Chicago to Orlando

We are heading south for a week in Orlando. I'm looking for advice for stops along the way. My goal is Louisville for night one and south of Atlanta for night two.

(if anyone has a town recommendation along there, it would be welcome.)

I've picked through the Orlando threads and also been perusing Chowhound. Except for one Thai restaurant, I don't see alot that's promising. We don't need fine dining (traveling with a 3yo) , but would like to avoid TGI Applebee's. We're staying off Disney property, but on 192 just West of I-4.

Thanks for any advice!

You should go to Lynn's Paradise Cafe in Louisville!

http://www.lynnsparadisecafe.com/

The Daphne Lodge is a great place to stop and eat. Cordele may be a little further south than you will want to travel but the food is excellent. Their signature dish is fried catfish and hush puppies. The biscuits are the best I have ever eaten anywhere, period. Great southern food and hospitality. Reasonable prices. I Googled for a website but they don't have one. There are a lot of reviews though.

The owners are very nice people. My wife and I have stopped to eat there 4-5 times over the years and love the place. They will be busy on a weekend. I would call and confirm hours and get a reservation if possible. The Daphne Lodge is west off of exit 101 a few miles, and kind of hidden behind a grove of trees in a beautiful setting.

Daphne Lodge
Exit 101
2502 Hwy 280 W
Cordele, GA 31015
(229) 273-2596
Open Tues-Sat
5:30 pm - 10:00 pm

On another note The Catfish Place in St. Cloud, FL is a great family place to go for dinner away from the tourist trap type places. More of a local place. Excellent seafood and sides. Softshell turtle and alligator are also available. We used to have a house in St. Cloud and ate here often when visiting. St. Cloud is a nice little town with a beach on Lake Toho. Quite a few antique stores in the downtown area too.

The Catfish Place
2324 13th St.
St. Cloud, Florida 34769
(407) 892-5771
Hours:
Sunday-Thursday 11-9
Friday and Sat. 11-10

If you're willing to go one major superhighway east of the usual I65/I24 Chicago/Indy/Nashville/Chatanooga route, you can hit Jungle Jim's outside Cincinnati -- one of the biggest, most varied super markets (super DUPER markets), which includes a monorail (might still be under construction). It's kid-friendly, and a good place to pick up a few road snacks.

Jungle Jim's
5440 Dixie Highway
Fairfield, Ohio 45014
www.junglejims.com

Just head southeast from Indy on I74, and it's not far off the interstate when you hit Ohio.

Heading south on I75, you'll pass through Corbin KY, the original location of Colonel Sander's "Sanders Cafe", where KFC was born.
http://www.corbinkycityguide.com/kfc/kfc.htm

I75 meets up with I24 in Chattanooga, putting you back on track.
Don't forget to See Rock City. Somewhere up Lookout Mountain, I found a tin shack labeled "Hot Sauce Charlie's" (sorry, no website), with great BBQ pork sammys.

If you do go through Cincinatti, check out my friends Ron and Mona...they own Rondo's tell them Barb sent you and you will be treated like gold...let me know if you plan to go and I will give them a heads up! I was sous chef for Ron when they first opened, you will not be dissapointed.

Rondo's, 3230 Harrison Ave., Cheviot, 513-662-3222

Louisville has some great eats and my favorite is the Mayan Gypsy. This is truly unique. Dishes from Central & South America. Looks like a hole in the wall but is interesting "decor" once inside. They are also one of the few restaurants that I've ever seen serve Xingu beer from Brazil. Anyway, this is definitely worth a visit.

Mayan Gypsy
624 E Market St
Louisville, KY 40202-1117View Map
502-583-3300

In Orlando, if you're referring to the Thai restaurant (whose name escapes me) that is located in central Orlando on Colonial - it's fantastic.

Although it's really, really early to be planning this, at the end of this August we are taking Sparky to Orlando for - no, not Disney - Discovery Cove and Seaworld, with a stop to view the rocket launch along some lonely highway near Kennedy Space Center (those Nasa bastards rescheduled the Space Shuttle launch after we'd booked our flight) We have already blown our entire travel budget, so eating will be decidedly on the cheap (though apparently the food at Discovery Cove is included...which probably doesn't bode well, but some days it's just getting the calories in)

We've booked a place that has a small kitchen, so that increases our dining options. We have 5 full days, and one dinner/breakfast on the tail ends.

Bruce, your ideas above look to be interesting - any ideas for a cook with no pantry ingredients? Any other cheap local eats?

Well, we've returned from our trip sunburned, tired, and HUNGRY. You forget what a wealth of options the Chicago area has until a trip to middle-America (which, culinarily speaking, Orlando represents much more than the American south)

Our first meals were taken care of by the Discovery Cove resort's splashy cafeteria - I'd have eaten better with a little more thought, but we didn't go there for the food, after all! Breakfast was nasty danishes and packaged pastries. Lunch was as expected; Sparky opted for gloppy mac and cheese which came with industrial fries and anemic corn; the 'spouse did best with the "lobster" salad (though the accompanying croissant was nearly inedible) and I made the mistake of ordering the overcooked grilled pesto salmon (though the sides were pretty good)


After searching the forum for options, we opted for our one "good" dinner to be Pio Pio, which proports itself to be Peruvian, but is really more Colombian. I knew it was going to be good when I saw that it was situated in a strip mall between a Big Lots and a Dollar General Store (your options there are the same as the girl with the curl.) Indeed, it was good, especially in the land of TGIF and Cece's Pizza:

Luscious roasted chicken, accompanied by...

Fair tostones, the best fried yucca I've ever eaten, and rice (Sorry for the odd photo color; it's a new camera & the light in the restaurant really is orange)

Along with 3 sauces that put me in mind of Cafe Salamera (garlic aioli, jalapeno and ketchup) and Colombian-style corn empanadas

Thank you all for the recommendation.

There was a hopeful-looking Mexican place in the same strip mall as Pio Pio, but as Sparky has never done Teppanyaki and there was a place I thought wasn't a chain (Kabuki - sadly, of course it is), we went there. Unfortunately, we had the b-team for a chef, and the food was greasy and a bit overcooked, but Sparky had a fabulous time (and, again - sigh - we didn't go for the food)


We had a very good if a bit pricey breakfast at Sherlock's Tea House in Celebration, with excellent cream scones - imbued with the flavor of sweet cream and rasins; you could even taste it through the accompanying clotted cream and jam. The other pastries weren't as good, and the savories were spotty (the spanakopita were actually pretty good, but the jalapeno cheese puffs were just awful.) The friendly cook was clearly from the UK herself, and though you have the option of very American cranberry-orange scones, I'd go for authentic here (though both were good)


Most surprising good meal was on Cocoa Beach Pier at Marlins Good Times Bar & Grill, where my expectations were so low we didn't bring the camera. Although it wasn't fancy, the fried clams were cooked just right, sweet and juicy, and the "Captain's Fish Sandwich" was excellent, un-fussed-around-with fresh grilled Mahi-Mahi on a bun. The catch of the day sandwich of fried halibut was a bit mushy, but still better than your average chain.

Discovery Cove
6000 Discovery Cove Way
Orlando, Fl. 32821

Pio Pio
11236 S Orange Blossom Trl
Orlando, FL 32837
(407) 438-5677

Kabuki Japanese Steak House
5305 W Irlo Bronson Highway in Kissimmee
407-396-8888

Sherlock's
715 Bloom St., Suite 130,
Celebration, FL 34747
Tel: 407-566-1866

Marlins Good Times Bar & Grill
Cocoa Beach Pier
401 Meade Avenue,
Cocoa Beach, FL
321/783-7549