Dining Outside of Disney

[claire_ont]

We have been to Disney many times but have always eaten inside of Disney since we have not rented a car. For our upcoming trip in January we are planning to rent a car, and were thinking of eating at least some of our meals outside of Disney. Does anyone have any suggestions on good restaurants outside of Disney? We would be looking for 5-6 good quality sit down meals.

Thanks in advance,
Claire

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Olive Garden, TGI Fridays, Chili's and Cracker Barrel are always on our must-do list. Yes, they are all chains (which may or may not appeal to you) but they are all establishments that we don't have back home. Each gives us a consistently good meal with huge portions at a great price.

We also like Buffalo Wild Wing, if wings are your thing.

We have heard great things about Giordano's Pizza, so we are giving them a try this August.

Cici's is a favourite lunch spot, and the price can't be beat (about $5.99) for all you can eat pizza, pasta, soup, salad and dessert. Its a fave of our teenager,

[Enjoying Life]

If you've got a car, you might want to try the Winter Park area: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...k_Florida.html

[claire_ont]

Olive Garden, TGI Fridays, Chili's and Cracker Barrel are always on our must-do list. Yes, they are all chains (which may or may not appeal to you) but they are all establishments that we don't have back home. Each gives us a consistently good meal with huge portions at a great price.

We also like Buffalo Wild Wing, if wings are your thing.

We have heard great things about Giordano's Pizza, so we are giving them a try this August.

Cici's is a favourite lunch spot, and the price can't be beat (about $5.99) for all you can eat pizza, pasta, soup, salad and dessert. Its a fave of our teenager,

We may do a couple of these. Quick and inexpensive. We have been to Olive Garden and TGI Friday's before. I too have heard good things about Giordano's Pizza, though I have never tried it. I might have to this trip.

If you've got a car, you might want to try the Winter Park area: http://www.tripadvisor.com/Restauran...k_Florida.html

Anna's Polish Restaurant looks like a must do. We read the menu and have added it to the list. Need to search through the rest of the restaurants on this list.

Claire

[JimMIA]

Here are two links that may be helpful:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=498998 - this is the Best Offsite Restaurants thread. Very long and consequently repetitive, but contains a lot of good suggestions.

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.ph...&postcount=463 - listing of restaurants in Celebration -- one of our favorite places to dine offsite.

Our two personal faves are both in Celebration -- the Columbia Restaurant, where we eat EVERY trip to the Orlando area, whether or not we're doing Disney; and Kilwins -- chocolate and ice cream to die for...right around the corner from Columbia.

Cracker Barrel, mentioned above is very good. It's a chain, basically country cooking. Big portions, good food, great store.

Buffalo Wild Wings is a sports bar. Good wings, wide variety of sauces and other stuff. Not bad. We don't go there because we have Sports Grill here in Miami which has the best wings on the planet...but BWW is fine for a casual place.

[JimMIA]

The bottom line with offsite restaurants is this:

• Very wide variety in menus, quality, and prices -- compared to Disney's standard food, most of which is prepared in central kitchens.
• BETTER food offsite, whether you are dining at McDonalds or fine dining.
• Much lower prices. Not what you may be used to at home, but much lower than Disney's inflated prices.

Incidentally, we eat almost all of our meals OFFsite -- whether we're staying offsite or on-property. It's just better than Disney.

[LetsDoDisney!]

We tried Giordano's for the first time a few weeks ago and used a restaurant.com gift certificate. We didn't care for it at all, and won't be going back.

We didn't care for our waiter (paid WAY to much attention to us because there were very few other people there) , whom we could barely understand.

We also didn't care for the pizza. The breadsticks were good though.

I think we were overly expectant here because everyone said it was so good. I didn't even care for the atmosphere, very dark. I know everyone seems to like it but to each his own I guess.

We like TGIF and other chains as well too. We have never gone to Celebration but people talk about it alot, is it a town? What's there besides restaurants? Chocolate and ice cream are faves of mine!

[Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina]

Originally Posted by LetsDoDisney!

We have never gone to Celebration but people talk about it alot, is it a town? What's there besides restaurants? Chocolate and ice cream are faves of mine!

Its a town built by Disney. You can check it out here:

http://celebrationtowncenter.com/

And here is the Kilwins that JimMIA mentioned. OMG....it looks divine :

https://www.kilwins.com/

[claire_ont]

JimMIA - Thanks for the links to the threads. After many trips to Disney we are looking forward to eating off property. We will still eat some meals on site, but really looking forward to some diversity. Columbia Restaurant looks very good, and well, what can I say, Kilwins just looks insanely decadent. That will rate as a must do.

I think we might give Cracker Barrel a try as well.

Thanks!

Claire

[i*heart*minniemouse]

http://www.millersalehouse.com/locations

Family friendly...great specials and easy access to Animal Kingdom area and also Saratoga Springs/DTD area. 2 different locations. My DH would eat here every night if I let him!!

Barb

[leelee9878]

Originally Posted by i*heart*minniemouse

http://www.millersalehouse.com/locations

Family friendly...great specials and easy access to Animal Kingdom area and also Saratoga Springs/DTD area. 2 different locations. My DH would eat here every night if I let him!!

Barb

Love the ale house! They have the best house salads and I don't know why lol. They also have very large nachos!

[Mysteria]

We will be doing mostly offsite dining on our trip in November. Very much looking forward to giving Columbia a try.

[alicia080979]

Our absolute must do when we are at Disney is eat at Flippers Pizza (more than once if we can fit it in). They have some of the best pizza (and garlic bread sticks) we have ever had. We have been to the one in Old Towne Celebration and the Lake Buena Vista one right off Hotel Blvd past DTD. Our favorite is probably the Lake Buena Vista one solely because they have more space than the Old Town location. Food is always great at both.

[Zoebear]

Hi all,
These are some great suggestions. Has anyone with food allergies had any recent experience at these restaurants ? My son has a peanut allergy and we usually cook ourselves or dine at Disney during our trips. It would be great to know if any of these are allergy-friendly

Thanks!

[ninamouse]

The Cracker Barrell for breakfast is a must - it's fab!

Also Olive Garden, Tony Roma's and Paccino's for a great steak.

There's also a mexican place on the 192 which is good fun. I can't remember the name but they have a small mexican band which perform around the tables.

If you want something really special then The Columbia in Celebration is beautiful and you must try their Sangria Cava!