Oreganatta in Orlando, FL

I tried an Italian buffet on International Drive called Oreganatta. They are located in a new building near Wet n' Wild. There was another Italian buffet nearby on International Drive several years ago that was above average. They ended up closing and a CiCi's Pizza took over the space. Perhaps my memory of this long gone buffet gave me hopes for Oreganatta that were slightly too high.

Oreganatta was almost completely empty except for another couple eating there. That's a bad sign for a buffet, but it was still early for the lunch hour so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I started out by trying their pasta. The pasta was custom made by a cook where you picked out sauce, type of pasta, and a choice of BBQ or spicy chicken. I had penne with pesto and spicy chicken. The pesto was okay. The chicken had a weird, slimy consistency and I didn't eat most of the meat. The option to add vegetables into the pasta as well would have been a big improvement.

I tried some of Oreganatta's salads next. I had some Caesar salad, pasta salad, and a chickpea salad. No complaints here. The salads were the best tasting food I found on the buffet.

The pizza was similar to what could be found at CiCi's, only without the big selection of pies. It was cheap conveyor belt pizza. There was a cheese and pepperoni pie on the buffet table. One of the employees offered to make another with my choice of toppings, but I passed.

They had lots of mini dessert cups on the buffet as well. I tried some sort of chocolate dessert, rice pudding, and a custard. I liked the rice pudding the best, but the desserts were mostly forgettable.

I don't think I'd return to Oreganatta any time soon. I was not impressed overall. The salad was okay. The pasta bar has room for improvement, and CiCi's would be a better option for the pizza, just based on ready made buffet selection (and I wouldn't recommend CiCi's). I personally don't see Oreganatta surviving long...