Off Property Restaurants

[LBFlah17]

Hey everyone!

First time poster long time lurker! For my up coming trip later this month my family decided not to purchase the Dining Package for a couple of reasons. The main reason being the cost and the second reason is we do not think the food is very quality in Disney anymore. Does anyone have suggestions for great off property restaurants? We like the basic family style places (burgers, wings, chicken fingers), Italian and steak houses.

 

[ENJDisneyFan]

If you like Mexican food, Chuy's is really good
https://www.chuys.com/locations/orlando/kissimmee

 

[BigredNole]

There are tons of places. It really depends on how far you want to travel. You don't have to travel far either. I am with you on the Disney dining. The food is mediocre at best. You are paying 70% for the atmosphere and 30% for the food. We ate at Ohanas our last trip and it was decent. However, the food quality is just barely a step above Denny's. Things like Outback, Lonestar, etc are a step above Disney quality and half the price. People will disagree, but they are the ones with rose colored glasses. They simply want to justify what they are spending is worth it. I do agree the atmosphere makes for an experience. But if saving money is the number 1 factor, eating off property is king.

 

[LBFlah17]

There are tons of places. It really depends on how far you want to travel. You don't have to travel far either. I am with you on the Disney dining. The food is mediocre at best. You are paying 70% for the atmosphere and 30% for the food. We ate at Ohanas our last trip and it was decent. However, the food quality is just barely a step above Denny's. Things like Outback, Lonestar, etc are a step above Disney quality and half the price. People will disagree, but they are the ones with rose colored glasses. They simply want to justify what they are spending is worth it. I do agree the atmosphere makes for an experience. But if saving money is the number 1 factor, eating off property is king.

I agree with you 100%. You can't beat the service and atmosphere at Disney, we just think the food quality has gone downhill in recent years.

 

[BigredNole]

The other thing you can't beat is the time savings. it does take time to get to a restaurant and back. Our first time offsite we were debating to just suck it up and go to Tony's Town Square because they had an opening for 4. We glanced at the menu, prices, etc. It would have cost $200 for 3 adults, 1 child, and no adult beverages. We went to our car, drove about 15 minutes with traffic and all to Lonestar or Longhorn, can't remember which. It was still happy hour 2-for-1. 4 margaritas, 4 beers, 3 6oz steak dinners, and one 12oz ribeye came to $60ish. With tip, we paid $90 for dinner if I remember correctly (I know it was under $100). It was better than any steak I have had on property. They usually only have flank or cheap cuts of sirloin.

Yes, it was about a 2-hour time sink of lost park time if we chose to go back to the park. Instead, there was so much going on at our offsite resort we didn't think about going back to the park.

 

[NH-to-FL]

to DisBoard posting! I lurked for a long time before I posted too.

As others have noted there are a lot of off site places to eat. All of the major chains are nearby.

I'll pass along a couple of ideas. Miller's Ale House for your "family" food. There are a lot of steak houses in the area but I will suggest a local chain: Manny's Chop House. Both are located on 192 near the intersection of 429. I can't help with Italian, we don't seem to go out for Italian.

We were never big on eating at Disney. Always QS in the parks. Flametree BBQ in AK is our favorite. The Fish and Chips QS in Epcot is another.
Wishing you a visit!

 

[Chippy4]

Re: Miller's Ale House -- if you have young kids, kids eat free off the kids' menu on Tuesdays (at least they did as of the end of August when we visited last).

 

[sbd78]

Try Giordanos or Unos for Chicago style deep dish pizza. Also agree with the others on Miller's Ale House.

 

[Woodview]

I take it that you have a car.

Then head towards Animal Kingdom & Turn onto Sherberth Road heading towards Hwy 192.

Turn RIGHT onto Hwy 192 & within 2 miles there are many eating places .

Most will be around $20 to $30 .

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

I agree with Woodview, in that area you can eat at Millers, Longhorn, Olive Garden, Bahama Breeze and Cracker Barrel, to name but a few. I have enjoyed meals at them all.

 

[hertamaniac]

I like Hot Krust for incredible paninis and salads. Very inexpensive and delicious.

 

[Blue32]

We also really enjoy Giordanos for pizza and LOVE Chuy's for Tex-mex.

 

[LBFlah17]

Thanks for all the suggestions. I think we'll try CityWalk as well.

 

[chalee94]

I have enjoyed several trips to Charley's Steakhouse in Celebration.

https://www.charleyssteakhouse.com/about/menu/

 

[bearzabout]

We like Blaze Pizza and Earl of Sandwich at Disney Springs.

At Crossroads, we like Sweet Tomates, Chevys for Mexican and Fuddruckers. There are many other there you may like. Near Crossroads, Sofritos Cuban Cafe, Steak and Shake and El Patron are good. Check out the specials at Millers Ale House. We like their ribs.

In Celebration, We like Cafe d Antonios and the Columbia for lunch only (salad, soup and Cuban sandwiches).

Other favorites include Q'Kenan for Venezuelan, Ginther Swirls for a cheap banana split, and our favorite, Benihana on International Drive for teppanaki (lunch is a good deal).

 

[persimmondeb]

When we're on property, we eat on property, since we like Disney food, and the darn tickets are so expensive that it never seems to make sense to leave just to save a few bucks on food, despite the plethora of cheap quality options in Orlando. Now that said, we usually bookend our Disney stays with off property hotels, and then we don't eat at Disney (except for Earl of Sandwich). The Sizzler on Irlo Bronson is awesome, and we like Ponderosa (the one on I-Drive is better in our opinion). Both extremely reasonable, and better than you would think.

 

[LizGirl]

I don't like to spend prime park time driving off site. As an alternative, sometimes we eat at a resort QS for variety and it seems like the food is a little better or plentiful for the price. I like the spot at the Poly since they have an outdoor seating area. We don't do a lot of table service dining to save money and time.

Publix grocery stores have a great sub counter at their deli. You could get one in the morning and take it to the parks with you. Then you can eat when you want and not burn time driving around.