“Now, that is a cocktail,” I observed.
There were two plastic stirrers in it. And a handful of crystal-clear, standard-issue machine ice that read like not quite enough.
But that was only because the drink seemed like a triple.
Note: I was not mad about it.
There’s nothing to be mad about at Linda’s La Cantina. The place is pretty much perfect.
There was nothing wrong with the $7 “Linda’s House Red” I’d ordered in the first place. It just seemed like a natural pick in this venerable family steakhouse, which has been serving Orlando since 1947. Generous pour, too. The chilled Chianti just wasn’t my jam.
So, when a gent wandered past my table amid the mix of silver-haired early birds and millennials in WWE shirts, getting their dudebro on pre-Smackdown, the drink in his hand caught my eye.
Hello, happy hour. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
That’s right, I remembered. Linda’s has a bar.
I got up and peeked inside the old-school, slightly sunken room, so reminiscent of the bar in my dad’s old place on Long Island. In fact, the tables at Linda’s have the exact same checked, plastic tablecloths. This place feels so much like home.
Bar booths, as far back as I could see, were full. Just like the ones in the main dining room. A guy at the bar was enjoying a drink in a tank top. At a steakhouse. This is Linda’s. This is comfort.
Entrees here include a salad and a side. The housemade vinaigrette seemed just right for the place. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
And this Negroni Big Gulp would only make it more so.
Same goes for our waiter, Geronimo: friendly, absolutely flawless in his assessments of whether to check in as he breezed to and fro, and forthright in his menu advice.
I was unable to connect with anyone on the team at Linda’s ahead of this story, though I tried valiantly for several days.
It means nothing, however. Because I connected with a bunch of them on my most recent visit, and every last one of these interactions was a slam-freaking-dunk.
Blackened snapper: a light and lovely half-fillet appetizer. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
No spoilers for most of you, but it was a wonderful first for my pal and partner-in-podcast, Anthony “Biggie” Bencomo, who, despite 30 years of supporting local in this beautiful city, had never been to Linda’s La Cantina before.
I marveled when he told me, much in the way he did at my lack of chicken-tender experience. And as it was the eve of his 49th birthday, I decided it was a situation that needed to be remedied.
Best Steakhouse: 2025 Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards
“We have to get there at 4,” I told him.
“Wait, seriously?”
Yes.
It’s 4:13 on a Friday and Linda’s dining room is two-thirds full. In another 10 minutes, there’ll be nothing left but a couple of tables reserved for birthdays. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
If you don’t have a reservation at Linda’s (which you can get by texting 321-347-0290), you can certainly wait. And you certainly will. Especially on a Friday. Unless you get there before the doors open.
Biggie, who arrived ahead of me around 3:45 p.m., believes me now.
“I got out of my car at 4 and there was already a line!” he says.
I arrived shortly after, surveying the open room as I joined him at the table. It was 4:11 p.m. The space was already half full. By 4:31, taking double-stirrer sips from my generous cocktail, it was at capacity, save a couple of larger tables with balloons, clearly reserved for celebrations.
Shrimp stalker. Zoomed-in shot of our neighbors’ app. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
The rhythm of the service at Linda’s is as much a secret to its success as the steaks. And in a place where assertive table turning could make folks like Geronimo more scratch, it’s commendable. We never felt rushed. We did, however, want to order more than we did.
I watched as folks around us ordered platters of shrimp (cocktail, fried, sauteed, spicy, more) but deferred. The flaky-flawless blackened snapper ($10, half fillet) helped scratch the “what if I ordered seafood here?” itch.
Also, a solid case to bring your surf-over-turf friends for your next iron fix.
“Oh, I’d definitely be happy with this for a main if I were a pescatarian,” Biggie said.
The medium T-bone. As big as my head and beautifully done. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
But there’s no way I’m not getting steak at Linda’s.
For me, the 16-ounce boneless ribeye ($44). For Biggie, it was the T-Bone, which comes in special (1-pound, $38), medium (1.5 pounds, $46) and large (2 pounds, $54). A brief sidebar with Geronimo set him on the path to medium.
One of the glories of Linda’s — aside from the fact that the average cost of a 16-ounce ribeye at three other popular non-hotel steakhouses in town tallied at $74 — is that here, this entree comes with salad and one side.
“What is it about these basic salads in places like Linda’s?” Biggie wondered aloud. “It’s gotta be the housemade dressings. They just hit.”
16-ounce boneless ribeye at Linda’s La Cantina: When your mouth waters as you write the photo caption, there’s little more to say. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
It’s true. He got Thousand Island (which was called Russian at my dad’s salad bar in the 70s and 80s). I went with vinaigrette. The croutons, baked from what I’m gathering are day-old loaves of the free bread you’ll enjoy upon arrival, were tops. I sampled, but showed restraint, enjoying the easy pace of dinner.
No plate pile-ups here, so common at other places, where apps and mains come too close together or, worse, nearly simultaneously. Here, dining feels like home. I can enjoy the drink, the apps, the main and so forth. Each has its own chapter.
“The steak was phenomenal!” Biggie says, snapping me back to the main event.
Linda’s La Cantina is pure porn for the carnivore. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
Rested and ready to go, both were beautifully charred, simply seasoned, pink and perfect. Both were only about half-consumed, though we pecked while considering some housemade desserts.
The crust on the Key lime pie ($6.25) was sublime, but the chocolate cake ($7.95), five warm layers and light as air amid the weight of lovely dark chocolate ganache, was a star.
Biggie dragged the pie through the rich chocolate and delighted himself.
“This pie with a side of this fudge would be amazing!” he said, and made a point to tell a few amused staffers at the host stand on the way out.
The chocolate cake here is not an afterthought. We were fans. (Amy Drew Thompson/Orlando Sentinel)
One night here, and he felt like a regular. One night here, and they treated him as such.
“I don’t expect places like that to be super polished or have some brand-new aesthetic,” he told me afterwards. “I expect a comfortable steakhouse that’s been there forever. And everyone there is like, “Yep. This is what we do.”
Want to reach out? Find me on Facebook, Twitter or Instagram @amydroo or on the OSFoodie Instagram account @orlando.foodie. Email: amthompson@orlandosentinel.com. For more foodie fun, join the Let’s Eat, Orlando Facebook group.
If you go
Linda’s La Cantina: 4721 E. Colonial Drive in Orlando, lindaslacantina.com; Reservations are text only: 321-347-0290 (name, date, party size).
