

This is my favorite Roadfood place in central Florida. You will never find any better rock shrimp.



Another great place (real Roadfood) ishttp://www.orlandosaving.com/catfishplace.htm

Really great catfish!



If you like Cuban food, you will enjoy Rolando's Cuban Restaurant
870 Semoran Blvd.
Casselberry, FL 32707 delicious food and family owned and operated.

Chezkatie: I will be in Orlando next week. Where are the places you indicated. The Cuban and Catfish place. There were no directions. I will be in Orlando from the November 15 thru November 19

thanks
Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Paul --

I am sure that Rolando's is north of the airport on 436 (Semoran). For that matter, it is WELL north of the airport -- it may be more accessible if you take 417 towards Casselberry area and then jut back to 436. I will give a second thumbs up to Rolando's. It is one of my favorites. One of my favorite things there is the bread served with dinner. Sounds weird, but trust me. If you are still doing the Atkins thing, skimp on other carbs during the day, and grab one piece with dinner!

I didn't check the web site for the catfish recommendation, but if it is the one most folks know about, it is in St. Cloud on 192. If you are at Disney, take 192 east (towards the coast) and just after you head out of the touristy area, but before you make it to the "nothing area" between Kissimmee and Melbourne. It will be on the left hand (north) side of the road. Has a very 50's era look to it. I have not been myself, but others have raved about it.

Steve

Well, so long as people have you getting out of town, here's another.

If you get to Daytona Beach, bring a huge appetite and have a burger at The Brickyard on International Speedway Drive. Sit at the front counter and watch them make these remarkable burgers and grilled hot wings.

In Orlando, I haven't come up with any great roadfood despite my many visits. I do like the jambalaya at the House of Blues (a chain though.)

This is a neat little place to go:

Kappys Submarine Sandwiches
501 North Orlando Avenue - (407) 647-9099
Maitland, FL 32751
It is a very small place that has been a landmark here for years. (They take cash only, FYI)

Here is a quote from The Orlando Weekly magazine:

"Use a little imagination to hear the car engines and radios that used to roar through Kappy's-a 1950s style diner with a covered parking and picnic tables." "The clientele who swing in to the odd lot are from all walks of life, joined by the want of Kappy's Philly cheese steaks, hot dogs, burgers, subs shakes, waffle fries, onion rings and root beer floats."

They had some damage from the hurricanes (sign was blown in half, tree down and some of the roof was blown away, but they opened up right after each one and are still going strong. I work just down the street and it is very popular at lunch and on weekend nights. Check it out............

I took advantage of all the great advice in this forum and had excellent meals on a recent trip to Disney World. Another huge help was the Unofficial Guide to WDW. Here are some of the highlights from our trip:

Biergarten in Epcot: Nice buffet with German oompah music and cute waitresses from Germany. Wonderful beer!
Boma at Animal Kingdom Lodge: Go! Creative buffet, beautiful setting.
Jelly Rolls at Boardwalk: Dueling Piano's, fun date night.
50's Prime Time Cafe in MGM/Disney: Very fun. Waitress calls you cuz and tells you to take your elbows off the table. We stuck with the dessert.
Mama Melrose at MGM: Nice dinner package with the Fantasmic show. Good Osso Buco and Sangria.
Dixie Crossroads: Worth the drive to the coast. Rock Shrimp was out of this world.
Bongo's at downtown Disney: Stick with the mojito's, sit outside and listen to the music.
Whistling Canyon at Wilderness Lodge: Fun wait staff, ask for extra napkins and straws. All you can eat BBQ. Tasty. Kids love it.

Take advantage of the priority seating. I made a maze of reservations at a variety of times and places. They'll seat you fairly quickly, even if you get there an hour after your reservation.