eating out on a budget

[letournerie]

I've read many names of good restaurants s.a. Olive Garden, Thank God it's Friday, Tony Roma etc. But they're over our budget.

We are a family of 5 travelling on a budget. No small kids so 5 adults more or less.
We want to have breakfast in a restaurant every day and sometimes eat luch/dinner out as well.

What restaurants/chains are suitable for us? No more than $60 - $70 for the 5 of us, if possible (we don't need apetiser, main and desert).

All ideas are welcome.

[steph_goodrum]

Are youu staying in an hotel or villa? Just wondered because it can make all the difference to your budget. If for example you were to have breakast at the villa for a couple of days and eat out on the 3rd then the budget for the 3rd day can then be increased.

We've stayed before in hotels etc and had to eat every meal out and believe it or not it can get a bit boring being waited on every day because we feel we are losing time doing other things that we would rather be doing.

Having said that if you do want to eat out every day then places like Golden Corral offer all you can eat menus (around $10 for evening , think it about $7 before 4 and breakfast is around $5 (from memory). As they offer a range of food then there is usually something that eveyone likes.

Pondersa, is another which hasall youu can eat.
Places like Perkins are good for family but to be honest at $14 for 2 courses the choice is going to be limited. Even food courts in the malls we usually spend around $40 for 3 of us by the time we buy drink and meal.

[letournerie]

Thanks for your reply.
We are staying in a villa.
We have already decided to go out to breakfast as we really liked that last time.

We know about Golden Corral, Ponderosa and Sizzler. We liked them, as you say, we all found something we liked.
We also liked the food courts for the same reason but never spent more than $25 for the 5 of us. Main meal and 1 or 2 drinks. We don't drink half a liter each so we share.

Other ideas of restaurants are still welcome!
Does anyone know of a different kind of buffet, different from the likes of GC, Ponderosa etc? Different cuisine I mean for a good price?

[chrizzy100]

Olive Garden does endless soup salad and bread sticks midday...we sometimes stay in there for a few hours eating and drinking...
The price has just gone up a bit from $5.99...but well worth it
Friendly's do all in meals for $10...or we share a starter...the same goes for Fridays that has meals for around $6.00..a few different places to look at a bit above the food court

[letournerie]

Frienlys looks nice!
Thanks Chrizzy, we'll keep it "on file".

[steph_goodrum]

We like Cracker Barrel, haven't been to the local Applebees yet but heard reasonable reports. One of our new favourites is Mannys Chop HOuse down near Southern dunes. We've been hearing people rave about it for a few years and finally got there on the last trip and it was very good value and plenty of it.

There's a few Chinese buffets around and a new Indian on the 192 which has got quite a good rep. so far.

Places like Logans steakhouse have also been recommended by many people.

One good tip is if you see lots of locals eating there it's probably pretty good or cheap (not necessarily both at the same time) but hey you're on holiday so it's an adventure, if it's not good then you don't have to go back.

Celebration has some nice eating places as well and is always good to walk round and se what takes your fancy foodwise.

[hacoates]

I would recommend IHOP International House of Pancakes for breakfast and lunch (a bit basic for dinner but worth a try) also Denny's. Applebees is good as is Chiles. Good and not hot food like you would imagine.

[blott]

Denny's, Perkins, Bob Evans, Pizza Hut, IHOP, Fat Boy's BBQ, Friendly's, Cracker Barrel, along with Ponderosa and other all you can eat buffets, all have good, wholesome food for those on a budget. Pizza Hut has a salad buffet.

Places like Applebee's and Chilis are also good but slightly more expensive. If you're going into this price range, then Smokey Bones, TGI Friday and Olive Garden are also excellent.

If you use www. followed by the restaurant name and then .com, most of them have websites with menu info and prices. [msnwink]

[SDJ]

Sweet Tomatoes on International Drive. Fantastic choice of about 20+ salad items, pizza, selection of soups, selection of pastas,fresh fruit, icecream, choc pud selection plus homemade muffins. You can eat as little or as much as you like for way under $10. It is also the same menu but cheaper at lunchtime or until 4.00pm. Makes a change from the Dennys, IHOP etc., as different. Fantastic value for money.

Sandra

[Katys Grandad]

Bear in mind that eating out attracts tax and (usually) tip on your bill. If your budget is in the region of $60 for 5 then you probably need to allow at least $10 to those so you're really looking at a menu price of about $10 (£7) a head. It is possible to do that but you will be quite limited in your choice.

I'm sure you've considered this but you might not be getting full value out of your rented home by eating out quite so often. For a lot of people, the big plus of self catering is the ability to eat when and what you want in the comfort of your own place. You could 'eat in' a bit more (no tax and tip there!) and have more money and options when you do go out.

[letournerie]

Thanks for all the tips you've all given me!

[letournerie]

Can anyone telle me where I can find Fat Boy's BBQ?

[blott]

<blockquote id="quote" class="ffs">quote:Originally posted by letournerie
Can anyone telle me where I can find Fat Boy's BBQ?[/quote]Yes, it's on the 192. Just after the junction with Thacker and before the junction with John Young Parkway and on the right side. It's not open after 12 noon on Sundays, just for brunch though.

If you want to put it into an online map service, it's 1606 W Vine St, Kissimmee, FL - (407) 847-7098

[skippy]

also I have seen Cici's Pizza, all you can eat buffet for $5.99 but never been to one so don't know what the food is like, I am sure some one will tell you
sue

[letournerie]

We have actually been to Cici's pizza last year for a lunch. We had a blast! It was funny, not a great atmosphere, but just cafeteria style eating. They have 15 different kinds of pizza and they were quite nice. Also some other stuff, pasta, deserts.
As I said, not a restaurant in the style of Ponderosa or better but quite an experience.
We will definitely go back there for lunch next year.

[Jules]

Hi Renee,

I think you will soon tire of having breakfast out everyday, you can save quite a lot of money by eating breakfast at the villa on alternate days. If you head for the likes of Golden Corral for a late breakfast you will find that they start to bring out the lunch items such as the rotisserie chicken at about 11am but if you arrive by say 10.30am or 10.45am you will only pay the breakfast price. Similarly if you go late afternoon but before 4pm you will pay the lunch price but will have some of the dinner choices available, we found this out by accident one day when we had been out early at the parks had missed lunch and decided to have an early dinner, there's not a huge price difference but it all adds up when there are 5 of you.

If you are going soon Applebees have a 2 for $20 offer on that means you can order 1 shareable appetiser plus 2 main courses from a limited menu for $20, if you added 1 more main course there would be plenty for the 5 of you.

I would also recommend Sweet Tomatoes, excellent value and a great selection, my hubby isn't a salad fan but he loves their chilli and soups not to mention the garlic bread, pizza, pasta, baked potatoes, cookies, muffins, ice cream.....

Don't be too shy to use the the coupon booklets that you find outside a lot of the restaurants, they often have 10% off coupons or buy 1 get 1 free offers on main courses etc. Also if you check out the restaurant websites lots of them have loyalty schemes that give you money off coupons. If you join just before your holiday you are likely to get introductory offers, it also helps if you have a birthday around the time you are due to travel [msnwink]

[letournerie]

Hi Julie,
Thanks for your advice.
We actually plan on going out to breakfast at 7 AM, we get up very early and plan to be at the parks before 9 AM. We really enjoyed going out to breakfast last year and that way we only spend $35 max for the 5 of us.
We already planned on eating either a late lunch or an early dinner (what's in a name) because we saw the difference in prices. As for dinner, we will most likely buy some salads/fruits/ready made stuff at the Walmart. We get up early but go to bed early too. Yes, we are really weird people. [msnwink]

I was searching for a menu from Sweet Tomatoes but cannot find one. On their site, it just doesn't open.[msnscared]

[Jules]

There isn't a menu as such at Sweet Tomatoes although they do have certain "special" menu items that are available at certain times of the year. The strawberry tossed salad that is available in May and the chicken pot pie soup in November are 2 of our favourites.

Usually there are 3 or 4 different tossed salads at the start of the salad bar for example Caesar, Thai chicken noodle, Greek and the special of the month followed by a salad bar with just about every conceivable salad ingredient including cooked beans and pulses, different seeds and lots of different dressings, they also sell small pots of cooked chicken that are extra to the buffet price but we have never bothered buying any.

At the end of the salad bar you pay for your meal and your drink and collect your cutlery, you then are shown to a table or find your own depending on how busy it is. Just beyond the tills is the drinks station where you will find several different types of coffee, hot and iced tea, water, milk and soda. In the area where the tables are you will find the soups, usually a choice of 4 plus chilli, plus the pasta station where the chef is cooking the different sorts of pasta, usually a choice of 3, the bakery with several varieties of home made bread, garlic bread, cheese and tomato pizza, cookies, muffins, brownies and the baked sweet potatoes, baked regular potatoes, corn bread, biscuits, butter and hot dessert. There is also a fresh fruit bar and an ice cream and frozen yoghurt machine with a selection of different toppings.

You can help yourself to as much as you like and go back as often as you like all they ask is that you use a clean plate or dish for each visit to the food stations. You leave the dirty dishes on your table and the servers clear them away.

If you sign up to their loyalty scheme called club veg they often send you buy 1 get 1 free coupons or money off coupons.

[letournerie]

Sounds absolutely delicious!!

[sammibabe]

We found getting up early, breakfast at Ponderosa for a big breakfast meant we didn't have to stop for lunch and then out for dinner. We had dinner in the villa 3 times in 3 weeks (cos I'm on holiday too!) Biggest time saver was being at the parks as they opened and also saved time not stopping for lunch. Dinner we liked, as well as others mentioned, Ruby Tuesdays (think that was about $70 for 4 adults and a child, lovely meal) and Bob Evans.