NewCity Coffee Co. in Lake Mary, FL

I had an Ube Latte from NewCity Coffee Co. in downtown Lake Mary.

 

1000 Degrees Pizza in Lake Mary, FL

 I had lunch from 1000 Degrees Pizza in Lake Mary. This is yet another restaurant following the formula of Blaze, MOD Pizza, etc, where you pick toppings for your pizza in a Chipotle style format. I honestly started mixing up places serving pizza in Orlando, and confused this with 900 Degreez in a brick and mortar form. Wrong temperature, wrong restaurant, and 900 Degreez is still a truck.

My pizza was topped with sausage, pepperoni, onions, bell peppers, olives, and banana peppers. Pretty tasty. Topping selection here seemed slightly more limited than some of the similar competitors, but they still had a decent selection. I'd get a pizza here again.

Pizza 1905 in Lake Mary, FL

I ordered takeout from Pizza 1905 in Lake Mary. When I went in to pick up my pizza, it was promising. They had pizza by the slice on the counter that looked to be super thin NY style pies. I ordered a 16" Margherita pizza.

Pizza was mostly good. The sauce was very flavorful and the fresh mozzarella was melted nicely into the pie. The crust was unfortunately the pizza's downfall. Unlike the pie's available in the front of the restaurant, the crust wasn't exactly thin. It also seemed doughy and undercooked, like they rushed taking it out of the oven.

I want to give Pizza 1905 another try. There seemed to be potential for really good pizza, but for whatever reason, the undercooked, doughy crust on my pie was holding the pizza back from reaching that potential.

Shaan Indian Cuisine in Lake Mary, FL

I ate at Shaan Indian Cuisine in Lake Mary. Since it was lunch time during the week, Shaan offered a lunch buffet, similar to the majority of other Indian restaurants in the area. I'm not 100% positive, but I believe this hasn't been the first Indian restaurant in this location. If so, let's hope Shaan has better luck.

The buffet had a nice selection of items. My first trip to the buffet table included trying their butter chicken, cabbage, mutter, rice, fried potato, and naan.

Second plate included tandoori chicken, curry chicken, and some more butter chicken.

Everything on the buffet was tasty, but the butter chicken was the standout. The creamy, slightly spicy, red sauce on the chicken was delicious. I would eat lunch here again without hesitation.

Krazy Greek Kitchen in Lake Mary, FL

I was in Downtown Lake Mary and was going to give the relatively new Flipper's Pizza a try since it had been years since I had been to any of their locations. Once I parked, I noticed that Delano on the Park was no longer in business and a new restaurant called Krazy Greek Kitchen was there in it's place. I always enjoy good Greek food, so I decided to forgo pizza for the afternoon and ventured into Krazy Greek Kitchen...

I ordered the Gyro Pita. The sandwich was filled with plenty of thinly sliced meat, lettuce, onions, tomatos, and lots of tzatziki. The meat was very flavorful and the sandwich was kept nice and moist from the tzatziki.

 

Another food item that I was considering, but decided to get my gyro pita instead when someone else at the table ordered it was the Gyro Flatbread.  This pizza-like creation was something I haven't seen elsewhere. It consisted of a pita piled high with a layer of gyro meat, then a layer of peppers, onions, tomatoes, and then melted cheese. All this was served over a Greek salad. I tried a slice of the flatbread and it was delicious! Next time I come back to Krazy Greek Kitchen, I know what I'm ordering.

Lake Mary has a couple other Greek restaurants, but I think Krazy Greek Kitchen has the potential to be my favorite. I need to return to see if they hold up well!

BurgerFi in Lake Mary, FL

BurgerFi is a chain that is spreading throughout the Central Florida area. I first heard of Burgerfi when I tried one of their South Florida locations in Delray Beach. Since that initial exposure to the chain, they have opened locations in Winter Park, Lake Mary, and there are plans for a third location in Altamonte Springs. This post is specifically talking about their Lake Mary location.

We ended up here one afternoon for lunch because I was dining with a dog owner. Not many places along Lake Mary Boulevard seem to be dog friendly, but this BurgerFi seems to welcome dogs with water bowls spread throughout the outdoor dining area.

On this visit, I tried their B.A.D. Burger. This stood for Breakfast All Day and consisted of the burger, American cheese, hickory bacon drizzled with maple syrup, fried egg, hash browns, grilled diced onions, and ketchup. I've never been a huge fan of burgers for some reason but I wanted to try one of BurgerFi's much hyped burgers to see if they were really exceptional. Honestly, it didn't do much for me. The beef was dry and bland. I couldn't detect the flavor of the egg or the hashed browns. The bacon and cheese were tasty, but the overall strongest flavor on the sandwich was ketchup. There was definitely far too much ketchup on this burger. 

We also shared the Cry & Fries. This consisted of three huge onion rings over a basket of fries. The onion rings here are good. The fries are forgettable.

I suppose BurgerFi is alright for what it is when it comes to fast food burger places. I'd pick BurgerFi over Burger King or McDonalds any day, but burgers just don't do much for me...

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...

Timacuan Country Club in Lake Mary, FL

I ended up at the Timacuan Country Club in Lake Mary and decided to get some food there. They had a make your own pasta station set up, so I figured that was the thing to go with. I had the chef make me a plate of penne with shrimp, scallops, peppers, onions, broccoli, and sundried tomatoes all in an alfredo sauce. I think I did a good job selecting items to go into the pasta and the chef did a good job cooking the food because I thought the meal was pretty tasty!

For bread to go with the pasta, the country club offered popovers. This is not a typical type of bread to be served with pasta, but I do enjoy a good popover. They also had a salad bar set up that I tried, but I didn't take a picture. Overall, not bad for a golf course country club!

Orange Leaf in Lake Mary, FL

A new self-serve frozen yogurt place opened in Lake Mary several weeks ago. For their grand opening, they mailed out flyers advertizing free frozen yogurt on a certain night. Events like this can result in crazy crowds, but I decided to check them out anyway. The line was out the door, and it ended up taking about a half hour to get my yogurt.

They had a large selection of flavors including lots of seasonal flavors like pumpkin pie and egg nog. I did find it interesting that with all of their flavors, Orange Leaf didn't have any of the plain tart frozen yogurt. I ended up trying a little of each flavor, topped with various items including fruit, cheesecake, sprinkles, etc.

I'd definitely return, especially after they offer an event like this and give free frozen yogurt to several hundred people.

Sal's Italian Ice in Sanford, FL

Sal's Italian Ice is a small drive-in dessert place in Sanford. On my most recent visit there, I had half lemon and mango ice.

Sal's also had another location in Lake Mary for a while. Recently I noticed it's now called Nick's Ice Cream, but that won't stop me from posting a picture of my strawberry lemonade and peach ice from this location.

Sal's has some pretty good ices, but something about them doesn't put Sal's above Versini's or Jeremiah's. To me, their ices seem to taste more artificial compared to their competition, putting them a notch below. Still, that won't stop me from getting some Italian ices from Sal's when I'm in Sanford.

Gators Dockside in Lake Mary, FL

Gator's Dockside is a chain that opened in the Central Florida area several years ago. In all that time, I had never tried them, that is until recently. Gator's Dockside is set up like a pretty standard sports bar. Being a sports bar and all, I wasn't sure what to expect when I ordered a gyro. Turned out to be better than I was expecting. Two pitas were filled with lamb, tazitiki, lettuce, tomato, and onion. Fries were served on the side. Pretty good for Greek food from a chain sports bar in Lake Mary...

China Star in Lake Mary, FL

Today we're going to yet another Chinese take-out restaurant! China Star gets confusing because of the prevalence of the name in the immediate area. This China Star is in Lake Mary, right on the Sanford border. Go less than five miles away into Sanford and you have another take-out called China Star and a very scary buffet called China Star. I don't get the feeling that any of the China Stars are connected.

I've picked up food from this China Star on several occasions and they messed up the order for the majority of these visits. After a certain point I stopped getting food there, but I recently gave China Star another try. When I got the food home, it turned out they got the order correct!

I had the Curry Chicken Combination. It came with fried rice, an egg roll, and wonton soup...

The Curry Chicken was nice and spicy, mixed with onions, peppers, snow peas, and mushrooms. The portion was huge and turned into three meals by the time the chicken was gone.

I guess we spent enough so they threw in a bag of these Chinese doughnuts. Can't complain about free extras!

China Star got the order right on this visit, the food all tasted good, and the portions were huge for the price. I think I'll add them back to my list of options for Chinese take-out!

Longhorn Steakhouse in Lake Mary, FL

I had a Darden gift card that I decided to use at Longhorn Steakhouse in Lake Mary. I ordered the Grilled Trout Topped with Shrimp & Lobster. The meal came a Caesar Salad which was served first.

The rainbow trout came out next, served with a side of mashed potatoes. It all tasted good, but I was disappointed with the shrimp & lobster. There were two little shrimp and one or two tiny pieces of lobster meat. The majority of the topping consisted of chopped tomatoes and corn. While it did taste good, the upcharge from the plain rainbow trout on the menu didn't seem worth it based on what I received.

Longhorn Steakhouse is a good restaurant to use a good coupon or Darden gift card. The food is normally good enough for what you would expect from a Darden chain, but it's not something I would go seek out without incentive...

Terra Mia Pizza in Lake Mary, FL

I've been wanting to try the pizza from Terra Mia for a while now, but I had difficulties tasting their food for the longest time. I tried visiting the Terra Mia in Lake Mary on a few occasions and each time there was either a huge wait or the restaurant was closed for the day. On another attempt to try Terra Mia's pizza, I visited their Longwood location only to find out they don't serve pizza there. Finally, the Pizza Gods must have smiled on me. On a recent evening, I was in Lake Mary and Terra Mia was both open and without a wait, and top it off, their pizza was really good too!

My pizza was topped with anchovies and kalamata olives. The crust was some of the thinnest I've had in the area while still having a nice rise around the edges. Somebody did a very nice job with the dough here. The flavor of the anchovies and olives combined with the salty cheese was a little strong, but I liked it.

With the majority of the pizza in the area being mediocre, it's refreshing to find someplace like Terra Mia that has good pizza!

Tutto Bene in Lake Mary, FL

A new Italian restaurant called Tutto Bene opened in the space once occupied by Vivona's in the Publix Shopping Center on Weldon Blvd in Lake Mary.

I tried an 18" cheese pizza. Unfortunately, the pie was served somewhat undercooked. The crust was very pale and was still somewhat doughy on the inside. There wasn't any crispness to the slices either, they just flopped over when picked up. The pizza definitely could have used a few more minutes in the oven.

The pizza tasted okay, but I'm sure it would have been better if given proper cooking time. Perhaps I'll give Tutto Bene another try after they have been open for a bit longer to see if they improve and perfect their pizza making process.

Versini's Italian Ice in Lake Mary, FL

Versini's Italian Ice recently opened in Downtown Lake Mary, just up the street from City Hall.

I ordered the Tangerine and the Strawberry-Lemon ice, and both flavors were really tasty. The ice was just as good, if not better than the ices from Jeremiah's (they're overrated in my opinion). I'm glad more Italian Ice places have finally started opening in Central Florida over the past couple of years!