Elephant Bar Restaurant

This review focuses on the bar and the experience we had at the bar this past Friday night. We had a group of a dozen and we hung out in the bar seatong area. The service was phenomenal. Drinks were cold and better than advertised. Apps were great too. Loved their take on edamame and ahi tuna. Great experience!

Awful. The menu is confusing and has way too many options, most dishes are Asian style with pot roast and chicken Parmesan thrown in. I imagine that they would classify their menu as eclectic, I would be completely willing to overlook the menu if the food was prepared well. However, out of the 6 entries my party ordered 3 of them were nearly indelible because hey were way to sweet. The service was acceptable for a busy night, so the one star does not reflect the front of the house. Overall the quality of the food makes me unable to give this place any more than the minimum amount of stars.

Elephant Bar in Altamonte has nice atmosphere. It is a large business, but it doesn’t get loud, at least away from the bar. We had a large party of 10 this past time, and ordered the chili edamame (the sauce was great, but for some, too spicy). The marinara toasted bread was average, but not much you can do with this appetizer.
The waitress was pleasant and always available for us, and was able to accommodate vegetarian requests by substituting tofu for the meat on any dish. However, several of us had to send back dishes for meat that was too rare, salad dressing that came on the salad even when requested separately, and because the dish was not as expected.
The fried rice that came with a lot of dishes was made with short grain brown rice (a bit more chewy than ‘regular white’ rice) and did not make some dinner guests happy, who thought they were going to get the standard Chinese food fried rice. The mashed potatoes were pretty good, though.

I ordered the BBQ salmon salad, which was only fair. The salmon lacked flavor and was not flavored nearly as well as the Teriyaki salmon dish, which I was able to get a taste of.
This place also is a bit pricier than other chains, but the food is also more unique. If you don’t like to experiment with changes to classic dishes (like the fried rice or edamame dishes) or enjoy something different, be careful what you order, so you are not disappointed.
The food won’t win any prizes, but IMO neither will the food at most chains. Chains are meant to be consistent, but based on my experience, perhaps Elephant Bar does not do as well as other chains in this regard.

In fairness, I only had their edemame and a couple of cocktails, however I am picky about both and I enjoyed the food/​drinks here. The drinks were good service was prompt and I enjoyed the edemame seasoned with chilis and ginger. They have an extensive happy hour and comfortable location. Would come here again if I were in the area.

Amazing! Delicious food, cool atmosphere. If you are sensitive to spicy however be careful; my wife was surprised when her mouth was on fire.

Happy hour is now 3pm to close, everyday! Yippee! I can’t imagine why this place isn’t getting better reviews. The food is better than most chain restaurants, and there is a lot of variety to choose from. Their re-​vamped happy hour menu offers new cocktails and eats and you can’t beat the 3 p.m. to close timing of it all. The tempura salmon rolls are on of my favorites, as far the chicken lettuce wraps and Korean beef tacos. We’ve never had a bad meal here. We always sit in the bar and service is pretty prompt, given how packed the place can get on weekends. It is a great pre-​night-​out type of spot to grab a bite and some drinks. We’ll absolutely be back.

Took advantage of the 2 for $ 20 special. Wife and I enjoyed the chicken lettuce wrap appetizer and it never fails to impress! Next, I chose the Chicken and Kona Bbq entrée while my wife enjoyed the Island Tilapia. Tasted as good as it looked (see photos).
Our only complaint was that the lighting seemed a bit lower than our liking (causing us to squint to read the menu).
Cindy, our server, was attentive and efficient. No delay in ordering, food service and payment.
Overall, quite an enjoyable experience!

Went there for dinner last night with the family. I had the Rib Eye with Prawns. The steak was BLAND. I don’t think it was seasoned at all… is a little salt and black pepper too much to ask for? The prawns were charred with grill marks, yet STILL UNDERCOOKED… practically raw. How do you under cook shrimp? …If anything they are usually over done. The mashed potatoes were the highlight of the dish and they were just OK (once you remove the branch of rosemary that was embedded in it)…that all for $ 26. My son had the kids cheeseburger, which was obviously a frozen patty… that was also BLOODY. C’mon…really? My Wife had the Tilapia with Cajun Rice. The fish was good, but the rice was way too spicy… maybe they should have put some of that seasoning on the steak.
The desserts were very good… obviously brought in and only «assembled» in house.
The waitress was very nice though and provided good service.
Bill was $ 81 and really not worth half that cost. If I do return, it’ll just be for some drinks at the bar, but will pass on anything coming out of that kitchen.

I’ve been here a few times since this location opened a few years back. And it’s very… blah.
The interior design is fantastic, I will give them that much. The dim lighting gives this place a lounge-​esque vibe. But then… that’s it. The food is beyond mediocre. And overpriced. I’ve had their sesame chicken, coconut shrimp, their sample appetizer dish, a few of their burgers, and their artichoke dip with chips. All of which were bland and nothing special.
The last two times I’ve been, I’ve gone for happy hour. Actually, another good thing about this place is the fact that HH is usually from 4PM to closing. But both times I went for mixed drinks, the drinks were bland as well. This place isn’t even good for their $ 4 mai tais.

If you are into bland, boring and dry food, this is the place for you. Bring a flashlight… it is dark in there with the lights turned UP. Look out when they are dimmed. The group next to us used their flashlight apps to see menu and food!
The décor is nice, not too jungle-​themed. However, this doesn’t make up for the food. We ordered four different entrée’s, made no changes to preparation methods, and ALL of it was just… meh. Won’t be back.
New York strip, served medium rare, had a grey appearance to it. Was bland and not served with any steak sauce. Brought when asked for. Garlic chicken dry, no sauce, probably precooked and reheated for order. Salmon flavorless, not cooked throughout and could use more balsamic vinegar reduction as a sauce. Rice… rice is rice. Bland, cold, boring. Chicken on top of salad… same dry chicken and bland iceberg lettuce .no spring mix, arugula, spinach or romaine added for zest.
Server suggested one of the signature stir-​fries from the get-go…wasn’t in the mood for Asian that night… maybe I should have been? Still, won’t go back to try.

The variety on the menu in sure to please even the pickiest eaters. Our family loves this place for not just great service, but the food is always cooked to order. The calamari or green bean parmesean are terrific. My spouse always gets the Macau Soup and sushi combo and says it’s delicious every time. We’ve tried the burgers, the burrito and the chicken sandwiches, all are great. The Chicken Masala is delicious, too.
When we have company in town, we take them here and never fails to impress.
I especially loved the Mahi Mahi fried sandwich. My brother-​in-​law said the Salmon was exceptionally tasty. Love this unique addition to the Altamonte area’s restaurants.

Great food, great service, great drinks, great atmosphere and VERY reasonable prices. I love this place!
Highly recommend the lamb shanks! Awesome! I had the crab and shrimp Louie salad which was very flavorful with just the right amount of dressing. My husband had the Korean BBQ steak and shrimp (from their new «Global» items). He said it was delicious — and the portions are such that you ALWAYS take some home!
Go here! You’ll love it.

This place was pretty good I got the shrimp adventure platter but I didnt really like the shrimp on the skewer. I would come back, waiter was friendly knowledgable and helped guide my order

My husband brought me to Elephant Bar after work this past Tuesday for dinner after having a hellacious day at work so I wouldn’t have to cook.
They were not very busy and appeared to only be seating diners in half of the dinning room. Our waitress was very friendly and prompt, but you could tell she possibly over/​double seated and was rushing to keep up.
I’m currently eating a pescatarian diet and I hate spicy food. I wanted something light, maybe seafood but not a salad. The majority of their seafood/​non-​meaty dishes are either salads or spicy, so I really only had about 2 or 3 options to choose from.
My husband and I both ordered the Shrimp Adventure platter which consists of shrimp 3 ways: coconut, butterfly fried and terriyaki. It came with a side of french fries, «vegetables» and 2 dipping sauces, one a sweet and sour type sauce and the other what looked like a spicy mayo/​ranch type sauce.
The shrimp was pretty decent — the coconut shrimp was quite a nice surprise as I don’t normally like coconut anything. The breading was light and crispy and the coconut flavor did not overpower the shrimp. The terriyaki style was also delicious with a sweet glaze on the grilled shrimp. The fried butterflied shrimp was average, nothing fantastic or terrible about them.
The sweet and sour sauce was okay, it had a little kick to it which I was not happy about. I did not even try the spicy white sauce because I hate peppers and anything spicy. I ended up asking the waitress for some ketchup or cocktail sauce — ketchup it was.
Speaking of hating peppers, that was pretty much the entire «vegetables» side. grilled peppers with maybe a piece or two of baby bok choy, it looked like, and some scallions. It was more of a garnish than a side of vegetables. The fries were average as well, nothing great and nothing horrible.
All in all the food was okay, but for over $ 16 per entrée I would expect a little more to come with the dish, maybe a side salad included which they currently charge extra for.
I was shocked when I came home and looked up their dietary info on the Shrimp Explorer platter. This entrée boasts a whopping 1770 calories! Man was I glad we skipped dessert!

Good alternative to Cheesecake Factory. The Happy Hour here is actually good (½ off) some apps and drinks. I’ve been to this place before for dinner and such but not for Happy Hour. The meal I got was the «Big ‘E’ Burger» and for $ 5, the value cannot be beat.
The size portion of the burger was pretty decent and the toppings were simple. Other good apps on the menu was Korean BBQ tacos, fish tacos, and fried green beans (very good as well!). Also, the sweet potato fries cannot be beat and there is nothing else like it.

Sort of a novelty destination place. Menu has lots of Asian and Asian-​influenced dishes, plus lots of burgers and Yankee basics. Service was fine, décor different and overall experience average.

The one and only reason my fiancée came to this restaurant is because my parents gave us gift cards for Christmas. We had never eaten here before then, so I have no idea what my parents were thinking. Here’s my breakdown of our meal:
1. Thai Spring rolls with Pesto: Pesto is for pastas, not for spring rolls. A traditional peanut sauce would have been better. This also came with a salad with more pesto dressing. Where are the crunchy rice noodles and radish???
2. Sangria: Plopping fruit into watered down red wine does not give you the right to call it Sangria. A good Sangria will have some brandy in it and a simple syrup or even honey. This did not have any of that in it. It was literally, red wine and some diced fruit.
3. Thai Chicken & Mongolian Beef: Sauce obviously came out of a jar and the veg was so overcooked that we could barely eat it. The beef was low quality beef, which was surprising when you consider the price. Everything was drowned in sauce. I guess that was an attempt to cover up the lack of flavor in the dishes???
I’m giving the restaurant two stars for service alone. Our waitress did a phenomenal job, it wasn’t her fault the food was awful. I think they are trying too hard to be different and appeal to everyone’s taste. If they trimmed down the menu they would be able to focus on quality and presentation. Unfortunately, we still have money left on our giftcards, so we’re going to give them another shot and stick to burgers next time. Should be pretty hard to mess that up (I hope). XD

Service was great, atmosphere was nice, food was not so good. We stopped in here on a Sunday night, maybe that had something to do with the food not being up to par. My wife and I have been here before, and thought the food was good, but it seems at least on this night, that food lacked flavor and was overly salted.
I ordered the Mongolian Beef, specifically because it was labeled as a specialty of the restaurant. The food had a good sauce on it, but the meat itself was almost inedible. Three of the pieces of beef were entirely gristle, and the rest were quite chewy and more fat than actual meat.
My wife had the Vietnamese Spring Rolls, and right away, she could tell they were not overly fresh, as the lettuce was hard on the outside, as if they had been pre-​prepared and sitting in the refrigerator for a while.
The kids portions here are great, large portions and above average choices (instead of the usual hamburger and chicken tenders).
Overall, with so many other choices in the immediate vicinity, Elephant Bar would be on the lower end of the list.

Let’s be truthful rather than snobbish: Elephant Bar has on more than one occasion delivered good food with pretty outstanding value. They’d sent us this coupon that touts «two-​course meal for 2 for $ 20». It still worked for the 3 of us — I just had to order something else. Definitely pick the wok-​fried chicken: we were amazed at how full of wok flavor that dish was. It’s served lettuce-​wrap style, of which I’m not a fan (I just find lettuce to be such a useless «vegetable»). We ended up just eating some with our fork. But like I said, tremendous flavor, if a touch high on HCl. By comparison, the entrees were just good, not outstanding. Service was a little awkward for a young lady who seemed to be quite new at this, and our main course took FOREVER to come. Credit to them: they recognized we had to wait a long time, and humbly offered free dessert without us even complaining. Good recovery can overcome most any problem, if delivered the right way. We were so full that we only ordered 2 desserts to share, not the 3 that we were «entitled to». Both the crème brûlée and some chocolate thing were marvelous.

I’ve been a couple of times and the service is hit or miss. I have actually had better service in the bar area than the regular dining tables. I would recommend the Asian dishes over the American… we didn’t really enjoy burgers or mac & cheese but found their Asian inspired dishes to be more appealing in flavor.
The general mall parking and crowd can be a hassle, especially around regular meal times. Who wants to wait over an hour and a half to be seated at a mall restaurant?!