Chicago's Stuffed Pizza in Orlando, FL

I can't say I've had much experience eating Chicago style stuffed pizza. Previously, my only meals eating this type of pizza has been at the Giordano's locations near Disney. Giordano's pizza was different and unique in the Central Florida area, but it was also a cheese overload every time I've eaten there. A new restaurant called Chicago's Stuffed Pizza has opened since my visits to Giordano's on Church Street next to the SunRail Station in Downtown Orlando. I was definitely interested in trying this style of pizza that wasn't from a national chain. Being that Giordano's is my only other Chicago style stuffed pizza data point, I'll be doing a lot of comparing in this post.

I ordered a personal sized stuffed pizza with sausage and peppers. This pie had a similar crust setup to what Giordano's has. There was a bottom layer of crust covered in the cheese and toppings. A second layer of crust was placed over this, and sauce topped the pizza. I found the pizza at Chicago's to be nicely balanced. Unlike the pizzas I've had at Giordano's, there wasn't a disgusting wall of cheese that came oozing out of the slices. This is a good thing. The amount of sausage, peppers, sauce, and crust seemed to equal out the cheese. There was still a whole lot of each of these, but this stuffed pizza was tall enough to support a whole lot of the toppings. The sauce and sausage both were flavorful.

Now that I have a second data point for Chicago style stuffed pizza, I would say that I preferred the pie I had here over what I've had at Giordano's. The main reason for the favor going to Chicago's was a little more balance between the cheese and the rest of the pizza. I think I still would take a more traditional pizza over one of these stuffed pies, but I'd still be willing to get these again.

Harry Buffalo in Orlando, FL

On the 4th of July, I ventured into Downtown Orlando and ate dinner at a restaurant called Harry Buffalo. This space was formerly occupied by a Cajun restaurant called Mojo, which I enjoyed on my first visit. The next two visits weren't nearly as good. I actually never got to try the food at Mojo on these visits. We were seated and sat for far too long without being acknowledged. Even after asking for our server, we were still ignored and ended up leaving on both of these subsequent visits. I know it's a different restaurant now, but because of the last two bad experiences at Mojo, I was hoping Harry Buffalo wouldn't have similar problems.

Inside, not much was different during the change from Mojo to Harry Buffalo. There was more of a sports bar vibe now with more TVs and some sports memorabilia hanging on the walls. The building was still impressive, remnants from when Church Street Station was a thing...

This didn't click for some reason before dining at Harry Buffalo, but they do a lot of variations of Buffalo wings. With buffalo in the name, I don't why this wasn't obvious, but it didn't click for me. With that in mind, I ordered something that incorporated Buffalo chicken and had the Buffalo Mac & Cheese Big Horn Melt. It sounded like a weird and very unhealthy combination, but it was actually very tasty. The sandwich consisted of Buffalo chicken and macaroni & cheese sandwiched between Italian bread. The spicy buffalo sauce went really well with the cheesyness of the macaroni. Fries and coleslaw were served as sides.

I liked my food at Harry Buffalo. They didn't have any of the problems that Mojo developed. They also had trivia going on which is always fun. I'd return!

Mojo Cajun Bar & Grill in Orlando, FL

When Mojo opened on Church Street in the space once occupied by Rosie O'Gradys, some of the reviews I read about the restaurant mentioned Mojo was more about the drinks than the food. Because of this, I was expecting one of those awkward restaurant situations where I'm one of the very few people eating while everyone else is drunk at the bar.

Maybe something has changed at Mojo since these initial reviews were written. When I visited Mojo, the restaurant was filled with diners and the bars were almost completely empty. Even more, everyone I ate here with was impressed with their Cajun food.

I ordered the Jambalaya with a side salad. The salad came out first, consisting of mixed greens, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and tomatoes. The salad served it's purpose. Nothing great, but not bad either...

My jambalaya was served soon after. This rice dish was filled with lots of chicken and andoullie sausage, then topped with several large shrimp. This jambalaya actually had a nice kick to it, unlike the bland Cajun food I've had at other restaurants. A large piece of delicious cornbread was also served on the plate, with it's sweetness contrasting the spicy rice.

Overall, I was very pleased with the food at Mojo. I enjoyed the food, prices weren't bad given the location, and the dining environment was nicer than I was expecting. I'll definitely be back...

Panchero's in Orlando, FL

I had dinner at Panchero's on Church Street in Downtown Orlando. They are a fast food Mexican restaurant, following the same format as Chipotle/Qdoba. The main difference I noticed at Panchero's was the freshly made tortillas. Dough was pressed out, then cooked on a grill before being stuffed with fillings.

I ended up getting a chicken burrito with rice, black beans, lettuce, corn, jalapenos, cheese, sour cream, and salsa. Overall, this was a pretty good burrito. There was a couple of fillings (like roasted peppers) that I would have also liked in the burrito, but they looked like they had been sitting out for far too long so I passed.

My meal at Panchero's was the first time I had been to Church Street since the new Amway Center opened. There was a Magic game going on at the time and I haven't seen Church Street so crowded since the days of Church Street Station. Unfortunately, very few of the people walking here were actually stopping into any of the businesses on Church Street. It seemed everyone was leaving the Amway Center and going elsewhere in Downtown. We were the only customers for the time I was eating, and there is no way Panchero's was making any money that night with all of the employees they had. The Amway Center was supposed to revitalize Church Street, but I'm not seeing it. With the exception of Hamburger Mary's and Ceviche, all the other bars and restaurants on Church Street were completely deserted. Sad really...

Cheyenne Saloon

I ate at the newly reopened Cheyenne Saloon on Church Street in Downtown Orlando on July 4th. It is in a really nice building, and the food was good too.

The restaurant is on the second floor of a western themed club, all in a massive building with great stained glass windows, balconies weaving all around the upper floors, and western paraphernalia all around.



The menu was somewhat small and consisted of all barbecue, but I didn't have a problem with it. I had a pulled pork dinner that was served with a choice of sides. I chose mashed potatoes and collard greens.


A basket of biscuits was brought out first. They came with butter and honey as a topping, but they really didn't need anything and tasted fine the way they were.

My pulled pork came out soon after. The pork itself was good. It wasn't as finely shredded compared to the pulled pork I've gotten elsewhere and was pulled into bite sized chunks instead. It was very tender and was served with barbecue sauce on the side. The mashed potatoes tasted very boring, and definitely needed gravy, or at least some salt. The collard greens were tender and very tasty, compared to the occasions when sometimes collard greens are bitter and stringy instead.

I thought the Cheyenne Saloon had good barbecue, and the building was a nice plus...