13 Florida Restaurants So Unusual They Belong On Your Bucket List
Florida isn’t just about sun and sand; it’s a playground for adventurous eaters seeking something unexpected.
From quirky décor that sparks conversation to menu items that make you do a double take, these 14 restaurants turn dining into an experience you won’t forget.
Locals know the thrill of stepping into a place that surprises at every corner, where flavors, themes, and presentations break the ordinary.
In Florida, unusual isn’t just a gimmick; it’s a way to make a meal memorable.
Each spot on this list promises a dining adventure that earns a permanent spot on your bucket list.
1. Sci-Fi Dine-In Theater Restaurant
Picture yourself cruising into a permanent twilight where classic cars become your dinner table and B-movie monsters flicker across a massive drive-in screen.
Waiters on roller skates zip between vintage convertibles, delivering burgers and milkshakes while you’re glued to campy sci-fi clips from the 1950s.
Located at 351 S Studio Dr, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830, inside Disney’s Hollywood Studios, this spot recreates the golden age of American drive-in culture with incredible attention to detail.
The ceiling is painted to look like a starry night sky, and the air conditioning keeps things cool while you pretend you’re parked under the cosmos.
Try the Angus Bacon Cheeseburger or the Out-of-this-World Chicken Club for a taste of retro diner comfort food.
Fun fact: the restaurant uses actual car bodies from the era, making your booth a genuine piece of automotive history.
2. Be Our Guest Restaurant
Step through the doors and you’ll find yourself wandering through the Beast’s enchanted castle, complete with falling snow in the West Wing and a magical rose under glass.
Three opulent dining rooms transport you straight into the animated classic, with soaring ceilings, gothic chandeliers, and stone archways that feel ripped from a French fairy tale.
You’ll discover this magical spot at 1Remember Dreams Come True Way, Orlando, FL 32836, nestled in the heart of Magic Kingdom’s Fantasyland.
The Grand Ballroom features towering windows and twinkling lights that change as day turns to night, creating an atmosphere that’s pure Disney magic.
The French-inspired menu includes the famous Grey Stuff dessert (which really is delicious) and the Master’s Cupcake topped with the Beast’s chocolate horns.
Reservations fill up months in advance, so plan ahead if you want to dine like Belle.
3. Jiko – The Cooking Place
Flames dance in twin wood-burning ovens while African-inspired artwork covers walls built to resemble a traditional cooking lodge.
This isn’t your average theme park meal; it’s a sophisticated culinary journey through multiple African regions with flavors that’ll wake up taste buds you didn’t know you had.
Find this gem at 2901 Osceola Parkway, Lake Buena Vista, FL 32830, inside Disney’s Animal Kingdom Lodge.
The open kitchen design lets you watch chefs work their magic with spices and techniques borrowed from Morocco, South Africa, and beyond.
Order the Sustainable Fish with chermoula or the Oak-grilled Filet Mignon with South African wine pairings from one of the largest collections outside Africa.
The restaurant’s name means “the cooking place” in Swahili, and the earthy, warm interior with its thatched ceiling and wooden beams makes you feel like you’ve traveled across continents without leaving Florida.
4. Victoria & Albert’s
White gloves, custom menus with your name printed in gold, and a harpist playing softly in the background set the stage for Florida’s most exclusive dining experience.
Only eighteen guests per night get to experience the main dining room, where every detail is choreographed like a ballet.
Located at 4401 Floridian Way, Orlando, FL 32836, inside Disney’s Grand Floridian Resort & Spa, this AAA Five Diamond restaurant occupies an intimate Victorian-style room with crystal chandeliers and plush carpeting.
The dress code is strictly enforced: men need jackets, and everyone must be at least ten years old.
Chef’s Table guests watch their ten-course meal prepared in a private kitchen, with dishes like Miyazaki Wagyu and Osetra Caviar paired with rare wines.
Fun fact: your servers, always named Victoria and Albert, work in perfect tandem throughout your three-hour meal, and you’ll never see the same dish twice on return visits.
5. Pirate’s Dinner Adventure
Cannons boom, acrobats flip through the air, and a full-sized pirate ship floats in an indoor lagoon right before your eyes.
Guests become part of the crew, cheering for their assigned buccaneer while digging into a three-course feast served without silverware (pirates don’t use forks, apparently).
Sail over to 6400 Carrier Dr, Orlando, FL 32819, where this massive entertainment complex combines theater, circus acts, and dinner into one swashbuckling evening.
The arena-style seating surrounds a 300,000-gallon water tank where the Spanish galleon actually fires cannons and battles rival pirates.
Your meal includes roasted chicken, buttered corn, rice, and dessert, all designed to be eaten with your hands while you watch sword fights and aerial stunts.
The building’s exterior looks like a Caribbean fortress, complete with palm trees and tropical landscaping that makes you forget you’re in a parking lot off International Drive.
6. Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament
Knights clash on horseback inside an eleventh-century castle while you tear into roasted chicken and spare ribs with your bare hands, just like they did back when forks were considered fancy newfangled contraptions.
Six color-coded knights compete in jousting matches, sword fights, and games of skill while you cheer from tiered stone seating.
Journey to 4510 W Vine St, Kissimmee, FL 34746, where turrets and flags mark this massive castle replica that dominates the landscape.
The Great Hall features vaulted ceilings, medieval banners, and a Museum of Torture (yes, really) you can explore before the show.
Feast on tomato bisque, garlic bread, whole roasted chicken, sweet buttered corn, and herb-basted potato while horses thunder past at full gallop.
Fun fact: the horses are specially trained Andalusians and Lusitanos, and the knights perform their stunts without stunt doubles, making every clash of steel completely real.
7. Cap’s Place
Getting to your table requires a boat ride across dark waters, because this legendary speakeasy sits on a private island with no road access whatsoever.
Bootleggers once smuggled rum through these same channels during Prohibition, and the rustic wooden building still feels like a secret hideaway where anything could happen.
Chart your course to 2765 NE 28th Ct, Lighthouse Point, FL 33064, where a small dock marks your departure point for the five-minute water taxi ride.
The restaurant itself is built from salvaged shipwreck lumber, giving the dining rooms a weathered, nautical character that money can’t buy.
Heart of Palm Salad was invented here (seriously, look it up), and the Key Lime Pie has been made from the same recipe since 1928.
Presidents, movie stars, and mobsters have all dined in these rooms, and the walls are covered with photos proving it.
Reservations are absolutely required, and they’ll give you the boat schedule when you call.
8. Cabbage Key Inn & Restaurant
Dollar bills cover every square inch of the walls and ceiling, creating a bizarre green wallpaper made entirely of signed currency left by visitors over decades.
Somewhere around $80,000 in ones plaster the interior, each one carrying a message, a date, or a promise to return.
Navigate to Intracoastal Waterway Mile Marker 60, accessible only by boat from Pineland Marina, Bokeelia, Pine Island, FL.
The 1938 house sits atop an ancient Calusa Indian shell mound, giving diners elevated views of Pine Island Sound from the wraparound porch.
The Famous Cheeseburger supposedly inspired Jimmy Buffett’s “Cheeseburger in Paradise” (though several places claim this honor), and it’s a thick, juicy masterpiece served with crispy fries.
The building’s Old Florida architecture features exposed wood beams, creaky floors, and windows on all sides that catch the island breeze.
Bring a dollar bill and a marker to add your own message to the collection before you leave.
9. Le Tub Saloon
Bathtubs, sinks, and toilets decorate the outdoor patio in the most delightfully bizarre garden you’ve ever seen, turning discarded plumbing fixtures into planters and quirky sculptures.
Oprah once declared their burger the best in America, and suddenly this funky beach shack became a pilgrimage site for burger fanatics worldwide.
Cruise down to 1100 N Ocean Dr, Hollywood, FL 33019, where the building looks like a tropical junkyard that somehow became charming.
Driftwood, nautical salvage, and colorful paint create a ramshackle atmosphere that’s pure South Florida weird, right across the street from the beach.
The Awesome Burger lives up to its name with a half-pound patty, while the Tub’s Chicken packs serious flavor for non-beef eaters.
Everything is cooked to order in the tiny kitchen, so expect a wait, but the oceanfront location and people-watching make time fly.
The whole place feels like someone’s eccentric backyard party that never ended, which is exactly the point.
10. The Chattaway
Christmas lights twinkle year-round in the sprawling outdoor garden where mismatched tables sit under tropical trees and a model train chugs along an overhead track.
This St. Petersburg institution has been serving comfort food in its wonderfully cluttered outdoor space since 1951, and nothing about it makes conventional sense, which is exactly why locals guard it like a secret.
Track it down at 358 22nd Ave S, St. Petersburg, FL 33705, where the unassuming exterior gives no hint of the magical garden hiding behind the building.
String lights, vintage signs, and tropical plants create a treehouse vibe that feels miles away from the city streets surrounding it.
The burgers are legendary, especially the ones topped with their signature Chattaway sauce, and the onion rings arrive hot and crispy in a mountain you’ll never finish alone.
British expats love the place for its authentic fish and chips.
The whole setup feels like dining in someone’s eccentric backyard, complete with a resident cat that might wander by your table.
11. The Swamp Restaurant
Alligator heads, mounted fish, and University of Florida memorabilia cover every surface in this Gainesville institution where Gator fans gather to worship their team and devour surprisingly inventive pub food.
Walking through the door feels like entering a Florida-themed fever dream where sports culture and swamp life collide in the most entertaining way possible.
Stomp over to 1642 W University Ave, Gainesville, FL 32603, just blocks from the UF campus in a building that’s been feeding hungry college students and alumni since the 1990s.
The interior is deliberately over-the-top, with orange and blue everything and enough taxidermy to stock a natural history museum.
Gator Tail (yes, actual alligator meat) is the signature appetizer, served fried with a tangy dipping sauce that converts skeptics instantly.
The Big Swamp Burger and Swamp Wings keep the menu grounded in classic bar food done right.
Game days transform this place into absolute madness, with fans packed shoulder to shoulder, so visit during off-hours if you actually want to hear yourself think.
12. Bern’s Steak House
Somewhere in the maze of private wine cellars beneath your feet sits a bottle worth more than a car, and upstairs in the kitchen, steaks are aging in rooms kept at precisely controlled temperatures.
This isn’t just a steakhouse; it’s a full-blown obsession with beef, wine, and hospitality taken to levels that border on insanity (the good kind).
Make your way to 1208 S Howard Ave, Tampa, FL 33606, where the red brick exterior and vintage neon sign mark one of America’s most legendary dining destinations.
Inside, dark wood paneling, red leather booths, and dim lighting create an old-school steakhouse vibe that refuses to follow modern design trends.
Choose your exact cut and thickness, then specify how you want it cooked down to the degree.
The wine list contains over 6,800 selections stored in temperature-controlled cellars you can tour after dinner.
Dessert happens in a separate upstairs room called Harry Waugh Dessert Room, where fifty different sweets await in private booths with their own music controls.
13. Columbia Restaurant (Ybor City)
Flamenco dancers stomp and twirl across a stage in the center dining room every night, their dresses swirling in a blur of red and black while you fork up the best Cuban food in Florida.
Founded in 1905, this is the state’s oldest restaurant and the largest Spanish restaurant in the world, occupying an entire city block of beautiful tile work and wrought iron balconies.
Head to 2117 E 7th Ave, Tampa, FL 33605, right in the heart of historic Ybor City’s cigar district.
Fifteen dining rooms spread across multiple buildings, each decorated with hand-painted tiles imported from Spain, creating a labyrinth of Spanish colonial elegance.
The Original Cuban Sandwich was perfected here, and the 1905 Salad gets tossed tableside with a theatrical flourish that’s been performed thousands of times.
Red snapper Alicante and Paella a la Valenciana showcase traditional Spanish techniques passed down through five generations of family ownership.
The building’s courtyard features a fountain and open sky, transporting diners straight to Seville without the jet lag.