Lime Fresh Mexican Grill in Orlando, FL

I had lunch at Lime Fresh Mexican Grill in the Dr. Phillips/Restaurant Row neighborhood of Orlando. This Mexican chain has been in the area for a couple of years now, but I had not visited any of their locations until now. Unlike the other big burrito places, Lime had a set menu instead of the assembly line style of fast-food Mexican food that is done by Chipotle/Qdoba/Moe's.

I ordered the Lime Burrito. This consisted of a tortilla filled with chicken, refried beans, cheese, sour cream, and lettuce. The burrito was alright, although a bit forgettable. Nothing really stood out and for some reason the refried beans reminded me of a Taco Bell burrito. Other burritos on the menu did have black beans, but not this particular one. Nothing is wrong with refried beans, but it did have the Taco Bell connotation. The chips served on the side seemed a bit too hard and somewhat stale. Overall, the food burrito I tried at Lime Fresh Mexican Grill was alright for what it was, but I don't think I'll go rushing back to try them again anytime soon.

Hot Krust Panini Kitchen in Orlando, FL

I was invited to try Hot Krust Panini Kitchen for a Social Media Menu Tasting. Hot Krust is located in the Whole Foods shopping center at the intersection of Sand Lake and Turkey Lake Roads. Before trying any of the food, what initially impressed me was all meats are roasted fresh at the restaurant. Hot Krust doesn't use any processed meats or cold cuts in the sandwiches, unlike the majority of the other sandwich shops out there. 

When I arrived at Hot Krust, the meal started with two bowls of soup to try. The first was their soup of the day, a tomato cream soup (left). The second was Hot Krust's signature soup, their Chili Cactus Soup. It was made with cactus, ground beef, diced tomatos, onions, corn, northern beans, and spinach in a spicy broth. The soup had a flavor similar to a chili, but with a consistency more similar to most soups. It was very tasty and the uniqueness of adding cactus to the recipe made it even better.

After the soup, I was able to try two of Hot Krust's sandwiches. The first was the Meat Lover's Paradise. This panini was filled with roasted chicken, turkey, freshly roasted steak, bacon, pesto, tomatoes, red onions, melted jack cheese, and chipotle ranch sauce. It was a good sandwich, but I personally found it to be somewhat of a meat overload.

I also tried the Buffalo Bill Chicken Panini. This had freshly roasted chicken, buffalo sauce, onions, jalapeno peppers, lettuce, provolone cheese, and blue cheese crumbles. This was my favorite of the two sandwiches. Unlike other buffalo chicken sandwiches that I've had elsewhere, this one was actually nice and spicy. The jalapenos added a lot of flavor to the sandwich, and Hot Krust seemed very generous with the rest of the sandwich fillings as well.

The sandwiches were served with waffle fries, although fries may not be the best word since these were baked rather than fried. If I wasn't told that these were baked, I honestly don't think I would have noticed that they weren't fried. I tried the sweet potato and regular potato fries, and I personally preferred the regular fries (I'm not a big fan of sweet potatoes).

Hot Krust had some tasty sandwiches. The ingredients that they use seem to be good quality and they appear to care about their food. I'd gladly return to try some more of their paninis next time I'm in the area!

Devil McDonald's in Orlando, FL

Late one night, I found myself in the Sand Turkey District of Orlando. I was sort of hungry, and the person I was with suggested Mcdonald's. As we pulled up, I recognized the location as the devil Mcdonald's pointed out on the Tasty Chomps blog. I'm fascinated by pareidolia, or the tendency of the human brain to see faces in inanimate objects, so I enjoyed the outside of this McDonald's building. Looking at the front of the building, I see eyes, a big grin, and red glowing devil horns. Perfect for Halloween, but could it be foreshadowing at how the food might taste?

This is a Bistro Gourmet McDonald's, meaning they serve much better tasting food than your average McDonald's. The only problem with the Bistro Gourmet McDonald's is that the Bistro Gourmet part of the kitchen is almost always closed whenever I'm at one of these locations. That leaves your standard McDonald's menu as the only choice.

Person I was with ordered some fries. I had a few, tasted okay, like fast food French fries should.

I decided to try a BBQ Grilled Chicken Snack Wrap. It consisted of chicken, lettuce, cheese, and barbecue sauce wrapped in a tortilla. They were really heavy with the sauce, leaving a puddle of the spicy sauce in the lower half of the wrap. The grilled chicken had a strange consistency, reminded me of boiled chicken from Chinese restaurants. It definitely didn't seem grilled to me. Overall, the wrap wasn't horrible. It was far better than some of the other sandwiches I've eaten from McDonald's. I would have preferred something off of the Bistro Gourmet menu though...