As every family knows, going out to dinner with kids can be a challenge. When they’re babies, you pray they don’t cry through the entire meal, and you take turns caring for them, so the other parent can try to finish eating. When they hit elementary school, you hope they’ll like something on the menu and stay seated long enough to enjoy it. Once middle school hits, they start having too many opinions. In my family’s case, there’s budget-conscious wife Toni, our exuberant 8-year-old son and opinionated 12-year old daughter, and me—a picky executive chef.

We had dinner at The Coop on the last Saturday of February, figuring home-style comfort food would be a good fit for the season. Knowing that it’s a popular place, we decided to go a bit later and arrived at 7:30, excited to check out Chef John Rivers’ Southern-from scratch creations.

Word to the wise: The Coop is counter service and draws a crowd, so if your kids don’t like waiting in long lines, it’s best to come a bit early, come late or take advantage of the drive-thru takeout window.

Even with our late-ish arrival, there was a short line ahead of us, but staff moved everyone along quickly. While waiting, I was impressed with how clean everything was for a busy Saturday night, as well as the way staff took advantage of the slowdown to refill ice and make sure the main customer station was restocked and cleaned.

The Coop also deserves praise for being allergy friendly—an especially important consideration for us, as our daughter has severe peanut allergies. Their menu clearly notes what has nuts and what doesn’t, and they have a great online allergy chart that parents can review.

After a debate on who would get what, we decided on two appetizers and one entrée each. We quickly switched gears, though, after learning that the entrées would be served right away but we’d have to wait on the appetizers! The reason being, the latter are cooked to order, whereas entrées are served up buffet-style while you stand in line. I figured that, by the time those arrived, the kids would already be full from their meals, so we just went with the entrées.

The seat-yourself dining room definitely has a Southern home feel, with its mismatched chairs and farm tables. Both kids loved picking out where they wanted to sit and getting their own drinks, too.

Once seated, we dove right into our food, which for my daughter meant chicken and waffles. The waffle was huge and topped with two very large chicken fingers, but she didn’t care for the syrup. If you have picky kids, you may want to get it on the side. I tried it and loved it, though.

My son got the two-piece chicken meal with coleslaw and mac and cheese—the last of which he cleared instantly, loving it. The chicken was really good but also extremely hot, having just come out of the fryer, so I had to cut it off the bone before he could eat it. Next time, he gets the kids’ chicken-finger meal! The coleslaw was his one thumbs down. I thought it had a wonderful flavor, but it could have been a bit more coarsely chopped for our taste.

My wife ordered chicken and dumplings, creamed corn and grits. We both thought the grits needed a bit more flavor and salt. She raved about the chicken and dumplings’ amazing taste and huge portion, but the creamed corn was the real hit. She shared it with the kids, and they both tried to steal it!

I selected the shrimp and grits, collard greens and butter beans with bacon. The butter beans were overflowing with bacon, but I would have cooked them in a more flavorful stock. And while the collard greens were sweet, which is good, I would have preferred them to be a bit hotter. The shrimp and grits had a wonderful taste, too, but I did add a few dashes of salt. My only wish for this item would be a thicker sauce.

We ended the meal by sharing a banana pudding, which featured a huge swirl of homemade whipped cream and vanilla wafers. The kids ogled it as it was delivered to the table, and we dug in immediately. The flavor was delicious, but it did have a light-brown color, which we had never seen in banana pudding before. Regardless, its delicious taste ruled supreme, and we finished it, joking that our moms still make the best banana pudding.

Overall, even with some minor culinary misses, the whole family really enjoyed eating at The Coop. The total cost was $64 for a family of four, which came out to $16 per person. For the choices, quantity, flavor and atmosphere, it was definitely worth it. We all want to go back, the kids even picked out entrées to try next—and there will be creamed corn all around.

An Orlando resident for more than 25 years, Michael Lit is the executive chef for Central Florida Regional Hospital and also has extensive experience in both casual and fine dining. 

The Coop
610 W. Morse Blvd., Winter Park, FL 32789
1-407-THE-COOP
ASouthernAffair.com