Good Orlando Restaurants

Yeah, the airline thing is a weird bit of marketing, but it's supposed to indicate that it's a bone-in section of chicken that includes the breast and still has a wing attached (I guess that's the airline part).

Scott

Thanks, Scott! I hear "airline chicken" and I immediately think "rubber-y and tasteless."

Have you heard of Roy's? Do you recommend it?

Roy's is a fine restaurant. It's a chain, now owned by OSI (that's Outback Steakhouses to most people). The original was started, in Hawaii, by Roy Yamaguchi, a James Beard Award-winning chef. Each Roy's has a chef/partner who is charged with maintaining Yamagushi's menu, but who also is allowed to show some originality. Yamagushi makes an appearance at the Restaurant Row location at least once a year, usually on the anniversary of the Orlando opening. (Roy's was one of the first to take up residence on Sand Lake Road, long before I started calling it Restaurant Row in the Orlando Sentinel.)
The food at Roy's is good, but be warned: it's a very noisy restaurant.
Scott

That's impressive loyalty to the Disney brand. You've eaten at so many WDW restaurants and only one off site?

I think there's one of those in Dallas?

Thanks for the info, Leota and Scott. The menu looks great!

Is the restaurant more upscale (like a Wolfgang Puck's?)?

Yes, Roy's is more upscale, but certainly not posh (wear your good Hawaiian shirt!).

Thanks

Assuming I'm looking at the right website there is. There are quite a lot including ones in Arizona, California, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Maryland, Nevada, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Is it just me, or do others feel that once a restaurant is a chain, it must lose it's dedication to quality...just a little bit...

I will rattle the safe, traditional palate here a bit.

If you like Indian food, and in particular, if you like SOUTH Indian food, then try Dakshin, which is located at the Crossroad strip mall right at the end of Hotel Plaza Blvd.

South Indian cuisine tends to be a bit more fiery (which is what I like), and tends to have less creamy sauces. They also do not have any tandoori, so don't expect one, since that is mostly a northern Indian specialty.

I've read several online reviews of the place that gave it rather mixed reviews. I've been there 5 or 6 times, and always had good food (if not, we won't have gone back there that many times). The only complaint some time is the spotty service. It can be a bit slow even when the restaurant isn't busy, and the wait staff isn't that attentive.

But if you can get over there, it certainly might be a worthwhile place to go if you're adventurous. It also isn't too far away from WDW.

Zz.

Unfortunately, the Giordano's there pales in comparison with the original back here in Chicago. I know of many transplanted Chicagoan living in the Orlando area who swore that they never would go back to that place after the disappointment of trying it the first time. I found that to be rather strange since, if you're opening the same restaurant elsewhere, one would think that you'd try to do the exact same thing. But it appears that that is not the case.

So if we go by what my friends out there told me, the stuff pizza and the deep-dish pizza at Giordano's in Orlando are not something that you might want to order.

Now, if you really want to do a REAL and GOOD Chicago deep-dish pizza and you're in Chicago, give me a call and we'll go to Lou Malnati's!

Zz.

i think that chicago and ny pizza both ruin pizza in other places. i really enjoy them both and they've really ruined pizza for me elsewhere.

zapperz, that indian place sounds great except for the bad service (that always gets to me), most indian places in malls i've been to were inexpensive, is this one reasonably priced as well? i like pretty much any indian food that doesn't involve too much curry. the spicier the better.

But shush..... don't tell anyone this, but my most favorite pizza is the Neopolitan style, thin-crust type pizza. I even like NY pizza better than deep-dish pizza! I have to remain incognito here in Chicago when I say such a thing.

Still, if you want good Chicago deep-dish and stuff pizza, that Giordano's right by WDW is not the place many transplanted Chicagoans would recommend.

The price was reasonable, i.e. it wasn't out of the ordinary. So certainly no complains there. It certainly is a bold move to open such a restaurant in a rather touristy area, since tourists in general would not go to such "exotic" places to eat.

BTW, I hope they are still open, especially during this economically-challenged times. I haven't been there during our last 4 visits (which covers a whole year). It certainly is something we'd like to go back to on our next trip this June.

Zz.

I should say so!

Re: the Orlando Giordano's vs. the Chicago original--nothing's ever as good as the original, but I have heard good things about it. (Those folks probably weren't from Chicago, though!)

I'm a big fan of the thin-crust as well. Anyone know any good New York style pizza in Orlando?

Does Dakshin still charge extra for rice? I found that very odd.
sj

That, I don't know.

Strangely enough, I think that's a common practice for most of the Indian restaurants that I've been to, even here in Chicago where there's a huge number of such restaurants. Most of the rice isn't just plain old rice, at least not the places I go to. They tend to usually be basmati fice, and they are cooked with a few spices such as cumin and cardamom. So I'm guessing that that's the justification for them charging for extra rice.

Zz.

Yes, basmati is the standard rice, and it usually has a clove or two. But no other Indian restaurant in Central Florida charges extra for it, and it's such an integral part of most of the Indian entrees that doing so seems strange.

Scott

Emeril's is our favorite Orlando restaurant. (We haven't been to V&A yet.) Not that our experience is vast in Orlando proper. We always eat on property at UO & WDW. However, we do not care for Tchoup Chop at all. We've tried it twice & didn't like it either time. I'm not sure we'll give it a 3rd try. Mama Della's @ Portifino Bay is one Theme Park, Italian restaurant we really like. (We've already discussed the WDW, Italian situation. )

Personally, I wouldn't recommend Margaritaville. Have you tried the one in Key West? We like that one. Unfortunately, the one @ CW has been dumbed down for the masses. It is a happening place to go, if you're looking for fun more than great food.

For Orlando in general, Bahama Breeze has a casual atmosphere w/ pretty good food. IMO, it's definitely better than Margaritaville.

I'm not sure what you want to know about the clientele. If you have any specific questions, I'll try to answer them.

Not sure when SpaceAce will get back online, but I'll hijack the question! (Welcome to the Boards, by the way!) As far as clientele, do you have mostly the "just turned 21" crowd or is it an older "Adventurer's Club" crowd (specifically at the CityWalk spots)?

Thanks for the welcome. Sorry, but I don't know much about the clubs. We don't usually eat dinner until around 8:30. By the time we're finished eating & drinking a bottle of wine or so , we're usually ready to waddle back to the resort to relax.

Yep! That was my question, too.