The After Party Food Truck in Orlando, FL

It seems like I've been on a bit of a kick of trying the International Drive food trucks lately. Not long after I tried the Kosher on Wheels truck, I visited The After Party.

The After Party parks in a strip mall at the intersection of International and Carrier Drive, not far from Magical Midway. As implied by the name, The After Party opens in the evenings and serves food until the early morning hours. This truck apparently serves Brazilian style hamburgers and other sandwiches. Their logo on the side of the truck featured a picture of a burger and the tagline Best Sandwiches in Town. I was about to find out if that was true.

I ordered a sandwich called the Chicken Xtravaganza. This consisted of a huge variety of ingredients, including shredded chicken, ham, sausage, cheese, fried egg, lettuce, tomato, onions, corn, peas, and potato sticks. I could be forgetting some of the components of this sandwich too. With everything on this sandwich, it definitely lived up to the xtravaganza name. More importantly, it was very tasty as well. I would never think to put peas or corn on a sandwich but it definitely worked. I will definitely return to The After Party at some point to try some more of their sandwiches...

My visit to The After Party reminded me once again how much fun dining at random food trucks at the side of the road can be. Food truck events are one thing, but when there's just one truck, all by its self, the experience is very different and very enjoyable...

Pizzeria Del-Dio in Orlando, FL

I recently met with TastyChomps to go try some Italian food at Pizzeria Del-Dio in Orlando. Del-Dio was once located in Fern Park and I have some vague memories of trying them back then, but that location changed ownership. In the early days of this blog, I actually wrote about the Fern Park Del-Dio while they had the second owners. Their pizza wasn't the best with some issues with the crust/sauce/cheese ratios and they eventually closed. Del-Dio's original owners reopened in the back corner of a strip mall off of Colonial Drive in Orlando, facing the Executive Airport.

When I arrived at Pizzeria Del-Dio, our meal started with a meatball appetizer. This consisted of two large meatballs in sauce. These were nice and flavorful. The garlic flavor was very strong here.

Next, we split a pizza. We ordered half pepperoni and onion and half sausage and spinach.

This was a very good pie. The crust/sauce/cheese/topping ratios were done right and there seemed to be just the right amount of everything. The pepperoni & onion slices were good, but I preferred the sausage & spinach. The spinach was sauteed with garlic and the sausage was sliced as opposed to crumbled (better that way).

Our meal ended with a cannoli for dessert.

I enjoyed my meal at Pizzeria Del-Dio. They served some pretty tasty pizza. Now that I know where they're hidden, I'll be stopping here again for more pizza at some point...

BurgerFi in Lake Mary, FL

BurgerFi is a chain that is spreading throughout the Central Florida area. I first heard of Burgerfi when I tried one of their South Florida locations in Delray Beach. Since that initial exposure to the chain, they have opened locations in Winter Park, Lake Mary, and there are plans for a third location in Altamonte Springs. This post is specifically talking about their Lake Mary location.

We ended up here one afternoon for lunch because I was dining with a dog owner. Not many places along Lake Mary Boulevard seem to be dog friendly, but this BurgerFi seems to welcome dogs with water bowls spread throughout the outdoor dining area.

On this visit, I tried their B.A.D. Burger. This stood for Breakfast All Day and consisted of the burger, American cheese, hickory bacon drizzled with maple syrup, fried egg, hash browns, grilled diced onions, and ketchup. I've never been a huge fan of burgers for some reason but I wanted to try one of BurgerFi's much hyped burgers to see if they were really exceptional. Honestly, it didn't do much for me. The beef was dry and bland. I couldn't detect the flavor of the egg or the hashed browns. The bacon and cheese were tasty, but the overall strongest flavor on the sandwich was ketchup. There was definitely far too much ketchup on this burger. 

We also shared the Cry & Fries. This consisted of three huge onion rings over a basket of fries. The onion rings here are good. The fries are forgettable.

I suppose BurgerFi is alright for what it is when it comes to fast food burger places. I'd pick BurgerFi over Burger King or McDonalds any day, but burgers just don't do much for me...

Kings Bowl in Orlando, FL

I was invited to the Media Preview of Kings Bowl. This is a fancy new bowling alley that took over a space formerly occupied by a Gooding's Supermarket on International Drive. They have all the normal stuff that most bowling alleys have, i.e.- lots of bowling lanes (which were very nicely illuminated) and pool tables. Alongside the norm, Kings Bowl also has all sorts of edible things that most bowling alleys do not. Since this is a food blog, the edible is what I'm focusing on. Why not start out with a fancy drink from one of their many bars?

If you're more of a beer person, Kings Bowl has a couple of these nifty booths with computerized, self-serve beer taps built into the tables. I haven't come across these elsewhere.

For the food, the menu ranged from pretty standard bowling alley fare to very unusual foods to be eating while bowling. It seems like most bowling alleys I've visited serve pizza. So did Kings Bowl. I sampled the Spicy Hawaiian Pizza, topped with fresh serrano peppers, bacon, grilled pineapple, grilled chicken, seasoned oil, and jack cheese.

The Buffalo Wontons were surprisingly tasty. I've never had fried wontons filled with buffalo sauce flavored cream cheese, but that is a delicious combination.

The Southwestern Spring Rolls, filled with roasted chicken, corn, black beans, peppers, onions, and cheese were one of my least favorite items that I tried at Kings. I found them to be very bland and flavorless, definitely lacking the spicy kick that southwestern often implies. They were also very soggy, as if the ingredients weren't properly drained before being put into the spring roll wrapper. I hope I just got a bad batch, but then again, bad batches of menu items should probably be avoided at media events.

Fried Mac & Cheese Bites, served in marinara sauce.

 Sesame Ginger Wings consisted of fried chicken with a tasty chili soy sauce.

 

 Cheeseburger Sliders, topped with cheddar and caramelized onions.

I enjoyed the BBQ Pulled Pork Sliders, topped with coleslaw.

House Smoked Baby Back Ribs, normally served with fries, coleslaw, and cornbread. Being as messy as these ribs were to eat, I probably wouldn't recommend bowling in between bites of ribs.

Kings Famous Steak Tips, served with mashed potatoes & green beans.

Brazilian Fish Stew, filled with fresh grouper, shrimp, tomatoes, green & red peppers, and cilantro served with white rice and grilled bread. This was definitely not a stereotypical bowling alley food and was actually one of my favorite dishes that I tried.

You have to finish every bowling alley meal with dessert. Here's the Chocolate, Banana & Coconut Spring Roll Sundae that I sampled.

I enjoyed the food at Kings for the most part based on what I was able to try at the media event. A couple of weeks later, I had a hankering to actually go bowling. I returned to Kings and shared a Bacon Chicken Ranch Pizza on this visit. I preferred this pizza to the Spicy Hawaiian Pizza that was mentioned earlier, but it was a bit messy with shredded lettuce that fell all over...

Kings Bowl had pretty good food for a bowling alley! I would totally consider coming back here again next time I want to go bowling...

Stavro's Pizza House in Daytona Beach, FL

I had dinner at Stavro's Pizza House in Downtown Daytona Beach. There seem to be lots of Italian restaurants in the area that use the Stavro's name. It's very confusing because they all claim to be completely independent and not connected to the other Stavro's in any way. The menus and foods at each of the Stavro's seem to vary a lot from location to location as well. I wonder what the story is here how so many Italian restaurants in the area all ended up with the same name?

We ordered a pizza topped with half pepperoni/half meatball. The pizza here was pretty average. The crust had a nice texture that I liked, but there was too much cheese in my opinion. Never good when there's so much cheese that it can't be supported by the crust and it floods off of the slices. Otherwise, this pizza wasn't too bad. I might stop here again at some point...

Kosher on Wheels in Orlando, FL

There is a food truck called Kosher on Wheels that is parked along International Drive near Fun Spot. I was looking for something for lunch one afternoon and decided to give this truck a try. As far as food trucks at non-food truck events go, Kosher on Wheels seemed to be doing very good business. They had seating on both sides of the truck, and I got the very last open seat while I was eating. I got the feeling that about half the customers at the time were like me, there for some Middle Eastern food regardless of religious affiliation, and the other half was there specifically because the food was Kosher.

I ordered a falafel pita. The pita was filled with a generous amount of falafel, hummus, tahina, red cabbage, onions, and Israeli salad (cucumbers & tomatoes). The falafel was very good with plenty of flavor and was nice and moist. There was also plenty of tahina, so much so that it started being absorbed by the bread. That is always a win in my book.

At some point I want to return to this truck to try their shawarma. I enjoyed my falafel, so hopefully the rest of their food is just as good. I did think they were a bit expensive for the size of the pitas served, but they were pretty equivalent to many of the other 'gourmet' food trucks in Orlando.

Wawa in Orlando, FL (Sea World)

Everyone seems to love Wawa. This gas station/convenience store chain recently expanded from the Northeastern United States to the Central Florida area. I've heard coffee drinkers rave about their coffee. People love their milkshakes. Above all else, I've heard people explain how wonderful their sandwiches are. I recently stopped into the Wawa across the street from Sea World to finally give one of these amazing sandwiches a try.

This Wawa had a large deli area. Orders are placed at several touch-screen computers set up throughout the area. While I do see the usefulness of this computerized ordering system, I just found it to prolong the ordering process and make it more confusing. Several orders could be placed at once using the computers and I'm sure they can keep track of inventory better, but it would have been much easier to directly order with the sandwich maker since the Wawa was empty at the time. Another thing that bothered me was the upcharge for wheat bread. Most other places don't charge extra for a sightlier healthier choice. I ordered a turkey sandwich topped with spinach, tomato, cucumbers, onions, pickles, jalapenos, mayonnaise, and mustard on my first visit to Wawa. 

I actually returned to this same Wawa for a second time to try another sandwich. On this visit, I had a buffalo chicken sandwich. This consisted of fried chicken, topped with cheese, spinach, tomato, onions, pickles, and jalapenos. Whoever made this sandwich definitely went way overboard on the buffalo sauce. There was a large pool of sauce that dripped out of the sandwich by the time I finished. Otherwise, it was tasty enough.

The sandwiches from Wawa were tasty enough and way beyond sandwiches I've seen at other gas stations. Wawa's sandwiches were pretty equivalent to a Subway in my opinion. Alright for what they are when you want to get a sandwich quickly and you're already getting gas, but there's far better sandwiches out there elsewhere...

4 Rivers Smokehouse in Longwood, FL

Everyone seems to love 4 Rivers Smokehouse. As much hype as the original location in Winter Park received, I didn't try 4 Rivers until they opened a location very close to where I live in Longwood. Since then, I've visited the restaurant several times and I do enjoy their food. I wouldn't necessarily say it's the hands down best barbecue around but they are pretty tasty with some interesting variations on the barbecue restaurant standards. 

Pulled Pork Sandwich: This was pretty standard pulled pork sandwich. Shredded pork with barbecue sauce sandwiched between two halves of a bun. A very boring sandwich compared to some of the other stuff on 4 River's menu.

BBQ Quesadilla: I enjoyed this more than I thought I would. Pulled pork with melted cheese in a grilled tortilla. The smoked flavor of the meat and the barbecue sauce went really well with the cheese. Why does cheese rarely come on barbecue sandwiches? I liked it. Had a side of collards and macaroni & cheese.

Messy Pig: Basically the same pulled pork sandwich as above, only with the addition of coleslaw and jalapenos. The additional toppings definitely add dimension to an otherwise boring pork sandwich.

Six Shooter: This is one of the more interesting menu items that 4 Rivers has. It consists of baked cheese grits topped with pulled pork, coleslaw, jalapenos, and pickles. Cheese grits topped with anything is normally good, and this is no exception. Also note the bacon-wrapped smoked jalapenos that I choose as a side. Seemed like they should have had potential but the peppers were too soggy for my liking.

Burnt Ends: This sandwich was filled with 4 River's Burnt Ends which is a mixture of pork and brisket. Because the Burnt Ends were very saucy, much like the pulled pork, I didn't taste too much of a difference between the two sandwiches. The sauce was the dominant flavor on both so differences in the meat were somewhat buried. I was expecting to notice a bit more of a difference with the brisket in there, but I didn't. Fried okra and collards were my sides with this sandwich.

There we go. Those are the food pictures from my visits to 4 Rivers. The barbecue is good, but one thing that bothers me about this place is their serving methods. They just unceremoniously dump the food on wax paper over trays, half the time covering the order written on the same paper with a grease pencil. Whether those pencils are food-safe or not, I don't want to be eating that stuff with my burnt ends. I've also gone with people that have just ordered sides (on multiple occasions). Instead of giving them their own tray, they put their meal on the trays belonging to other people in our group who have ordered meats/sandwiches, resulting in us having to uncomfortably eat off of the same tray. We always seem to forget to ask for them to put the food on separate trays because we seem to assume that new person equals a new tray. Minor things really, and I seem to be one of the few people to be bothered by it judging by the following that 4 Rivers has. I'm not convinced to put a 4 Rivers bumper sticker on my car yet, but I'll definitely return for more barbecue at some point...