Mills 50: the best cheap meal in Orlando

What Mills 50 is

Mills 50 is the district around the crossing of Mills Avenue and Colonial Drive, which is State Road 50. For decades it has been the center of Orlando's Vietnamese community, which is why locals still call part of it Little Saigon. Today it mixes pho shops and Asian bakeries with ramen counters, Thai and Korean kitchens, dive bars, craft cocktail bars, tattoo shops and murals.

It does not look like much from the car. Most of the best food sits in plain strip malls with faded signs. That is the point: these places cook for regulars, not for tour buses.

How to do it

1. Drive to Colonial Drive between Mills Avenue and the blocks just east and west of it. Shopping center lots are free and usually have room outside peak dinner hours.
2. Eat first. Pho, broken rice plates and banh mi are the classics. The Mills 50 Vietnamese guide explains what to order.
3. Stop at an Asian grocery or bakery for snacks, sauces or pastries to take back to your room.
4. Walk Mills Avenue north of Colonial to see the painted utility boxes and murals on the sides of buildings.
5. Finish at one of the bars along Mills, from old-school dives to cocktail rooms.

When to go

Lunch is the easiest time. Most places are open, parking is simple and service is fast. Weekend evenings are busier, with short waits at the popular pho shops and more of a bar crowd after 9. Some smaller restaurants close one day a week, often Monday or Tuesday, so check hours before you drive across town.

It is about 10 minutes from downtown, 20 from International Drive and 30 to 40 from the Disney area without traffic. That makes it a good dinner stop on a day when you are already in town, such as after Harry P. Leu Gardens, which is a few minutes north.

What to eat beyond pho

• Banh mi: baguette sandwiches with pork, pate, pickled vegetables and herbs. Cheap and easy to carry.
• Bun and com tam: vermicelli bowls and broken rice plates, often with grilled pork.
• Bubble tea and Vietnamese coffee: sweet, strong and everywhere.
• Ramen, dim sum, Korean barbecue and Thai: newer places spread along Colonial and Mills.
• Bakeries: buns, egg tarts and filled pastries, usually priced per piece.

Nearby add-ons and getting there

Lake Eola and downtown are a short drive west on Colonial. Ivanhoe Village, along Orange Avenue near Lake Ivanhoe, has antique shops and breweries. Audubon Park and its food market are 10 minutes northeast. If you are staying near the parks and only have one free night, this is the area most worth the drive in.

From International Drive or Universal, take I-4 east past downtown and exit at Colonial Drive, then head east a mile or so. From the Disney area, the same route takes 30 to 40 minutes outside rush hour. A rideshare from the tourist corridor costs more than parking but is worth it if you plan to drink.

The district stretches roughly from Orange Avenue east past Bumby Avenue along Colonial, and north along Mills toward Virginia Drive. You will want the car between clusters, because blocks are long and the roads are busy. Within one shopping center or one block of Mills, walking is easy.

The cheap eats near the parks guide is the better choice if you cannot leave the tourist corridor; this one is for when you can.

Mistakes to avoid

• Judging a restaurant by its strip mall. The plainest fronts often have the best food.
• Bringing only a card. Most places take cards, but a few smaller shops prefer cash or have a minimum.
• Crossing Colonial on foot mid-block. It is a wide, fast road; use the signals at Mills.
• Arriving at 9 pm and expecting every kitchen open. Many family restaurants close earlier than the bars around them.
• Ordering too much. Portions are big, and a large pho is a full meal.