Calling all greater Orlando area GRM'rs!
Need your help! I'm taking the family to Orlando for a week and will be doing the obligatory theme parks for a few days. We intentionally left a few days to visit with some local family and make a pilgrimage to one of the local-ish beaches.
What local local restaurants and areas should we make sure to check out while we're there?
www.acecafeusa.com
The Ace Cafe Orlando just opened. I haven't made it down yet. Anyone make it to the grand opening?
I usually hit up Anna's Polish Restaurant when I'm down there for work.
High tide harrys. Best fried clams i have ever had. Anywhere. At any price.
I recommend the space center. It is a unique experience. The long version follows.
The theme park area is giant and there will be more than enough to do for a few days of vacation. International drive has all the rest of the touristy places and is just outside of the parks. I live in Orlando so I try to avoid as much of that as possible.
If you want to get a little farther away, there are two options nearby. Mills Ave north of East Colonial Drive (just NE of downtown) has a bunch of interesting and unique restaurants. Pig Floyds and Hawkers are both worth a try. It is also the location of Vietnam-town if you like southeast Asian food.
Downtown Winter Park has some nicer food and shops. It is the kind of place where you can walk around to see the sights. It is a good location for Pokemon Go. Burger Fi and Croissant Gourmet are two reasonably priced options. There is some seriously expensive stuff here as well.
The space center is the best theme park if you are the engineer type. I haven't been there for the new shuttle exhibits but the room with the Saturn V is amazing. Cocoa Beach is next door.
Under the bridge in south Daytona Beach has some reasonable fresh seafood. There are other good places but we always end up here.
Most importantly, there are autocrosses at the Orange County Convention Center on July 1 and July 9.
Disney Springs? There's some nice shops and good food there.
Appreciate the suggestions all. It seems that we'll get to Winter Park and the Space Center/Cocoa Beach. Now just trying to find a great local local oyster shack. Looking forward to trying the fried clams at High Tide Harry's.
Haven't made it to Ace yet--hopefully soon. Yeah, Space Center is way, way cool. When we're in Orlando, usually it's for music, to see friends, or hit the skatepark. Skycraft Surplus is also worth a stop if you need any doodads. I know, I'm a horrible tour guide. I'll put on my thinking cap.
Old town/fun spot are pretty awesome if you're into kitschy old time amusement parks. You can catch the first wooden rollercoaster with an inversion in I believe all of florida being constructed, and you can get damn close. I drive is tourist he'll, but the Orlando eye (tallest ferris wheel in the US iirc...you can see disneys fireworks from it at night) Madame tussauds, sea life, and the bone museum are neat. I assume there will be women with you, and I suspect they like fancy purses. The Orlando premium outlets offer plenty of pocket book friendly shopping, while shopping for pocket books. Bonus, you can get boozes all over the place. The mall at millennia is interesting if you want to see how rich people Shop. There's a jimmy Choo store. Your wife will know what that is. Dinsey springs...yeah you're gonna end up there. Skip the food.
Beer- there are a positively shocking amount of breweries here. Crooked can is super good...their kolsch and their trippel....amazing. I just did a beer fest downtown, and it was impressive. They're actually really kid friendly too, lawn games and stuff.
Food...jesus where do I start. As mentioned before, skip disney springs food. It's really good, but Jesus I paid damn near 20 bucks a plate at the polite pig, for lunch, and I get a discount! They do have gin and tonic on tap though.
As Dusterbd13 mentioned, high tide Harry's. I found the place by accident after going on a distillery tour. Amazing food, great price. Apparently I'm not the only one that liked it. If you're on I drive- sugarcanes rum bar. Island food, killer drinks. Get the mussels special and the oxtails. Chef Dwayne is the man. If you want a sketchy burrito joint, in a sketchy part of town, go to a place called toños, on orange blossom trail north of the florida mall. Toño is this little Mexican dude doesn't speak a lick of English, but I swear to dog, he's got the best burrito in central Florida. I know for a fact all his ingredients are fresh, I sell them to him 3x/week at least. Cuban food- place called black bean deli on east colonial in downtown. Craziest black beans I've ever had.
There's a lot of other stuff too, it all depends on what you want.
What time frame are you looking at being down here? Also, if you need park advice, lemme know. I might know some things.
Appreciate all the options guys. We hit Se7en Bites today with family as their friend Trina runs the place and it was fantastic. Se7en Bites
Fantasy of Flight has reopened, although in scaled down version.
You'll need to log in to post.
