Restaurants in Winter Springs

Chef and owner Gary Tolla selects dishes from a large rolodex of family Italian recipes to fill out the menu at Tolla’s Italian Restaurant. Veal and chicken receive the parmigiana, marsala, and piccata treatments, and raviolis are stuffed with cheese to create little pillowy pockets almost identical to actual dollhouse pillows. A selection of wine helps wash down hot and cold subs or pizzas concocted from shareable 12-inch disks or personal 10-inch crusts. On Friday and Saturday evenings, live entertainment—from bands to a Rat Pack balloon artist—entertains patrons inside the eatery.

The aromas of South Asian spices lure passersby into Abhiruchi India Cuisine, where they typically pause for a moment to savor the décor and read the descriptions of more than 100 Indian specialties. Halal and vegetarian options are both well represented on the lengthy menu, which features spicy curries and tandoori-baked entrees based on chicken, seafood, and lamb or goat. When they aren’t scooping tikka masala into trays for the lunch buffet or pilfering Marco Polo’s travelogues for new recipes, the restaurant’s chefs accommodate partygoers with catering services.

Serving up food for breakfast, lunch and dinner, the culinary team at Cheddar Jack's crafts their homemade burgers with 100% fresh Angus beef that has never been frozen. Provolone and colby jack join four other types of cheese atop the six-cheese burger, and the bacon, onion rings, and barbecue sauce on the Rodeo burger are only available to patrons who lasso it from the kitchen. Cheddar Jack's chefs also whip up comfort food dishes that include meatloaf, pulled-pork sandwiches, all-beef franks, and milk shakes. Along with lunchtime and dinnertime treats, early birds can feast on breakfast starting at 8 a.m. seven days a week.

Warm orange walls decked with traditional Indian tapestries ensconce guests at Flavors of India. Within that setting, high-backed leather booths and white-linen clothed tables set the scene for authentic feasts of Indian fare. The restaurant's chefs prepare traditional dishes flavored with Indian herbs and spices, such as boti kebab and chicken vindaloo, for dinner. The daily lunch buffet, meanwhile, enables guests to enjoy an all-you-can-eat feast without the endless supply of disguises and six fake mustache varieties needed to make a full lunch out of the grocery store's samples.

At Green Lemon Cafe, ceramic salt- and peppershakers masquerade as pairs of flamingos, crabs, and dairy cows. The figurines mirror the café's harmonious atmosphere: on any given day, patrons munch Fresh-inspired café fare, chat with owner Amanda Volence, or sprout goatees while browsing original artwork.

In the kitchen, chefs pack Boar's Head meats into savory crepes and paninis such as the black forest ham and swiss panini or the raspberry-chicken crepe with jack cheese and spinach. Alternately, cooks fill the apple-crisp crepe—1 of more than 30 crepe options—with cinnamon, apples, caramel, and graham-cracker crumbs.

Although Thai cuisine typically earns praise for its bold, spicy flavor combinations, the chefs at Red Bamboo Thai Restaurant aim to make their cuisine accessible to all palates, personalizing the level of spice from mild to Thai hot. Using red, green, and yellow curry pastes, the culinarians lend a piquant touch to the fragrant combinations of basil, coconut milk, and scratch-and-sniff bamboo shoots that make up the menu. They also wield sweet and spicy chili sauces to lend dichotomous flavors to entrees such as deep-fried red snapper or prawns.

Although each bite of food features complex combinations of herbs and spices, the dining room embraces a more subdued aesthetic. Earth-toned walls surround the booths and tables, remaining relatively unadorned except for a scattered collection of framed pictures and small tapestries.