Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers in Orlando, FL

I decided to get lunch at the much hyped Raising Cane's Chicken Fingers location which opened recently in Orlando along Daryl Carter Parkway. Similar to when White Castle and Portillo's opened in the same shopping center, the lines to try Raising Cane's were insane at first. Now that there's no longer police directing traffic due to their drive-thru overflow, I decided to give Raising Cane's a try.

I ordered The Box Combo. Came with 4 chicken fingers, fries, Cane's sauce, Texas toast, coleslaw, and a drink. This was some of the worst fast food I can remember attempting to eat in recent memory. The batter on the chicken fingers lacked any crunch or crispyness. The batter basically wiped off the chicken under my fingers when I picked up a piece of chicken. The fries were cold and soggy, as was the Texas toast. Thankfully, the coleslaw was actually pretty tasty. 

I ended up throwing out most of the meal. I know my fast food expectations should be low, but I should at least expect to eat the food. My meal left me with no reason to go back to Raising Cane's...
 

Bono's Bar-B-Q in Gainesville, FL

I was doing some traveling and stopped right off I-75 in Gainesville for gas and lunch. It was decided that we would partake in some barbecue at a restaurant called Bono's Bar-B-Q. We went to their drive through and I ordered the Slawpy Pig Sandwich. The menu described it as a heaping pile of pulled pork topped with coleslaw. The combination reminded me of the Messy Pig at 4 Rivers back in the Orlando area, which I like.

This sandwich was served dry with sauce on the side. It allowed me to taste the pork a bit more than if the meat was drenched in sauce. The shredded pork was nice and tender with a smokey flavor. There were none of the unpleasant chewy bits of pig that sometimes find their way into pulled pork which is always good. The coleslaw was very generic, but did the job of providing moisture and vegetables to an otherwise meaty and dry sandwich. I picked macaroni and cheese as my side. It was very creamy. Overall, Bono's ended up being a much better choice than the standard interstate fast food selections...

Weekend Trip: Greek Salad from Stop 20 Diner

I ate at Stop 20 Diner in Elmont, NY. I was with a very large group of people so that resulted in the service being a bit sub-par, but regardless, this eating experience was better than my last visit here.

The meal started out with a basket of really good challah and assorted crackers.

The plates of coleslaw and half sour pickles came out next.

For the main course, I ordered a Greek Salad. This was a good example of what I want in a Greek Salad, complete with stuffed grape leaves and anchovies. The only thing that was missing was kalamata olives. Besides from the olives, I had no complaints.

Stop 20 got it's name from the days when trolleys/streetcars ran along Hempstead Turnpike. The trains were eventually replaced by buses, but throughout the changes in transportation, stop 20 along these routes has been on the corner in front of the diner, hence the name...

Weekend Trip: Greek Wrap at the Silver Star Diner

After having Greek food for lunch, we visited the Silver Star Diner in Franklin Square, NY at about 10:30 at night for dinner. I ate here on a previous trip to the area, so this was a return visit. To continue the Greek theme that was started with my lunch earlier in the day, I ordered a Greek Wrap with Homefries.

I wasn't expecting it, but a plate of cole slaw and half sour pickles was served as an appetizer. I love it when places give pickle appetizers.

The Greek Wrap was filled with lots of chicken, almost too much chicken actually, along with feta cheese, lettuce, tomato, and what I think was Italian dressing. I found the chicken to be somewhat dry, but the wrap was half decent. I was expecting better from a Greek diner though.

Ben's Deli in Boca Raton

I visited Ben's Deli in Boca Raton, FL and ate with all of the old Jewish retirees.

A bowl of pickles and coleslaw were automatically brought out as an appetizer. I normally prefer dill or garlic pickles, but those half sour pickles (light green) were really good. No complaints about the coleslaw either.

I ordered a turkey sandwich and a spinach knish. The knish was good, filled with spinach and potato in a thin flaky crust. It was nice and moist so it didn't need any mustard.

I didn't find the turkey sandwich very impressive. It was overpriced ($9) and came with nothing. It was just a whole lot of turkey between two slices of rye bread. The bread wasn't that great either. I ended up putting some mustard and some of the coleslaw on the sandwich to make it a bit less boring.

Overall, I wasn't too impressed with Ben's Deli. I could think of several other places that have better sandwiches for half the price. Perhaps Ben's justifies the high price by serving Kosher meat, but I don't follow any dietary restrictions based on what's written in an ancient text, so whether it's Kosher or not doesn't matter to me. The sandwich was pretty typical of what these New York Style Kosher Delis serve, so I guess I can't complain too much. Compared to other Kosher Delis though, I've been to much better.

Pulled Pork From Skyland Resort

I ate lunch at the Skyland Resort Restaurant in Shenandoah National Park along Skyline Drive in Virginia. I ordered a pulled pork sandwich, served with cole slaw and French fries. The sandwich was good, and the restaurant had a wonderful view. The only thing that wasn't good was the flies that kept on buzzing all over the restaurant...