Vacation - Restaurants (#2)

Yes, I'm back to vacation posts!  Who ever thought I'd be vacationing in the state I grew up in, never saw that coming!

Vacations call for restaurants... and like I mentioned before there are the comfort restaurants.  You know the ones you can guarantee will consistently serve up decent food.  Then there are the ones you decide to give a chance for one reason or another.  Sometimes this works out well, and sometimes you just want to spread the news that no one should subject themselves to that dining experience!

GOOD EXPERIENCE:
Brick House - Orlando - International Drive
We were headed to Ripley's with a group of 7 and as you can imagine it's not always easy to spontaneously decide on a restaurant for lunch with such a large group.  After passing quite a few options we finally all agreed on Brick House.  The atmosphere was fun - would definitely want to visit for dinner & drinks... the food was good tasty & something for everyone... decent prices - most meals ranged from $10-$15... and the portions were huge - good thing I split my meal with my mother-in-law!  (And even on a rainy day we were able to eat outside on the covered patio!)  I would definitely recommend this restaurant to Floridians & tourists alike.

BAD EXPERIENCE:
Black Angus - Kissimmee - Irlo Bronson Hghwy
How did we end up here?  Try jet lag, starting dinner too late, & not being able to get the oven in the rental house working.  We were hungry & grumpy and it was the nearest restaurant.  It started well, the restaurant was decorated nice, roomy, & had a big menu.  But inevitably the food was horrible, not one of us enjoyed our meals.  Even my 4yr old wouldn't eat her hot dog - c'mon how can you mess up a hot dog?  Then to top it off, at the end they forced 16% gratuity on to our check without warning - no where on the menu or posted in the restaurant did they mention this.  I like to tip the server based on service & food quality, not because management decides what we owe.  (BTW, I used to be a server, so I'm a decent tipper).  I of course went straight to management to complain and he blamed me, he said I should have seen this on the check and had the server remove it if I didn't agree, seriously!!!  Needless to say, I made a small scene, stormed out, and swore I would tell everyone never to eat at the Black Angus in Kissimmee!!!

Any of you ever tried Brick House?  Had a bad experience at Black Angus?

Bye! Dag! Adios! Namaste!

:) Danica