Earls Kitchen + Bar — Restaurant in Orlando

My girlfriend and I went to Earl’s today for probably the 3rd or 4th time. We always have an enjoyable experience. The cocktails are unique and delicious, and the happy hour deals are pretty good. I particularly enjoy that they boast a “featured” menu that changes seasonally.

Today we thought we’d try brunch, which is served til 3 on Sundays. Earl’s offers $12 bottomless mimosas, though I’d hoped to see various juice options apart from the standard orange. Instead, I ordered an Absinthe Minded, which was refreshing with the right amount of anise flavor, and a rosé sangria, which was crisp and barely sweet from the pomegranates. Both were perfect for a hot August day in Orlando. My girlfriend had the tart Jasmine and a Painkiller, which differed from other Painkillers I’ve had due to the pleasant addition of passion fruit. I’ve yet to have a disappointing cocktail at Earl’s.

The menu is not online, and I assumed it would be creative and a break from usual brunch fare. I was a little disappointed to see that there wasn’t much in the way of creativity in my opinion - numerous egg dishes, Benedict, chicken & waffles, a sweet waffle option. The most unique option was the chorizo + mushroom hash with crispy potatoes, avocado, and poached eggs with Hollandaise. Unfortunate, our server told me that they ran out. This was around 2pm, and they were quite busy, but I was disappointed.

However, the dish I ordered instead - oven roasted Atlantic salmon with feta, caper, & dill aioli, jasmine rice, and broccolini - did not disappoint in flavor or quality. The salmon was cooked perfectly - crispy on the outside and flaky on the inside. The aioli added the right amount of creaminess and the broccolini a dash of acidity and bitterness. Everything played out well with the jasmine rice, and it was well-seasoned and thankfully not over-salted.

My girlfriend, who originally wanted the chicken and waffles (which were also sold out), went with the Yucatán chicken tacos with queso blanco, jalapeño crema, avocado, cilantro, and fresh salsa. These were delicious - perfectly seasoned and cooked, with equal amounts of bursts of spice and flavor from the salsa and cooling effects of the avocado and cheese. They were served with a side of fries, which were fine enough (though I’m admittedly picky and prefer my fries on the crispy side).

For dessert, we decided upon the sticky toffee chocolate pudding, which resembled a chocolate cake with chocolate fudge and caramel sauce along with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream and generous piece of toffee snap candy. The entire thing was warm, rich, indulgent, and delicious.

Despite the fact that our first choices were no longer an option, as usual we had scrumptious food and a great time at Earl’s. Though they were busy, our server was attentive, keen to refresh water and drinks and stopping to ask how the food tasted. The atmosphere is great there - I love the modern marble and gold fixtures along with the jewel-toned upholstered booths. It feels contemporary and mid century at the same time, and the coupe glasses that many of the drinks are served in lend to the Mad Men-esque feel.

All in all, if we are near the Mall at Millennia and craving great cocktails, or fresh, high-quality fare inspired from around the globe, we will definitely be...

I recently revisited this restaurant after a bad time, and I’m so glad I gave it another chance! This experience was the complete opposite of my initial visit and showed how much pride and care this team puts into their food and service when everything aligns.

Appetizers: We started with the Korean sticky ribs and yuzu calamari. Both were fantastic, but the calamari stole the show. The crispy texture paired perfectly with the tangy dressing—it was an absolute highlight. To complement the appetizers, we had a Mezcal Mule and a Passionfruit Martini (requested without Campari). The Mezcal Mule had a delightful spice that lingered, and the martini was smooth and refreshing.

Entrées: For our mains, we had the Pan-Seared Branzino and the Truffle + Steak Tortellini. The steak in the tortellini was cooked perfectly to a medium rare, and the dish had a rich Italian depth with earthy mushrooms, tender broccoli, and just a hint of truffle that tied everything together. The Branzino was beautifully executed, with a crispy sear on the outside and tender, flaky fish inside. The coriander lemon gastrique added a nice balance, though slightly on the sweeter side—it still paired wonderfully with the fish. We paired our entrées with a Moscow Mule and a White Peach Whiskey Sour. The whiskey sour was reminiscent of a green tea shot but elevated, and the Mule was light and refreshing, complementing the meal perfectly.

Dessert: To finish, we had the Caramelized Vanilla Cheesecake. It was light yet indulgent, with fresh berries, honey, and cream making it almost refreshing. The Nitro Espresso Martini with Baileys was an excellent pairing to end the meal on a high note.

I want to give a special thanks to Nicole for inviting us back and completely changing our perspective. Amanda, our server, was phenomenal—attentive, knowledgeable, and ensured our table was always refreshed with clean plates and drinks topped off. She made the entire experience seamless and enjoyable.

This visit showed me that sometimes places can have off days, but it’s how they recover that matters. After this fantastic experience, I would 10/10 recommend coming back. Happy holidays and...

Ate here with a party of ~15 for work (we had a reservation), 2 of us are vegan. The restaraunt was not busy, maybe not even half full. Service was bad. The vegan menu options seemed appealing but disappointed us.

Some of us arrived early and wanted to get drinks at the bar, staff could not seem to decide if that was ok or if they needed to send us straight to the table. A few people got drinks before the restaraunt staff decided to shuffle us to our table, where the rest of us waited a very long time for the drinks we had ordered at the bar. Waiting for drinks was the theme of the night. They took forever, brought the wrong drinks to the wrong people, and just could not seem to keep up because they would bring 1 person a drink and not check if anyone else needed anything. It felt like we had to have 3 people waving down the waitress every time we needed something. A group of 15 is always going to need something and we were not checked on enough. We had to ask for silverware. They brought dishes out 1 at a time so by the time I got my COLD NOODLE DISH other people were finishing their food.

They brought out a steak no one at our table ordered, singled me out and asked me something like “Are you SURE you didn’t order this?” …..NO. I’M VEGAN.

We ordered each of the 3 vegan options. The starter was decent, the 2 mains were bad. The tofu noodle dish was extremely bland. The tofu was cooked well but tasted of nothing, the noodles didn’t have much flavor, the greens (arugula I think) and pear were really the only flavor (not anything special, just tasted like arugula and pear). It was really just cold and bland but I ate enough to feel full. The bun on the burger looked dry and just not a bun I’d be excited about. They were incredibly sparse with the mayo and seemed to forget the mustard. The person that ate it described the burger as dry and did not like the patty.

Everyone else seemed to enjoy the non-vegan food.

Also, the AC seemed broken and the 2 cooling systems they setup did not prevent me from...