Food Critic Scott Joseph's Favorites from Restaurant Row

Orlando has more than 4,000 eateries. And despite what you may have heard, they're not all chains. In fact, we have a number of fine independently owned restaurants, many of them within easy reach of the main tourist and convention corridor.

Just a biscuit's throw away from the visitor epicenter of International Drive is Restaurant Row, the stretch of Sand Lake Road west of Interstate 4. Here you'll find a concentrated collection of good restaurants with barely a clunker among them. Some of my favorites include:

Chatham's Place — 7575 Dr. Phillips Blvd., Orlando; 407-345-2992. Chatham's Place is small and upscale with a menu to match. The cuisine has touches of southern charm, and the pecan-crusted grouper is a local legend.

Moonfish — 7525 W. Sand Lake Rd., Orlando; 407-363-7762. Moon Fish is another welcome addition to the local seafood scene. Concentrate on the fresh fish selections and avoid anything too fancy. Have the calamari as an appetizer and spring for the sorbets at dessert — there's enough to share. One of the gimmicks here is to give the name of the person who caught your fish.

Seasons 52 — 7700 Sand Lake Rd., Orlando; 407-354-5212. OK, technically this is now a chain with eight locations, but this is the prototype for Darden's latest concept. It works on a number of levels. The original conceit of the restaurant was that something, somewhere comes into season every week of the year, thus 52 "seasons." The kitchen has sort of gotten away from following that too closely, but continues to offer entrees with lots of flavor but fewer calories. Forget about the food being healthfully prepared, you won't notice a difference when you taste the grilled pork with polenta or the filet mignon. If you start feeling too goody-goody, go crazy and order all the mini desserts.

Vines Grille & Wine Bar — 7533 W. Sand Lake Rd., Orlando; 407-351-1227. It would be almost enough to go here to sit at the bar, sip a glass of wine and eat strips of bacon while listening to live jazz (Instead of salty peanuts they put rashers of crispy bacon on the bar here). But have dinner, the food is good, especially the short ribs and the steak tartare. The dining room is classy and upscale, which matches the prices.

Of course there are myriad chains, too, for those looking for a familiar taste from their hometowns — there's nothing wrong with that. But while you're in my hometown, I hope you'll check out some of our distinct and outstanding restaurants.

Scott Joseph has been reviewing Central Florida restaurants for 21 years. He publishes Scott Joseph's Orlando Restaurant Guide at scottjosephorlando.com.