When there’s over-the-top theme parks, there’s over-the-top restaurants. In Orlando alone, we have places to eat where you can hang out with everything from dinosaurs to pirates. But not all of Florida’s craziest restaurants are located in The City Beautiful. Here are 33 Florida restaurants where the menu often comes second to the experience.
Jock Lindsey’s Hangar Bar
1486 Buena Vista Drive | 407-939-6244
If you were to catch Indiana Jones knocking back beers anywhere at Disney, it’d be at Jock Lindsey’s. They do have all his stuff hidden around the bar, after all. Jock Lindsey’s knows that all good explorers need an ice cold mojito after a day of walking under the beating sun, so order yourself the Hovito Mojito, which comes in a souvenir cup for you to take home. It’s not like all treasure has to end up in a museum, right?
Photo via Jock Lindsey’s Hangar BarClark’s Fish Camp
12903 Hood Landing Road, Jacksonville, Fla. 32258 | 904-268-3474
Clark’s Fish Camp has all the wild fun that Animal Kingdom promises without the Disney price of admission. Fend off your hunger with one of their many apps (we recommend the crab cakes), or you’ll have more to worry about than your hunger – like that giant white tiger just chillin’ in the middle of the restaurant.
Photo via Deborah H./YelpDick’s Last Resort
8201 Vineland Ave. | 321-329-3002
The waiters write things like “taken more loads than a Maytag washer” on tall hats, then put them on the patrons. If you’ve got a good sense of humor (and maybe nerves of steel), then go ahead and have it out with the surly servers of Dick’s while they bring you a hot plate of BBQ pork ribs.
Photo via cassandraskyyy/InstagramThe Wreck Bar
1140 Seabreeze Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33316 | 954-524-5551
That crush you’ve been harboring for Ariel just became all the more attainable at the Wreck Bar, where beautiful mermaids swim behind the bar. Just be sure to drop a line and not a hook if you go for it after a few margaritas.
Photo via The Wreck BarMango’s Tropical Cafe
8126 International Drive | 407-673-4422
If South Beach and Vegas had a baby, you would have Mango’s. You’ve got waitresses in feathery costumes and extravagant stage shows keeping the adrenaline pumping. Something crazy and colorful is happening in every corner here. Pro tip: order the signature banana martini for an especially entertaining evening.
Photo via FacebookBern’s Steak House
1208 S. Howard Ave., Tampa | 813-251-2421
If you’re looking to get out of town and have a meal that you won’t soon forget, Bern’s Steak House should be hi-pri. Just about 50 minutes from Orlando, it’s situated in the SoHo (short for “South of Howard”) district of Tampa, the building is basically an unmarked white box. But upon entering the place, you’ll feel like you just stepped into the Haunted Mansion at the Magic Kingdom – low candlelight, red velvet tapestry on the walls, antiques and art up to the ceiling. Their wine cellar is a labyrinth of bottles from the late 1800s to today, not to mention the huge selection of fortified wines and spirits also taking up residence there. Even if you know nothing about wine, it’s a sight to behold, and they give tours.
Photo via Bern’s Steak House/FacebookNo Name Pub
30813 Watson Blvd., Big Pine Key | 305-872-9115
Snuggled onto Big Pine Key almost as far South as you can get in the United States, the No Name is a Florida Keys rite of passage. Sip beers under the thousands and thousands of dollar bills stapled to the walls and ceiling that flutter in the breeze, chomp on some of the Keys’ best pizza, and then go outside and pet a Key deer (Big Pine is an official wildlife refuge for the adorably tiny deer).
Photo via No Name PubHard Rock Cafe
6050 Universal Blvd. | 407-351-7625
Surround yourself with some of the greatest moments in music history at the Hard Rock Cafe. It may be louder than a 1986 Guns N’ Roses show in here, but it’s not like you need to hear to devour a hickory BBQ bacon burger. What could possibly be more rock ’n roll than a pink muscle car dangling where a chandelier should?
Photo via Hard Rock Orlando/InstagramThe Edison
Disney Springs | 407-560-9288
After a long wait, the Edison finally opened in January 2018 and Disneyphiles have been relishing the post-industrial, steampunk-themed surroundings of the Disney Springs eatery. And also that 28-day dry-aged prime rib. (Don’t-miss dish: the millionaire’s bacon, served on a clothesline.)
Photo by Rob BartlettThe H Cuisine
7512 Dr. Phillips Blvd. | 407-930-3020
This sister resto to the Haci Steakhouse in Kayseri, Turkey, taps into Nusret “Salt Bae” Gökçe’s mystique, though the overacting is (thankfully) kept to a minimum when the waiters slice enticing cuts of USDA Prime beef with dramatic flair tableside, then theatrically fleck them with Maldon sea salt. The bone-in rib-eye, aged for 28 days, is a fave, though interesting cuts like lokum and Robespierre can be had as well. An illuminated dry-aging chamber adds a nice ambient touch to the pomo interior.
Photo by Rob BartlettLips
1421 E. Oakland Park Blvd., Fort Lauderdale, Fla. 33334 | 954-567-0987
You’ll want to order more than one frozen cosmo as you sit down to watch the most “dragalicious” show of your life. When you’re here you’re completely at the divas mercy, so don’t be shy or get distracted by the shimmering ceiling. Haven’t you ever wondered what a lap dance from Cher was like?
Photo via kathy305/InstagramMahuffer’s Bar
19201 Gulf Blvd, Indian Shores, Fla. 33785 | 727- 596-0226
Cats on bars, hosiery hanging from the ceiling, hookahs as vases — Mahuffer’s is a calamity of strange that’s got our seal of approval. This lovable junkyard has been salvaging beach scraps for your viewing pleasure for the last 40 years so come normal and leave weird.
Photo via ishtar1977/InstagramBetter Than Sex
1905 N. Orange Ave. | 407-761-8949
Everything about Better Than Sex is a head-turner: the name, the desserts, the drinks. The Ivanhoe joint is liable to turn just about any dessert item into a penis sculpture or dip the rim of any wine glass into the greatest aphrodisiac of all-time: chocolate.
Photo via Better Than Sex Dessert Restaurant-Orlando/FacebookCafe Tu Tu Tango
8625 International Drive | 407-248-2222
They say Bach was paid in beer, so it seems only appropriate that artists would paint around the eaters of Cafe Tu Tu Tango. In an age when too many restaurants let their recipes fall by the wayside in favor of kitschy design, the Tango’s Dynamite Shrimp comes to the rescue. You might have to dodge exotic dancers on the way to the bathroom, but that’s part of the Tu Tu experience.
Photo via FacebookTaverna Opa
9101 International Drive | 407-351-8660
Patrons jump up on the tables for a belly dance fest while waiters bring the heat with flaming Greek cheese. But Taverna Opa doesn’t offer up the most authentic Greek experience in Orlando with just their dancing – the hummus is off the chain here.
Photo via tavernaopaorl/InstagramMurder Mystery Dinner Train
2805 Colonial Blvd, Fort Myers, Fla. 33966 | 239-275-8487
All aboard! Board game junkies should look no further. The Murder Mystery Dinner Train tests your ability to solves puzzles all the while eating a delicious multi-course meal. Wash your prime rib down with a glass of merlot as you take part in a “who-dun-it” mystery for the ages.
Photo via Murder Mystery Dinner Train/YelpJaleo
Disney Springs | 321-348-3211
The celeb chef carousel at Disney Springs continues to go ’round and ’round with Jose Andres now joining the fray. Jaleo’s extensive menu of traditional and contemporary Spanish fare (yes, jamón Ibérico de bellota will be offered) will reflect Spain’s regional diversity. There are four other Jaleos, but the Disney Springs outpost is the “biggest and most spectacular Jaleo yet” (until the one in Dubai opens, probably).
Photo by Rob BartlettMedieval Times
4510 W. Vine St., Kissimmee, Fla. 34746 | 866-543-9637
You don’t have to re-watch Game of Thrones to get in the medieval mood. Right here in Orlando we’ve got jousting knights, mass amounts of bourgeois screaming for bloodshed and the expectation that you’ll eat with your hands. If that last part’s got you twisted, drink away your reluctance with a strawberry Maiden’s Kiss.
Photo via Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament-Orlando/FacebookPirates Dinner Adventure
6400 Carrier Drive | 407-206-5100
Arrrrr! Cap’n Sebastian th’ Black be after all th’ lovely booty ‘n fair maidens in our Sunshine State. Knock back some beers while ye watch th’ cap’n ‘n his swashbucklin’ crew wreak havoc on an authentic 18th century Spanish galleon.
Photo via Pirates Dinner AdventureSatchel’s Pizza
1800 NE 23rd Ave., Gainesville, Fla. 32609 | 352-335-7272
It’s one of those places that doesn’t have a square inch of space left on the walls, but hey, that’s part of its hippie charm. Go HAM on a Mama pizza, which lets you pick the four toppings, then hop in their van outside and imagine this is what it was like in the ’70s.
Photo via carowitman/InstagramSusuru
8548 Palm Parkway | 407-778-4813
Susuru’s menu of izakaya staples is as brilliant as its dazzling, nostalgia-packed decor — Japanophiles will think they’ve died and gone to AstroBoy heaven, while gourmands will revel in succulent chicken thigh yakitori, binchotan-grilled skewers, and colorful sake-soaked boba tea topped with clouds of cotton candy.
Photo by Rob BartlettSleuths Mystery Dinner Shows
8267 International Drive | 407-363-1985
“Guess who?” is the name of the game at Sleuths. In between bites of your four-cheese lasagna, offer up some questions to the characters’ as you solve the crime. But the greatest puzzle of them all? The Mystery Dessert at the end of every meal.
Photo via greatunclebob/InstagramTitanic Gala Dinner
7324 International Drive | 407-248-1166
You don’t have to pay first-class price to live the life of luxury. Well, you know, before the fatal sinking of the Titanic. Characters donning the fanciest of costumes engage you with tales of their past and of the great ship that you’re on while you eat as an honor guest of the Titanic for the evening.
Photo via Jessica H./YelpRaglan Road
1640 Buena Vista Drive | 407-938-0300
Raglan Road isn’t what you would call low-key, but when you’re looking to have a real good time, who cares? At any given moment a gang of waiters might jump up on stage for a Celtic dancing session while they fill the room with Irish tunes. And you’d be hard pressed to find a better Shepherd’s Pie in Orlando than the one at Raglan Road.
Photo via FacebookT-Rex Cafe
1676 Buena Vista Drive | 407-828-8739
When the lights start flashing, it’s showtime. Get ready to witness the extinction of the dinosaurs about five times throughout your dinner, courtesy of Disney Studios. If extinction has got you down, pick yourself up with a Cotton-tini, which is literally just alcohol poured over a huge ball of cotton candy.
Photo via Phil N./YelpEnzo’s Hideaway
Disney Springs, 1560 E. Buena Vista Drive | 407-560-3696
Disney created the fictional Enzo’s as an underground, Prohibition-era, rum-running tunnel, which the no-last-name bootlegger Enzo happened upon one day and duly transformed into a subterranean grotto for hungry drunks. Even if you don’t choose to suspend disbelief in the backstory, it’s a sprawling warren of secret tunnels in which to get lost, as well as to find some damn good pasta.
Photo by Rob BartlettThe Boathouse
1620 Buena Vista Drive | 407-939-2628
Dust off that novelty captain’s hat for a night full of oysters and crab legs at the Boathouse. You’re sure to find yourselves enjoying the evening in a boat-turned-booth here, and if you’re not in the mood for food, set sail on Lake Buena Vista in an amphicar, which is exactly what is sounds like: a car that’s also a boat!
Photo by Rob BartlettCapone’s Dinner and Show
4740 W. Irlo Bronson Memorial Hwy, Kissimmee, Fla. 34746 | 407-397-2378
For the dinner-theater enthusiast looking for a night of glitz and guns, look no further than Capone’s. Smooth talk with Bunny June over a gin martini before the show, then feast on the dinner buffet as Al and the gang let you in on the family business.
Photo via Capone’s Dinner and ShowHamburger Mary’s
110 W. Church St. | 321-319-0600
Like a page out of Cinderella’s story, the drag queens of Hamburger Mary’s leave you with their own version of a glass slipper after a night to remember: a shiny red stiletto with the check. Hey, it’s better than that flat black coffin the check usually comes in, right? You don’t have to be into drag to “be Mary” – they’ve got shows throughout the week that’ll entertain the pants off any and everyone.
Photo via churchstreetstation/Instagram Credit: Churchstreetstation/InstagramPlanet Hollywood
1506 Buena Vista Drive | 407-827-7827
You’re basically eating in a snow globe, but instead of impractical walls made of glass, they’re plastered with movie memorabilia that’s sure to spark a conversation at any table. With its collection of movie props, Planet Hollywood is more like a museum than a restaurant, so it’s perfect for the silver screen fan in all of us. Note: Planet Hollywood in Orlando is closed until summer 2016.
Photo via jenniferlmontes/InstagramJimmy Buffet’s Margaritaville
6000 Universal Studios Plaza | 407-224-2155
Those volcano nachos don’t stand a chance against ice cold blackberry moonshine margaritas. Imagine every beach restaurant you’ve been in and amplify it by 100. When you’re livin’ the Jimmy life, you’re sure to get wasted away in Margaritaville.
Photo via Jimmy Buffet’s MargaritavilleBubba Gump Shrimp Co.
6000 Universal Blvd. | 407-903-0044
Run, hungry Orlandoans, run! The fun-loving staff at Bubba Gump will saute your shrimp, bake it, broil it, barbecue it, whatever you’re in the mood for ’cause that’s how Forrest would’ve wanted it. Come with your A-game because the Bubba Gumpers have no shame when it comes to group activities.
Photo via FacebookBob Marley – A Tribute to Freedom
6000 Universal Blvd. | 407-224-2262
When you think about it, you’re always just one Red Stripe away from “One Love.” Designed as an exact replica of Bob Marley’s Kingston, Jamaica home, this place will have your inner-freedom ringing in no time.
Photo via jkr_slh/Instagram
