The Back Porch Restaurant

Terri Biebuyck

2024-04

So glad we found this gem! Fun picnic basket lunch! Food was delicious! Helpful staff. We sat out on the deck, near the water. But the inside is beautiful also. The owner gave my kids food to feed the fish. We saw a small alligator too. We got there about an hour before they closed, so only a few other people there. I'm sure it can get very busy at peak times. On site garden shop and antique shop, but we didn't have time to check those out. Would love to go back some day to spend more time.

allison montgomery

2024-01

A friend and I spent time browsing the amazing antiques at the Barn Antiques as well as the other shops on site. We stopped in at the Back Porch Restaurant for lunch. There was plenty of seating with a nice outdoors area and wine bar as well. They have a nice selection of locally brewed beers for sale as well. The menu was great with salads, soups, sandwich and dessert for 10.99 or you can customize your own salad. They also have daily specials. I chose the soup of the day split pea which was the best I have ever had. Pasta salad and a chicken salad croissant. The dessert was small but plenty to top off the.meal. the food was delivered to the table in an adorable picnic basket.

Allon “The Cookie Dragon” Aurual

2024-03

This is one of the most lovely picnic venues I've been to. Yes, I said picnic venue because all the food is served in picnic baskets, which is a fun feature.You come in and get a paper menu, writing down your name and table in the top corner. The price was around $10 and you get to select a soup, Salad, main item, and dessert. They run specials here as well. Put your order in, pay, and food arrives promptly in a basket. They serve nice brunch drinks too like mimosas and really good iced coffee. For a salted caramel iced coffee afterward and it had so much cream and caramel it was the perfect dessert pick me up.Everyone here was super friendly and nice too! Very nice service!Food is quite good, if simple fare, but their specials can be fun. That day, we had a brie and bacon wrap. Mine was melted and gooey, but my partner's seemed to have not gotten the melted part as well. It was all good though and very tasty.After eating, there are tons of gift shops and one of the most beautiful garden centers I've been to with it actually being held up by the canopy of large trees. They have an antique store available on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.The porch is right on the water there with a lovely view. The weather was just perfect that day too and it was a lovely Valentine's Day meal my partner and I had together.We'll be back to this lovely location for sure.Parking: Parking is on the grass and in a dirt parking lot. Can be very cramped and took a moment to find a parking space. There might have been more parking somewhere, but I didn't see it.

C B

2024-02

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Timmy Shigley

2024-02

We were out for a day of antique shopping and found this nice gem for a quick lunch.Love this simplicity of a "picnic" lunch with a soup, side salad, sandwich and dessert.No James Beard awards or Michelin stars, but the food was very good and hit the spot.They do have adult beverages available as well.Be prepared, this seems to be a popular spot. I can't take points away from the "atmosphere" because there was a very loud, almost obnoxious" bridal shower going on inside and it was loud...very loud. Even made sitting outside a little unbearable. But that the inconsiderate patrons, not the staff.Good food, good service, good prices. Can't beat that.

Frances tibs

2024-04

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Tanya Riley

2024-05

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liz louison

2024-04

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David McClendon

2023-12

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Judy Essick

2024-04

Such an enjoyable experience. Food was good & reasonably priced, though it took a little bit to figure out the menu & ordering process on this first visit. The back seating area "porch" is on a lake with lots of trees. We enjoyed nature while we enjoyed our meal. The owner stopped by our table to chat & make sure we were enjoying ourselves. I would return without hesitataton.

June Bennett

2024-02

We had high hopes for this place, based on the reviews. Unfortunately our experience wasn’t great. They have an interesting concept of filling out the menu and then paying at the register. They bring your food in a picnic basket. Drinks are self-serve. The service was fine, though nobody came back to our table to inquire if we needed anything. The portions are very small. I had the croissant ham sandwich and there were only two pieces of paper-thin ham provided along with a slice of cheese and lettuce. It was mostly bread and not much flavor. Their pea soup was very tasty, but you only get a half-filled small paper cup of it. The pasta salad was very bland, having almost no sauce in it. Their flagship dessert is a strawberry cake that had no sign whatsoever of strawberries visible. I took a bite and no strawberry flavor. My last bite had a piece of strawberry that I spat out and saw was very brown. At this point I just hope we don’t get sick. My husband’s meal was a bit better. He had a chicken wrap that he gave me some bites of and it actually had meat in it. His pasta salad was different from mine but needed quite a bit of salt to release any flavor. His experience with the soup and dessert was identical to mine. I tried to get a Coke but there was no fizz.I’m hoping that perhaps our experience was just an unfortunate fluke, but not sure if I want to risk trying it again, especially since the chairs were quite uncomfortable. Lots of good reviews here, so perhaps your experience will be better than ours was.

Ann Hillman “Ann Lanier” Lamy

2023-05

WHAT A DELIGHT . . . to finally be able to visit this quaint & charming place. First a walk in their decorated for Halloween garden/yard art area. Next to the dock to feed the soft shelled turtles and fish - so many, so (seemingly) hungry! The weather was great so we ate outside. Food tasty but nothing extra special, unfortunately. And the children's portions were extremely light in substance. But we made do and I would return again but more prepared with extra food for the kiddos. *** Visited here for lunch after a fabulous excursion at the AWESOME playground in downtown Auburndale.

Sheila DelCharco

2023-08

What a fun place! There are several places you can eat: indoors, in the lanai, or on the porch. We chose to eat outside. They have fans as well as heaters for the winter. A big storm was about to break but the porch is deep enough that we didn’t get wet.You pick up a paper menu and then pick a place to sit. You fill out the menu with pencils provided at the tables, put your name and your table number on the sticky note provided, then turn it in. In minutes, you get a picnic basket with your food!So tasty! The sandwich sizes are reasonable and the sides are on the small side but it’s plenty of food and the price is right!I loved everything we had. The chicken salad was very good, and if you like blue cheese, try the slaw! The garden salad came with videlia vinaigrette which was excellent and we opted for the dessert and sandwich special which are listed out on the table-top sign.We were in a hurry to keep going on our trip so we couldn’t linger. Next time we are passing through (next week!) we’ll stop again and poke around the shops!This is a local, family-run place that was started by the owner’s grandmother!

Sidney Galloway

2024-03

lunch on Saturday, February 24th. The Back Porch had been highly recommended and it did not disappoint. Sure, it was busy on this beautiful day; but service was quick and efficient. Very good prices and options. The gluten free brownie was a winner; and we liked the soups and our respective sandwiches. Easy to self serve drink refills. Employees are awesome, including the owner who we met. We highly recommend The Back Porch, and we will be back . . . on the back porch. . . .at The Back Porch!

Larry Thwaites

2024-03

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P D

2024-02

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K M

2019-05

While the menu may be limited it makes up for that with food that is very good. My wife and I have never had a meal that was not very good. I always get the build-your-own salad and it is always quite fresh and delicious. I highly recommend for the dessert the ice cream cookie sandwich. Very tasty. The service is outstanding and the prices are not expensive.

Merritt Andrews

2022-05

What a nice place for lunch and shopping! Joined a group of friends to go to The Back Porch for lunch and was pleasantly surprised. You sit down, check off your meal choices on a paper menu, hand it in and pay, and then the boxed "picnic lunches" were brought to our table. Prices were ridiculously inexpensive for all the food you got. I ordered wine with my Marinated Beef Sandwich with horsy-mayo and Italian dressing, and a Chocolate Fudge Cake for dessert, and still only paid $14 with the tip. Most lunch choices with 2 sides were under $9.Took some time before and after lunch to shop at The Stable gift shops, and picked up a cute gift for myself. Lots of beautiful ladies' clothes, home decor, and gift ideas to choose from. In the Fall, the antique store opens, and the shops carry fun seasonal items. Will definitely be back for lunch and more shopping!

Gaylon Grippin

2021-05

My wife got wind of this place through a connection in the business of decorating condos. She recommended it so we thought it would be a fun place to try with friends.It's definitely an older business, having been started in 1969 by the current owner/operator who is in the family. It's built quite a following of loyal customers, as we found out from some of the other patrons that day.It's known as a place to get together and have a box lunch, with various offerings, different types of libations and an outdoor dining option. Here you can sit on an outside deck near a pond watching turtles (and other critters) swimming.There are also multiple buildings here that offer opportunities to shop for clothing, home decor, knick knacks, garden decor and many other things. It is a pleasant little drive into the area as well, with some country flare.The food and environment satisfy the urge to get out of the city and see the sights in a rural environment. It also provides a great place to step back in time and see a Florida that doesn't exist in many places anymore.The food was satisfying overall. I would consider it good and for the price of less than $10 per person, it was definitely a good bargain. You eat here for the environment as a throwback into historical culture and to experience life the way it probably should be sometimes. When you're done, you can then go and find some new things for yourself, your home or your garden.It's an entire package. Make a day of it and spend some time here. Especially with family or friends.

Brenda Bozeman

2022-05

Very unique..good sandwiches but a little on th price side. Staff was amazing and so very nice! All southern charm here! Had a lovely time!

Stephanie Cunningham

2022-05

Antique store and restaurant all in one! Spacious outdoor patio on the water and back cottage available for private parties. Their picnic lunch box included a soup, salad, sandwich and dessert for $10!

Tina Martin

2024-04

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Brian Keller

2022-05

Cute little place. Great food. VERY reasonably priced. I prefer come products but the home brewed spiced tea made up for the Pepsi. We will do this every year.

Tina Bircher

2024-03

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Dante Ligaya

2023-05

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Mark Neenan

2023-05

Great place to grab lunch! Nice choice of salads, soups, and sandwiches! Awesome atmosphere and lots of great shopping nearby! Food was delicious!

Kate Humphries

2024-03

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Atlas CS

2024-03

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Sherri Garriott

2023-10

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Jeff Goin

2018-05

Great place, good food, friendly people, unique implementation. You pick up a paper menu at the door, go to the table, write the table number down on a little Post-it note that is attached to the menu, fill out check boxes with what you want, take that to the cashier and pay. Then they bring you food. My one complaint is they need better flatware, the plastic is too lightweight.