When traveling to Orlando, you want to find great restaurants that will not only appease the adults in your family but also entertain the kids. Some of Orlando’s must-visit eateries offer great food and exceptional entertainment, but choosing which one to visit can be challenging. Before you head to Orlando on your next family vacation, here are some of the best kid restaurants in Orlando you won’t want to miss.
Orlando is one of the top family vacation spots in the country, and for good reason. Central Florida has beautiful year-round weather, family-friendly amusement parks, and is just a short drive to some of the most famous beaches in the world.
The City Beautiful is also a food lovers paradise, offering visiting families a variety of great dining options to choose from. From funky fusion tapas restaurants to teatime with your favorite dolls, the Orlando area has many tasty dining options that parents and kids will love.
Tips for dining in Orlando with kids
Whether it is your first time visiting Orlando or you are an Orlando native, dining with kids at this popular vacation spot can be difficult. There can be many challenges with taking kids out to dinner, from keeping their attention to ensuring they eat their meals. Many parents can be intimidated to take small children to a restaurant, but it can be a fun experience for both your child and you.
Here are a few tips to help make your dining experience fun for the whole family.
Make Reservations
Orlando can be crowded, especially during peak vacation times such as summer and spring break. Before visiting one of these great Orlando restaurants, plan and make reservations. This ensures your little ones are not waiting long to eat and can enjoy the experience without getting too hungry.
Dine During Slow Times
The busiest times for most restaurants are weekends and peak dinner hours. To give your family a better dining experience, choose to dine early. Dining before 6:00 pm or choosing to dine during lunch can allow you to have a more leisurely, less crowded dining experience.
All the restaurants on our list serve lunch, and choosing to visit during lunch or on a weekday can allow you to have less of a wait and better service and allow your kids to explore the restaurants without the crowds.
Bring Activities To Keep Kids Busy
Restaurants in Orlando can be busy. One of the best ways to keep kids from melting down is to bring along an activity to keep kids occupied while waiting. Bring one of their favorite toys or a small coloring book to help keep those short attention spans busy.
Choose A Restaurant Your Kids Will Like
This may seem like an obvious tip, but choosing a restaurant your kids will like can be crucial. If you have picky eaters, check the menu to ensure there are items your kids will eat. Also, look at your child’s interests.
If your child likes dinosaurs, T-Rex Café can be one of the best parts of your trip to Orlando. If you have a little one who likes to dress up, visit the American Girl Bistro for teatime and make it a fun experience during your trip.
Café Tu Tu Tango
International Drive, Orlando
One of the most well-known restaurants in Orlando, Café Tu Tu Tango is at the top of our list of best kid restaurants in Orlando. One of our family’s favorite Orlando restaurants, Café Tu Tu Tango, is a fun atmosphere our kids love. Walking through the door, you are immediately immersed in this fun, artistic dining experience.
Café Tu Tu Tango offers a delicious funky tapas menu everyone in your family will enjoy. They serve everything from Brick Oven Flatbreads to Butter Chicken Tikka Masala, Tacos to Croquets. Café Tu Tu Tango has excellent family entertainment, including live artists, jewelry makers, musicians, and even hula hoop dancers.
All the art on their walls is for sale, and many local artists sell items. The last time we took our kids to eat here, our daughter bought a beautiful necklace and had the chance to talk to the jewelry maker who made it about the meaning of it. The restaurant is a live entertainment show combining food and art into a mesmerizing dining experience.
T-Rex Café
Disney Springs
Travel back to the Jurassic period at T-Rex Café. You will be surrounded by the sights and sounds of the Mesozoic Era, where you will see life-sized dinosaurs and hands-on discovery zones. This Dino-themed restaurant has creative American cuisine even the kids will love.
T-Rex Café is well known for its tasty burgers and steaks. The T-Rex Café has dinosaurs, woolly mammoths, an octopus bar, and an interactive Paleo Zone. While waiting for your table, kids can explore the fossil sandpit and the Discovery Creek Mill and discover fossils and gems.
Every 20 minutes, this prehistoric restaurant has a meteor show that erupts throughout the restaurant. Kids will have a blast exploring this fun café. T-Rex Café is located at Disney Springs, allowing you to explore Disney while visiting Orlando.
Rainforest Café
Photo: Ashley Conway
Disney Springs, Disney’s Animal Kingdom
Another tremendous family-friendly restaurant to check out on your family vacation is the Rainforest Café. From the moment you walk up to the Rainforest Café, you feel like you are in the jungle, with erupting volcanos of fire on the outside. Walking in, you can experience walking into a jungle with large aquariums and animatronic jungle animals.
They serve American cuisine for breakfast, lunch, and dinner and have many mouthwatering desserts. Rainforest Café is great for accommodating large parties, and our little ones love looking at the fish swimming around in the aquarium.
We often love to take the kids here because we know they love the food and are entertained by all of the animals they see throughout the restaurant. Rainforest Café has two locations in Orlando, one at Disney Springs and the other outside Disney’s Animal Kingdom.
Sugar Factory
My son with the S’mores Brownie Insane Milkshake! Photo: Ashley Conway
Icon Park, Orlando
One of the best ways to end your family vacation is to enjoy a delicious dinner at the Sugar Factory. Every meal on the menu is fun, but the decadent desserts are indeed the star of the show. They have larger-than-life desserts, such as the sharable bowl drinks that come in a giant bowl or their many grand milkshakes.
You can even have a complete meal in your dessert, like the Bacon Cheeseburger Milkshake with strawberry ice cream blended milkshake topped with a mini cheeseburger and bacon strip, pretzels, and M&M’s.
Are you celebrating a birthday on your trip? Visit Celebrate a Birthday, and you can even pick the music that comes out with your birthday dessert. Our kids love visiting Sugar Factory on birthdays and picking a birthday song and favorite desserts.
My son’s favorite is the S’mores Brownie Insane Milkshake, with a chocolate milkshake and an insane seven-layer S’more cookie served on top of a decadent chocolate brownie. It is one of my kids’ favorite parts of their birthdays. Kids and adults will love the fun atmosphere and tasty treats at the Sugar Factory.
American Girl Bistro
Florida Mall, Orlando
Since 1986, American Girl dolls have been one of the leading toys in America. American Girl Dolls celebrates girls and encourages them to dream, grow, and create through a large variety of books, movies, and toys. The American Girl Doll Store in the Florida Mall has the American Girl Bistro, a fun little café with a menu kids will love.
They serve brunch, lunch, and teatime. Their teatime menu offers baked goods, mini sandwiches, and tea. If your child has an American Doll, they can bring them along to the Bistro and dine with their doll. If your child does not have one, that’s okay; the restaurant will lend you one to dine with.
Rock & Brews
Kissimmee
For some great live music and a delicious dining experience, take your family over to Rock & Brews. Rock & Brews is a Rock n’ Roll experience from when you arrive. They offer an extensive menu with wings, salads, burgers, seafood, and more. Even the kid’s menu has a large variety to choose from.
Before heading to Rock & Brews, check out what events they have going on. You can catch a live show while dining. Our kids love roaming around the large outdoor patio area with fire pits and lounging. This is a great spot to have dinner while enjoying the beautiful Florida weather.
Ford’s Garage
Winter Garden, Orlando, Kissimmee
Ford’s Garage is an eccentric 1920s service station-themed restaurant with mouthwatering foods your family will love. Ford’s Garage pays tribute to Ford Motor Company and features vintage Ford vehicles, gas pumps, and fixtures.
The menu has savory comfort foods, such as wings, hot pretzels, salads, burgers, mac n’ cheese, and more. Many of their menu items are themed after the American car company, such as the Americana Roadster Burger, The Model “A”, and the Ford’s Signature Burger.
Every time we take our boys to Ford’s Garage, they love seeing the vintage Ford and old-fashioned machines in and out of the restaurant. Enjoy a great meal while the kids and parents get a glimpse at the history of Fords through the ages.
Now Closed: Hot Krust Panini Kitchen
Phillips Crossing, Orlando
Hot Krust Panini Kitchen was a great sandwich shop with meats roasted in-house to make mouthwatering paninis. Unfortunately, they are now closed. It was a great place to take the family, and you may see information about it still online. So we want you to be informed before you make the drive out there.
The Bottom Line
Whether you dine with dinosaurs at T-Rex Café or catch a live rock show at Rock & Brew, your family will have a fantastic dining experience at one of these great Orlando restaurants. The best kid restaurants in Orlando depend on you and your kids likes.
Thankfully, Orlando has a wide variety of fantastic dining and entertainment options. Orlando is a beautiful city, and you can explore the town and enjoy a great meal with your family.
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