Cheap Eats on Orlando's I-Drive
Low Cost Restaurants on International Drive in Orlando Florida
Many vacationers to Orlando stay in the International Drive area but food costs there can be high. Here are some places that will help you keep your budget under control.
International Drive, also known as “I-Drive” to the locals, has almost as many restaurants as hotels to offer visitors to the city. But a lot of them are higher priced, or simply not worth the price charged. But fear not. Try any of the places in the list below and you’ll be able to enjoy a tasty filling meal for under $11 a person.
- Café Tu Tu Tango - This tapas-style restaurant offers both hot and cold appetizer-style dishes, with most in the $6-$9 range. The food is mostly a mixture of Spanish, Latin and Asian, and they have a good selection of vegetarian offerings, too. Order a few plates and pass them around your table. Go on the weekends to see local artists-in-residence creating new works, as well as enjoy live entertainment from roving musicians, tarot card readers and bellydancers. Café Tu Tu Tango is located at the intersection of I-Drive and Austrian Row, just south of the Mercado shopping center.
- CiCi’s Pizza - On those days when the kids, big and small, only want pizza, try this restaurant known for their unlimited pizza, pasta and salad buffet for under $6. They’ve even got a few dessert pizzas to round out the meal. The food is filling and tasty, and at this price, great for families on a budget. The I-Drive location is just north of the intersection with Sand Lake Rd.
- Don Pablos - Less than a block away from Café Tu Tu Tango, on the other side of Austrian Row, you’ll find the Tex-Mex flavors of this restaurant, which has several budget friendly deals. Lunch specials run Monday through Friday from 11am until 4pm and include an entree, two side dishes, your choice of soup or salad and a soda for under $8. Join their free "habaneros club" online and you’ll get a coupon for a free dip sampler on your first visit. Finally, every month they usually run some kind of special, like all you can eat enchiladas for $8.99, in addition to daily drink specials such as margaritas for $3.
- Sweet Tomatoes - Vegetarians and light eaters will enjoy the offerings at this buffet-style restaurant, found at the intersection of I-Drive and Kirkman Rd. The restaurant offers a huge salad buffet of over 60 items, along with soup, pasta and bakery items, all for under $10 a person. They’ve also started to offer a la carte items ranging from $2 for an 8oz cup of soup or pasta to $6 for a single serving of salad, or a quart-sized container of soup or pasta.
- Vittorio’s Brazilian Restaurant - This restaurant is tucked away in a shopping center on the northern end of I-Drive, near the outlet malls, and looks tiny from the outside. But inside, you’ll find a huge all-you-can-eat buffet of Brazilian food from entrees to desserts, all for $10.95. Fridays they offer extra seafood entrees, such as codfish made with olive oil, olives, potatoes and onions, while Saturday is Feijoada day, which is a Brazilian stew-like dish made from beans, beef, pork and vegetables.
The copyright of the article Cheap Eats on Orlando's I-Drive in Budget Dining Options is owned by Michelle Snow. Permission to republish Cheap Eats on Orlando's I-Drive must be granted by the author in writing.
