I-95 Travel Food (Willie Jewell's Old School Bar-B-Q, Southern Image Buffet & Eatery, Smokin' Pig, and Huddle House)

Over the past several months, I've done some traveling. Much of that travel consisted of driving along I-95 up the east coast. I figured I'd write a post about some of the restaurant highlights.

Willie Jewell's Old School Bar-B-Q in Kingsland, GA:

I ended up here when I decided I wanted to sample Brunswick Stew in Brunswick, GA. After getting off the interstate and driving through Brunswick along with consulting the internet, I came to the conclusion that you can't actually get Brunswick Stew in Brunswick. Willie Jewell's in Kingsland, GA was a barbecue restaurant serving Brunswick Stew that I didn't find too long afterwards. This restaurant was located a little ways off I-95. Willie Jewell's is a small chain with a few locations what looks like Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina according to their website.

I ordered the Bo-Hawg sandwich. This was BBQ pork, topped with cheddar cheese and a smoked sausage link. It was served on a hamburger bun. Cheese is unusual on a pulled pork sandwich and I've never had sausage on a barbecue sandwich like this. Willie Jewell's did served mustard based barbecue sauce, which I am a big fan of. Since Brunswick stew was the food item that caused me to seek out a barbecue restaurant, that's what I had for my side.

I liked Willie Jewell's Old School Bar-B-Q. The pork/sausage/cheese combination on a sandwich along with mustard sauce made them a bit unique when so many restaurants serving barbecue have an almost identical menu...




Southern Image Buffet & Eatery in Richmond Hill, GA:

Southern Image was a buffet just of I-95. As implied by the name, they specialized in southern foods. Imagine Golden Corral, only with foods on the buffet that the typical Golden Corral diner wouldn't dare eat.

I sampled some of the meats served on the buffet along with a couple sides on my first plate. Fried chicken, fried fish, and baked chicken were all tasty. I didn't leave enough room in my stomach for the fun stuff like the liver. Should have gone for that first...

Plate two consisted of lots of side items. Beans, potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and onion straws were all tasty.

Dessert:

Smokin' Pig in Richmond Hill, GA:

I ended up at Smokin' Pig on a return trip to Florida along I-95. This restaurant is located almost across the street from Southern Image Buffet in a building connected to a gas station. I tried a pulled pork sandwich with a side of Brunswick stew. The sandwich wasn't nearly as exciting as the one at Willie Jewell's, with only pork and sauce on a bun. Still, it fulfilled the purpose of being a pulled pork sandwich!




Huddle House in Santee, SC:

I had never eaten at a Huddle House. I've past by these restaurants in my travels and always assumed these were Waffle House knock-offs. This was pretty much confirmed after trying a Huddle House in Santee, SC. I had a Western Omelet with toast and hash browns. The omelet was filled with ham, green peppers, and tomatoes. Even with the fillings, it was pretty bland. I added some hot sauce for extra flavor. The hash browns were nice and crispy and the toast was toast. Being that this was South Carolina, smoking was allowed in the restaurant. It wasn't exactly pleasant having a woman who looked like she was about to die of lung cancer come in right after us, sit a few tables away, and chain smoke the entire duration of the meal...

Anthony's Pizza in Altamonte Springs, FL

Restaurants named Anthony's that serve pizza in the Orlando area can get confusing. From what I can determine, there's three Anthony's in the area, each with multiple locations. There's Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza (which is easy because of the coal), there's the Anthony's that has various locations around Orlando, and then there's the Anthony's in Altamonte Springs which is being talked about today. I believe this is the second location for this particular Anthony's, with the first located in Casselberry. This Anthony's opened recently in the same shopping center that's home to the new Whole Foods. I ordered two slices here. I tried their plain cheese slice and a vegetable slice. The cheese slice was good with a very nice balance of crust/cheese/sauce. It held together well as the slice was eaten. Cheese was good but the sauce was a bit bland.

The vegetable slice looked messy but was the better of the two slices. It was topped with spinach and a chunky tomato sauce. This slice had a very strong garlic flavor that wasn't there in the cheese slice. Again, the pizza held together well. With the toppings, it had much more character than the cheese slice.

With my two slices I tried at Anthony's, I'd say their pizza is pretty tasty!

Whole Foods Market in Altamonte Springs, FL

A brand new Whole Foods Market just opened in Altamonte Springs on January 20, 2016. The store is located in Renaissance Centre, near the Altamonte Mall. The new store is 40,000 square feet of shopping space and is the third Whole Foods Market in the Orlando area. I was invited to tour the store a couple days before the grand opening. The following pictures are some highlights from this tour:

The Produce Department is one of the first sights encountered upon entering the store. This particular Whole Foods location features tropical and international produce program which will have a ever-changing rotation of fruits and vegetable found in Latin, Asian, and Indian cuisine. Seeing the mountains of perfectly stacked fruits and vegetables untouched by customer hands were very satisfying.

Whole Foods also has a Juice Bar near the entrance of the store. I sampled a Green Dream Smoothie, made with pineapple, kale, spinach, and apple juice.

Natalie's Orchid Island Juice Company was also at Whole Foods giving out very generous samples of their juices. I was able to try a bottle of the orange, grapefruit, orange-beet, lemonade, strawberry lemonade, and tomato juice.

The Fromagerie is where you find the cheese. I sampled the Robusto 9 month aged Gouda and Piedras de Chocolate almonds covered in dark chocolate. Whole Foods also has a very nice olive bar in this section.

Visiting the Butcher section of the store, I sampled a Amsterdam Gouda Sausage.

Moving through the store, the Fishmonger came next. I tried some shrimp and salmon.

Wok Street was where you can order various Asian foods including noodles, rices, curries, and sushi.

This Whole Foods features an gourmet toast bar where you can order all sorts of fancy toasts. Here's a Stammer Max and Avocado Cuke Pepita.

Whole Foods had a very nice cookie case, filled with all sorts of deliciousness.

Whole Foods is now open. Go shop for some food at the fancy new store. They will be open 8 AM to 10 PM daily.

Tacos Norteno in Winter Garden, FL

Tacos Norteno is a Mexican restaurant in Winter Garden which I've visited several times now. It just might even be one of my favorite Mexican restaurants in Orlando at the moment.

You order at a counter, then find a seat. While you're waiting, they have complementary chips to go with your meal. The best part about these chips is the salsa bar. This has all sorts of sauces along with other toppings to go with your food. I'm particularly fond of the creamy avocado sauce...

Chicken Salsa Verde Enchiladas were tasty. The chicken filled tortillas were topped with cheese and tomatillo sauce, served alongside rice and refried beans.

Chicken Big Floured Enchilada. This was my least favorite thing I've tried here. It was like a giant burrito topped with a queso sauce. The fillings in here were pretty monotonous and I wasn't a big fan of the queso. It got a bit of a slimy consistency as the enchilada cooled.

I've noticed that who takes your order determines how customizable they are willing to be here. I've tried the Three Taco Plate which comes with rice and beans a few times. Sometimes they will let you mix and match taco fillings. Other times they tell you all three tacos must contain the same meat. On one of the occasions where they wouldn't mix, I had three of their Al Pastor Tacos. The marinated roast pork was topped with cheese. I dressed the tacos up with toppings from the salsa bar.

On one of the visits when Tacos Norteno would customize, I had the three tacos filled with Asada y Chorizo, Pollo, and Al Pastor. They're pictured here after they were dressed up with cilantro, pickled onions, and sour cream from the Salsa Bar. I think the Al Pastor is my favorite of the types of tacos I've tried here. The pork was tender and has a nice, slightly sweet flavor. Chicken was pretty good, but the steak in the asada y chorizo was a little chewy. Otherwise, these were good tacos!

Tacos Norteno is one of those restaurants that I seem to return to whenever I'm in the west Orlando area. I mean to try new places out here, but the tacos and salsa bar here keep on calling my name...

 

Sugar Factory Media Preview in Orlando, FL

I was recently invited to the media preview of Sugar Factory in I-Drive 360. With the Sugar Factory name, I didn't exactly know what this restaurant would be serving. Would the menu consist of all sorts of sugar filled desserts, or would the sugar be more of a name? The answer would be yes to both. Sugar Factory did serve plenty of sweets, but there were savory food items as well. To quote Sugar Factory's press release, "Upscale dining classics are served all day long from brunch to late-night, ranging from decadent crepes to flavorful milkshakes and gourmet burgers to ice cream sandwiches and more." Sugar Factory has several other locations throughout the country and has pictures of various celebrities dining in their restaurants hanging on the walls. This was the first I've heard of the chain.

The media preview event started with us sampling some Meatballs:

Fried Mac & Cheese Pops: Homemade macaroni and cheese, battered and deep fried and served with creamy tomato-herb sauce.

Red Velvet Pancakes: Fluffy pancakes, white chocolate chunk, orange zest, whipped cream, and warm maple syrup.

Bolognese Rigatoni: Rigatoni in a slow simmered ground beef and sausage meat sauce.

Four Cheese Pizza: Mozzarella, feta chese, gryere, swiss cheese, garlic, and fresh basil.

Here's a couple other menu items that we didn't get to taste. There was chicken and waffles and crepes that looked tasty.

For the featured drinks, there was the Ocean Blue (filled with gummi sharks), the Lollipop Passion, Mai Tai, and White Gummi. These 60 ounce drinks were all available with or without alcohol.

On to dessert, we tried three milkshakes. There was the Very Berry Blast, the Make a Wish, and Chocolate.

World Famous Sugar Factory King Kong Sundae: 24 scoops of ice cream covered with hot fudge, caramel, and strawberry sauce, sliced bananas, toasted marshmallows, Reeses's Pieces, chocolate chip cookies, crushed waffle cones, gummi bears, white chocolate strawberry shavings, and toasted walnuts with whipped cream, giant lollipops, and sparklers on top! Serves twelve people.

Strawberry Cheesecake Overload: Three scoops of strawberry ice cream with New York cheesecake chunks and fresh strawberries topped with strawberry sauce, vanilla bean whipped creame, and white chocolate straberry shavings.

Sugar Factory had an attached candy store and ice cream shop separate from the dining area.

I helped myself to a little too much candy...

I'm going to have to go back to Sugar Factory soon and dine there as a regular customer. With the addition of Sugar Factory, I-Drive 360 is getting a nice collection of restaurants. Hopefully that trend continues!