6 Best Restaurants in Orlando, Florida

Columbia Restaurant

$$$ Fodor's choice

Celebration's branch of this high-end, family-owned chain might be better than the original in Tampa, which has been operating for more than a century. For your main course, zero in on the paella—either à la Valenciana (with meat and seafood) or campesina ("farmer's" paella with beef, pork, chorizo, and chicken). The best dessert, brazo gitano cien anos (sponge cake with strawberries that is soaked in syrup and Spanish sherry and flambéed table-side), was created for the restaurant chain's 100th anniversary in 2005, and is well worth its price just for the show. Friday and Saturday nights feature a tapas bar and entertainment.

Lakeside Bar + Grill

$$$ Fodor's choice

The menus at Kessler restaurants are always special. From waffles served with Grand Marnier syrup for breakfast to extravagant Saturday and Sunday brunch to tenderloin au poivre for dinner, the fare is sophisticated. Craft cocktails and sinful desserts round out the experience.

360 American Bistro

$$

A large and interesting selection of American dishes is served at breakfast and lunch, as well as, perhaps, an early dinner (as in before 6 pm). Offerings range from burgers and hand-tossed pizza to gator bites and frog legs.

Recommended Fodor's Video

Ari Celebration

$$$

This bright, modern restaurant serves fairly standard sushi rolls and an interesting range of hot dishes. Menu standouts include the bulgogi or shrimp bibimbap rice bowl.

Celebration Town Tavern

$$$

Operated by a family with Boston roots, this New England–cuisine eatery has a double personality: the interior is a brass, glass, and dark-wood-paneling kind of place, while the outside patio has table seating plus the Paddy O' Bar. The food ranges from landlubber treats like baby back ribs, prime rib, and half-pound burgers (from $8) to exquisite seafood including Ipswich clams, lobster rolls, scrod, and 2-pound lobsters (all flown in from Boston), plus, on occasion, a salute to the Sunshine State with Florida stone crabs in season. Although the place has a polished demeanor, there are plenty of menu choices right out of a working-class Boston bar—meatball hoagies, Philly cheesesteak sandwiches, and Buffalo-style chicken wings. For dessert there's great—what else?—Boston cream pie.

Eleven Reunion Resort

$$$

Eleven, highly thought of in an area of town dominated by fast food and golf clubhouse eateries (including the ones at Reunion), features high-class small plates crafted around seafood from Maine and Florida, house-made charcuterie, and shareable dishes. The location high atop the resort affords panoramic views of still-forested Florida and, in the right weather, theme park fireworks 10 miles away.

7593 Gathering Dr., Celebration, Florida, 34747, USA
833-258–0472
Known For
  • well-crafted small plates and cocktails
  • Wagyu beef and New England mussels
  • views of pristine Florida and theme park fireworks
Restaurants Details
Rate Includes: Closed Sun.–Wed. and Fri. (but check). No lunch