Pizza from Wawa in Casselberry, FL

I was getting gas at a Wawa in Casselberry. I was using their rewards app to get discounts on gas when I noticed they had dropped a coupon for a free 14" pizza into my account. I was aware that Wawa sold pizza, but I wasn't about to go out of my way to try pizza from a gas station. If the pizza was free though, that was different. 

I ordered a pepperoni and sausage pizza. I selected the garlic crust option when ordering. Upon first glance when opening up the box, it had the look of a chain pizza similar to Hungry Howie's or Little Caesars. The crust/sauce/cheese/topping ratio was good. Everything seemed well balanced and the pizza held together. The garlic taste/smell on the pizza was surprisingly strong for gas station food. 

Overall, I went in with very low expectations. The pizza was okay, on par with other fast food pizzas. Definitely wouldn't be my first choice of pizza in Orlando, but I might pick Wawa if it was between them or a Little Caesars...

Austin Food #4: (Kolache Shoppe, Naegelin's Bakery, and Der Lindenbaum)

This is the last of the foods I tried in the Austin area on this trip. You can read about some of my previous Austin food adventures here. Today's blog post is pretty much about German/Eastern European foods. I didn't realize before my visit, but Texas was settled by a lot of German immigrants that brought foods over from Europe. This blog post is talking about some of these foods. We are starting at Kolache Shoppe...

Kolache Shoppe (Austin, TX):

I became aware of a kolache when I was at a Four Rivers and noticed they had kolaches available on their menu on Saturday mornings at breakfast time. I never got around to visiting a Four Rivers early enough to try a kolache, but I found out that they are a sweet or savory pastry popular in parts of Texas.  When I went to Austin, I put trying a kolache on my list of regional foods to eat. Google told me the closest place to where I was staying with the highest reviews was called Kolache Shoppe. They were located in a old looking strip mall in the suburbs of the city.

I decided to try a sweet and savory kolache and ordered a blueberry and a jalepeno sausage. The kolaches were interesting, but not exactly what I was expecting. The bread that made up most of the kolache reminded me a whole lot of a King's Hawaiian Roll. It was mushy, slightly sweet white bread. The blueberry kolache had a pool of blueberry jam baked into an indentation on the top of the bread.

The jalepeno sausage kolache was sort of like a pig in a blanket. The sausage was baked into the bread. For some reason this one caught me off guard. I wasn't expecting to see a whole sausage in the kolache. I was thinking crumbled sausage for some reason.

I was a bit disappointed with my first kolache experience. I was expecting some sort of delicious pastry and ended up with dinner rolls...


Naegelin's Bakery (New Braunfels, TX):

I ventured a bit outside of Austin and found myself in the town of New Braunfels, TX. This town was founded by German immigrants and still had lots of German influences around the city. There were German restaurants, a beer garden, and German desserts from the oldest bakery in Texas. I went into Naegelin's Bakery and saw they also served kolaches. Since I wasn't impressed with my first kolache experience in the state, I figured I'd see how a place that had been around since 1868 made them.

Naegelin's Bakery had several varieties available. Not nearly as many as Kolache Shoppe had, but still plenty to choose from. I asked the woman taking my order what her favorites were and she recommended the bratwurst and the breakfast sausage.

These kolaches were different from what Kolache Shoppe served. These were also similar to pigs in blankets, but the bread was much denser with a yellowish dough. Out of my two kolache experiences, these were far superior to the mushy white bread that I had the first time, but I still can't say I'm sold on kolaches. These were tasty enough, but I think I would have much rather have had some other sort of German desserts which Naegelin's Bakery sold.

I've since been told I should have also tried a chain called Kolache Factory for good kolaches. They initially came up on my first search for nearby kolaches in Austin, but they had an average 1.5 star review so I passed. Next time I'm in Texas, perhaps I should attempt to find a Kolache Factory for a third kolache data point. I wonder if their kolaches would be different from what I tried as well?





Der Lindenbaum (Fredericksburg, TX):

Fredericksburg, TX was another town nearby Austin that I visited during my trip. Like New Braunfels, there was also a whole lot of German influence here. Because of this, I decided I should have German food for dinner. I ended up at a restaurant called Der Lindenbaum.

I ordered the Currywurst. I don't think I had ever tried currywurst. It came with two sausage links with a large bowl of curry sauce. Mashed potatoes and sauerkraut came as sides. The thick, slightly sweet and slighty spicy curry sauce was delicious. It was definitely better than the sausages themselves and made its way onto the potatoes as to topping. The sauerkraut was really good too. It had fennel seeds, along with other flavors tasting like dill and lemon. I would have eaten a whole plate of the sauerkraut alone!

Goodfella's Pizzeria in Orange City, FL

I had dinner one evening at Goodfella's Pizzeria in Orange City. I had heard good things for a very long time about their other location in Orlando, but never got a chance to give them a try. This newly opened location in Orange City seemed to be very popular. There was a half hour wait to eat when I arrived on a weeknight.

I split a pizza at Goodfella's. My half was topped with spinach and sausage while the other half was topped with meatball. Another pizza was ordered at the table that was half Hawaiian and half cheese. The overall consensus at the table was that the pizzas had potential, but were undercooked and were too heavy on the cheese. My toppings also made my half of the pie a bit soggy as well.

Being that I had heard good things about Goodfella's in the past, I'd consider giving their pizza another try. Perhaps after this location has been open a bit longer and on a day when they don't have a wait so pizzas aren't being rushed out of the oven. The pizza definitely did have potential, but the sogginess and overly doughy crust didn't quite meet that potential...

BurgerFi in Delray Beach, FL

I recently ate dinner at BurgerFi in Downtown Delray Beach. This fast food burger chain reminded me of a modern version of Five Guys with a better menu.

I had a strawberry milkshake as my drink. It came topped with whipped cream and sprinkles. For almost $5, I thought it was somewhat expensive for the size cup the milkshake was served it. Tasted good though.

Fries and onion rings. The onion rings were good, but the fries were very average.

I had a Chicago Style Chicken Apple Sausage. The sausage was served on a poppy seed bun, topped with tomato, onions, relish, peppers, and a pickle slice. BurgerFi was generous with the toppings, but I was expecting something a little different with the sausage itself. I couldn't detect any sort of apple flavor and the sausage tasted like a normal hot dog to me.

Overall, the food was pretty average at BurgerFi. I wouldn't purposefully rush back any time soon, but it definitely was better than Five Guys (I don't get the appeal of that place) and other similar burger chains.

Pierogi Grill in Clearwater, FL

I had dinner at a restaurant called Pierogi Grill in Clearwater. As we entered the Polish restaurant, we passed the pierogi themed vehicles in the parking lot. This included a pierogi police car and a giant concrete pierogi on a trailer. I liked this place already.

Inside, it seemed like either the owners of Pierogi Grill are really into Egyptology or the restaurant was Middle Eastern themed in a former life. There were statues of Egyptian gods. The lamps over the tables were covered in hieroglyphics, and even the salt/pepper shakers on the table were shaped like pyramids. Surrounded by everything Egyptian, I ordered my Polish Sausage & Pierogi dinner. The smoked kielbasa was served on a bed of warm sauerkraut, alongside six pierogi. There was a lot to choose from in terms of pierogi flavors, but I decided to stay classic and get mine filled with farmers cheese and potato. Overall, everything was very tasty.

Just to further point out the Egyptian theme of Pierogi Grill, check out rice pyramid that came with the Chicken Schnitzel that was also ordered at our table. I still don't quite get how Polish food is related to Egypt, but I thought the whole randomness of it all was very fun...

Denny's in Sanford, FL

I ate at the Denny's on Rt 46 in Sanford, right off of I-4. I've been to this Denny's on a few occasions, mostly late at night when everything else in the area is closed. The service here is typically always bad, as it is in most Denny's. There's also always interesting people in here as well. For example, imagine you're eating dinner and a homeless man enters the restaurant, specifically targets your table, approaches, and starts mumbling incomprehensible babble until an employee escorts him out. Ten minutes later, you're being mumbled at again...

On this visit, I didn't get mumbled at. We were ignored by all of the other people in the Denny's, including the waitress for the most part. When our order was finally taken, I ordered the Southwestern Sizzlin' Skillet. I think they were trying to make a breakfast version of a fajita, and came up with this. After too long of a wait, the food was served. The skillet consisted of scrambled eggs, hash browns, green peppers, onions, bacon, and sausage. It didn't come sizzling like the name implied. Unlike actual fajitas, this skillet was cool enough to touch comfortably. When I had finished about 75% of the food, the waitress brought out some tortillas to go with my food that was almost gone. Typical Denny's service...

Shrimp Boil at Sanford's Earth Day Every Day

On Earth Day (April 22, 2009), I visited an event in Sanford called Earth Day Every Day. While I was there, I ate some food being sold by a stand set up by a restaurant in Downtown Sanford called Two Blonds & a Shrimp. I've never been to the actual restaurant, but I've heard good things about them. I had their Shrimp Boil, which consisted of shrimp, potatoes, chorizo sausage, and some celery. Everything in the shrimp boil tasted good, but I didn't think the shrimp were appropriate for the type of event. The shrimp still had their shells on, so they had to be peeled. This required two hands, but since this was a fair type event, there wasn't really any seating. This meant that the shrimp had to be peeled while holding the bowl of food, along with a napkin filled with shrimp shells. Eating the Shrimp Boil turned out to be a big mess...


Not food related, but they had this very cool solar car at the event. Also a screech owl...

Dexter's in Thornton Park

I ate at Dexter's in the Thornton Park neighborhood of Downtown Orlando. Apparently the building was one of the original Publix Supermarkets.

I had a Cajun Hoagie. It consisted of turkey, andouille sausage, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and a mayonnaise type sauce, all in between pressed French bread. Kettle chips were served on the side. It was good, although if I didn't have good teeth, I would have probably had problems eating the very crusty bread. I had always heard Dexter's had high prices, but with my sandwich costing $7, it really wasn't bad.

Shrimp and Grits from T.G.I. Friday's

I had this buy one, get one free coupon for T.G.I. Friday's, and used it at the Friday's off of Kirkman Road in Orlando, located across the street from the main entrance to Universal.

I ordered the Spicy Southern Shrimp, which was basically shrimp and grits. It consisted of shrimp, andouille sausage, and scallions, all served over cheese grits. The food took a very long time to be served, and I was a bit disappointed when my shrimp and grits finally came. There were hardly any grits. There was probably a teaspoon sized scoop of grits in the middle of the plate, hidden under the shrimp and sausage. There was actually an exponentially larger amount of sauce on the plate than there was grits. Grits are cheap, so I don't see why putting enough on a plate so they can actually be eaten with shrimp would be that hard for Fridays. The picture on the menu looked very different that what I received. You could actually see the grits on the menu.

Also disappointing, the Gourmet Mac and Five Cheese that some someone else ordered on the healthy menu, which cost less than $6.00, was served on the same plate and had a much larger portion than my $14.00 Shrimp and Grits. I don't quite understand how a large portion of macaroni and cheese with chicken and bacon made it on to the healthy menu in the first place.

It seems like there is some sort of issue every time I eat at this Friday's location. It's always extremely slow, and there is always some sort of food issue.

Pizza Baked Spaghetti from Fazoli's

Last I heard, the Fazoli's Italian Fast Food chain was going out of business and closing up all of their stores. It seems that isn't the case though, because although some of the stores did close, there are still several Central Florida locations that are still open.

I returned to the Altamonte Springs Fazoli's and ordered Pizza Baked Spaghetti. It was one of their featured menu items and consisted of spaghetti in tomato sauce, pepperoni and sausage, topped with melted cheese. I normally don't like pasta with tomato sauce, but this was better than I was expecting. They were very light on the sauce and the spicy pepperoni and sausage took away from some of the tomato taste. I'd get this again.

Polonia in Longwood, FL

I ate at Polonia in Longwood, FL. Polonia is a Polish restaurant located on 17-92 in a former fast food restaurant building that has housed many different restaurants. The building started out as a Captain D's, and then became several different restaurants serving various types of Asian food. I would say my most interesting experience eating in one of these incarnations was when the building housed a fast food Chinese restaurant. As I was eating my meal, two Red-Eared Sliders walked out of the kitchen and across the dining room. I've seen some interesting animals in restaurants (rats!), but this was the only time I've ever seen turtles wandering around a restaurant. Knowing that turtles and salmonella go together, I never returned to the restaurant, or the future restaurants in the building.

That is, until Polonia opened. When they opened in this location, the local Orlando newspapers all started to write good reviews of the place, so I gave it a try. Polonia broke the chain of fast food Asian restaurants by setting up a sit-down Polish restaurant, and there were no reptiles, amphibians, or rodents in sight. I've since returned to Polonia a few times, and it's generally pretty good. This visit started out with a basket of some good rye bread.

For the main course, I ordered the Big Polish Platter, which came with stuffed cabbage (in tomato sauce), three pierogies, a fresh kielbasa, and sauerkraut. The stuffed cabbage was okay, but I found it to taste a bit too much like plain meatloaf. There was some rice mixed in with the ground beef, but not enough. The sauce was good though. For the pierogies, I had the choice of meat, sauerkraut and cheese, or potato & cheese. I went with the potato & cheese, and I have no complaints about them. It's amazing how much better fresh pierogies are compared to those frozen pierogies from the supermarket. The kielbasa was good and tasted like a Polish sausage should. The sauerkraut was interesting. It wasn't as tart and was very finely chopped when compared to most sauerkraut that I've eaten, but it was still good.

Overall, the food was pretty good for the most part. All that meat and the lack of vegetables was a little more than I'm used to eating in one sitting, but I guess that's the way they eat in Poland.

I wanted to get some poppy seed cake for dessert, but they didn't have any on the day I ate at the restaurant. They had apple strudel instead, but I'm not a big fan of cooked apples. Poppy cake or rolls are much better...

Return to the Chop Shop

I had eaten at the Chop Shop Restaurant in Deltona, FL once before just after they opened. The restaurant was up to par last time with decent service and good food. Tonight I returned to the Chop Shop to eat dinner for a second time and it seems the restaurant has developed some problems.

It initially took a while for the drinks to be brought to the table, and then took an even longer time for the waitress to come back to take our food order. I ordered their Jambalaya. Another person dining with me ordered something called the Seafood Trio, which included shrimp, scallops, and mahi-mahi. Someone else at the table ordered a mahi-mahi dinner. The waitress was asked if some substitutions could be made in the meal involving the side dishes. These involved replacing a baked potato for French fries and changing the vegetable side from zucchini to broccoli, both of which were on the menu as sides. The answer was a firm no. According to the waitress, the owners made it very clear that there are absolutely no substitutions on their new menu.

After an insane amount of time, the food finally came. Someone at the table noted the time after we had already waited a while. It took our food an hour to come from that point.

I had no complaints with my Jambalaya. It was actually really good coming from a restaurant that didn't specialize in Cajun food. There were nice big shrimp and a generous amount of sliced andouille sausage. It wasn't so spicy where it would leave you wanting a drink, but it wasn't bland either. There was a nice heaping portion on the plate, almost too much to eat.


My Jambalaya may have been good, but there was another issue at the table. Remember the Seafood Trio that was ordered and the whole no substitutions thing? It turned out that the Chop Shop was all out of scallops, so they substituted the scallops with a few extra shrimp. Instead of doing the right thing by telling the customer that the restaurant was out of a major component of the meal, they made this substitution without asking. It seems a bit hypocritical to me that customers don't have the right to ask for a substitution on a side item, but the restaurant can substitute a major component of the main dish without asking first. The person that ordered this Seafood Trio, which was actually an unannounced Seafood Duo for the night complained about this stating that scallops were the highlight of the meal, and the waitress was vaguely apologetic. She agreed that what happened was wrong, but she passed the blame on to the kitchen and said something should have been done about the situation. The manager/owner of the restaurant was requested, and the waitress announced that she was the manager. She did not offer to do anything about the situation...

I don't think I'll return to the Chop Shop anytime soon. My food may have been good, but the service was pretty bad...

Bairrada Rodizio Churrasqueira Restaurant

I ate take out Portuguese food for lunch from the Bairrada Rodizio Churrasqueira Restaurant in Mineola, NY. Roast suckling pig and mixed grill were ordered.

The roast suckling pig was good. The pig was served still in it's skin. There was a bit of fat in the meat, but as far as pork goes, the pig was very tasty and tender. It was served with rice and homemade potato chips. They needed some salt, but otherwise were very good.


The mixed grill consisted of a skewer of chicken, steak, sausage, onions, bell peppers, and sweet potatoes. It was served with rice and french fries. I am not a big fan of steak, so I didn't think it was anything that good, but at least it was well done rather than having the blood squirt out of the dead cow flesh when you take a bite. The chicken was tasty, but the best meat on the skewer was the sausage. The rest of the meat all tasted basically like char-grilled meats, while the sausage actually had a distinct flavor.

Eating the food as take out didn't give you the whole churrasqueira experience with waiters walking around with meat on sticks, slicing it at your table, but the food was still good. Take out was a whole lot cheaper too!