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Review by Terri Peters
- My family tried Bahama Breeze, a chain specializing in Caribbean-inspired food, for the first time.
- Dinner for my family of 4, including appetizers and multiple alcoholic drinks, was $160 before tip.
- The jerk chicken and fruity drinks were delicious, so I consider the cost a great value.
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In the days when I could say my family never ate at chain restaurants, I'd drive past Bahama Breeze locations and feel curious.
With its sweeping, open-air patios and tropical signage, I imagined diners sipping mai tais and feasting on jerk chicken. It turns out that my perception of the chain was pretty close to the truth, though it's in a strip-mall parking lot instead of a tropical cruise port.
Since my two teenagers started asking to try the chain restaurants they'd heard about from their friends and TikTok, my husband and I have reneged on our "no chain restaurants" rule and started visiting some classics, like LongHorn Steakhouse.
Recently, we went to a Bahama Breeze restaurant in Orlando, Florida, for dinner as a family.
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Although I'd never visited, Bahama Breeze has been around since 1996.
Darden Restaurants opened the first Bahama Breeze in 1996 in Orlando, Florida. Known for its tropical co*cktails, Caribbean-inspired menu, and overall island vibe, the restaurant grew quickly and today exists in 42 locations throughout the US.
In addition to serving dishes such as coconut shrimp, seafood paella, and Jamaican jerk chicken, Bahama Breeze is known for frequently offering live music and affordable happy hours, where guests can sip $5 specialty drinks and order half-priced appetizers.
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I started by ordering one of Bahama Breeze's signature sangrias.
The drink menu at Bahama Breeze was extensive, with island-themed co*cktails, including Bahama mamas and rum runners on the menu, in addition to frozen co*cktails and varied mojito flavors like coconut and strawberry.
I'm typically a wine drinker, so I chose the Sunrise Moscato Sangria and the Sunset Berry Sangria. I prefer reds, so I went for the berry flavor — and was not disappointed.
It was made with spiced rum, red wine, strawberry and pineapple juices, and soda water. It was a great value at $9, and it felt like a tropical vacation in a glass.
Later in the meal, I ordered a glass of cabernet for $15.
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My husband went with the Painkiller co*cktail.
A Painkiller is a creamy, coconutty drink that is perfect for a vacation. Since our family was in the Orlando area on a weekend getaway, my husband tried Bahama Breeze's version, made with rum, cream of coconut, pineapple juice, orange juice, and nutmeg.
I tasted the drink as well, and it was delicious. The co*cktail was as flavorful as any Painkiller we'd had on a tropical vacation, and at just $10, it was well within our dinner budget.
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We got yuca cheese sticks and a shrimp dish as appetizers.
Yuca, a nutty-flavored tuber native to South America, is one of our favorite things to order in restaurants, so we were impressed Bahama Breeze had yuca-filled cheese sticks on its small-plates menu.
They were served with two dipping sauces: a cilantro-crema and Sriracha aioli.
The yuca cheese sticks were melty and delicious and were thoroughly enjoyed by everyone, even my teenage son, who typically sticks to a diet of plain cheeseburgers.
At only $7, I'd have been down to get another serving, but we had plenty more to order, so I resisted the temptation.
My husband also tried the $13 Firecracker Shrimp as an appetizer, and he enjoyed its crispy batter and the Sriracha aioli drizzle it was served with. I couldn't try this dish because I'm allergic to shrimp — but it looked delicious, and I heard no complaints from his side of the table.
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My teens loved the nonalcoholic drink options.
At Bahama Breeze, adults can order boozy frozen co*cktails or drink straight from hollowed-out, fresh pineapples.
But it's not only the 21-and-over crowd who can order a festive drink at the chain. My kids were thrilled to see a "0% alcoholic, 100% island" section on the drink menu and had a hard time choosing what to order.
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My kids both got fruity drinks that cost $10 and $5.
My son chose the Virgin Ultimate Pineapple, a swirl of frozen piña colada and strawberry that cost $10. My daughter went with a $5 Virgin Bahamarita, made with kiwi, mango, and strawberry ices.
Many restaurants offer only a Shirley Temple as a mocktail option, so having an exciting variety of booze-free drinks to choose from made my kids' evening.
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I opted for a grilled chicken, plantain, and cilantro dish.
The entrée menu at Bahama Breeze was extensive, with sections for seafood, steak, pork, and chicken. There were also sections for soups, salads, and sandwiches, so choosing an entrée was a bit overwhelming, if not fun.
I ordered the grilled chicken with cilantro-crema because I was intrigued by the bed of mashed potatoes and roasted corn the chicken breasts were served on.
The dish cost $15 and was topped with cilantro-crema, melted cheese, and a crispy plantain. It felt like an extreme value, as it was way more food than I could eat and I got to take half home. And yes, like with most leftovers, the dish was even more delicious the next day.
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My daughter chose a dish she'd seen on TikTok.
Whenever we dine at a chain restaurant, my daughter likes to order a dish she's seen copycat recipes for on TikTok. At Bahama Breeze, she ordered the jerk chicken pasta, videos about which have been viewed more than 17 million times on TikTok.
The $17 pasta dish is made with sliced jerk chicken breast, asparagus, mushrooms, and bow-tie pasta, tossed in a Parmesan cream sauce.
She loved her choice and the enormous portion sizes at Bahama Breeze, as she, too, left the restaurant with leftovers.
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My husband ordered an appetizer as his meal.
The menu had tons of options, but the Jamaican jerk wings were calling my husband's name, so he chose the $16 appetizer as his main entrée.
At Bahama Breeze, the wings were served whole and weighed a pound-and-a-half. They're also served with jerk barbecue sauce.
Overall, he was pleased with his decision, saying that the jerk flavor of the wings was wonderful and the meat was juicy and moist. He also praised the barbecue dipping sauce for its extra zing of flavor.
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We didn't order dessert, but we tried a co*cktail flight.
Stuffed from our delicious dinner, we decided not to order dessert.
My husband was curious, however, about Bahama Breeze's co*cktail flights. When we visited, the chain had two different co*cktail flights available: one with a Bahama mama, Painkiller, and One Love, and the other with classic, dragon fruit, and coconut-pineapple margaritas.
We picked the one with the first option, which was hilariously named Mama's Hooch & Holler.
At $11, the flight was a fun way to try some of Bahama Breeze's signature island-themed co*cktails. The servings were smaller than normal co*cktails, so no one left the restaurant overserved.
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We'd definitely eat at Bahama Breeze again, based on our experience.
It may have been a chain restaurant in a strip mall, but Bahama Breeze definitely got my family in the island mood. And for $160 total, it felt like a great value.
As a part of our Orlando staycation, it felt festive and the food was very good. The co*cktails were creative and colorful, and even my picky son, who ordered a cheeseburger and fries, was pleased with his meal.
Bahama Breeze felt like a worthwhile experience for my family because we paid about $40 per person for dinner, which included tons of leftovers, two appetizers, and multiple drinks.
Next time, I'd love to visit for happy hour, which usually comes with live music and seems to have great discounts.
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