Let me just say selecting 10 Orlando Food Spots was tough (I happily invite you to try and list your top 10 favorite food spots yourself).
When I say the word 'food spot,' I envision I’m taking my friends out on the town after being gone from Orlando for a while (or first-time visitors).
A place to grab dinner, catch up, and eat good food together.
Without further ado, listed below are my top 10 Orlando Food Spots!
1. Domu - $$
- Food Style: Japanese/Asian
- Alcohol available: Yes
- Outdoor seating: Yes
- Known for: Gourmet Ramen
- Recommended Party Size: 6 or less
I love bringing my friends who are visiting from out of town here, the music is 90's R&B and it's bumping loud.
Most people don't believe in spending more money on Ramen, but I always persuade them when it comes to this Orlando food spot.
This restaurant is prone to have a wait, but once you're in it feels very intimate and relaxed. I've had some great conversations with people of a hot bowl of ramen here.
If I recommend you try anything it would HAVE to be the Domu wings and a cocktail. Neither are ramen related but they will compliment anything you order!
My favorite cocktail from them is the Bees Knees, can't go wrong with Gin and Honey!
2. Beefy King - $ (My review on Beefy King can be found here)
- Food Style: American Deli Classics/Fast Food
- Alcohol available: No
- Outdoor seating: No
- Known for: Steamed Beef Sandwiches
- Recommended Party Size: 4 or less
This Orlando food spot has been around for over 50 years and I always passed it because I thought it was "fast food." Which, it is fast food, but it's made really well.
Your food is always made to order, it's fresh and hot and served with a smile.
This place is family-owned and makes you feel like you are part of their family. They have a drive-thru, but I always recommend sitting in their dining room. It's amazingly retro and very cozy.
I always order the Beef 'n Cheese 'n Onion sandwich with Spuds and 1/2 Swt & 1/2 Unswt Tea. Along with consuming tons of their spicy BBQ sauce with the spuds.
This is the food I like to eat in silence. I don't need to converse, I just need to consume my sandwich.
3. Peter's Kitchen - $$
- Food Style: Chinese/Asian
- Alcohol available: Yes
- Outdoor seating: No
- Known for: Dim Sum
- Recommended Party Size: 12 or less
This Orlando food spot is for the friend/visitor who is an adventurer.
There are so many Dim-Sum (small plate) items to try at Peter's Kitchen. Sharing is caring at this restaurant especially so no one gets too full so you can order more stuff!
The Jasmine tea is $1 and so tasty and piping hot, it'll be hot your whole time there.
You are served the tea in a pot and cups for sharing, I definitely recommend ordering one for the table!
Some items I really love from Peter's Kitchen are their shrimp dumplings and their signature dumpling (pictured).
Everything else is an added bonus! My favorite thing about Peter's is the food and the people I have eating here with me.
4. Canvas Lake Nona - $$
- Food Style: New American
- Alcohol available: Yes
- Outdoor seating: Yes
- Known for: Ambience
- Recommended Party Size: 8 or less
Canvas is bending the Orlando food spot border but still an amazing restaurant worth keeping in the top 10 to take someone for a special occasion.
This restaurant is a little pricer (~$20 a plate), but everything they make is so fresh and lite.
My sister has a lot of dietary limitations so she loves coming to Canvas because they always accommodate her needs, they'll usually make something that's not on the menu but it's always so good!
I always wind up getting a salad and adding protein to it. It sounds lame, but their salads are amazing. It doesn't even need a dressing!
Something I always order when I come here is their yuca fries!!
They are drizzled with honey and served with the best garlic herb sauce. This is usually the first the we ask from our server before we're even sat at the table.
5. Luke's Kitchen - For Lunch $$ (My review on Luke's Kitchen can be found here)
- Food Style: Contemporary American
- Alcohol available: Yes
- Outdoor seating: Yes
- Known for: Lunch Special
- Recommended Party Size: 10 or less
Anyone in the Maitland, FL area should know about this Orlando food spot. Or have at least seen it on their way home from work.
This farm-to-table restaurant is located very close to a lot of corporate offices, and they have this amazing lunch special for $15.
The special consists of 2 pre-determined appetizers and the guest can select the main entree and dessert which is their UNBELIEVABLE house-made soft serve.
The flavors for their soft serve are ever-changing, along with their menus!
Every week is a different lunch special which is always a big incentive for me to go back because it's new every time.
A must-try (if you like raw fish) is their spicy tuna avocado toast 😍 you won't regret it.
6. Taste of Chengdu 成都味道 - $$
- Food Style: Chinese/Asian
- Alcohol available: Yes
- Outdoor seating: No
- Known for: Schezuan
- Recommended Party Size: 6 or less
This Sichuan Orlando Food spot is for the heat-seekers looking for a different type of spice feeling!
Known for their incorporation of the peppercorn, their dishes offer a citrusy mouth numbing spice that doesn't really overwhelm you.
You're not gonna sweat bullets from one bite.
The flavor is highly addictive and keeps you coming back for bites. After eating some Sichuan sauce after a while, drink some cold water and it tastes more like lemon water because of all the citron notes in your mouth!
If I can recommend anything that is a must, it would have to be the cucumber salad.
It is a great heat diffuser to give your mouth a break. Maybe add the spicy Sichuan dumplings to the list too!
7. Border Grill - $
- Food Style: Mexican
- Alcohol available: Yes
- Outdoor seating: Yes
- Known for: Street Tacos/Quesadillas
- Recommended Party Size: 4 or less
Over by the Universal area, this Orlando food spot carries a lot of authentic Mexican flavors. Nothing is drowning in saucehere, and that's a good thing.
For someone who doesn't love cheese, I still LOVE their queso and quesadillas.
Their chips and salsas are delicious too! The chips are made in-house along with their salsas.
The house salsa isn't very chunky but it's not too smooth either, it's perfect to dip for their thinner chips!
But the true reason I come back is for their street tacos.
They're so similar and delicious. If you wind up going, I recommend you eat outside and sip on a corona (or a Jarritos if you're not into alcohol).
8. Hot Dog Heaven - $ (My review on Hot Dog Heaven can be found here)
- Food Style: American Fast Food
- Alcohol available: No
- Outdoor seating: Yes
- Known for: Chicago Dogs
- Recommended Party Size: 4 or less
For someone who does not like the taste/flavor of hot dogs, this Orlando food spot has great chicken sausages that make up for it.
The Chicago Dog toppings are my love language, the bun is nice and steamed, you just have to try it.
It's a small place I will say, and if you don't wanna sit outside right next to a busy main road, there is no shame eating 2 dogs in your car, NONE.
If you do go, do me a solid and order their french fries.
They are steak-sized and wonderfully crispy. It is the only item from Hot Dog Heaven that calls for Ketchup.
9. Armando's - $$ (My review on Armando's can be found here)
- Food Style: Italian
- Alcohol available: Yes
- Outdoor seating: Yes
- Known for: Ambience/Pizza’s/Wine selection
- Recommended Party Size: 8 or less
I am not Italian so I have no idea what makes for an authentic Italian experience but this Orlando food spot does it for me.
Their wine selections are amazing, nothing tastes too heavy, and they make incredible pizzas if I do say so myself.
It might be childish to order a margarita pizza at a restaurant creating so many Italian dishes, but I get my wine & my pizza and it's less than $20 and I'm set with leftovers.
If you have room for dessert, of course I'm going to recommend the tiramisu. It is so light and airy with that lovely espresso flavor, it's perfect to share between two people or for someone who really wants it.
- Food Style: Italian Pizzeria
- Alcohol available: No
- Outdoor seating: Yes (it’s a pop-up currently)
- Known for: Neopolitan Pizza
- Recommended Party Size: 6 or less
An Orlando Food Spot Pizza Pop-Up Shop known for it's creativity and punk-rockability.
They know how to make vegans happy because they make sure a vegan pie is always available at every pop-up they have.
There's one that comes with cashew ricotta "cheese" that is *chef's kiss* no gas for you lactose folks!
My favorite pie from them is a seasonal one called 'The Birria Bomb.'
Inspired by Birria Tacos, it is so fire I think I like it better than the tacos, which sounds crazy but it's the truth!
Their pies range from $12-$15 and your promised leftovers (if you have self-constraint).
If you wind up going to one of these local food spots, please be sure to let me know! You can tag me @allysoneatz or #allysoneatz, I would LOVE to see what you’ve ordered along with your thoughts on the restaurants as well.
Until next time!
Allyson