Thanksgiving at Perkins in Altamonte Springs, FL

 Wondering what a Thanksgiving meal looks like at a Perkins? I ended up at the Perkins in Altamonte Springs on Thanksgiving since they were one of the few places open. I was going to order breakfast since I did the meaty Thanksgiving thing already, but the talkative regulars at the next table had great things to say about the holiday meal on the menu. Taking the recommendation, this came with several slices of turkey, stuffing, green beans with bacon, mashed potatoes, and cranberry sauce.

A slice of pie was also included. I had the lemon meringue.

Not the best Thanksgiving turkey ever, but the meal was totally passable for a late night breakfast chain.

Brown's New York Deli in Maitland, FL

I had lunch at Brown's New York Deli in Maitland. Apparently this restaurant has been here for over a year, but somehow I never noticed them during my countless drives past.

As soon as we were seated, a plate of pickles and coleslaw were brought to the table.

I had the Turkey Ruben for my meal. It consisted of sliced turkey, cheese, sauerkraut, and thousand island dressing on toasted rye bread. Fries were served on the side. The sandwich was good, although it didn't contain the sickening stack of meat that I've seen at some of the more famous delis actually in New York. The amount of sandwich fillings here was much more biteable and more appropriate for one person to eat in a single serving.

After the sandwich, meringue cookies were served alongside the check. Meringues seem like they are either good or bad whenever I try them. There's never a meringue cookie that is just okay. These meringues fell in the good category. They were light and airy with just the right amount of crunch.

I enjoyed my meal at Brown's. I'd return here again!

Del Taco in Orlando, FL (International Drive)

Del Taco is a fast food Mexican chain that has a few locations in the Orlando area. They recently added ground turkey as a meat option to their menu. To announce the turkey, I received a box of feathers in the mail with a gift card to go try the new meat at Del Taco. I used the gift card to try the turkey at the Del Taco on International Drive in Orlando. I ordered a Turkey Taco, a Turkey Crunchtada Tostada, and a Vanilla Milkshake.

Turkey soft taco:

Turkey Crunchtada Tostada- I preferred this to the taco.

Vanilla Milkshake:

Maid-Rite Diner in Wilson, NC

Time for another road trip meal along I-95. It was time to have dinner and I found myself getting off an exit in Wilson, NC. I bypassed all of the normal big chains that I'd heard of here and decided on a restaurant in a strip mall called Maid-Rite Diner.

Apparently Maid-Rite is a chain with locations mostly in the midwest. I apparently came across the one and only location in North Carolina.

I tried their turkey sandwich, served on a ciabatta bun with lettuce, tomato, and mayo. I was surprised to see actual turkey on the sandwich rather than standard deli meat. This was a good and bad thing at the same time. It showed that Maid-Rite was using better meat than other places that serve processed deli meat, but the turkey on this sandwich was served cold. There's something about turkey like this that rubs me the wrong way if it's chilled. If it seems like real meat, I want it warm. Beside this fact, the sandwich was good enough. Fries and a drink were also included with the meal. The sandwich from Maid-Rite was better than a sandwich from the surrounding fast food places, but wasn't outstanding enough to seek out again on a future road trip.

Bill & Frank's Brickhouse Grill in Deland, FL

Bill & Frank's Brickhouse Grill is a restaurant located in Downtown Deland. I've been here a couple times in the past and always liked the restaurant but never wrote about them on this blog. I took a picture of my food on my most recent visit, so now there's a blog post. The Brickhouse Grill has a very varied menu, ranging from sandwiches, steaks, pastas, salads, and my choice for the evening: barbeque.

I decided to try some the beef brisket and smoked turkey. This was served with garlic toast, mashed potatoes, and pickle slices. The meats had a nice smokey flavor. Out of the two, I preferred the turkey. A couple of the slices of brisket were very fatty. It's unfortunate because the brisket was otherwise tasty. The mashed potatoes had bacon and cheese mixed in for some added flavor.

My meal at Bill & Frank's Brickhouse Grill wasn't perfect with the fatty brisket, but was otherwise good. I'd most definitely return, next time to probably try some of their sandwiches that sound really good.

Which Wich Superior Sandwiches in Lake Mary, FL

I stopped into Which Wich in Lake Mary one afternoon for lunch. This chain once had a location in the Altamonte Mall that was very short lived, and now they have reopened here. According to the Traveler Foodie blog, there's also a Which Wich in the Dr. Phillips area. Other than that, I'm not familiar with any other locations in the area. I found Wich Which had a slightly confusing ordering system until you figure out how it works. They have numbered paper bags hanging on the wall, with each number referring to a different type of meat. Once you pick your bag, you then take a sharpie and check off all the toppings you want on the sandwich. Problems occur if you change your mind and want to uncheck something. Hand the bag over to the cashier, pay, and your bag is passed to the sandwich maker who assembles what your bag says.

I had a turkey sandwich with buffalo sauce, mayonnaise, spinach, tomato, onions, peppers, pickles, and whatever else sounded good. The sandwich did end up being tasty, but I like sandwiches with lots of toppings and I picked out everything I wanted on it. There really wasn't anything exceptional about the sandwich though, and when I'm picking out my sandwich toppings, I think I'd prefer to actually see what I'm choosing. I would choose the Subway model of fast food sandwich making over Which Wich's paper bag model of sandwich making...

Green Lemon Cafe in Winter Park, FL

I ate dinner at Green Lemon Cafe in Winter Park. Located in a strip mall anchored by Whole Foods, this little restaurant has a very nice selection of both savory and sweet crepes. Since it was dinner rather than dessert, I had a savory crepe...

Too many of the crepes sounded good, but I decided on the Turkey Brie Crepe. This consisted of a very thin whole wheat crepe filled with sliced Boar's Head turkey, plenty of brie, and sliced apples. The sweet apples, salty turkey, and creamy cheese worked well together making a very nice flavor combination. Also served was a mixed green salad in a balsamic vinaigrette. Overall, I thought my meal was very tasty and have nothing bad to say about the food...

Schlotzsky's Deli in Florence, SC

We don't have any in Orlando anymore, but Schlotzsky's Deli is still one of the best sandwich chains around in my opinion. I recently stopped in a Schlotzsky's in Florence, SC and had one of their Turkey Original sandwiches. Good bread and lots of tasty stuff on the sandwich. This beats Subway or Quiznos anytime!

Miami Subs Plus in Longwood, FL

Miami Subs used to be a fast food chain that had locations all over the Orlando area. As time passed, all of the stores closed up, leaving just a single location right off I-4 in Longwood. It had been a very long time since I had been to Miami Subs, so when I managed to win a $5 gift certificate from BurgerBeast.com, I decided it was time to return.

I had a turkey sub combo, served with fries and a drink. The six-inch sandwich was filled with turkey, lettuce, onions, and mayonnaise. The sandwich tasted good, although the mushy, white bread roll could have used some improvement. The fries were a little cold, but I really liked the seasoning on them. They are way better than most other fast food fries!

Interestingly enough, it seems Miami Subs has moved into the pizza market. This particular location doesn't sell pizza, but I'm assuming their other locations do based on the advertisements on the paper that lined the trays. I wonder if Miami Subs pizza is any good?

The Honeybaked Ham Co. in Orlando, FL

I ate lunch at the Honeybaked Ham on Colonial Drive in Orlando. These stores must survive most of the year on the money earned at Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas. Almost every single time I've visited their stores for a sandwich, I'm the only customer. Normally, I wouldn't think this would be a good sign for a restaurant, but after visiting a Honeybaked Ham a while ago before one of the mentioned holidays and saw the craziness of huge lines of people all with huge orders, I can see how they may be able to survive most of the year without too many customers.

I ordered the Ham & Turkey Bella sandwich for my lunch.

The sandwich consisted of ham, turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato, onions, spicy banana peppers, and mayonnaise. While the sandwich was tasty, it wasn't anything amazing either. I personally found the meat to be sliced too thick and it would have been nice if the sandwich was toasted. Otherwise, it was a good sandwich. Definitely better than a few other sandwich chains out there.

Delano on the Park in Lake Mary, FL

Delano on the Park is located across the street from City Hall in Downtown Lake Mary. I ate here a few times when they first opened, and when I returned on this visit I saw that their name had changed somewhat and they had expanded into the space next-door. I guess business must be good, although I was the only customer when I visited.

I ordered the half sandwich/half salad option that they offer. I had half of a turkey sandwich and half of a Mediterranean Salad. The sandwich was pretty basic, with turkey, cheese, lettuce, tomato, mayo, and mustard. The salad had romaine lettuce, onions, tomato, olives, and feta cheese. Both were good and I'd gladly return!

Clock Family Restaurant in Auburndale, FL

I've known of Clock Family Restaurants for years, but I had never eaten in one. One day while in Auburndale, FL, I finally got to try a Clock.

I had a turkey ruben sandwich which consisted of turkey, cheese, sauerkraut, and thousand island dressing on bread. While the sandwich wasn't horrible, it wasn't exactly the best I've had. They were very stingy with the sandwich fillings, both with the turkey and sauerkraut. The onion rings that came as the side were really good though. Overall, nothing worth returning to...

Firehouse Subs in Lake Mary, FL

Somehow I ended up on Firehouse Subs' birthday list, so I received a coupon for a free medium sub in the mail for my most recent birthday.
I went to the Firehouse Subs in Lake Mary, FL and ordered a turkey sandwich. Perhaps this picture was taken at a bad angle because it looks like the pickle was just as big as the sandwich. The sandwich was definitely bigger...

It was a pretty good sandwich, with turkey, cheese, mayonnaise, mustard, lettuce, and onions on wheat bread. My only complaint was that the sandwich could have been toasted more. Interestingly enough, on my last visit to Firehouse Subs, they toasted the sandwich to the point of having burnt bread. Either way, I liked it!

Silver Mine Subs in Orlando, FL

I ate at Silver Mine Subs in Orlando near UCF. I ordered the Caribou sandwich from the cold sub section of the menu. The sandwich consisted of turkey, provolone, lettuce, sprouts, mayonnaise, and guacamole. I was a little disappointed since the menu did not mention the guacamole. It said avocado came on the sandwich, so I was expecting actual slices of avocado. I do like guacamole, but don't tell me I'm getting avocado when it's only an ingredient in the guacamole. Regardless, it was still a pretty good sandwich, far superior to the nearby Jimmy John's.

Schlotzsky's Deli in Oklahoma City

Schlotzsky's Deli used to have several locations in the Orlando area, but they have all closed. I really like their sandwiches, so when I saw a Schlotzsky's in Oklahoma City, I had to stop.

I had a Turkey Original sandwich. It consisted of turkey, salami, cheese, lettuce, onions, black olives, mayonnaise, and mustard on a sourdough roll. It was just as good as I remember the sandwiches being, although some of the cheese wasn't quite melted all the way.