Orlando - Suggestions needed for Orlando suburbs dinner and hotel planning

Trying to throw together a last-minute gathering with about a dozen folks, most of whom live in the Orlando suburbs (Lake Mary, Lake Emma, Winter Park etc). We are the only out-of-towners and have ended up as ring-leaders which makes it harder.

What the ideal places would be:


-Restaurant: Moderate price range (entrees $20-25), any cuisine, must have at least beer/wine service but full bar is preferred
-Restaurant that takes reservations (cause I don't want to show up at 8pm on a Saturday with 12 people and roll the dice)
-Decent mid-scale or business-style hotel within 1/2 mile or so, to make it easy for folks to walk back, so we can encourage people not to drink and drive OR a hotel shuttle
-The path between hotel and restaurant should have a sidewalk and be decent for walking on. A lot of the Lake Mary area roads don't have sidewalks, for example big sections of International Parkway (or at least they didn't, last time I was down there)
-Would prefer the hotel to be Hilton or Marriott but that's not a deal-breaker
-Hotel price range is flexible and I'd rather spend a little more for a nicer place with more amenities, than go for the cheapest thing I can find
-Can be in any location, pretty much anywhere between Orlando downtown and Lake Mary
-Prefer to stay away from International Drive in Orlando if we can
-Prefer non-chain restaurants over chains but will definitely consider chains


Having an office in the area, I stay at the Lake Mary Marriott a few times a year and I hate it; also I know there's a new Residence Inn right there which I'd be willing to try; however, lots of these folks are co-workers who end up in that retail complex weekly for happy hour, so I think it'd be less "special" if we all go to dinner in their usual happy hour joint.

Am currently considering staying at the HGI Lake Mary and gathering at Jax around the corner (off Lake Emma Road) but would prefer something just a bit more upscale than Jax, and I don't remember there to be particularly good sidewalks on that section of Lake Emma Road.

Am also considering Charley's on OBT for dinner but can't seem to remember any decent hotels in that neighborhood (the OBT hotels that I remember are the kind that charge by the hour).

I know there's tons of choices--- would love to hear from some locals on their recommendations! I can look all this up online but that becomes tedious and overwhelming (I did try that first, then ran out of steam and decided to ask for help).

Thanks in advance!

Hi Patti-

I live in the area and can recommend some good restaurants, but am less sure of hotels & motels because I don't use them. Thurston House in Maitland http://thurstonhouse.com might be a possibility. I have never stayed there - am just aware of them. Also, I don't know if they could accommodate a group the size of yours. It is very convenient to Antonio's La Fiamma.

In Winter Park, I suggest the Ravenous Pig http://www.theravenouspig.com

In Maitland: Antonio's La Fiamma Ristorante http://tinyurl.com/25ysst8

Altamonte Springs: Bahama Breeze http://www.bahamabreeze.com
Technically a chain, but you may not have one where you live. The food is good, within your price range and the atmosphere is lively. No reservations, but they may have "call ahead seating". You'll have to check this out yourself.

Eastern Pearl http://www.easternpearlrestaurant.com

There is a Hilton in Altamonte Springs.

Altamonte Springs: Bahama Breeze http://www.bahamabreeze.com
Technically a chain, but you may not have one where you live. The food is good, within your price range and the atmosphere is lively. No reservations, but they may have "call ahead seating". You'll have to check this out yourself.


+1 to everything Orlando Vic has offered. I also enjoy Bahama Breeze. Solid food, great atmosphere, and good prices. Great for groups. Please let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the replies :)

Our get-together was this past weekend; we stayed at the Hilton Altamonte Springs, which happened to be on Point Stretchers redemption so I was able to arrange rooms for 3 couples on points (we paid for ours so we could get some credit for the current US Airways promo). Couldn't have asked for better: everyone on staff was helpful, pleasant and took great care of us. I appreciated that the hotel extended my Hilton gold benefits to my guests tpp. 18.5k points per room for nice rooms, comp breakfast and an awesome shuttle driver is a bargain in my book ^

For dinner we did Kobe Japanese Steakhouse in Altamone Springs, always a fun time. There's a couple other Japanese Steakhouse/hibachi/teppanyaki places in the area but to me Kobe is the best. We ate well, did Hilton bar before and after (bartender Dani is a gem), and the Hilton folks looked the other way when we camped out at the pool after closing with some wine. We did our part by keeping noise down and cleaning up after ourselves :)

Only note of caution on that Hilton-- our GPS tried to take us to Lake Mary from the airport, as there's a minor discrepancy in the way "Northlake Blvd" shows up, apparently on Hilton's website it's North Lake but on the roadsigns it's all one word. Put it into the GPS as 2 words and you get something in the Hilton family that's on North Lake in Lake Mary. We caught it (my boyfriend used to live in the area) but one of our guests didn't!

Eastern Pearl-- funny to see that on the recommendations list as that was the place we chose for our last gathering with this same group. Never disappoints!

But I've never been that impressed with Bahama Breeze; I never found it worth the price tag (and it's not overly pricey, just so many other choices in that price range). Maybe I've only been there on "off" nights?

Anyway, thanks for the tips. We try to get together with our Orlando-area buddies every so often, so it's always relevant!