Best Steak
Vito’s Chop House
Steakhouse at 8633 International Dr. Dinner only; call 407-354-2467 for reservations; smart casual dress. Open Sun-Thurs 5-10:30 p.m.; Fri and Sat 5-11 p.m.
Ignore the fact that it’s located on tacky International Drive and plan an evening at Vito’s Chop House, a sophisticated steak house with an Italian flair and loads of ambience. Melt into one of the red leather banquettes to enjoy the intimate, brick-walled dining room decorated with fish tanks and stacks of wine (from my perch I sat staring at a case of Opus One). Excellent service is provided by tuxedoed waiters who present enormous and succulent aged steaks and impeccably fresh, perfectly prepared seafood. And with almost 1,000 labels, the award-winning wine list (Wine Spectator’s Best of Award of Excellence winner many years in a row), is a wine lover’s dream come true.
Order the giant sized frito misto to start, a scrumptious platter of tender fried scallops, mussels, squid, fish, and shrimp accompanied by garlic aioli and fried capers. Known best for their grilled, thick pork chops topped with an assortment of sweet and hot peppers, other favorites include a lean and flavorful, 21⁄2-inch-thick veal chop, and the collasal 24 ounce prime rib eye. Feast on great side choices of potatoes rapini smashed and then pan-sautéed with bacon and broccoli rabe, or perhaps creamed spinach, green fried tomatoes, or fresh oak-grilled vegetables. Better bring a hungry friend or two along to share one of Vito’s colossal desserts (it’s hard to resist the chocolate cake as big as a serving platter, but it is a bit of overkill). Just as rich but oh-so-delicious is the grilled peaches caramelized with brown sugar and peach schnapps with pound cake and vanilla bean ice cream. And consider coming early or lingering after dinner for drinks in the restaurant’s atmospheric lounge where over fifty types of cigars are available.
Best known For:
Thirteen-ounce filet mignon stuffed with gorgonzola.
Sample Menu Items:
Dinner entrees: 24-ounce prime rib eye; the ultimate surf and turf of a 50-ounce porterhouse with a one-and-a-half-pound lobster; 32-ounce Tuscan porterhouse seasoned with garlic and herbs, served with gorgonzola butter; linguine and clam sauce en papillote; wood-grilled pork chops; king salmon cedar plank roasted; lobster fra diablo, twin lobster tails, fried and placed atop linguine and then topped with marinara and an assortment of peppers.
