Address	6485 S. U.S. Highway 1
City	Rockledge
Phone	321-757-7200
Price	$$$
Scott's Review

River Rocks has a wonderful location, directly on the Indian River Lagoon, and it takes full advantage with a delightful deck overlooking the water. Unfortunately the food does not rise to meet the setting. It's unimaginative, inexpertly prepared and overpriced. Better to come here to sip a glass of wine or have a cocktail at sunset and then go elsewhere for dinner.

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Address	1414 N. Orange Ave.
City	Orlando
Phone	407-601-3508
Price	$$$
Scott's Review

The menu does not read as French but there is classic Frenchness in its execution, as you might expect from executive chef Emmanuel Clement.... Read more

Address	1568 Maguire Road
City	Ocoee
Phone	407-614-3765
Price	$$
Scott's Review

RusTeak fancies itself a gastropub, and indeed it has a pubbish atmosphere, casual and convivial. On the gastro side, the menu features an array of flatbreads and burgers as well as fuller entrees, including pastas and steaks to more involved creations. For my entree I selected the Mahi Out of Control, a kitchen-sink kind of offering that had a grilled fillet of mahi mahi buried beneath sauteed diced shrimp, toasted almonds, cherry tomatoes and broccolini, all of it sitting atop a bed of vegetable and potato hash. It was the sort of dish that could be a huge mess if it didn’t feature quality ingredients, but all of it was first-rate, not the least among them the firm, fresh-tasting mahi.... Read more

Address	101 S. Eola Drive
City	Orlando
Phone	407-601-5219
Price	$$
Scott's Review

For some reason, the Thornton Park RusTeak had me thinking it was a restaurant run by newbies who were still trying to figure how everything works. Instead of above average food, it was mostly just average.... Read more

Address	Disney's Hollywood Studios
City	Lake Buena Vista
Phone	407-939-3463
Price	$$$

It’s an outdoor drive-in theater indoors. The movies glorified here are the wonderfully trashy movies of the '50s - those low-budget flicks that had spacemen clad in Reynolds Wrap and rocket ships dangling by all-too-visible wires. Of course, when you go to a drive-in, you sit in a car, so the Disney folks have constructed some special vehicles. The cars are convertibles set up as booths, and everyone faces forward. Most of the cars have a front seat, a back seat and a middle seat. A family of six can sit two by two by two. If the kids start acting up, Dad can turn around and take a swat at them. There's a real possibility, however, that you'll be seated in a car with strangers. If those strangers' kids are acting up, it is not all right to take a swat at them. As for the food, well, no one ever went to a drive-in movie for the cuisine. ‘Nuf said.... Read more

Address	617 N. Primrose Ave.
City	Orlando
Phone	407-203-0727
Price	$

A small bakery that does some nice fancy sandwiches. Good for a quick bite.... Read more

Address	14900 Chelonia Parkway
City	Orlando
Phone	407-919-6300
Price	$$$

Seemingly out of nowhere, a big new JW Marriott has appeared and along with it a pretty darned good restaurant, Sear + Sea Woodfire Grill. The hotel is a new neighbor of other large hotels like the Waldorf Astoria, Hilton and Wyndham in the area known as Bonnet Creek. In fact, if you sit on the restaurant’s comfortably spacious veranda, as I did on my recent visit, you’ll have a view of the actual creek and its woody banks just below. As you might deduce from the clever name, Sear + Sea is a steak and seafood restaurant, which might sound a bit ho-hum at first. But the menu, under the direction of chef de cuisine Alex Pyser, is creative and appealing.... Read more

Address	7700 Sand Lake Road
City	Orlando
Phone	407-354-5212
Price	$$$
Scott's Review

Second location at 463 E. Altamonte Drive, Altamonte Springs (in front of Altamonte Mall); 407-767-1252. Darden’s latest concept works on a number of levels, thanks to the hard work of manager George Miliotes, executive chef Clifford Pleau and their talented staffs.

The original conceit of the restaurant was that something somewhere was coming into season every week of the year. The kitchen has sort of gotten away from following that too closely, but continues to offer entrees with lots of flavor but fewer calories. Forget about the food being healthfully prepared, you won’t notice a difference when you taste the grilled pork with polenta or the filet mignon. If you start feeling too goody-goody, go crazy and order all the mini desserts. The wine list here – which includes a large number of by-the-glass selections - is especially impressive.

Despite coming from the same company that brought you the Olive Garden and Red Lobster chains, Seasons 52 is more upscale and casually elegant -- there is even a piano player in the bar area many evenings. And just to drive home the point that adults are the target audience, Seasons 52 keeps no highchairs or booster seats on ... Read more