Great Inexpensive Restaurants in Orlando and Ft.Lauderdale/Miami/South Areas

[natesmom22]

Hi

We are travelling from Canada to visit Florida in late December, early January. We'll be doing Orlando and Disney for a week and then are renting a house in Dania Beach area for 2nd week.

I was hoping to get some recommendations for some really great seafood or other restaurants that have great food and not expensive prices. We're travelling on a budget, but want to experience some of what Florida has to offer.

Also, any tips on what to do while we are there would be great, too... email is [e-mail]

Thanks!

Lisa.

[netmover]

Tropical Acres-Griffin
The British Pub on Dania Beach Blvd.
Flanigans-Hallandale Blvd and Griffin
Capone Flicker Lite-A1A Hollywood Beach
Le Tub-Next door to above
Angelos Pizzaria-Hollywood Boardwalk
Giorgio's Bakery-A1A Hollywood
Tarks-over there somewhere on US1
Ricky's-Hollywood Blvd and 48th St
Sub Center-Hollywood Blvd just east of 441 aka State Road 7
Shenanagins-Sheridan St.
Old Heidleberg-Sheridan St.
Ale House-Hollywood

I am sure this old industry joke doesn't apply to you, but I'll share it nontheless:

Do you know the difference between a canoe and a cannuck? A canoe tips! :-) Don't forget to leave 15%!!!

[Bob Mervine]

For the Orlando portion, it is quite helpful to know more details.

Is "we" a couple or a family?
If family, how many people, what are the age groups of kids, extended family members, etc.?
Do you have your own transportation?
Staying in an on-site Disney hotel and using Disney transportation requires different arrangements and planning than staying on International Drive with a car.
As you can see from other posts on this board relating to the same subject (posts you should be reading, by the way), the information you need to make plans for a family spending most of their time in the theme parks is quite different from that for someone who wants absolutely nothing to do with any food that bears the Disney name.
Other than seafood, what are some of your other favorite types of food?
What kinds of food do you prefer to stay away from?
Ethnic and local type restaurants can help with cost if you all will eat that kind of food. Otherwise, you can certainly depend on dining at the many chain restaurantss that are ubiquitous to Central Florida's TouristWorld.
Also, just as a tip -- or warning, perhaps -- the period of time you plan to be here is perhaps the single busiest time for out of town visitors coming to Orlando.
The Christmas and post-Christmas week will offer you painful, frustratingly long wait times, crowded restaurants, traffic delays, etc. They are not unmanageable, with some planning and the occasional lowering of expectations, but be prepared for all of those things.
Hotels and theme park insiders are already predicting that this looks like the best (meaning the busiest) season they have seen in the last five or six years.

Bob

[meb903]

since you will be in Dania, you should try Jaxon's Ice Cream. It is not food per se, but it is well known down here. As for Ft. Lauderdale, what price range are you interested in? Not expensive means different things to different people.