Here is another restaurant review from our recent holiday trip to Orlando (read more about that here). We have considered going to Emeril’s for a long time, but somehow never seemed to quite get there. On this trip Cheri and I 
found ourselves alone for the first day and a half, so it seemed a perfect time to finally give Emeril’s a try. We opted for lunch, and were very pleased with the results.
Located in CityWalk, the restaurant stands alone in a central spot surrounded by other shops and eating establishments. You just can’t get a feeling for it by passing by outside. When you walk in you are immediately impressed with a high, vaulted interior which boasts architectural details everywhere. There is a main dining room, an upstairs loft, enclosed patio sections as well as a small private function room, which used to be the wine and cigar room. On the loft level, the wine cellar dominates the view, with wooden housed coolers everywhere, some hanging out over the edge of the mezzanine and sort of defying gravity.
Part of the wine cellar
The wine list is impressive here, earning a Wine Spectator “Best of” Award of Excellence. The choices are numerous and expansive in scope. If inclined you can drop some serious cash. We weren’t so inclined, deciding on a draft beer and a mixed drink instead. Still, it was impressive, and the cellar has an 8,000 bottle collection, but has room for 4,000 more in it’s 12,000 bottle capacity. They take wine very seriously here, but never was there any stuffy feeling or pretension in the air. The staff was friendly and very professional throughout.
Now about the food. Lunch choices were very good and all looked enticing. Cheri had the turkey burger without the bun. She loved it.
Turkey sans gravy
There was a guacamole and mango slaw on top of the roasted turkey burger, and somehow it tasted like roasted turkey with gravy, just without actually having any gravy. The turkey came with a fresh bib salad. My entree
Caesar and seared tuna
was a Caesar salad with a good sized piece of nicely seared tuna. The salad was well dressed, not overly so as so many are. There was also a nice abundance of anchovies on top. We both thought the restaurant had a great atmosphere, providing white linen service at a very reasonable price at lunch. Our servers were Jose and Zay, twin brothers who were both excellent.
We can heartily recommend lunch at Emeril’s if you are visiting Universal Orlando, or live in the area. Dinner, we suspect, is just as good.
A votre santé!
The particulars:
Emeril’s Orlando
6000 Universal Blvd.
702
Orlando, FL 32819
PH: 407 224 2424
Website: http://www.emerilsrestaurants.com/emerils-orlando
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