I will be going to Orlando in late May or early June. My wife will be attending a work function. I will be on my own for breakfast and the rest of the day. She and I will be on our own for dinner. Does anybody have any favorite restaurants in Orlando? Preferably something unique to Orlando? Are there any must see gun shops or gun related things I should see during the day? Thanks for any help.

One of my favorite restaurants here in the Orlando area is El Bodegon. Take a look at the menu on the linked website.

It is Spanish: Spanish as in Spain, not as in Latin America.

My wife and I spent a year and a half in Barcelona, where there are some outstanding restaurants. El Bodegon is right up there with the best of the restaurants that we enjoyed in Spain.

As your travel date gets closer, feel free to ping me at the email address in my profile. If I'm free on your in-town day, I would be pleased to host you for some shooting at the club I belong to, if you like.

Spikes Tactical in Apopka, eye candy in the front. Shoot Straight is pretty close to Spikes. Florida Gun Exchange over in Ormond Beach and Port Orange.

4 Rivers BBQ in Winter Park.

Hopefully Bate's New England Seafood will be open again by the time you get here. They closed to move to a larger location and to my knowledge have not opened yet. It would technically be in Ocoee, which is west of Orlando.

I'll be watching this thread as we will be passing through a couple of times next month.

4 rivers is a great local bbq place, shoot straight in Apopka has a large range, great firearm selection from rifles to high end pistols

Boston's Fish House on Aloma is about two or three minutes from East Orange Shooting Sports. Good selection of sea food. For a side dish, the onion rings are some of the best in the area: crispy and tasty, not a big glob of dough like too many of the restaurants serve. Usually a waiting line, but it's not too bad except on weekend evenings.

I have not been to that gun store / range for a while, but they did have a nice selection of rental guns. It was something like a nine or ten dollar rental charge: one fee, and you could rent as many guns as you wanted to. Just use one, bring it back to the counter and exchange it for the next one you want to try.

I think that they had some sort of rule about not renting to a solo shooter unless he had a gun of his own. This came about after a few suicides in gun stores / rental ranges in the area.

The last time that I was in the Apopka Shoot Straight store that HRK mentioned, they had discontinued rental guns for their range; it was strictly "bring your own." They have a lot of range rules too. Slow fire only. One target (no shooting at multiple targets). No shooting with draw from the holster. This is why I like our gun club -- very few restrictions other than standard safety rules. Holster work, multiple targets, rapid fire, shooting while on the move, all OK as long as you're doing it safely. When I joined a few years ago, the club stated that they had never had a firearm-related injury. As far as I know, that's still true. The Range Officers do a great job of overseeing safety without being Nazis.

There is a Texas de Brasil restaurant there that I always visit when in Orlando.

Emeril's Tchoup Chop at Universal is really good.

http://emerilsrestaurants.com/emerils-tchoup-chop

My wife and I drive 1.5 hours over there just for the Banana Cream Pie (It's the best pie I have ever had, bar none.)

Bring a gun.

If you don't have a CCW, it's legal to keep a loaded gun in your car in a snapped holster, zippered gun case ,or closed center console.

quote:

Originally posted by bubbatime:
Bring a gun.

If you don't have a CCW, it's legal to keep a loaded gun in your car in a snapped holster, zippered gun case ,or closed center console.

Florida does honor Virginia permits. Just be aware of the Florida laws; you can find them on the Florida page of handgunlaw.us.

Bates should be open by then. Heard they were shooting for this month.

They are expanding the menu, too. Guess they want to try their hands at steak.

We have 4Rivers and Ellie Lou's in Ocoee. I like them both.

Also, don't forget Orlando Gun Club by the mall at Millennia. Don't know if the new Ocoee location will be open by then. If it is, then there is BBQ and guns to be had right in the Ocoee area. It's also not too far from the Eustic Gun club, either.

Any experiences with full auto rental? I love putting the wife on sub guns. She gets a face cracking grin.

quote:

Originally posted by Paragon:
We have 4Rivers and Ellie Lou's in Ocoee. I like them both.

4 Rivers Bar-B-Q is good. Is Ellie Lou's related to BubbaLou's? Never heard of Ellie Lou's.

BubbaLou's was 1/2 a mile from my house when I lived in Orlando.

quote:

Originally posted by 10X-Shooter:
Any experiences with full auto rental? I love putting the wife on sub guns. She gets a face cracking grin.

Orlando Gun Club has an M4, MP5, and Uzi for rent.

My family makes a point to eat dinner at Cafe Tu Tu Tango every time we are in Orlando. It's great tapas style dining and cool atmosphere.

I always go to Tapa Toro for tapas if I am in Orlando. They have flamenco dancing on Fridays and Saturdays, and it is close to the Orlando Eye and other attractions.

Highly recommend.
http://tapatoro.restaurant/

Gives me an idea for a business. I need to open a Restaurant and Gun Shop. Specials will include full strip and clean with NY Strip. Fresh springs with spring greens salad. Barrel crown with Crown and Coke. Night sights & Nightshade special (eggplant parmesan).

Really enjoyed Columbia Restaurant in Celebration. Authentic Cuban fare.
It is a long time FL staple.