Downtown Disney Drinking In Depth – Paradiso 37

Continuing to plow forward after visiting House of Blues, Wolfgang Puck Cafe, and Laffer’s Cantina, we’ll hit Paradiso 37 while we’re in the neighborhood.

The restaurant is located in the “heart” of Pleasure Island.  If we continued to walk in this direction, we’d arrive at Raglan Road in a minute or two.

Paradiso 37 enjoys an outdoor bar with music nightly.  It’s a mixture of live music and Disney DJs.  I would guess live music is more popular on weekend evenings, like this one.

It’s a little warm for me to sit outside these days.

Inside, you’ll find two additional bars.

More contrast-y.

What bar #2 looks like.

What it doesn’t look like.

Otherwise, there isn’t a whole lot to the restaurant.  At least looking back over the pictures.  By this time, I only had one eye open and don’t think I’d notice anything less forceful than a shovel to the face.  Apparently there is a cool looking chandelier made of tequila bottles and margarita glasses in the lobby, that I’m sure would look better in my condo.

So Paradiso 37′s has a few “things.”  And when I say “things,” I’m of course referencing gimmicks.  They have a lot of tequilas.   I’m not sure why that’s particularly amazing because any establishment could easily buy a bottle of 1,000 different tequilas and stock them.  It isn’t like anyone visiting Walt Disney World is going to order anything other than the Cuervo.  Actually, they have so many tequilas that I’m going to leave the menu for the end just in case you want to skip it altogether.

Their other gimmick is the “world’s coldest beer.”  Why it matters what temperature your boring maco is served at befuddles me, but they do it nonetheless.  The temperature is actually advertised on an LCD screen of sorts for all to see inside the restaurant.  The current temperature was something like 31.2 degrees.  I guess we’re making it hot in here.

A selection as boring as humanly possible, which is kind of a shame.  It makes the Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, Redhook ESB, Magic Hat, etc. at Wolfgang Puck seem all the more attractive.

I let Sara order a beer because I’m a nice person.  We both decided their “coldest beer in the world” slogan was a scam and the beer is actually warmer than advertised, but we may not be the best source of information.  Next time I’ll bring my thermometer.

I ordered the Paloma Passion.  The bartender decided to go all Brian Flanagan on us (Tom Cruise’s character in Cocktail) and half of the drink ended up on Sara’s (gorgeous) chest.  Such is life.  That’s actually not entirely true, but he looked pretty ridiculous trying to flip his shaker around town.  Call me a traditionalist, but I prefer my margaritas to be served in a “margarita glass.”  I don’t even know if margarita glasses are traditional or the same guy that invented the fortune cookie came up with it on an off-day.  Anyway, the drink is more of what you’d expect.  I don’t think there was a ton of alcohol in it.  It was very fruity.  Very sweet.  I don’t think there’s anything about it that would cause me to order another.  And what the heck is “Rain Cucumber-Lime Vodka?”  Weird.

The glasses are always “frosty” as you can see.  If the beers aren’t served around 29 degrees, it’s not the end of the world.  I think they would tell you that it’s “too cold” because the temperature numbs the taste buds.  That’s why the macro brewers are always trying to get you to serve theirs “ice cold.”

Mother would tell you that it’s probably a good idea to order some food in the midst of our current binge drinking session.

The Chorizo & Beef Skewers – $17.99.

I enjoyed these quite a bit, though I think they might have been too spicy for Sara.  The little fluffy bread pillow things in the middle were very good too.  The meat was tender and flavorful.  The yogurt dipping sauce brings the spicy level down if that’s what you’re looking for.  It’s a lot of food and even at the $18 price point, it seems like it’s approaching reasonable.  I think it’s more than it looks, though you would have to describe what you’re seeing in order for me to tell you if your thoughts are realistic.

Overall, Paradiso 37 was okay.  The $5 beers are more than we probably want to pay and the fact of the matter is that you don’t want to have the “world’s coldest beer.”  Outside, the music is very loud.  It’s not necessarily the best place for an intimate conversation, but it can be a “fun atmosphere.”  Inside was pleasant enough.  Outside would be much too hot for me this time of year.  Maybe in November.  At night.  If I was going to pay this kind of “premium pricing” for drinks, and specifically boring beer, I’d probably do it down the street at Raglan Road.  And that’s just what we’re going to do!

Here’s the rest of the menu if you have interest:

Bigger: http://www.easywdw.com/reports4/takemedowntotheparadisocity.jpg.

Fail.

I don’t know.  I’m just not into paying so much money for a glass of wine or a shot of tequila, since those are two things I can easily prepare myself at home.  I think I’ll continue ordering the fruity drinks.  The Herradura Anejo would run you about $46 with tax at a local Total Wine store for a 750ml bottle.  You could get a 50ml “shot” size bottle for $4, so the $18 pricepoint is pretty insane.  I’ll bring my own and order the quesadillas.