Every person living in a city for a long time has that one building or restaurant they pass by all the time, almost every time they are on the road, but never uses an opportunity to know the place. My example is Julie’s Waterfront, a lakeside restaurant located across from a massive church on Orange Avenue. This restaurant was always passed by because the two churches I have attended in my life are located inside/near Downtown Orlando, and Orange Ave. is the safest, quickest, and smoothest way of reaching them. But, as soon as this blog started, the curiosity became bigger, because this is an example of a restaurant that has lasted for at least two decades, no question. Since I was seven I remember driving by Julie’s Waterfront on the way to noon mass, always wondering just how good the food was. Today, I receive my answer.
Down on Orange Avenue, passing the massive church that closes traffic after a mass is over (this is another story), lies the powerhouse popular restaurant. Finding the place isn’t difficult, especially with a massive lake crowding the scenery on the right side of the road. The location is purely perfect for outdoor dining, by day and at night (weather permitting). The inside of the restaurant isn’t very big, so if there were a crazy storm in the area, it would be quite a hassle to maneuver through the establishment. Just the thought alone would be a bit frightening. Luckily, it was perfect Florida weather (Come on other states, envy us, ENVY!) so I was able to dine outside.
The menu itself was multiple pages, but unlike your usual seafood, the place has a wide variety of foods that extends far from seafood to sandwiches to meatless burgers to even some hummus (not like I would ever try hummus in a seafood joint though). The older community benefits more from the variety as they have a slew of options to pick from in the final page. In an IHOP style, there is a small menu built just for those over 50 and in need of watching their health. I order coconut shrimp, while my cinematographer orders the most popular item in the restaurant: their famous fried shrimp. We first get our salad (which was the size of a small soup bowl) as we wait for the main course. The salad had a good ranch dressing, but it’s a salad. The only salad I have ever loved in my years on this earth: Polynesian Resort’s Ohana’s salad.
Their most popular side item was the sweet potato fries, which we proceed to order. Yes, they were very good; their flavor was more in the family of sweet plantains. Not saying it’s a bad family connection, but it is not for everybody. Strange texture, grand flavor. After about 10 minutes of waiting, all the shrimp arrives. The portions were rather small, but the food still looked very good. My coconut shrimp was with hushpuppies, but the hushpuppies were bite-sized and quite small. All hushpuppy fans know a good hushpuppy is a gigantic one. There was around 6-7 shrimp, and they were medium-sized. Same went with the fried shrimp, about 6 or 7, small, but looked good.
The shrimp, both items were very good, but the small portions were a bit on the disappointing side. The coconut shrimp actually was smaller then the fried shrimp. Margaritaville (which has the best coconut shrimp ever) trounces Julies by a mile. As for the fried shrimp, I’ve actually had better in a Chinese joint called Green House (which is the basis for another culinary blog entry in the near future). Despite being defeated by other restaurants, the meal itself was decent, just not fulfilling. Both dishes were over 11 bucks. The rule of thumb in my book is that if a dish is over 10 dollars (and doesn’t contain ingredients obtained in only small patches of grass in third world countries), it better do a great job filling you up at least.
After we were done with the food, we decided to buy crab cakes, just to see what they tasted like in the local secret. The long wait was right here, as the crab cakes took at least 15 minutes to prepare. Usually crab cakes aren’t too difficult, but this one must be lasting longer away from our table because of whether quality, or size. They turned out to be quite good, quite fulfilling, but also the most expensive appetizer I’ve had in a while. Nearly 12 bucks gets you those two large, meaty crab cakes. Just like your typical TGI and Chilis’, you are paying a bit for the atmosphere as well as the food. While the atmosphere was definitely nice, we still weren’t full.
Bottom Line: Julie’s Waterfront is a very nice restaurant in a prime, prime location. The food was very good, the service was nice, and the view is virtually flawless. It could make for a very romantic evening eating outside, overlooking a nice lake. However, just prepare for little amounts of food, whether it’s an appetizer or a main course. The shrimp was good, just not enough. The coconut shrimp was good, but it just wasn’t enough. Perhaps it’s because there’s an older cult following backing this place, and they can handle less food than your typical carnivore. Whatever the reason, Julie’s Waterfront is high price, (minimal) good local food.
4201 South Orange Avenue
Orlando, FL 32806
(407) 240-2557
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