7 Best Celebration FL Restaurants | Must-Try Places to Eat in Celebration Florida

Written By: Gail Clifford | Published By: Foodie Flash Packer | November 8, 2021

https://www.foodieflashpacker.com/celebration-fl-restaurants/

If you’re looking for beautiful homes, welcoming front porches, a superb lifestyle, and recreational amenities along peaceful and tree-lined streets, you need to visit Celebration, Florida. Because along with all those lovely items comes great food. 

Envisioned by the Walt Disney Company as a planned community, their goal was to “build a better place and a better way to live.” 

While Disney is no longer in the Celebration picture, the town has grown into a dynamic, thriving community with an iconic downtown area. 

Full disclosure: The postal address Celebration extends west of I-4, but I only visited the “non-chain” restaurants in the downtown area along the lake. 

The 7 Best Celebration FL Restaurants

Downtown Diner

701 Front Street // (407) 566-8698

Best Celebration FL Restaurants

Best Celebration FL RestaurantsPlay Video

The Downtown Diner was mentioned almost immediately whenever I asked anyone who lived or worked in Celebration what restaurants I shouldn’t miss. Closing at 2 pm, they serve breakfast all day and lunch from 11 am to 2 pm. Indoor and outdoor seating is available.

Enter to the typical noise and clashing of plates and silverware. Leave your name, or maybe have immediate seating with the hostess on the left. Check out the jukebox before the counter seating or peruse some of the sweets available.

The restaurant was bustling when I arrived, but I was seated quickly. The server warned me it might be a half-hour wait for my food, but their WIFI was strong and there was no rush.

Facing the window, I was able to see all the activity going on along the lake. There’s a path for your daily walk that circles the lake. 

Back to the menu, I checked out the lunch section first. The Berry Chicken Salad looked appealing, and the selection of sides is extensive. Comfort food options include a chicken pot pie, turkey dinner, country fried chicken, ham with macaroni and cheese, Shepherd’s Pie, and country fried steak. Sandwiches included corned beef or roast beef or an Italian wrap.

The options continued for two pages, plenty to try for more than the two weeks I stayed in the area. And today, I offered my server my two options and her face lit up when she recommended the latter. You know that’s a good sign.

Back at the breakfast menu, I was impressed to see starters, another first. They have pancake bacon dippers and bagel sliders and strawberry banana pancake skewers. Inventive and fun. 

Their “Egg”celent choices include 2 and 3 egg meals, a Celebration platter, sandwiches, or healthy options. Their Downtown Delights include typical southern breakfast fare: chicken and waffle, biscuit and gravy, or chicken biscuit and gravy.

My eye, though, was drawn to the pancakes and specialty pancakes. Buttermilk, blueberry, funfetti, chocolate chip, cinnamon roll, apple crisp, or lemon ricotta. Wow! Those are some serious options. No wonder they have that path along the lake. I’d need to walk for a while to work some of that off.

The waffle options include Belgian, Berry Delicious, Peanut Butter & Banana, or a cinnamon roll waffle. Ditto the pancakes, lots of choices.

Specialty pancakes require extra time and come dusted with powdered sugar. Offering Dutch Baby, Fresh Berry Dutch Baby, and Apple Cinnamon Dutch Baby, I asked the server her preference.

Her eyes lit up at the Apple Cinnamon Dutch Baby. Maybe that’s when she warned me it could take a half-hour, come to think of it.

When the pancake arrived, I learned it was a German pancake, made with thinly sliced apples, sprinkled with cinnamon and powdered sugar, but made in a deep-dish cast-iron skillet for a crispy bottom and tender top.

It was delicious. Especially piping hot. I was pulled away for a phone call and, while still good, it wasn’t as great as it was served straight from the stove. So be sure to have the ability to finish it at the restaurant.

Columbia

649 Front Street // (407) 566-1505

This gem of Spanish restaurants was always the first or second mentioned by locals as their favorite place to have a celebration. Whether a birthday, anniversary, or graduation, Columbia remains popular year after year. 

Enter to see a suit of armor, ready for your photo opportunity. There’s a gift shop to the left and both indoor and outdoor seating for your dining pleasure. Tables prevail with a few banquette seat tables available. The overhead fans and air conditioning keep the climate quite comfortable, even in 90F+ weather. 

Once seated, take the opportunity to read much of the history on the menu. The Gonzmart family opened this restaurant in 1905. They take great pride in their relationships five generations hence with distilleries around the world welcoming them back on tasting trips. Reading about their visits to the Spey distillery in the Cairngorm Mountains of Scotland made even a non-drinker like me just a little envious. 

The history of the original Cuban sandwich and the restaurant’s choice as Food & Wine Magazine’s best sandwich in Florida are appropriately celebrated while offering a Mahi Mahi Cubana, Curt’s meatloaf sandwich, Palomilla steak sandwich, or a half and half combo.

If you’re ready for tapas, the black bean cakes, championes rellenos, queso fundido, Ybor City Crab Croquettes, or empanadas made from a multiple generations finely tuned recipe. Basically, you could choose almost anything on the menu and have a great meal. 

At lunchtime, the sandwiches and tapas were readily available. The Empanadas de Picadillo started with a recipe for picadillo, made with spiced ground beef, garlic, tomato, onions, raisins, and olives. The raisins were a new twist on an old favorite for me, adding sweetness and texture. 

Dessert options include flan, churros, key lime pie, and white chocolate bread pudding. Any make an excellent choice for a celebratory meal. Or a regular day out and about.

Lakeside Bar & Grill

700 Bloom Street // (407) 566-6000

This lovely boutique hotel is perched at the far corner of town on the lake. Its structure reminds me of a lighthouse. The outdoor living furniture is elegantly appointed with socially distanced space for guests.

Enter the restaurant through the lobby area and you’ll see six interior tables and six exterior tables, so be sure to call for reservations as they fill easily. You can stroll along the path around the lake by starting around the right of the hotel.

The bartender and server are helpful and make you want to stay longer. And take you up on their urging to return often. 

This restaurant also participates in the Magical Dining program for charity. For a fixed price, the Lakeside Bar & Grill, and many restaurants in the Orlando area, provide a three-course meal with three options for first, main, or dessert courses. They also offer wine pairings.

As they say, “When classically inspired dishes are elegantly elevated, your old favorites become new ones, all over again. Indoors or al fresco, enjoy the sparkling lakeside.”

Shareable dishes include Kessler calamari, Hunter’s board, crispy brussel sprouts, and an heirloom tomato burrata. 

Soups & salads offer the Caesar and power bowl or an iced gazpacho, a zesty tomato, farm box cucumber, and cucumber salsa.

Their sandwiches include a smoked turkey breast club, spiced whiskey burger, pulled pork sandwich, and hot honey chicken sandwich.

What grabbed my attention, though, were the entrees. While the grilled petit filet was tempting, and the Joyce Farms Chicken with root vegetables looked great, when I learned I could substitute the coconut rice, the pan-seared red snapper with asparagus and a mango avocado relish took the day.