Many years ago, we started to see Ford’s Garage in the Orlando area when we would visit. We tried it several years ago and had a terrible experience. After moving to central Florida, we decided to give it another chance and I’m glad that we did.

There are locations all around central Florida, but on this occasion we visited the location at the Orlando Vineland Outlets. They use a unique service model here that you need to be aware of as you visit. They add 20% to every check for a group service model. I had a lot of questions when I first heard this. I will say that we had great service from the group service model, where all the wait staff gets a percentage. It sounds like they have a high average hourly wage, which shows since there were workers everywhere!

They do not have a dedicated gluten-free menu, but the menu has a specific marking for the items that can be made gluten-free. They are known for their burgers, which is where you see the most options. The restaurant is not free of cross contamination risks, the staff is clear about this. They do attempt to take precautions, but keep this in mind!

Unfortunately my picture of the burger menu didn’t turn out well. Most of their burgers are gluten-free with a bun modification or a topping modification. The burger that I got was the Ford’s signature burger which was gluten free with the bun swap and removing the BBQ sauce.

What was disappointing was the side selection. You can only choose from cole slaw, broccoli, a side salad, green beans, or mashed potatoes. I tried the cole slaw in the past, but wasn’t impressed at all. This time, I opted for the side salad with the strawberry vinnegarette.

The salad was good, but nothing special. The flavor of the vinnegarette was not overwhelming. The burger was very good. The bun had good flavor and texture. It was very soft and wasn’t as dense as many other gluten-free burger buns. The meat was well flavored, tasting almost marinated in some type of sauce. But that’s about all that was exciting about the burger. There really was nothing special about it.

Overall, I wouldn’t say this is anywhere in my top rankings for gluten-free options in central Florida, but it is worth keeping in mind if you want a burger. There are many other options for gluten-free burgers in the area that are much better.