Palate Coffee Roasters in Sanford, FL

 

I visited Palate Coffee Roasters in Downtown Sanford. I tried their Dark Chocolate Pistachio Latte. Nice latte art!

Fuel Barbecue in Sanford, FL

 

Ate lunch at Fuel Barbecue in downtown Sanford. I ordered a sandwich called The Bus Stop and a side of collard greens. The Bus Stop was described on the menu as a kaiser roll loaded with brisket, pulled pork, and slaw. It was interesting that they served the slaw on the side rather than as described. Of the two meats, the brisket was the standout. Pretty good barbecue, although it would have been better if I didn't have to assemble my own sandwich. 

St. Johns River Steak & Seafood in Sanford, FL

I ate at St. Johns River Steak & Seafood located in the Sanford Marina. This location has been host to several different restaurants, none of which seem to survive very long. This includes two which have been featured on this blog before: Limoncellos and Efes Turkish Restaurant. Downtown Sanford has been booming lately and the marina is being redeveloped, so hopefully this bodes well for the survival of St. Johns River Steak & Seafood.

I ordered the Key West Combo. This dish included jerk mahi and shrimp in a honey mustard sauce, along with conch fritters, rice, and broccoli. The mahi and shrimp were very good, although I've had much better conch fritters elsewhere.

There was a birthday at our table so the restaurant brought out a huge slice of chocolate-peanut butter cake. For a surprise slice of cake, there were no complaints!

Red Lobster in Sanford/International Drive

A few months ago Red Lobster was going to have a blogger tasting event to try their new menu. For whatever reasons, this event didn't happen. Instead, Red Lobster offered to send me a gift card to try the menu on my own time. It had been quite a while since I had eaten at Red Lobster and I was interested to see if there were any major changes since the chain is no longer owned by Darden. I took them up on their gift card offer and first ended up at the Red Lobster in Sanford for lunch. The meal started with a basket of their Cheddar Bay Biscuits.

My meal was served with a side caesar salad.

I ordered the Create Your Own Lunch. This menu option allowed you to pick two different dishes and a side. I went with the Garlic-Grilled Shrimp Skewer and Garlic Shrimp Scampi. Out of the two, I preferred the shrimp skewer. The flavorful, good sized, grilled shrimp were served over rice. The scampi consisted of several shrimp oven-broiled in a garlic butter sauce. I picked the mashed potatoes as my side.

My dining companion for the afternoon ordered the Rainbow Trout Lunch with beans and a baked potato.

I used the rest of the gift card at the Red Lobster on International Drive near the OCCC. The Seaside Sampler appetizer was ordered to start the meal. It came with Lobster, Crab, and Seafood Stuffed Mushrooms, Parrot Isle Jumbo Coconut Shrimp and Chilled Jumbo Shrimp Cocktail. I'm not a big fan of mushrooms, but the stuffed mushrooms were the tastiest item on the sampler. The coconut shrimp followed, and the shrimp cocktail was my least favorite. Cold shrimp don't do much for me.

For my main course, I tried the Salmon New Orleans. This consisted of salmon topped with shrimp, served with mashed potatoes and broccoli for my sides. The did enjoy the sauce that topped the salmon and shrimp.

The side salads that were supposed to come with this meal didn't arrive until after the main course, after being pointed out that we never received them. Looking around, it seemed like salads at other tables in our section of the restaurant were forgotten as well. This was the only hiccup in both of my recent visits to Red Lobster, and the problem was quickly remedied.

Red Lobster seemed like the same restaurant that people either love or hate. I noticed no major discernible differences post-Darden. I know they have new menu items, but as a very infrequent Red Lobster diner, I'm not sure if I would have noticed the changes. The food I tried was tasty and I was full after eating, so I suppose that's the important part!

Smokey Joe's BBQ in Sanford, FL

I had lunch at Smokey Joe's BBQ in Sanford (not to be confused with Smokey Bones right up the street). This restaurant took over the space formerly occupied by Boston's Fish House. I wasn't a big fan of Boston's when they first opened but their food did seem to improve over time. I guess everyone's bad experiences when they first opened stuck in people's minds because they eventually closed. Now it is Smokey Joe's turn to try their luck at running a restaurant in this location. Normally barbeque restaurants are have pretty standard fare, and Smokey Joe's was no exception. They had plates where a meat and sides were chosen. There were sandwiches. Pretty much what you would expect on the menu for a place serving barbecue in this area.

I had the Pulled Pork Plate. This came with meat, two sides, and Texas toast. I picked the mac & cheese and fried okra as my sides. Everything looked good, but I was less than pleased after tasting the food. With the exception of the okra, none of the items on the plate were hot. In fact, just about everything was about room temperature. This made me a bit wary, especially when it came to the pork. It tasted alright, but was nothing noteworthy. The mac & cheese was served at a similar temperature and lacked flavor. The cheese part of the mac & cheese was barely noticeable. The fried okra was the only thing which was hot, hopefully because it was freshly made. Unfortunately, the batter was far to salty (and I like salty foods). The Texas toast was also forgettable.

There was nothing about Smokey Joe's that gave me any reason to go back. There are far too many other good barbecue restaurants in the area to deal with forgettable and cold food. Hopefully this place will be like Boston's Fish House and will improve their food. If not, I see them being open for less time than Boston's was...

Fireside Pizza in Sanford, FL

Fireside Pizza is an Italian restaurant located in a Wal-Mart shopping center in Sanford. This restaurant was previously home to a RedBrick Pizza, which I wasn't a big fan of their food. I never tried this particular location when it was a RedBrick Pizza, but their Altamonte location wasn't really worth visiting again. I was a little hesitant to visit Fireside, just because it used to be a RedBrick and was a bit disappointed to see a very similar menu to what I remember RedBrick having.

We ordered the Greek Pizza, topped with ham, peppers, spinach, onions, kalamata olives, and feta. There did seem to be a definite improvement over RedBrick. I liked the crust much more over what I remember. It was thin and crispy. There were plenty of toppings, and overall had less of the frozen pizza feel that RedBrick gave off and had more of the character that a freshly made pizza should have. This wasn't the best pizza around and there are several other restaurants in Sanford that I would choose over Fireside when it comes to pizza, but at least it's an improvement over RedBrick Pizza. It wouldn't be my first choice, but I'd be willing to visit Fireside again...

Wolfy's in Sanford, FL

Wolfy's is a restaurant in Downtown Sanford that's been there as long as I can remember. It's located next to the marina and has a wonderful view of Lake Monroe. As with any restaurant that has been around for a long time, Wolfy's must be doing something right. I just don't see what this is. It had been a while since I'd visited Wolfy's mostly because I remembered mediocre food and horrible service on all of my previous visits. When I decided to try Wolfy's again, I found this visit was more of the same.

I ordered a crab cake platter. It consisted of two crab cakes, fries, hush puppies, and coleslaw. The food was alright for what it was, but was also completely forgettable. What reminded me why I don't like this place is when our server and cook got into a loud argument over who's fault it was that an order was made incorrectly. We were seated on the other side of the restaurant and could hear them arguing loud and clear. As long as Wolfy's has been around, they should know that arguments like this should not be heard by all of the restaurant's guests...

The Cattle Ranch in Sanford, FL

The Cattle Ranch is a restaurant in Sanford in a mostly windowless building. The location is on a stretch of Sanford Avenue with no nearby restaurants in the immediate vicinity. Those two points gave the restaurant a somewhat creepy appearance from the outside, but creepy looking restaurants normally have good food. The Cattle Ranch did indeed have good food...

My meal started out with a salad with the house dressing. This was pretty much what I would have expected from an old-fashioned steakhouse salad. It was nothing exceptional, but it got the job done with iceberg lettuce, onions, tomato, pepper slices, carrot sticks, and croutons.

Even though the Cattle Ranch was a steakhouse, I didn't order any beef. Instead, I went with the coconut shrimp. These large shrimp were butterflied and fried in a coconut batter, then served with a baked potato and apple sauce. I've had coconut shrimp in the past where the coconut flavor was completely absent, but in this case, each shrimp was bursting with coconut! I would gladly get these again.

Also worth noting for all you big eaters out there is The Cattle Ranch's Six Pound Challenge. If you eat a six pound steak, along with all the sides, you get the meal for free and your picture hanging on the wall! Being that I'm not a big beef eater to begin with, I don't think this particular eating challenge is for me...

Efes Turkish Restaurant in Sanford, FL

Just yesterday, I got word from @EatingOrlando that Efes Turkish Restaurant has closed. The post is already written, so here are my thoughts on the restaurant anyway:

I recently tried Efes Turkish Restaurant in Sanford. Efes is hidden away in the Sanford Marina in the building that formerly housed Limoncello's. The location, with it's outdoor seating and unobstructed view of Lake Monroe is wonderful. The food is also a vast improvement over what Limoncello's degraded to.

Our meal at Efes started with an order of Lahmacun, also known as Turkish pizza. This consists of bread covered in a puree of meat and vegetables, served alongside assorted vegetables. The vegetables were piled on the slices, lemon was squeezed, and the pieces were rolled up and eaten. It was my first time trying this, and I definitely liked it.

The mixed grill was also ordered. This dish came piled with lamb, beef, and chicken cooked in various ways over rice and vegetables. While I thought a couple of pieces of meat were a bit bland or overly chewy, the majority of the meal was really tasty. The rice was also surprisingly flavorful compared to most rices. This was meant to serve two people, but between this and the lahmacun, three of us couldn't finish everything.

Finally, for dessert we all shared some baklava. I can honestly say that this was some of the best baklava I've had in the area with lots and lots of pistachios...

Efes was not cheap by any means. They definitely weren't in the low-cost Turkish food category like Steak & Salad, but they did give huge amounts of food and it was all good. Maybe the higher prices had something to do with them closing...

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.

Sun Valley Buffet in Sanford, FL

Sun Valley Buffet opened in an old Bennigan's in Sanford. They had three tables of Chinese food, a table of misplaced southern foods, Mongolian BBQ, sushi, and a dessert table. My main complaint here was the disproportionate amount of fried food on the buffet. It was like the Golden Corral of Chinese buffets. Way too much fried food and not enough variety when it came to everything else...

The dumplings and sliced pork were two standout foods on the buffet. I found most everything else to be mediocre and overcooked in many cases.

I wasn't impressed with Sun Valley Buffet. I doubt I'd return, especially for $12.99...

Joe Muggs in Sanford, FL

Joe Muggs is the coffee shop in the Books-A-Million store in Sanford. I was in there the other night and bought myself an everything bagel. For $1.25, I got this toasted bagel with a few little tubs of cream cheese. It wasn't the best bagel in the world, but was good enough being from a bookstore coffee shop. Because Joe Muggs doesn't charge for cream cheese, I think I may come back here rather than going to Panera the next time I'm hungry for a bagel in Sanford!

What's up with Books-A-Million not giving free Wi-Fi though? I'm not going to pay $20 for a year subscription to your Millionaire's Club so I can use Wi-Fi in your store when there are so many other nearby places that give free internet access...

Beard Papa's in Sanford, FL

I visited the new Beard Papa's Fresh 'n Natural Cream Puffs in Sanford. I've been meaning to try the Japanese version of a creme puff ever since I heard of the chain and finally had my opportunity. I'm still a bit confused as to who had the bright idea to open a Japanese cream puff franchise on the west side of I-4 on 46. Maybe they'll prove me wrong, but somehow I don't see the market being there. Adding to this, the store had lots of employees but they still seemed very unorganized. There were three people in front of us and it took about fifteen minutes for us to finally order. While we were standing there waiting, three more groups of people came and left after all of the employees standing behind the counter completely ignored their questions. This doesn't bode well for a new fast food place unless they get their act together. Enough of that though and onto the food...

 I ordered the obvious thing and got a cream puff. I enjoyed my creme filled pastry but didn't notice any big difference between a Japanese creme puff and one bought elsewhere. It was nowhere as greasy as a doughnut, filled with creamy goodness, and topped with lots of powdered sugar.  If I'm riding by again and craving a dessert, I may stop back into Beard Papa's for another creme puff. Hopefully served in a more organized fashion next time...

Charley's Grilled Subs in Sanford, FL

Charley's Grilled Subs is a chain in the Seminole Towne Center food court in Sanford. They serve mostly cheesesteaks which I find to be somewhat overpriced for the size but are also really tasty. Something about their Chicken Teriyaki sandwich topped with mayonnaise and lettuce is particularly pleasing to my taste buds...

Cracker Barrel

Today I'm talking about Cracker Barrel...

In my travels, I ate lunch at the Cracker Barrel right off of I-95 in Elkton, MD. It had been a long time since I had visited one of these restaurants, so I had somewhat forgotten what the menu was like. Breakfast is served all day and some of their breakfast items are quite affordable. The egg sandwich served on sourdough bread with a side of hashbrown casserole was only $4. The price was good, but when everyone at the table ordered these $4 breakfasts, the waitress got kind of nasty. I guess she did the math and figured the tip on a table of three worth $12 rather than a table spending $30 wasn't worth her time. Whenever she did return to the table, the waitress kept on making awkward religious statements. Thought it was a bit inappropriate in a chain restaurant and overall was just weird. Decent egg sandwich though!

During another recent visit to Cracker Barrel, this time closer to home, I had dinner at the restaurant in Sanford, FL. The restaurant had a half hour wait which is totally not worth it, but it allowed time to browse the attached gift shop and see the surprisingly large inventory of Sarah Palin audiobooks and overpriced junk covered in bible verses. Perhaps the religious comments made at the Cracker Barrel in Elkton make more sense after taking a look at what they sell. Eventually, we were seated and I ordered the Rainbow Trout. It came with biscuits and two sides. I picked the hashbrown casserole and turnip greens.

I really had no complaints about the food itself. Everything I tried during this meal was tasty, although the presentation of the trout could have been vastly improved. It's a big plate. There's no reason to put the side on top of the fish, leaving the rest of the plate empty.

On another visit to a Cracker Barrel somewhere, I tried their Chicken and Dumplings. The southern version of dumplings served with chicken and dumplings is interesting to me. When I think of dumplings, I think of them being filled with something, while these are just thick noodles. Is this typical of chicken and dumplings, or is this just how Cracker Barrel does it?

Cracker Barrel has better food than I remember. I still would consider it travel food, not only because all of the Cracker Barrels that I know of are located along an interstate, but also because it seems that's almost always when I end up at one. For travel food though, it's definitely a better choice than a Denny's or Waffle House!