Driving from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando

My wife and I will be driving from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando with a 1 year old and 3 year old. We are looking for restaurants shortly off the Florida Turnpike that are casual and quick but not fast food chains.

Driving from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando

There%26#39;ll be plenty once you get off the Turnpike. But there are places that are along the Turnpike for you to stop, get gas, eat etc. I%26#39;m sure your Google Gods will have a link to where those stops are.

Driving from Fort Lauderdale to Orlando

There are billboard advertisements on the Turnpike for restaurants at the next junction etc but without prior knowledge you won%26#39;t know what they are like. From memory and it is a couple of years since we have driven Orlando to Fort Lauderdale, there were the likes of Denny%26#39;s, Cracker Barrel, Ihop and those sorts of chains just off the turnpike and the usual fast food places (which you don%26#39;t want) at the rest areas on the turnpike.

Once you get north of Fort Pierce on the Turnpike, it veers sharpley northwest toward Orlando and the area around it becomes quite rural- at the Vero Beach exit, for instance , you may see signs advertising restaurants but they will be several miles east of the exit. Ft. Pierec I think will be about the last place where you will find restaurants close to the exit on the road between the Turnpike and I-95. They are mainly fast food chains. I know there was a Denny%26#39;s there as well as a Red Lobster, but on our last quick trip through I remeber noting that at least one of those was shuttered and I can%26#39;t recall which. There is a Cracker Barrel still there, which tends to be where we would head in that situation , but I don%26#39;t know how long the wait would be- it used to be quite busy, but of late the outlet stores near it all shut down , replaced by some furniture outlets, so I%26#39;m not sure what the crowd may be now. There outlets shut down because there is a much newer larger outlet mall at Vero Beach, but that is right at the I-95 exit there- quite a distance east of the Turnpike exit. Bottom line is that if you don%26#39;t need to eat before Ft. Pierce, you probably would want to settle for a quick meal at one of the Turnpike rest areas, which are about 45 miles apart. Not the best choices ( usually two fast food outlets in each one) but you would really be driving a long way east to find other options if you go off the Turnpike north of Ft. Pierce.

I agree, I drive from Ft Lauderdale very frequently. The drive from Ft Laud to Ft Pierce is only a hour and a half (maybe 2 depending on how you drive) but it usually takes me no more that about that, it is almost like the mid point. You probably won%26#39;t need to eat before then. I would suggest stoping only in Ft Pierce if you do not want to eat at the rest stops. You can end up getting off and driving for a very long time. There is a cracker barrel and a red lobster, otherwise it is pretty much fast food. Otherwise if you think you will need to eat before ft pierce take I-95 and then switch over to the turnpike in Ft Pierce, taking 95 will probably take you longer though. I would just take the turnpike and depending on what time you leave you can be in Orlando within 3 hours, and then just eat there. Have fun!

Thanks. Much appreciated. We will take the FL Turnpike as it would not make sense to make the trip any longer.