FREE FOOD at Taste of the J

Go get some free food tomorrow!

Free food samples will be provided by:

Rosen Hotels & Resorts

Bagel King

Cohen’s Deli

Pinkberry

Kettle Corn Company

Stefano’s Italian Grille

The Palm

Cantina Laredo

Barnies Coffee and Tea Company

Doubletree Resort Orlando International Drive

Anatolia Mediterranean Cuisine

Pure Magic Ice Cream

Picture This Candy Company

Classy Cakes and Candies

For more information, visit http://www.orlandojcc.org/events/event_details.asp?id=109009 .

Einstein Bros Bagels in Maitland, FL

I recently used Facebook to get a coupon for a free bagel at the Einstein Bros in Maitland. This building started it's life as a Perkins (or possibly Friendly's?). The original chain restaurant was replaced with The Loop, who served average pizza. After The Loop came and went, Za Bistro moved in. Out of the restaurants that have served food inside this building, Za Bistro was definitely my favorite. They had really good sandwiches and awesome pizza, but they didn't last either. That brings us to present day with Einstein Bros Bagels. It's not quite as exciting as creative Italian food from Za Bistro, but I can't complain about a chain that regularly gives out free bagels!

I had a sesame bagel with smoked salmon cream cheese. Can't go wrong with that!

Club Cool at Epcot

The words Disney and free generally don't mix, but at Epcot they do. At Club Cool in Future World, this Coca-Cola sponsored exhibit/gift ship gives free samples of Coke products from around the world.

They had soda from seven different countries on the day I visited. Some of it tasted better than any of the soda that is available here in the United States, while others I could do without.

My two favorites were the watermelon soda from China and Kinley from Israel.

Kinley tasted sort of like Sprite, only a lot more lemony and much less sweet.

I normally don't drink soda. At all. I'm perfectly happy with water, and my teeth and digestive system probably appreciate it. On my multiple trips through Club Cool during my day at Epcot to get the free beverages, I probably drank more soda than I've had in the past six months. I got my money's worth of free soda...

Einstein Bros Bagels in Casselberry, FL

Einstein Bros Bagels was giving a coupon for a free bagel & shmear if you became their fan on Facebook. I gladly took them up on their offer and got my free sesame bagel with onion & chive cream cheese from the Einsteins in Casselberry, FL.


Bagels are good. Cream cheese is good. Free is good. What could possibly be bad?

Chick-fil-a Express at UCF

The very second post here on Watch Me Eat consisted of my thoughts on a Chick-fil-a Chicken Sandwich. Since then, a few people have posted comments and I've received several emails of people pointing out how to improve this sandwich or what I should order at Chick-fil-a instead. I received a coupon for another free Chick-fil-a Chicken Sandwich, so I decided to give them another try. I went to the Chick-fil-a Express at UCF and this time got some sauces to go with the sandwich. Adding sauces to the somewhat dry fried chicken on a bun with a pickle was somewhat of an improvement, but the sandwich still does nothing for me. If it wasn't free, I definitely would be ordering something else from Chick-fil-a. I've been told the grilled chicken sandwich is a whole lot better than this.

Still, I really don't get the appeal of Chick-fil-a. It seems every Chick-fil-a I pass is always crowded, but I have tried nothing there that I like. Except for their waffle fries. Chick-fil-a does make good waffle fries.

Taco Bell's Black Jack Taco on Halloween

On Halloween, Taco Bell was giving out their Black Jack Tacos for free from 6pm till midnight. After I was done with my Halloween fun for the night, I ventured over to the nearest Taco Bell to try their newest featured food item.

The taco had a black taco shell which was completely purposeless. It tasted just like a normal taco shell, and I highly doubt Taco Bell used blue corn for the color. It's probably a whole lot of food coloring. The inside of the taco was a standard beef taco with lettuce and cheese, along with the addition of a pepper jack sauce. It tasted like a slightly spicy ranch dressing. Besides from the sauce and the colored shell, this Black Jack Taco was pretty much a normal Taco Bell taco. Taco Bell tacos aren't something I eat very often, but it did taste okay. I can't complain about the price either...

Happy Halloween

What happened to the trick or treaters? Two years ago, over 100 came through collecting candy. This year, only 19. Still better than last year's 10...

Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce & Contest

A few months ago, the Watch Me Eat Blog was offered two bottles of Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce to try and review. I am not one to turn down free stuff, especially when it comes to trying new food, so I gladly accepted. A few days later, a box filled with the bottles of sauce arrived in the mail.

On the bottle, it recommended the sauce be used on steak, hamburgers, chicken, fries, or barbecue. I chose to be difficult and didn't use the sauce on any of the above when I tried it the first time. I used the sauce to top a dish of pasta!

The second time I ate Country Bob's Sauce, it was used as a gravy to flavor the inside of a shepard's pie...

Finally, I got a chance to try Country Bob's Sauce on something that was (almost) recommended on the bottle. I had a Boca Burger and dipped the meatless burger into Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce. Eating the sauce on a burger definitely gave the best idea of what it actually tasted like. The initial taste of the sauce reminded me of ketchup, but after a few seconds it left a spicier aftertaste, very similar to some barbecue sauces. I liked it!

The Country Bob's Sauce Giveaway is over. Congratulations to Lego and TASTYCHOMPS! You have won free sauce! Please check your email for more information. Winners were randomly chosen by being assigned a comment number and then using random.org to pick the two winners.

Leo's Italian Ice Factory

I found a coupon in a newspaper for a free Italian ice from a place called Leo's Italian Ice Factory in Oviedo, FL. On one hot afternoon, I decided to go and utilize my coupon.

The ice I ordered was half lemon and half passion fruit. The lemon tasted like a normal lemon ice, but the passion fruit tasted much more like grapefruit. I like grapefruit, so this was no problem for me. The ices weren't as solid as other ices that I've had in the past, but were still really good.

Raspberry Crush from Orange Julius

I didn't like my smoothie that I had on my last visit to Orange Julius on their free smoothie day. Someone from Orange Julius' corporate office apparently reads this blog, and they kindly offered to send me a gift certificate to try one of their premium fruit smoothies to see if I like it any better.

I went to the Orange Julius/DQ in the Altamonte Mall this time. I ordered the Raspberry Crush Premium Smoothie, and I liked it much more than my last free smoothie from Orange Julius. The raspberry crush tasted like actual fruit, like it should, rather than artificial sweetners. I'd gladly get this smoothie again!

Thank you Orange Julius for two free smoothies!

Free Orange Julius Smoothie

Friday, June 19 was free smoothie day at Orange Julius if you came in with the proper coupon printed from their website. Always on the lookout for free food, I of course utilized this offer. I went to the Orange Julius in Sanford's Seminole Towne Center Mall and was offered the choice of three light smoothies with 250 calories or less with the coupon. I chose the Berry-Pom Twilight smoothie.

Although it was free, I thought the smoothie was horrible. It tasted like a mix of apple and grape juice that was somehow thickened. Neither of these juices are my favorites so that didn't help the taste. Orange Julius also put all sorts of artificial sweeteners in the smoothie like Splenda. I am not afraid of sugar, so I try to avoid artificial sweeteners, and Splenda especially scares me. Google 'Splenda side effects' and look at all of the results that comes up. I couldn't find any scientific studies on the effects of Splenda, so I am a bit skeptical of all of the claims that come up, but it also seems like a whole lot of people are experiencing negative side effects that they are attributing to Splenda. When I make smoothies at home, I only put juice and fruit in them and the smoothies come out plenty sweet. I don't understand why restaurants always add extra sweetener to make their smoothies extra sweet. I drank about half of the smoothie and threw it away.

Free Sonic Root Beer Float

On June 2, from 8:00 pm until midnight, all Sonic Drive-in stores gave out free root beer floats. I don't like root beer very much, but for free, I'd gladly try a float.

I went to the Sonic in Longwood, FL at 9:30pm and there were probably a few hundred people waiting for the free food. The parking was overflowing out into the neighboring bank and Walgreens, so I decided it wasn't worth the wait. About 11:30, I returned to Sonic and most of the crowds had disappeared. I got my float which consisted of soft serve vanilla ice cream and root beer in a styrofoam cup filled 3/4 of the way from the top. It was okay, but I really don't like the aftertaste that root beer leaves.

Unrelated to free root beer, I recently took a trip to Oklahoma and visited the History Center in Oklahoma City. While I was there, I learned some interesting trivia about Sonic. The chain started in Oklahoma and it seems every small town in the state has a Sonic rather than a Mcdonalds or Burger King. One one of their original menus, Sonic once sold a sandwich called The Whopper. It was a fish sandwich rather than a burger, but everyone knows who owns the copyright to that sandwich name now. Sonic official stopped the employees from riding roller skates in the 1990s, but yet the Sonic employees at the Longwood location are always on skates. From what I overheard another museum visitor, roller skates no longer happen in Oklahoma.

Auntie Anne's Jalapeno Pretzel

I had a coupon for a free pretzel from Auntie Anne's in the Altamonte Mall. I picked out a Jalapeno Pretzel. It could have used a lot more jalapeno...

Riverwalk Pizza

I had a coupon for a free ten inch pizza from Riverwalk Pizza in Sanford, FL. I wasn't expecting much, especially for free, but the pizza was really good. It had a nice and thin crispy crust. I liked the sauce and it was well proportioned to the cheese. I think I'll definitely have to return to Riverwalk and get another pizza!

One thing I don't really get about the restaurant is it's building. The building is on the water in the middle of the Monroe Harbour Marina, and yet whoever designed the building made it so you don't have a view of the river from most of the restaurant's windows. Instead, you see the Senior Citizens Center across the street. I'm assuming the building was intended for restaurants when it was built (it originally opened with a Dalli's Pizza). People seem to like restaurants with views of water, so I don't really get why this building's architect choose not to make the St. Johns a focal point.

Free Ice Cream from Cold Stone

Something funny is going on with the Cold Stone Creameries in the Central Florida area. They all seem to be closing up, and then reopening again a few months later. I noticed this happened first in Altamonte Springs at the Uptown Altamonte location. February 21 was their Grand Reopening, and to celebrate they gave everyone free ice cream between 12:00 and 4:00 (plus free ice cream for a year to the first 50 customers) as told by this newspaper advertisement:

I had strawberry ice cream with actual strawberries mixed in as my topping. I do have a few issues with Cold Stone's ice cream and their whole system of mixing in toppings, but I am going to ignore them for now because this ice cream was FREE!

It seems the same thing is now happening with the Cold Stone in Lake Mary. They closed up a while ago, and now has opening soon signs in their windows. I wonder if they will give out free ice cream as well?

Free Pizza from The Italian Way

I was doing some shopping for a few things at Raider Books in Lake Mary, FL. As I was making my purchase, the cashier told me to help myself to the free pizza and soda that the store was giving out. I'm not one to turn down free food, so I went over and got myself two slices.


The pizza came from a restaurant called The Italian Way located a few storefronts away from the bookstore. Formerly, this location housed two different Italian restaurants called Bernardos and Westshore Pizza. Bernardos was okay, but one visit to Westshore Pizza was enough for me. When The Italian Way opened, I never thought of trying the restaurant after the bad taste that Westshore Pizza left, but this free pizza wasn't half bad. It was a little heavy on the cheese, but not so much that the cheese dropped off of the slice. Otherwise it was a pretty tasty slice of pizza. It definitely wasn't the best I've had, but for free, I'm not going to complain.

I think I'll need to go back and give The Italian Way another try, and actually buy food next time!

Free Slurpee Day!!!

Today is July 11, 2008, or 7-11. That means all 7 Eleven Stores are supposed to give out free Slurpees today. I went looking for my free Slurpee at the 7 Eleven in Longwood, FL on Ronald Regan Blvd. They had a hand written sign on their door saying "No Free Slurpees." I left that nasty 7 Eleven that was too cheap to give out Slurpees and drove to the 7 Eleven on 17-92, also in Longwood. This store cheerfully gave my my free Slurpee!



I had a piña colada flavored Slurpee. It sort of had a weird taste to it, but I'm not a big fan of Slurpees anyway (unless they are free!). There were several other flavors like Mountain Dew Monster, Strawberry Twizzler, and some sugar free garbage. What happened to when Slurpees came in plain flavors like cherry?

Ghirardelli Chocolate...

The Ghirardelli Store in Downtown Disney was giving out free chocolate samples! Here is their version of a Reses Peanut Butter Cup...

It tasted good...