Kres Chophouse

We decided to come here after all of the great reviews as a night out before we started in on all of the Disney food. The bread was warm and tasty for starters. For appetizers we had the beef tartar which was good. Have had better and have had worse. Also the escargot which was outstanding! It is just an excuse to eat butter and garlic but I am totally okay with that! We scrapped up the plate clean. For entrees we had the filet and the ribeye. Filet was the winner here. Both ordered rare and cooked correctly. Also had the shrimp and bacon mac and cheese based on rave reviews. This was a little disappointing. It tasted too fishy or something. Almost like it had fish sauce in it or something? Or anchovies. That was the only reason why we didn’t give 5 stars. Also our food came out not long after our appetizers and they had to take it back into the kitchen. It was not the waiters fault. He said he waited a bit but they were slow so guys in kitchen were bored? Oh well. No room for dessert.

Arrived around 630 on a Thursday for an early dinner at the bar with a friend and had no problem finding seats. I immediately noticed the beauty of the old building — the bottom ¾ has been retrofitted to a modern look that fits Kress but the ceiling shows such an old beauty I don’t know why they didn’t let more of it show.
The two blonde bartenders were lovely and attentive. My friend and I shared the small garden salad to start and it was the perfect amount to be split as a salad appetizer. I had the 8oz filet with seasonal vegetables — all cooked to perfection. I asked for some au poivre sauce to accompany the steak and they happily provided it. My friend got the Elk and it came with a delicious red wine sauce. We split the brussels sprouts and parmesan mashed potatoes which were both SO good we had trouble not eating all of it!
Overall was a great experience — bartenders were available but not overbearing, food was delish and ambiance was what you would expect of a steakhouse. I would definitely go back.

It was my first time here at Kres Chophouse with my boyfriend, we valeted our car in the front and with the restaurant validation it was $ 8 otherwise $ 15. We had a reservation for dinner at 8:30PM we requested a booth for more privacy which usually accommodates for four so it was very spacious but yet intimate for two, the atmosphere of the restaurant was chic robustly rustic.
We started off with cocktails along with Pan Seared U10 Diver Sea Scallops. Three pieces of large size scallop came out, it was rich flavored and very fresh, seared and seasoned to perfection.
We both ordered steaks, I had the Filet Mignon with a size of Parmesan Mashed Potatoes and let me begin with the meat it was medium rare the texture was almost buttery, very tender and flavorful and definitely on the moist side. Mashed potatoes tasted very airy, buttery, and homemade quality that my boyfriend loved it more than me. He ordered the N.Y. Prime Sixteen with a side of Rock Shrimp & Bacon Mac. I had a taste of of both, steak was moderately tender but still have a bit of chew, the mac was average.
It was our birthdays and they brought out complimentary desserts for both of us, which I did appreciate. I would definitely give this place a try if you are looking for good steaks.

The ambience is great here the bar is placed higher than the dining floor. The food are great and the service is just as good. I’m definitely coming back.

Love this place. The atmosphere is great and the food is even better! Definitely a place to try!

Everyone one of us loved the food and the atmosphere. I had the filet, oysters and calamari. My friends had the salmon and beef Wellington.
The current reviews are 4.5 and I am saying it is a definite 5!!!

Well rarely as disappointed at this dining level. Had to wait 25 minutes after reserved time, once finally seated another 20 minutes of being ignored. No service, no drinks, no order placed. Some of the food we eventually got was good, some less so. 3 hours of not so fine dining and poor service, better options out there-​avoid, save yourself the agony!

Dined here on a Monday night thinking it would be a bit of a quiet night and I was pleasantly surprised!
The ambiance is very classy with low lighting and typical fine dining style.
We were seated asap without a reservation. The hostess was very nice and made sure we picked where we wanted to sit.
Our server greeted us promptly and his service was impecable! His accent made me feel like we were in France for the night!
I chose the duo duck with risotto and I ordered foi gras a la carte. The duck was partially fried and the other roasted. The duck was slightly overdone by 1 minute but still tasted great. I think if I were to have it again I would order medium instead of medium well. They do give you a choice which is nice. Everything else about the dish was great.
The foi gras is from duck not goose which is 100 times better. Buttery, decadent, and melted in your mouth!
I definitely recommend eating here!

By far the best fine dining establishment in Orlando! The food should be rated 5 star. Ambiance is lively and classy complete with valet parking. I had the beef wellington and it is by far the best meal I’ve ever had in my life! When you check it out ask for Jorge. His recommendations, were spot on and he was super friendly and courteous.

I’ve come here twice now after a friend raved over and over about the burger. Both times have been for lunch, and the burger was absolutely delicious.
While the price for a burger is somewhat high, that is to be expected by a steakhouse, and this place certainly earns that price. The burger is cooked to perfection with high quality meat, and the steakhouse fries are a perfect pair.

Good food, attentive service, technophobic. My colleague and I needed to escape our Sea World hotel conference site and struck out for downtown Orlando where we decided we needed to sup at a chophouse and Kress seemed to fit that prescription in every way.
The calamari starter may have been good had they given deep frying about 30 more seconds to achieve true crispness and then not dilute so-​so crispness attained by draping dish with pepperoncini-​like peppers. Mind you, the ingredients were appreciated by this diner; just not the way ingredients were combined and plated.
My Spinach salad and colleague’s tomato and mozzarella salad were tasty.
Pork chop with pork belly side? I’m in and enjoyed. The elk served across table from me was very tender, very tasty and nicely prepared. Well done on the main courses.
All was slurped down with martinis and a Pinot noir, and finished with scoops of quite tasty Dreyer’s ice cream.
Our lovely server ordered us a cab and away we went, appetite sated, deliriously happy to have escaped Sea World hotel site of our conference.
Upon my return to the Bay Area I received one of those accusatory emails from Open Table suggesting I didn’t keep my appointment with Kress.
OpenTable apologized after reading my exacting summary (far more brief than above review) of our meal served by the lovely Lena.
I am stingy with my stars, wouldn’t change rating absent OpenTable inquiry and will wonder only briefly if the unpleasant accusation was due to OpenTable software not working as expected or human error. I’m sure OpenTable will, much like an airline, claim pilot albeit user error.

I love this restaurant environment! I recommend people who want to have celebrate something to go here. Food also the best in Orlando.

A solid downtown restaurant with excellent food and a fantastic atmosphere.
I’ve been to Kres several times for both lunch and dinner. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed every visit. It is right down on Church Street next to Kirwin Norris and the Suntrust Building, so it is a great place to take clients because of its classy ambiance and superior food.
My last meal at Kres was especially great. The waiter sat down and was very friendly and knowledgeable about the menus and the current specials. Kres rotates through various fish options, and their current option is swordfish. They offer swordfish as a special by itself with 2 sides and as a sandwich with fries. I ordered the sandwich. I definitely do not regret my decision. The bread had the perfect crunchy/​soft balance and the coleslaw was an excellent touch. I think the fries may have been baked, which I normally don’t like, but these fries were still pretty good.
Overall, Kres is definitely one of the best restaurants in downtown Orlando. Whether you are looking for drinks or dinner, Kres has you covered.

I feel welcomed when I come here. Ginger remembered my name! And the food is really good. Great wine selection as well. Happy hour is half off all appetizers
Enjoy

Service was great and they brought us a complimentary dessert which was appreciated.
Cocktail was solid. I thought that the wellington was undercooked and just pretty okay. Not a bad dinner but not something to rave about.

Food was 5-​stars, service was 2 or 3 stars. For the amount of money we were going to spend for dinner, the waiter was awful. He was up-​selling every item on the menu and was so pushy it was awful. I don’t mind hearing recommendations or suggestions but he pointed out every expensive item on the menu, telling us what to order for each course. Then, when we ordered the pork chops, he told us how we should have it cooked, and to get it with blue cheese instead of how it is presented on the menu, etc.
I’d recommend Kres, but I would ask NOT to have the server we had. He only wanted us to order and eat exactly what he would want. I won’t post his name on here but it was a total turn off. I’d return, as long as he’s not my server.

Back tonight and ate at the bar. Joe the bartender recommended an amazing fish dish and gave me s chance to try an number of different vodkas.
The fish was fantastic.
The cocktail perfect.
I loved it.

Wanting to end our Orlando vacation on a good note, my friends and I wanted to a nice dinner for our last night. Kres Chophouse were one of the steakhouses I found after doing some research through Unilocal.I am glad that we went here because it ended our vacation with a great meal.
PROS:
Location: Located in Downtown Orlando. Street parking can be hard to find. Many parking lot around.
Ambiance: Very beautiful, upscale atmosphere. Very spacious with many seating available.
Server: Our waiter was very nice and pleasant. He made wonderful suggestions. Our drinks and food came out on a timely manner.
Price: The appetizers, sides and desserts prices are similar to other high end steak houses but surprisingly the steaks are a little cheaper.
Food: To start us off, we were given complementary bread and butter. My husband and I ordered the blackened sea scallops, three cheese au gratin, grilled asparagus, the 8 oz filet mignon ($ 37), the 24 oz ribeye ($ 54) and crème brûlée.
The scallops are perfectly cooked, perfectly seasoned and blackened. Topped off with corn, adding a nice flavor and texture.
Our steaks were charred on the outside and perfectly cooked on the side. Both were extremely tender and juicy.
The three cheese au gratin were cooked on a mini cast iron pan. The charring on the side added a nice flavor. So cheesy and delicious.
The asparagus were perfectly grilled.
The crème brûlée was beautifully presented and tasted as good as it looked. Very creamy and wonderful.
CONS: The only thing that was negative was the reservation process. I made prior reservations online with there were only options of 7 pm or 9 pm. No 8 am available which was fine. However, when we were there, the restaurant was pretty empty. I don’t know why they didn’t have the 8 am option available.
Overall, it was a great experience. The food and service were great.

I can’t recall the last time I was craving the food from a restaurant this shortly after my visit; everything was absolutely delicious. We were seated in a private room due to our party of 13, which in addition to the solid service, really set the tone for the entire dinner. There were a variety of entrees that were ordered last night, but I only managed to try the 12 oz. filet mignon in addition to my 16 oz. ribeye. I said «only», but that’s a bit misleading because my ribeye was all I needed.
I requested a medium level of doneness and it came out perfectly. It was absolutely one of the tastiest steaks I’ve ever had; the fat around the meat was so flavorful that I believe I actually closed my eyes to savor each and every bite. The 12 oz. filet mignon was equally as impressive, but had a deeper flavor of beef as opposed to the ribeye. I managed to try their mashed potatoes (tasty, but I’m not the best judge since I don’t love mashed potatoes) and Brussel sprouts. How delicious were the sprouts? Let’s just say that if these were served to you as a kid, then that long running joke about Brussel sprouts would cease to exist.
As far as the other entrees that were ordered, the Yellowfin Tuna, Red Grouper and Salmon all received positive marks from the group.
At this point I’m stuffed and I assumed the last bite of my ribeye would signal the decline of the meal… I was so wrong. My girlfriend decided to order their White Chocolate Bread Pudding with a Bourbon sauce and it just so happened to be one of the top 5 desserts I have ever had the pleasure of tasting. It was simply amazing! Like any great bread pudding, the exterior had a great texture that contained a warm and delicious interior. The bourbon sauce and ice cream worked perfectly and I left that table wishing we ordered many more.
This is a pricey restaurant so I unfortunately cannot visit on a regular basis, but everyone should visit when they get a chance. At the very least, we’ll be dropping by to order the bread pudding when we are back in the area. It was a great experience.

4 Stars for a beautiful spot with really great staff and Brussels Sprouts that somehow outshines even a good steak!
I came here for dinner before a show at the Dr. Phillips Center and wasn’t disappointed.
We started with the Oysters Rockefeller and the shrimp cocktail (U10 apparently refers to the giant size of the shrimp). At first the oysters came out and were raw, but the server noticed the mistake right away and had them take it back for the correct dish. When they came out they had a really great flavor– tons of garlic and I ain’t complainin’! That being said, both oysters I had (it comes with 6) were gritty as if there was sand in them.
The shrimp cocktail was impressive– U10 shrimp are enormous apparently! I’m not much of a shrimp gal, but they were good.
For the main course I ordered the filet minion (8 ounce) with a side of Brussels sprouts and a side of potatoes au gratin. Of all of that I must admit the part I couldn’t stop eating was the Brussels sprouts! They are deliciously salty and charred with grated cheese and lots of garlic. None of us could stop eating them!
The steak was good but a tad undercooked. I enjoyed the flavor but it wasn’t the best steak I’ve had in Orlando (though I’d consider it better than average).
One thing I will mention is that my two companions that evening ordered the salmon and I was surprised by the presentation. The size of the salmon seemed pretty excessive. I’m all about getting as much for your money as possible but it looked really clunky sitting in a bed of orzo (fabulous orzo, I might add). One of then ordered her salmon well done and the other got it medium. When they got them they were both well done though. It wasn’t a huge deal and they didn’t mention it but it only added to the awkwardness of the salmon dish. Less is more sometimes!
Overall I had a great time and would definitely return (especially now that I’ve seen the private curtained off areas– perfect for groups!).

I get in a funk after so much traveling alone for work. A serious funk, induced by too much hotel hopping, stranger-​dodging, business-​meeting, family-​Facetiming. After an especially long week, I decided for my last night in Orlando to splurge and treat myself to a super-​decadent, extravagant surf-n’-turf dinner. I looked up «top steakhouses in Orlando» on my Unilocal app, and Kres was the winner.
I had a fantastic all-​around experience from my first phone call, to seating, to dining. I called to inquire what the dress code was, and the young guy on the phone just exuded friendliness. I specified I was going to be a lone diner wearing a business dress (and flip flops, hehe), and would I look odd and cruddy. He assured me that Kres was «only as fancy and romantic as you would make it», and that is a perfect description. He urged me to come in and I didn’t need any further convincing.
Btw, valet is $ 20 — the very nearby parking garage is $ 10. While I am one of those people who never gets over the awesomeness of free parking (and have quickly become a sucker for free valet — add a $ 5 tip and bam!), Kres is worth the sucky parking situation.
I read a review where someone described Kres as like being in Vegas without having to be in Vegas. This is a pretty good description, and it has a funky but sumptuous lounge vibe. It’s intimate without being smothering, and the noise level is perfect. Even without reservations (it was a Thursday, at 5:30), I was immediately seated at a tall two-​top in the bar area.
I went crazy ordering, and I highly suggest the same for anyone else dining at Kres — WOW. I started off with the blackened scallops appetizer: Four tender, plump, and perfectly seasoned scallops garnished with a smoky-​sweet corn relish. I CRUSHED. The wedge salad was two romaine hearts, covered in bacon, Bleu cheese, a creamy garlicky dressing and cherry tomatoes. Inhaled that, too. Two glasses of ice-​cold Riesling later (I’m not a drinker usually but I was that night), I dove into a 10-​ounce rare filet mignon — IMPECCABLY cooked, butter-​tender with beautiful grill marks; 8 ounces of lobster, de-​shelled at the table and served with clarified butter; and bacon-​shrimp-​macaroni and cheese. DROOL. By then I could only finish half of my food and had the rest boxed up to take back to my hotel.
Service was wonderful, too, from the young guy on the phone, to the hostesses, to my server. My server was Ginger, a beautiful blond with smoky eyes and just about the friendliest, subtly flirtatious, most attentive personality you could hope for. A lot of times, in my experience, solo female diners seated in the bar area get totally ignored by servers for the male suits pounding back whiskey-​and-​Cokes. Ms. Ginger was a doll, told me to relax and not be in a rush, and I wasn’t neglected for a second. So nice to have upscale dining paired with friendly service.
The damage (excluding tip) was $ 149 — but I also ordered enough for two, and the food/​service/​ambiance were perfect. This is a perfect date night place, for two, with your mom, or just to treat yourself!