Downtown Disney: Ghirdelli Ice Cream Shop

On the advice of Lou Mangello, We decided to try the Ghiradelli Ice Cream Shop.


I ordered the Hot Fudge Sundae with cookies and cream ice cream.


Linda ordered the Waffle Cone with two scoops of chocolate ice cream.


We usually eat soft serve ice cream or cheap store brand ice cream. We rarely get high quality ice cream that is so full of flavor like we received today. Usually I can slurp down any ice cream, but this was so rich and flavorful that I had to take my time.


The total with tax was $17, which is a high according to the price I pay for normal bland ice cream. I think Lou made a good recommendation.

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.

The Route 192 BBQ Competition!

If you are staying near Disney World and are hungry for some great BBQ, then you’ll want to read this. We are going to pit two of the best smoke houses on Route 192 in Kissimmee: Smokey Bones versus Wildside BBQ. Both of these can be found on 192 just 6 miles apart from each other. They offer steaks, pork, chicken, ribs – everything you would expect. And you can order it piled it high to meet any appetite.

 

For appetizer, we are going to start with the Nachos. The nachos are piled high with cheese, BBQ meat, and various other toppings. Wildside BBQ delivered a giant plate stuffed with BBQ meat. Meanwhile, the cheese on the Smokey Bones nachos wasn’t melted and the BBQ meat was cold; it was difficult finding enough topping to finish eating the Smokey Bones nachos.

 

WINNER OF THE APPETIZER: Wild Side BBQ

 

The décor of both restaurants is very nice. A nice option at Wild Side BBQ is to sit watching the cook at the fire pit. Meanwhile, Smokey Bones has televisions everywhere and plays music (which we found the music to be too loud). Nevertheless, Smokey Bones is going to win the décor because Wild Side placed us at a tiny booth at the front of the restaurant and we had to push the booth back in order to fit – and we aren’t large family!

 

WINNER OF DÉCOR: Smokey Bones BBQ

 

We tested order accuracy with some very easy customizations. Wild Side BBQ delivered everything correctly. Smokey Bones delivered our nachos with tomatoes on it (when we asked for none) and forgot to put bacon on our mashed potatoes.

 

WINNER OF ORDER ACCURACY: Wild Side BBQ

 

A BBQ meal isn’t complete without BBQ beans. Smokey Bones beans are thicker with a bolder BBQ flavor. Wild Side BBQ has a thinner sauce. Smokey Bones is going to win this due to the bolder flavor even though the flavor ‘got to me’ and I couldn’t finish the beans.

 

WINNER OF THE BBQ BEANS: Smokey Bones BBQ

 

Each restaurant has a selection of BBQ sauces to use with your meat selection. Wild side had four flavors to choose from, and Smokey Bones had three. Everyone’s preferences are different. I prefer a sweater BBQ sauce. I had difficulty finding a sauce I liked at Smokey Bones. Wild Side, on the other hand, had a sauce I simply loved.

 

WINNER OF THE BBQ SAUCE: Wild Side BBQ

 

The restaurants are priced differently for similar products. While both are reasonable, considering what you are getting, we found Smokey Bones to be cheaper providing better value.

 

WINNER OF THE BETTER VALUE: Smokey Bones BBQ

 

You can tell a lot about a restaurant by looking at their restrooms. Both restaurants had adequate bathrooms. Smokey Bones had the best restroom décor but I found Smokey Bones to be dirty and not fully functional.

 

WINNER OF THE BEST RESTROOM: Wild Side BBQ.

 

Many of the vacation area restaurants offer extras, such as souvenirs, park tickets, or pictures. Smokey Bones offered none of these. Wild Side took our picture and offered it to us for purchase. Normally we would purchase the picture, but this time my wife’s eyes were closed, so, I complained that I couldn’t buy it. The photographer was mad, snapped back the picture, and walked away. Conclusion? Sometime offering no service is better than offering poor service.

 

WINNER OF THE EXTRAS: Smokey Bones BBQ

 

The other item of note: We tried the Smokey Bones Macaroni and cheese, but didn’t try the Wild Side Macaroni and Cheese, so, we can’t compare it. But we can describe it. The Smokey Bones Macaroni and Cheese had a strong onion flavor and a sharp cheese flavor that left an after taste. We could not eat it. I would recommend staying clear of the Macaroni and Cheese.

 

So let’s recap.

	WINNER
Appetizer	Wild Side BBQ
Order Accuracy	Wild Side BBQ
BBQ Sauce	Wild Side BBQ
Best Restroom	Wild Side BBQ
Decore	Smokey Bones BBQ
BBQ Beans	Smokey Bones BBQ
Value	Smokey Bones BBQ
Extras	Smokey Bones BBQ

 

In conclusion, both restaurants are excellent. Regardless of which you pick? You won’t be disappointed. So, tuck your napkin into your shirt, order a big pile of BBQ meat, and dig in!

Disney World's Chef Mickey

We started Sunday at Chef Mickey, or, the Scream Chamber, as I like to call it. This is a breakfast buffet at Disney's Contemporary Resort. The Contemporary is a large triangle shaped hotel that allows monorails to run strait through the center of the hotel. The buffet has excellent breakfast choices. Breakfast in interrupted by Disney characters (Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Donald, and Goofy) who pause for pictures.

 

I call this the Scream Chamber because the restaurant sits in a cove within the cavernous hotel. The screaming kids causes a defining echo chamber. I have read the area has been flagged by OSHA for sound levels, and workers are required to take longer breaks to recover.

When on vacation too many parents take a vacation from parenting. They allow their 5 and 6 year olds to go to the buffet by themselves. The children return with a plate mounded high with food. The child takes one bite from the plate and the rest goes into the garbage. What are these parents doing allowing this to happen?