Jernigan's Restaurant

The dining experience was very chaotic. From the moment we walked in, they were scurrying around. We heard excuses of "new system" problems from more than one person. We were seated, but sat there for about 5 minutes before we had to flag someone down to see if we should go up to the buffet. That person stopped and gave us plates. We grabbed food and came back. We didn't have drinks (incl. water) so we had to flag another person down who said she would be back with water. She never came back. We walked to the buffet area and snagged someone else, she eventually brought us water and took our drink orders. About 15 minutes after we sat down, we met our assigned waiter for the first time. While we were there early in the evening mealtime, we were told they were already out of several items (Cabernet, IPA, Modelo). Later, our waiter "found" Modelo though.The food was tasty and the servers, when we could get one, were all friendly. Overall, this was not worth the price we paid. If the evening had gone flawlessly, I could justify the price based on the convenience and expectation that an arena dining location just costs more. Also, for concerts, you're located behind the stage so a black curtain blocked our view for the entire opening act. Why it took that long? Well, it had a lot to do with the chaos and there not being a way to enter the facility before the event doors open. We had reservations for 6:30 pm, but we were there at the hostess closer to 6:45 (we had to wade through people) and seated around 7 pm. Not sure why reservations begin at 6:30 pm when the Amway doors don't open until 6:30 pm btw. There should be a way to access Jernigan's separate from waiting in line. For example, maybe a separate line, just for Jernigans, where the security people verify you have reservations?I'd probably try one more time to see. I would not book at doors open though. I also wouldn't book here if I wanted to see the opening act. It would be better with TVs displaying event.

I gave this restaurant 5 star reviewz Personality is polite and food comes in 15 minutes. Affordable price.

Horrible experience that I had to walk out and leave. I had reservations at 7pm and arrived at 6:45pm. I let them know I had a reservation for 4 when I checked in at the front desk so the lady told me to hold on as they were waiting for the first reservations to clear out.A few minutes pass by and the list tells me I only made the reservation for 2 but I showed her my confirmation for 4 people. She then says "I see what they did" and walks away.During this time multiple "white" people were walking in and going straight through without the front desk checking if they had a reservation. When I would look at her she would apologize and say "the first reservations are taking a while" all this time there were more than enough open tables available.It was getting close to the time of the game starting and we didn't want to miss the opening of it (since they wouldn't even let us inside the restaurant to view the game while we waited) so I went to the lady at the front desk and told her to forget about it. She apologized (didn't even offer a solution) and told us goodbye.For the prices you pay ($80 pp) for this food buffet experience, I would think you would have it together but next time I'll just skip this restaurant.

Experience. The food service is sub par for a premium priced buffet. I understand most people come here for the experience of watching an nba game, but for my yelp loyal, I have to say that the food is not worth the price. The staff was "stingy" with the buffet items. One example, the roast at the carving station looked wonderful and had a second "slab" untouched. I'm assuming they had plenty to go around. It wasn't a terribly crowded night. I asked for a "good slice" of the roast beef. The guy proceeded to give me a paper thin slice. Fine. "Can you carve me another?" I asked. He sucked his teeth while carving another even thinner slice. I chuckled a bit and told him I'd be back. Needless to say, a huge part of eating out is the experience. And the staff wasn't overly happy to serve us, attitude at the ice cream station as well. Probably won't be going back.

I has dinner here with a group of 12. Our dinner was included as part of our ticket for a magic game. In addition to dinner, drinks (beer and wine) were included. Our group was sat at 2 tables with a nice view of the basketball court. It was tucked away so there was only one other party in our area. Dinner was a buffet. There was a decent selection of food items- salad, charcuterie, veggies, nachos, a meat cutting station, and dessert. It would have been nice to have more selection but i didn't leave hungry. For drinks, we had several options for beer, most of which were light beers. I don't recall any IPAs or sours. I did not order wine. We put in our drink order with our server and it took awhile.... To the point that my husband got tired of waiting and ordered drinks at the bar. When our server came with the drinks, he kind of gave us a hard time about it and it seemed that he didn't want to give us our drinks (until my husband distributed the extra drinks to other people in our party who were drink-less). Although it wasn't the best meal, I thought the value was good since it was part of our basketball game ticket. This is an occasion where I wish I could give half stars- not a 4 star experience but better than 3. I'd give this 3.5 stars.

I have trouble rating this place anything under a five star. My daughter and I are season ticket holders in the lower promenade for the Magic, and we have come here for dinner several times during games. It is a $66 upgrade, inclusive of tax and gratuity. This lands you a ledge seat overlooking the basket under the Ozone. You also get a full buffer until end of third quarter. The menu changes daily and has a carving station, charcuterie, sundae bar and all sorts of rotating dishes. This is comparable to a banquet at a high end function. Worth every penny in my mind.Service is good, and many are regular servers. Jeff, the manager, is always attentive and on the floor. He slaps always calls back when we leave a message for a reservation. We will continue to visit as often as we can.

What kind of restaurant only serves fans some 50+ days of the year? Well that would be Jernigans. They are open during Orlando Magic Games and Amway concerts that cater to a crowd that can afford a more expensive night out like Billy Joel or Elton John. How do you get in this venue? Well let's dish.First the Magic Fans with louge tickets get first crack at Jernigan's. You can make reservations through a website and usually for most fans that means that you can't get in until tip off at 7 pm. I tried to eat quickly at a game during the holiday season and our server was overloaded with patrons. Generally they provide superior service and if you want you can sit there through the game. The food buffet and drink service ends at the end of the 3rd quarter like other places at Amway. To get to Jernigans you take the elevator up to 4th floor and someone escorts you to the restaurant entrance. The restaurant is at the same level as all the sky boxes.I have eaten there over the last 3 years a couple times each year the food offerings seem to get better. This last time in Dec 2017 they had several chefs at the stations preparing food in batches so that everything was fresh and tasty. There is a charcuterie and cheese board, a market salad bar, usually a station with mashed potatoes, mac and cheese, pasta and some kind of homestyle food. There is a carving station, usually several vegetable, roasted potatoes and rice dishes. One night I saw poke boats and a Polynesian pork buffet with fries. The buffet hits several notes vegetarian, paleo, kids, and stuff yourself silly on protein (that would be me.) They also have a high quality dessert spread that seems to be made in house including sundaes. They really mix it up each time so that it is a whole new spread (remember they are not open everyday so they have time to plan.)There are three seating levels. 2 levels of ledges where you sit at a counter and face the court or a third table level which is near the buffet. I think they are now charging an extra $10 to sit on the lower ledge level where everyone is facing forward towards the court. This is not all that conducive for a group unless your single focus is the event and you want to climb 2 short sets of stairs.Are there better restaurants in town? Probably but the combination of a great buffet and the view of the game or concert can't be beat. Only a couple downsides. Only once did I see a tshirt launcher hit this level and you are not as engaged with Stuff the Magic Mascot and the rest of the fans that you get with a regular seat.

So it was kind of hard to find information about this restaurant online. This restaurant is located inside the Amway Center and on their website there is an article about it but otherwise really no information. There is a spot where you can make reservations but nothing as far as price was included menu, none of that. My friend won a silent auction and got a pair of tickets to have dinner at Jernigans before a Magic game and I was his lucky plus one. We were both excited because we've heard great things about it but totally sure what to expect. There are two seatings, 530 and seven, we got the 530 seating so we had to be done by 6:45 or seven to allow the next group of people to come in. If you have the 7 o'clock seating you can stay at your table for the duration of the game and the seats are awesome. You're right up against the edge and there's great view of their court. As for the food, everything was excellent! The night that we went they had lemon pepper chicken, pot roast, mashed potatoes, fried fish, veggies, carving station with pork (it was a little dry), a salad bar and a small charcuterie area. Oh yeah! They have a build your own sundae bar, which was a lot of fun. The price for our meals was $47 (alcohol not included) a person, I believe it's more like 65 if you do the 7 PM but it's definitely worth it and anyone that has a ticket to the game can go no matter where your seats are. My advice would be to buy the cheapest ticket you can and make a reservation for the 7 PM Dining and then sit there the whole time and watch the game from great seats!

Disregard all other reviews this place was great. Amazing service. Great place to watch the game. Food was good. It is a buffet. Great place great environment.

Rude people that check you in. This used to be really good food , now it's below average not even quality food. A lot of the food wasn't even warm , some of the chicken wings weren't even properly cooked When the salad dressing is the best thing you offer you know there is an issue. For the price you pay you would think the food would be above average. Went to celebrate a birthday & was such a waste of money