Matilda’s On Park

I have tried to eat at Matilda’s four times now. The first time I stopped by, I was greeted by the hostess who said there was a wait. No problem, I thought, and asked if I could sit at the bar (I should point out that not only was there room at the bar, there were tables available). She said I could, but that I couldn’t order food. In fact, no one could order food. Their kitchen was on a hold and she didn’t know how long it would be. Forty minutes maybe? Ehhh, I said, I think I’ll come back another time.
So I did. I came back another 3 times. And despite the hours they have posted, they were closed. All. Three. Times.
How is this place still open?!

This was hands-​down the worst experience I have ever had at a restaurant. I’ve never written a bad review but I felt like I needed to warn the good people of Orlando so that they don’t waste hours of their life like we did. I bought the Groupon (for my boyfriend for his birthday) and I still feel like I overpaid.
Here are the problems with this place:
1. We waited forty minutes to be seated in an empty restaurant and eventually had to sit in the pub in the back (passing at least 6 empty tables on the way there).
2. We had no waiter. We had the bar tender who did not wait on us. He took our drink orders and never gave us a refill. Or came back to our table for that matter.
3. I had to walk up to the bar to order our food because the «waiter» never came back. This was after about 20 minutes of sitting with empty glasses and our menus closed.
4. They were out of what we wanted (the Blue Balls) so we ordered cheesy fries and two mac and cheese’s instead. The waiter knew nothing about the menu and couldn’t answer any of my simple questions.
5. We waited at least 35 – 40 minutes for our appetizer and when it arrived we had no silverware, plates, napkins, or condiments. The only things on our table were our menus that were never taken back and our empty glasses.
6. At this point the bartender was no where to be found so I had to walk to the front of the restaurant and ask the hostess (I couldn’t find a single waiter) to bring us our utensils.
7. When our food arrived 20 minutes later we were disappointed yet again. The food was decent don’t get me wrong, but it was absolutely not worth putting up with the horrible service, the insane wait time, or the ridiculous price for the tiny servings sizes.
8. We were dying of thirst now so my boyfriend had to go up to the bar with our cups so we could get a refill.
The waiter finally apologized to us for the wait right before giving us the check. He gave the excuse that the kitchen was backed up, but looking at these reviews I’m pretty sure this is a consistent problem. I am an extremely patient person and I’ve never written a bad review in my life, but this was absolutely ridiculous. I don’t understand why this place has been open for so long. Don’t waste your time or your money here.

My husband and I were looking for a place to grab some drinks and maybe share an appetizer late Saturday night. We ended up at Matilda’s because it was the only restaurant on Park Ave that didn’t have a 60+ minute wait. In fact, it was pretty much empty.
We were greeted by a waitress who asked where we would like to sit (I guess they have more of a bar in back and a club upstairs?) and then said «you don’t want to eat right?» Erm. We said we wanted to order an appetizer so she gave us a run-​down on the limited things we could order off the menu, which was limited to appetizers and not meals. On top of that, apparently their delivery truck didn’t come that day so many appetizers were off the list as well.
We ended up ordering the chips and guacamole and my husband had a side salad with wasabi ranch dressing. The salad and dressing were very good. The guacamole was «homemade» which meant they mashed up an avocado and sprinkles some chopped tomato on top. It was lacking flavor and could have used at least some onion.
The drinks were good and strong.
Overall it wasn’t a great experience, but I would come back and try the food on a better night.

I really want to like this place, I mean I really do. We first experienced Matildas on the Winter Park Wine Walk a few months ago. We thought it seemed great and were excited to go back, and actually went twice in the next few weeks. Both times were not good experiences — weird bartender, bad food, incredibly slow service from the staff and the kitchen. So many other options I don’t think we’ll be back.

Food is pretty good, but it took a lifetime to get to our table and we were the only ones in the restaurant. Very nice décor and atmosphere, just would be worried about timeliness of service on a busy day.

It was a gloomy day in Winter Park but cool enough for my dog to sit outside so we decided to venture into Park Ave for some brunch time.
After some driving up and down park ave looking for a parking spot (you know how that goes on the weekends) we found not too far away and snatched it!
As we made our way into the hostess stand, they told us apologetically that they are unable to seat us due to the kitchen being on backorder and asked us to come back in about 30 minutes or so (however seem pretty empty to me). This was probably around 12:10 PM ish… We were cool with it — us not being super hungry and this also allows us to enjoy a cup of coffee at Barnies.
Fast-​forward to 12:45 — we were sure they are ready to seat us now. We went back and they were open for business again. We sat and ordered the sampler of appetizers and a crabs benedict (from the brunch offerings).
Then the we some how volunteered to play in the Waiting Game. We waited and waited and waited some more for our food to come out. It was almost close to an 45 minutes that we waited for our food. The gentleman perform eased our hunger for a little bit. Our server was lovely and apologized for the long wait. She offered to get chips and salsa for us in the mean time but the kitchen said they couldn’t do it. Then she offered to speak to the manager about comping one of our meals. It shows she really cares!
Okay now lets talk about the food — Sampler and Crab Benedict.
Sampler of appetizer has 3 Blue balls (ham/​cheese/​shredded chicken fried in a ball), 3 Jalapeño Crab Bites (crab cheese jalapeño), 3 Wings, 3 onion rings, & 1 walkabout rolls (chicken egg rolls). All items were fried — is great for a appetizer and to nibble on. I like the crab bites the best, the rest were okay not really memorable or amazing. The secret sauce taste like buffalo sauce.
Crab Benedict (comes w/​potatos) — This was good. fair but I didn’t like that the whole crab cake was fried. Im pretty sure they threw it in the deep fryer because of the exterior crust that formed — you don’t get that when you pan sear the crab cakes. I gotta say it does has a lot of crab in it tho. The egg was also poached nicely.
After all said and done — I waited a really long time for a bunch of fried stuff! It would have been much better if the kitchen was more organized and having the chefs/​cooks be in position for a busy brunch service. It was really unacceptable. The service however was wonderful and that helped it a bit because they were all so nice. Sad — this place had potential.
Some one would really need to drag me back here to try it out again… I might bring a snack with me also.

Stay away unless you’re a fan of $ 10.00 Mac-​N-​Cheese mixed with some spinach and mushrooms.
Waitress spilled water on our table, giggled and never came back to wipe it up.
Restroom was swarmed with little flys! Do you think these make it to the kitchen?

«Waltzing Matilda» is Australia’s most widely known bush ballad, a folk song that has been referred to as «the unofficial national anthem of Australia». The title is Australian slang for traveling by foot with one’s goods (waltzing) with a «Matilda» (bag) slung over one’s back.
Matilda is a romantic term for a swagman’s bundle and I suppose Matilda’s on Park can be called a mixed bag of sorts.
The restaurant took over the spot on the north end of Park Avenue, across from Panera Bread, that has been a bit «cursed» as of late, with quite a few closings in the past few years. Maybe it’s the foot traffic in that area, or maybe it is the restaurant management — either way it’s a tough deck of cards that are dealt.
The décor is rather modern and swanky, though the flat screen TVs flanking the walls give the restaurant a decidedly more pub-​like feel. I think that angle shows potential especially given the menu choices of so called «gourmet» mac and cheeses (they have over 7 types here including lobster mac) and burgers. If only the prices reflected those that you would expect at a pub-​like establishment. At $ 14 for Buffalo Mac and Cheese, I would expect more than a small bowl full, maybe a platter of mac and cheese for that price.
On a recent visit for brunch, my friends ordered the typical brunch items from breakfast croissant sandwiches to California eggs benedicts.
As a nod to their «Aussie» theme, one of the burgers on the menu is the Roo burger ($ 14) made with real kangaroo meat, topped with cheese sauce, onion straws, on a toasted brioche bun. The kangaroo meat tasted slightly gamey, a little greasy for some reason, but savory and was cooked to the right temperature. Overall, not sure if I am a fan, but didn’t hate it — maybe I’ll have to give it another try. The fries that came with the burgers were also quite nice.
On this visit, it seemed oddly quiet for a Sunday morning at the restaurant, with nary another group dining during our time there. Maybe it’s time to do some promoting, as just a few doors down at another restaurant, the crowds were fully flowing. I thought the food at Matilda’s was better than that other place, but maybe it was the concept that throws people off. The theme and menu seem to need some clarity.
The food overall was good, but for some reason it just seemed like something was missing.
Buffalo Mac and Cheese — pieces of chicken (a rather large piece that looked like fried tofu at first), cheddar, swiss, parmesan, with secret sauce $ 14
Roo burger ($ 14) — kangaroo meat, cheese sauce, onion straws, brioche bun

Finally, a bar in Winter Park that isn’t full of snooty, rich shit heads (at least in the pub area). Kayla is awesome on a thousand levels (if you read this, write me!). Good beer, wooden bar, great music choices!

I loved this place!
If you are in the mood to try over 8 different Mac&Cheese medleys then you have found the right place. + don’t forget to check-​in — You get a free appetizer!

The Mac and cheese is delicious. I would certainly go back to try the other varieties.
The place had a very odd feel to it. A little identity crisis.
My biggest complaint was service. They were polite, but just didn’t seem to have it together. My tip to management would be to have some training sessions for the wait staff.

At first the service was kinda sketchy. We made reservations. The hostess didn’t even check out or ask for our names. When we ordered our food the waiter forgot certain things, it wasn’t until the general manager Christine came by to check up on us was when service became on point. WE has an issue with the steak not being cooked all the way, and she handled it. We received a free desert and she checked up on if the entire night. The food was ok, I did like it when it better when it was called circa but it’s not too bad. The price is moderate and the long islands are strong. Thank goodness for groupon. The vibe is very chill, so no need to be overly dressed up.
Fried brownies was DELICIOUS.

With all of the choices that consumers have in Winter Park for dining, I am not sure that Matilda’s will last. This was our 3^rd trip here, this time to pretty much grab a snack and watch football. While the inside is pretty nice for an upscale sports bar, nothing else impressed me.
The bar is small, 6 – 7 seats maybe. The bar is a disaster. It seems that it is used for storage (IKEA like storage unit), instead of an area to display fine bottles of booze. Most booze was hidden behind the TV, and I do not need to see 25 bottles of wine up on shelves.
Food was O.K. I had a Caesar Salad that was adequate, however, the chicken that came along with it was not. Just did not taste good at all, with more of a rubbery texture to it.
Staff was not a happy bunch. Seems that many got called in to work due to staff not showing up for shifts. I don’t blame them for being upset, it is not their fault. Seems that management needs to do some fine tuning quickly.

This review is in honor of @dafoodie and @talktochu! Mega Super Gracias for the suggestion and invite to Matilda’s.
Park avenue is the place to be in Winter Park for a great meal. Today was a group eating sort of day.
We arrived for lunch. It was about 11:30am. @ExplorinOrlando @bstreett5 @winechix @tarajroth @eatlocalorlando @dafoodie and @talktochu and myself (@foodbidden) were in attendance.
Matilda’s accommodated all of us without a problem. Luckily, @dafoodie had given them a heads up that we would ALL be arriving.
The place is very nice. According to @dafoodie this location has had several name changes. It has only been Matilda’s for about 8 months now.
Located on Park Avenue and Canton. The staff is no joke. Everyone is friendly and knowledgable about their dishes. Today Ashley was our server and handled the group very well. Now, LET’S TALK COMIDA!
@Eatlocalorlando dish: Shrimp Gumbo
@Eatlocalorlando dish: Bacon Cowboy Ranch Salad
@Tarajroth dish: Mad Mac Bites. Our famous mac blended with bacon, deep-​fried, and drizzled in secret sauce.
@tarajroth dish: Barbie Fries with cheddar cheese sauce.
@foodbidden dish: Roo Burger. Kangaroo meat is beef like, but with its own full-​bodied flavor. Served with our cheese lager sauce, onion straws.
@winechix dish: Popeye Mac and Cheese. Goat cheese, sautéed spinach, artichokes, roasted red pepper, and roasted garlic.
@Tarajroth dish: Buffalo Chicken Mac. Tender white chicken, cheddar and American cheese, blended with our famous secret sauce.
@dafoodie dish: Trio Grilled Chicken Tacos. Tequila honey lime, marinated chicken over lettuce, topped with roasted corn, salsa, fresh avocado, and lime, cilantro cream.
@talktochu dish: Banana Bread Pudding with strawberries and ice cream.
Overall, a fantastic experience. This is a place we are planning to go to again. Very laid back for lunch. Lots of TV screens for game days. The greeting when entering the restaurant is a very nice touch and the opening of the door when we walked out made me feel like a VIF. (Very Important Foodie)
Ashley, thank you so much for the great service and making all those fantastic recommendations for us. They were spot on.

My family and I had such high hopes for this place. Seeing all of the crazy different mac n’ cheeses and burgers on the menu, like Lobster Mac n’ Cheese or Cajun Shrimp & Crab mac, we thought to ourselves, this is going to be an awesome new place to eat! Boy were we wrong. Well here’s what went down.
First, we sat down and they ran out of menus. We had to wait 15 minutes before we even got to see what food we could order. Then when we finally get menus, I ask for the Lobster mac n’ cheese, and of course their out. Our server says they ran out of lobster. I say ok no problem and order a different kind. (Remember this part of the story as it’s important later.)
Second, we asked for a bottle of water that took approximately 30 minutes to finally make it to our table. I think they went to the source spring to bottle the water themselves… after we asked about it 3 times.
Third, we wait close to two hours for our food to come out. Not all of our food came out, so they brought some other food to try and make up for it. Our server proceeds to tell us that all of the servers are just grabbing whatever food they can out of the window and so ours most likely got taken. So then he offers me a Lobster mac n’ cheese. I say «wait a minute, you told me you were out of lobster.» The server replies «oh they found some more in the back.» WTF!!! I say don’t worry about it and go to eat the substitute mac he brought out. The icing on the cake… it’s COLD, which means that it sat in the window so long that it was no longer hot. And mine wasn’t the only one. Almost all of the dishes were cold. So that means we could have had food much sooner.
Fourth, even if the food was hot, it was sub-​par at best. I’d do better making the mac n’ cheese at home and tossing some lump crab meat from the grocery store in it.
Absolutely unreal! We had friends that we ran into that same night and they had the exact same experience that we did. Over an hour and a half wait for their food, and it came out wrong and cold.
It takes a lot for me to write a negative review, but this place definitely takes the cake for worst dining experience I’ve ever had. I will not go back. I would not recommend this place to anyone. Stay clear of Matilda’s!

I’d give zero stars if that was possible. I went to a group luncheon at Matilda’s today that was a total mess. We reserved their semi-​private back room weeks ago. We arrived between 11:30 and 12:00 for a noon until 1:00 meeting, and ordered individually from a limited menu supplied for our group. No one got their food until after 12:30. Nothing more came out of the kitchen until after 12:45, and then only after we complained. The food that was served was fine, but many of us had to leave before we got our order. A few people got their salad but their entrée never arrived. No one offered beverages (not even water) to latecomers. No one refilled drinks at all, ever. The ONLY thing that was delivered promptly was the check.
Meanwhile the staff and patrons were in and out of the room on the way to the restroom, and coming and going out of the back door to the patio, mostly to smoke. We also had problems with staff having loud conversations at the entrance to the room (loud enough to interrupt our speaker) until we complained. I will never go back, and I would recommend never take a group there.
Matilda’s is loud, rude, inefficient and pretty darned miserable. There are plenty of better places in Winter Park. In fact, you would be better off going to the crappy Panera across the street.

Matida’s on Park is located on the north end of Park Ave, across from the Panera Bread. Our large group was seated in the back room, where our group had a private room experience that was very nice. We had front row seats at watching kitchen prep through the viewing windows, we enjoyed the ambiance of the outside hidden courtyard and also benefited from the numerous large HD TV’s tuned into the games of preference for our group. Offering a very extensive menu, there should be something for everyone at Matilda’s.
Our group started with appetizers and drinks, sampling our way through the menu of signature drinks and martinis. The most popular drink was the When Pigs Fly martini, which was a well crafted dirty martini garnished with 2 large, bacon wrapped blue cheese stuffed olives. The Spa Treatment, Berry Mojito, French Pear Martini and craft beers were also enjoyed. The appetizer sampler plate offered 4 – 5 different appetizers for a group to share and the Walkabout Chicken rolls were so tasty that they were added onto a dinner order. (ours!) The chicken nachos are huge and enough for a crowd to share. Chicken wings are available boneless or regular and both were tasty, the buffalo sauce had good traditional flavor and both the Mango Habanero and Hells Spit sauces offered some kicked up heat.
I ordered the full Lobster mac and cheese entrée (full size), which was delicious. Good flavor, cheesy and rich sauce and a nice amount of lobster. My friend that had ordered the Mac and Cheese trio enjoyed her 3 Mac and Cheeses, but said she really enjoyed the flavor in mine. The trio is a rotating chefs selection and on the night we visited was the 4 cheese, the portabello goat cheese and the Cajun shrimp. All looked great. Other entrees ordered included the Roo Burger, Popeye mac and cheese, Rib Eye with Lobster Mac and Cheese and the Grouper. All were enjoyed by diners and the burger and steak were cooked to the ordered temperature. Service was friendly and our large group was well taken care of throughout our meal. Separate checks was not a problem, which was nice. A 20% gratuity was included for our large party.
Happy Hour is offered from 5−7pm, 7 days a week and includes ½ off appetizers (excludes seafood apps) and drink specials including $ 6 specialty drinks and martinis, $ 5 house wines and discounted prices on domestic and well specials. I would happily come back for dinner, drinks or happy hour.

I had an enjoyable time at Matilda’s. I was with a group of fourteen who were there to celebrate Lisa W’s birthday. We were seated in a back room and got to enjoy the space all to ourselves. The table was a bit too large and made hearing those across the way a bit challenging, but because it was just us back there we were able to talk a bit louder to hear. There were six tv screens in the room and the sports fans in our group were quite happy to be able to watch their golf and soccer matches.
We got to the restaurant shortly after six on a Saturday and were able to take advantage of their daily happy hour that runs till 7pm. I enjoyed my $ 6 When Pigs Fly Martini (pic); the bacon wrapped blue cheese olive made it a tasty dirty martini.
I ordered the Appetizer Sampler (pic) and that was plenty of food between three of us; it was a nice way to try a few things though the tortilla chips needed a dip to go with. I also ordered a plate of Boneless Buffalo Chicken Wings (pic); I really enjoyed these. I believe all the appetizers are half off during happy hour. I wished that had a menu or something the like that stated what their happy hour specials were. We had to keep bothering the waitress to find out because a few items weren’t clear with our group.
I didn’t order anything else, but many in our group ordered dinner and I had some bites here and there. Everything was presented quite nice and those dishes I sampled were tasty.
The service here was very friendly and they did a nice job keeping up with our group. We did get an automatic 20% added to our bill which doesn’t surprise me, but I didn’t see it stated anywhere on the menu.
I’m not out dining on Park Ave that often and I don’t think Matilda’s would be my first choice for date night, but I do think if I were coming with a group of friends this would be a spot I’d pick.

Matilda’s on Park is located on Park Avenue across the street from Panera Bread. Outdoor and indoor seating is available. In the front of the restaurant, the doors were open so it was more like covered outdoor seating for me. Towards the back of the restaurant, there were more dining tables. Flat screen televisions throughout the front area and in the men’s restroom as well (from what I was told).
The menu had a nice selection of salads, sandwiches, burgers, classic entrees, and gourmet mac and cheeses. One of the appetizers jumped out at me. The Jalapeño, Cream Cheese, Cheddar & Crab Bites ($ 11). When I selected it, my server’s eyes lit up. «They’re soooo good!» Brittany was so genuinely enthusiastic about it. I could only hope I’d feel the same way afterwards. The crab bites had a nice crunchy layer on the outside and lots of crab meat inside. Bits of jalapeño throughout, not overwhelming with the cream cheese flavor. It was very tasty although I wouldn’t have minded if it were spicier. The crab bites were served with a mango honey mustard although my friend and I agreed the mango flavor wasn’t that prevalent.
I just knew I had to get the kangaroo burger. Even for the sheer novelty of bragging rights. The Roo Burger is not 100% kangaroo meat due it’s leanness. There is some beef mixed into the kangaroo meat to form the burger patty. They no longer carried the pretzel buns but brioche, multigrain and croissants were still available. There was an option to make the burger «Aussie style» by adding a fried egg and beet but I really wanted to just try burger without the extra fixings.
The Roo Burger ($ 14) has onion straws and a cheese lager sauce on it. I made my fries the Crab fries with a cheese sauce. The old bay seasoning wasn’t overpowering and made the fries extra delicious! The cheese sauce was really good as well but the only problem when you have a cheese sauce like this, it tends to solidify quicker.
So the real question is, what did the kangaroo meat taste like? Absolutely amazingly delicious. It was beef like, it wasn’t too gamey but there definitely was a unique flavor here. I was surprised how much I enjoyed this burger. It was simple yet so tasty. The buttery flavor of the brioche bun, the crispness of the onion straws, the light saltiness from the cheese sauce. I really enjoyed it overall. Unfortunately, I was so stuffed from only half of the burger.
Considering the location of the restaurant, the quality of the food, and the portion size I don’t think the entrees are overpriced. Nice atmosphere, unique menu items, I’d definitely return here.
If the thought of eating a kangaroo burger isn’t appealing, I’m certain there is something here everyone.

LOVE IT!!! THEY ARE DECENTLY PRICED! THEY HAVE A GREAT MENU. OH AND GF LOVERS — THEY ARE KNOWN FOR THEIR DELICIOUS MAC N’ CHEESE AND CAN MAKE IT GLUTEN FREE!
I had the buffalo mac’ n cheese and my bf had shrimp scampi. I loved the food! It was comforting and delicious. For the appetizer, we had crab fries (fries seasoned with old bay and served with white cheddar sauce). The long island ice teas my bf had were delicious and very strong!
It was good, upscale bar food and the service was great!
I wanted to go back to get more mac n’ cheese today, but i don’t want to be THAT person… lol I will just go tomorrow