**** (4 stars)
This cavernous space manages to have great ambiance, with rock music videos instead of sports on most monitors. The extensive menu offers lots of good choices including burgers and pizza, and my favorite, jalapeño poppers. They also have one of the best beer lists in the city.
Rock & Brews – Orlando
6897 S Semoran Blvd
Orlando, FL 32822
*** (3 stars)
This restaurant is the best table service choice in Terminal A. Over the past few years the menu has become a bit more conventional. The most welcome change is that they now offer Pepsi products instead of their own weird sodas.
Breakfast is hearty, but the best choices are BBQ and burgers at "dinner", which begins at 10am.
Cask & Larder
1 Jeff Fuqua Blvd
Orlando, FL 32827
**** (4 stars)
They've done a great job of transforming this former counter-serve pasta assemblage place into a nice sit-down dim sum restaurant.
The menu offers a full range of traditional dim sum, with photos to help those not familiar with the cuisine.
We particularly enjoyed the honey glazed roast pork, cucumber with minced garlic, and shrimp pork siu mai.
Service was attentive, and prices are reasonable.
Dim Dim Sum
4700 S Apopka Vineland Rd
Windermere, FL 34786
***** (5 stars)
Wow, this place is HUGE. Fortunately the ceilings are high, so noise levels are reasonable. And the interior decor is very nice, with giant fake trees.
Kudos to management, because opened only three weeks this place was extremely busy, yet running like clockwork.
The menu is extensive. We started with a giant pretzel, and the sauces that came with it were amazing, especially the house sauce, a mixture of mayonnaise, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and black pepper. The pizza dough was also very good, and the chicken wings, ordered extra crispy, were truly HOT.
This is a real brewery, and offers only their own brews. The four beer sampler is a good deal. They also have a full bar.
New York Beer Project – Orlando
9230 Miley Dr
Winter Garden, FL 34787
https://www.yelp.com/biz/new-york-beer-project-orlando-winter-garden
***** (5 stars)
I realized it has been ten years since I've left a review of Cedar's on Yelp! Blissfully, nothing has changed. It's still the best Middle Eastern food in Orlando. In fact, I've traveled the world and have yet to find better.
The hummus and tabbouleh and baba ganoush can't be beat. The falafel is never greasy, and the pitas are baked fresh and replenished multiple times during your meal.
Service is always friendly, and you can tell they are really happy for your business.
Perfection.
Cedar’s Restaurant
7732 W Sand Lake Rd
Orlando, FL 32819
***** (5 stars)
This is a beautiful restaurant with great food and service. We shared an assortment of appetizers, and they were all very good.
Highlights were the ceviche and the very creative green pea hummus with fried pitas. The grilled shrimp and the Caesar salads were also both very nice preparations. I liked the goat filling in the Yuca nests, but the yuca was a bit heavy.
We went for a late Sunday lunch and it looked like they were setting up for evening live entertainment.
They also have outside dining.
Sajoma Latin Fusion
1600 W Osceola Pkwy
Kissimmee, FL 34741
***** (5 stars)
This is one of those places where they freeze your ice cream to order using liquid nitrogen, and mixing it in a stainless steel bowl. You have your choice of base–regular, sugar free, lactose free, etc– and added flavors and mix-ins.
I've been to some of these where the result is a smoother consistency, but here is turns out rather chunky, sort of like frozen curds, which wasn't my favorite, but if that's your thing then you'll enjoy it. I also thought my lactose free coffee with chocolate chips was very, very sweet. I'm not sure why. But again, if you're getting ice cream with mix-ins, perhaps that's just what you're looking for.
There are bounce houses out back for the kids to further mix their ice cream after consumption,
Abracadabra Ice Cream Factory
520 N Main St
Kissimmee, FL 34744
https://www.yelp.com/biz/abracadabra-ice-cream-factory-kissimmee
***** (5 stars)
We love this place not just for its interesting collection of wines, but for the great food. You really can't go wrong with any of the shared plates. We love the Brussels sprouts, bruschetta, charcuterie, and the pita plate. Caesar salad is excellent.. And you won't find a better pizza crust anywhere–it's imported from Napoli. Service is very gracious and welcoming, and the wine advice is, of course, great.
The Vineyard Wine Bar and Healthy Bistro
4848 South Apopka Vineland Rd
Orlando, FL 32819
https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-vineyard-wine-bar-and-healthy-bistro-orlando