Category Archives: Windermere

Dixie Cream Cafe

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**** (4 stars)

This is a charming cafe right in downtown Windermere. I’m old enough to remember this space not only as a convenience store, but also as the post office that preceded it. So it’s odd that I’ve driven past hundreds of times, but only just finally stopped in to check it out. It definitely exceeded my expectations.

There’s counter service for freshly made pastries, coffees, and other beverages, and sit down dining in several areas: the restaurant proper, high tops in the area near the coffee bar, and covered tables outside along the porch. Each offers a different ambiance.

The comprehensive menu includes coffee shop standards with an emphasis on breakfast, and more cafe-like items including artisan sandwiches and gourmet burgers. Fish tacos and other eclectic fare round out the diverse offerings.

I opted for the BL(FG)T, which is a unique version of a BLT using fried green tomatoes. It was delicious, especially the toasted multi-grain bread. I opted to upgrade my side to a mixed green salad, which was served on the same plate. It had a nice mix of greens and an excellent blue cheese dressing.

A very fresh coconut macaroon was the perfect dessert.

Service was very friendly and attentive. I’ll definitely be back to try some of the other interesting lunch dishes, and to check out breakfast.

Dixie Cream Cafe
434 Main St
Windermere, FL 34786
(407) 217-5047
http://www.yelp.com/biz/dixie-cream-cafe-windermere

Perrotti’s Express

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**** (4 stars)

This smaller outpost of the popular Perrotta’s Deli makes real deli sandwiches–hard to find in Orlando–and they make them fast. It’s easy to customize what you want, and they can do subs and wraps as well.

While bread and cheese selections are somewhat limited by the microscopic kitchen, the meats are true New York deli caliber. There’s a small inside dining area.

Definitely one of the best deli sandwiches in Central Florida.

Perrotti’s Express
7828 Winter Garden Vineland Rd
Windermere, FL 34786
(407) 347-3631
http://www.yelp.com/biz/perrottis-express-windermere

Caprino’s Italian

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**** (4 stars)

Caprino’s is a much better restaurant than anything that has previously occupied this space. Run by Chef Stefano, who previously had the restaurant at the entrance to Summerport, and also has Stefano’s Grill in Dr Phillip’s Marketplace, Caprino’s strikes a balance between neighborhood Italian restaurant and sports bar.

The space is still the amalgam of Rialto’s ornate fine dining restaurant wrapped around a somewhat incongruous bar dotted with big screen TVs, but this serves the menu well, with its emphasis on combining traditional Italian dishes with sports bar food.

Whether your party wants wings, hoagies, pasta or pizza, there is likely something for everyone. And at the higher end, the beef is reportedly all prime; it and the seafood are butchered on site.

Our server was friendly and well-informed, and the service in general seemed quite polished for a restaurant open less than two months. On a moderately busy Friday night the kitchen was having trouble keeping up, which caused some service issues, but presumably these will be corrected.

The pizza is thin crust and has an authentic Naples taste to it. We tried two specials: the osso buco was heavily over-salted, but the lobster ravioli was well-prepared. Caesar salad is conventional and includes house made croutons.

Desserts are the same offerings as at Stefano’s Grill. The tira misu was generous.

Wine by the glass selections are somewhat limited, but there is a nice list of 29 bottles for $29 each, and also extensive cocktail offerings.

Chef Stefano was circulating throughout the dining room on the night we were there, and his hands on approach has certainly improved the experience at this neighborhood restaurant. So far it’s paying off with increased patronage.

Caprino’s Italian
7782 Winter Garden Vineland Rd
Ste 140
Windermere, FL 34786
(407) 500-3663
http://www.yelp.com/biz/caprinos-italian-windermere

Dexter’s

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IMG_4886

Voted Orlando’s Best Bloody Mary

**** (4 stars)

This is the nicest interior of any Dexter’s location, bright and cheery. The dining room and bar are one area, which works well for the dining room, but makes the bar someplace that isn’t very cozy to hang out in.

Dexter’s menu has a great assortment of salads, sandwiches, and small plates. I’m particularly fond of the Rustic Cast Iron Skillet Salad, a delicious blend of oven dried tomatoes, grilled asparagus, artichoke hearts, rosemary roasted potatoes, feta cheese chunks and mixed greens. Ask for the lemon dill dijon dressing on the side, as it doesn’t take much. The rosemary potatoes on this dish are particularly delicious.

Service is friendly and quick; it’s easy to get in and out for lunch in under an hour.

Dexter’s
4757 The Grove Dr
Windermere, FL 34786
(407) 258-7028
http://www.yelp.com/biz/dexters-windermere-2

BurgerFi

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**** (4 stars)

This latest outpost of the BurgerFi empire is at the entrance to Windermere, next to Isleworth and Bay Hill in the Grove shopping plaza. The weird design of the parking makes finding a space a bit of a puzzle, but it keeps down the traffic, which makes dining outside on the large, covered patio pleasant.

I like BurgerFi’s approach to burgers, because they make it easy to assemble your burger from the ground up. My favorite is with bacon, white cheddar, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle relish, ketchup, mustard and mayo. It’s no problem to rattle these off and get exactly what you want.

The burgers themselves are fairly small, about the size of a fast food burger, not a gourmet hamburger restaurant’s patty. But that’s fine as far as I’m concerned, because you get all the flavor without so many calories. And the flavor was good, especially the crispy bacon, which was generous. The bun was a bit blah, even though it had been “branded” with the BurgerFi logo. And the meat was definitely well done, which might turn some off, but I don’t mind a well-done burger as long as it’s juicy, which this one was.

The accompanying onion rings I ordered where huge, crispy and tasty, but dripping with oil. My companion liked his fries less well. The order was huge, but the variant he ordered was covered with a white sauce that made them slimy.

BurgerFi has Coke Freestyle machines, so you can select from hundreds of combinations, which is always fun.

You order at the counter, and then the food is delivered to your table using a clever scheme involving restaurant pagers placed on a special mat that must signal the servers which table you’re at. Very neat.

If you’re expecting Red Robin or Burger 21, BurgerFi isn’t really in that category, but if you want an excellent fast food burger in a nice environment, it’s a good choice.

BurgerFi
4750 The Grove Dr.
Windermere, FL 34786
(407) 217-7612
http://www.yelp.com/biz/burgerfi-windermere-6

Piazza Rialto Italian Restaurant

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Five cheese platter

Interior

**** (4 stars)

Rialto has now become the restaurant this neighborhood needs. After a rocky first year, new management and chef have elevated this to an outstanding experience. 

This was always a beautiful space, far nicer than one expects in a small shopping center. Its versatile design lends itself to group meals, family outings, after work time at the bar, pleasant outdoor dining, and romantic dinners for two–quite an accomplishment all in one space.

But now the food and service live up to the environment. New additions such as a cheese platter of mostly French cheeses and a chocolate creme brulee dessert add an international flair, and there are also American offerings such as a buffalo chicken flatbread. But the focus is still on Italian food, with a variety of pastas and classic Italian entrees. The freshly baked bread was top notch, and we particularly enjoyed the antipasto salad, a creative combination of greens, prosciutto and olives.

The biggest improvement is the service. Our waiter, Anthony, was obviously very concerned that we have a great time, and we could see that to be the case with other tables and servers as well. The hands-on approach by management, who visited our table, is also a dramatic change. Clearly everyone is now onboard to turn this into a great restaurant, and we will happily return.

It’s nice to finally have a great Italian restaurant in our neighborhood.

Piazza Rialto Italian Restaurant
7782 Winter Garden Vineland Rd
Windermere, FL 34786
(855) 474-2586
http://www.yelp.com/biz/piazza-rialto-italian-restaurant-windermere-2

Jumbo Asian Cuisine & Sushi

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**** (4 stars)

This new place is an instant success, a measure of the demand for restaurants in this area, and especially sushi.

My wife and I were in disagreement about the place. I thought it was quite good, while she didn’t like too much about it. It’s true that the lighting over the sushi bar is dreadful, and the servers seem very disorganized and inexperienced. But on the other hand, the place was slammed, with a wait all evening, after being open only three days.

I thought the sushi was excellent. The fish was clearly better than most of the area sushi bars. The hamachi and kampachi sashimi were both particularly good. We both really liked the Magik roll, a mixture of tuna, yellowtail and salmon with wasabi mayo.

The only clear miss was the Tom Yum, which bore no relationship to the Thai lemongrass soup it was supposed to be.

Overall, I think they’re doing a great job for a brand new restaurant, and will be very successful in this area.

Jumbo Asian Cuisine & Sushi
7798 Winter Garden Vineland Rd
Windermere, FL 34786
(407) 909-8868
http://www.yelp.com/biz/jumbo-asian-cuisine-and-sushi-windermere