Downtown Disney: Paradiso 37

The dream of living at Disney includes eating at Downtown Disney all the time. So we decided to give it a try at Paradiso 37.


The restaurant is huge with two level seating and outdoor seating that overlooks the lake. We were sat next to the open kitchen, which I always find to be bad form. They were assembling orders two foot from my face and I was continually smelling food I was not eating. I don't find the trials and tribulations of the wait staff nor their banter entertaining. On top of that we spent most of our meal fighting a fly for our food.


The restaurant has an entertainer who walks around outside speaking Spanish and occasionally singing a song. I couldn't see him, so, I can't really speak to how entertaining he was. What I was listening to was annoying.


We ordered margaritas. Sometimes margaritas have an excellent flavor depending upon the quality of taquilla that is used. We weren't offered a top shelf taquilla and the drinks were... Average.


First were the Nachos. We ordered without pico, peppers, or lettuce ad it arrived rather bare with queso drizzled over baked chips. We dug in deep and found the Chili near the bottom.


I ordered the steak burrito which came with BBQ beans and rice. The beans were soupy but had a good smoked BBQ taste. We were expecting refried beans and the BBQ flavor didn't really match the rest of the plate but I enjoyed it. Linda didn't like it and didnt eat them.


The rice was stiff, a little undercooked, and not full of flavor. Linda was unimpressed with the rice and didn't eat it.

The burrito came with a red sauce that tasted like squash. Which is good if you like cooked squash. Linda said that if she had ordered the burrito she wouldn't have been able to eat it. The burrito has sautéed vegetables and was on the salty side but otherwise good.

Linda had the Enchilada with red sauce. It was good. The corn tortea didn't have much corn flavor, and was difficult to cut without using a knife, but was overall good.


We found the portions sized to have been appropriate for lunch, not dinner. Even with the nachos, we left hungry and decided to find desert elsewhere. Our meal (with tip) was over $80. I didn't see the value. Scale from 1 to 10? I'll give it a 6. Linda gave it a 5.

Colorado House of Beef, Kissimmee FL

To get a feel for what it might be like to live at Disney, we like to eat at local restaurants. One such place we decided to try was the Colorado House of Beef.

This place sits just outside Disney property on Rt 192. In fact, the parking lot backs to the casting offices.


Their sign advertises a fajita bar, steaks, ribs, etc However, when we arrived and sat down and tried to order a hamburger.. A simple hamburger that a house of beef should have - they couldn't make one. So, we left. Their loss.

Beef O'Brady's, Daveport Florida

One thing we like to do is dine off property. It is the most fun to avoid chains and try something local get a better understanding what living at Disney might be like.


Today we ate at Beef O'Brady's in Davenport on rt 27, just 20 minutes from Disney World. We simply take Rt 192 West until it ends, then head south on Rt 27.

O'Brady's is a sports bar restaurant so the place is ringed with TVs. There was no sound from the TVs and no closed caption, so lip reading was essential. The restaurant has a bar, which was always full. Wood finished booths and tables fill the rest of the restaurant. And other than an occasional crying kid, the restaurant was quite. There is also a room with several video games. 


A good rule is to always check the restroom before ordering in a restaurant because you can usually tell everything you need to know from how the bathrooms are maintained. The bathrooms were what you would expect to find in a bar - in terms of layout, function, decor, maintenance, and cleanliness. It wasn't horrible, but did suffer from lack of a really good cleaning. 

We chose our own seat. The bench I sat at still had crumbs from a past customer, so, I used a napkin and brushed them off. The menus awaited us at the table. The pages of my menu were sticky and had some kind of past food product on it. I had to hand sanitize after ordering. 


We ordered Nachoes with chili. They arrived in a basket and I was very concerned about the quality of nachos in such a relaxed serving. But they were awesome. The tomatoes were fresh, chips crispy, and the salsa was the best - a brown salsa with nice flavor and just a little bite. 


I ordered the chicken fajitas. The chicken had a very fresh unseasoned taste to it, which tells me it wasn't cooked with the peppers and onions. It was served with that incredible salsa, which was impractical because the salsa just ran out of the fajita and down my arm. 


Linda ordered the O'Brady Burger, which came provolone cheese and mayonnaise. Linda said it was good but she was full after only half the sand which. She ordered it medium well and it arrived perfectly cooked. 

Napkins are from a dispenser on the table, which is convenient. But the napkins were cheap and we had to use a mound of them. 

The service was good, the food was good, and if ever passing through Davenport again, I would stop back in to Beef O'Brady's.

Disney World: Nine Dragons

It must be incredible to run a restaurant at Disney World. The restaurant is always packed with a line out the door all year long - what a dream! Or, perhaps, this impression isn't true? 

We were in Epcot last week passing through China near park closing the food smelled incredible. So, we decided to try for an ADR for our next trip to Epcot in a week. 

We got an ADR for Nine Dragons for the exact time we wanted with no problem at all. 

When we arrived at Epcot it started to rain. We arrived an hour early for our ADR to see if we could get in... And they sat us immediately! We looked around the restaurant and it wasn't very full. 


During today's Dis Unplugged Podast it was mentioned that when people dine at Disney they expect the meal to be the greatest meal they have every had or else they are disappointed. There is truth to that. Our Chinese restaurant back home is much better and a third the price. 
 

It is all about setting expectations and appreciating the opportunity to dine at Disney. It has to be good but it doesn't have to be the best you have ever had. Nine Dragons was a nice change of pace and a great experience. Because Nine Dragons has Chinese food you can get anywhere else for a third the price, we probably won't eat at Nine Dragons ever again. But it was a nice experience.