Pitaria in Tallahasse, FL

I was in Tallahassee and had lunch at a restaurant called Pitaria. This was a Greek restaurant on the edge of Florida State University. Because of this, the majority of the patrons in here appeared to be college students.

I had a pita called the Gyro Supreme. This consisted of gyro meat topped with tomatoes, sauteed onions, mushrooms, bell pepper, tzatziki sauce, and feta cheese. While the contents of the pita were very tasty individually, I found it to be kind of salty. I'm not normally one to complain about a food being too salty. I normally enjoy salty foods, but the combination of the feta and salty gyro meat in this pita crossed my salt threshold. The Gyro Supreme left me feeling very thirsty.

Would I return here if I lived a bit closer to Tallahassee? Probably. Next time I wouldn't order a pita filled with a combination of multiple salty foods.

Lu Lu's Ice Cream Shop in Winter Park, FL

Lu Lu's Ice Cream Shop is located in the parking lot of Eat More Produce in Winter Park. Lu Lu's is in a very small building. They actually appear to be in a shed. The shed is very nicely painted to look like a house. Regardless of their small size, they had a good selection of ice cream flavors.

I decided to try their blood orange sorbet on my last visit here. I was actually a bit surprised by the color of the ice cream. It lacked both the deep red of blood orange or the brighter orange of most orange sorbets. Instead, the sorbet was more of a tan color. This probably means Lu Lu's doesn't artificially color their ice cream, which is a good thing. The sorbet was very tasty, with a fresh orange taste. Citrus flavored sorbets are always refreshing to me for some reason.

I like the ice cream at Lu Lu's. I'll definitely be stopping here again sometime in the future...

Bagel King in Debary, FL

Bagel King is a local chain with several locations throughout the Central Florida area. One of their smaller locations is in Debary at the intersection of 17-92 and Highbanks Road. I've been to this location a couple times now. On my first visit, I tried a cheddar bagel with cream cheese. I don't think I had ever tried a cheddar bagel anywhere before this. I've had other types of cheese on bagels, but not cheddar.

On another visit to this Bagel King, I had an everything bagel with cream cheese. This bagel seemed skimpy with the amount of seeds. There were seeds on both sides of the bagel which is always a plus, but there seemed to be less seeds compared to other Bagel King bagels that I've had in the past. Perhaps I just got a bad batch.

While I enjoyed my bagels at Bagel King, I didn't enjoy how unpleasant the employees have been in this location. They gave the impression that they really didn't want to be there and seemed angry that they had to slice my bagel. Regardless, Bagel King's bagels are definitely better than chain bagels. Then again, there aren't any of the big chains in Debary (Panera, Einsteins, or Dunkin Donuts) so Bagel King seems to have the bagel monopoly in this city!

3 Chefs Chinese Restaurant in Miami, FL

On a visit to South Florida, I had dinner at 3 Chefs Chinese Restaurant in Miami. It was a nice night, so we decided to dine outside at the tables 3 Chefs had out front.

I ordered the Szechuan Shrimp dinner combination. This meal started with a bowl of wonton soup.

An egg roll was served next:

Which was then followed by the main course. This came with several large shrimp mixed with various vegetables. The sauce used on the Szechuan shrimp had a nice kick, which is a good thing. The little pepper icon on the menu denoting a spicy dish actually meant something here. Fried rice was served on the side.

3 Chefs Chinese Restaurant served pretty standard American style Chinese food. Everything was fairly similar to what countless other Chinese restaurants serve. Regardless, the food was tasty. I enjoyed the sauce on the shrimp and it came with a nice variety of vegetables.

Buttonwood Cafe in Flamingo, FL

While visiting South Florida, I ventured deep within Everglades National Park and found myself in the former town of Flamingo. Flamingo is the furthest south that you can travel in the park by road. Flamingo was an actual town at one point which was occupied in the late 19th and early 20th century. Eventually Flamingo became a ghost town and was incorporated into the national park. The ruins of the former ghost town are apparently still present, but today Flamingo consists of a visitors center, marina, campsite, and an abundance of alligators and crocodiles.

Behind the bright pink Flamingo Visitor Center, there is a screened in area that houses a restaurant called the Buttonwood Cafe. The location provides a very nice view of Florida Bay.

The restaurant itself was essentially a food truck with table service. There was a trailer attached to the screen enclosure where all of the cooking was done. Servers took orders and delivered food. Apparently there was a more permanent restaurant here in the past which was destroyed by hurricanes and was never fully rebuilt.

I ordered the grouper sandwich. This consisted of a fried filet of fish on a bun with lettuce, tomato, onion, and tartar sauce included alongside the sandwich. I assembled all of the sandwich components together and this ended up being a tasty sandwich. The large piece of grouper was freshly breaded and fried. The breading had a very nice peppery flavor. The bun was a step above a standard hamburger roll. Coleslaw and fries were served on the side.

I enjoyed my meal at Buttonwood Cafe. It was my first experience dining in one of Florida's National Parks. It was also the furthest south I've ever eaten in peninsular Florida. I'd gladly return to the Everglades to eat here again!

Wolfgang Puck Express in Downtown Disney, Lake Buena Vista, FL

I recently braved the massive construction at Downtown Disney as it is transformed into Disney Springs and ate dinner at Wolfgang Puck Express. This is one of two Wolfgang Puck restaurants in Downtown Disney. This particular restaurant is located in the Marketplace section of Downtown Disney and is the lower priced of the two. Wolfgang Puck Express is a quick service restaurant and they seem to specialize in pizzas, pastas, and sandwiches. According to their menu, the ingredients used are organic and locally sourced.

There were three of us who ate here on this particular visit. We each ordered a different pizza and traded slices to compare. I ordered the Fennel Sausage Pizza. This consisted of crumbled sausage, pesto, roasted sweet peppers, and mozzarella. The pie was tasty, although the crust seemed to get very soggy underneath wherever the sausage was. The slices seemed to loose some of their structural integrity because of this.

Barbecued Chicken Pizza was another pie that was tried at our table. This was topped with chicken, grilled red onions, cilantro, roasted tomatoes, and barbeque sauce. I can't exactly pinpoint what it is, but variations of barbecue pizzas don't do much for me. This wasn't necessarily a bad pie, but I wouldn't order it on my own. Perhaps it the unexpected (even when it is expected) barbecue sauce rather than a more standard tomato sauce that catches me off guard.

Finally, I also tried the Four Cheese Pesto Pizza. This one was my personal favorite of the three pies. The four cheeses were mozzarella, goat cheese, parmesan, and fontina. It was topped with pesto, fresh tomatoes, and sun-dried tomatoes. Goat cheese should be put on pizza more often because it is delicious!

Overall, I enjoyed the pizza at Wolfgang Puck Express. I know there's a celebrity chef name attached to the restaurant, but this is still essentially food in a theme park's outdoor shopping mall. With that in mind, Wolfgang Puck Express sets a pretty high bar when it comes to pizza catering to the theme park demographic. The prices are relatively affordable as well. I'd return.

903 Mills Market in Orlando, FL

I bought myself lunch from a restaurant called 903 Mills Market. They are located in a residential area on Mills Avenue, not too far south of Downtown Orlando. I remember hearing good things about this restaurant in the past. I don't remember exactly who first told me about 903 Mills Market or what exactly they said about it besides a recommendation that I should try the restaurant. 

I ordered their Italian sandwich to go. As I was waiting for my order, it became apparent that 903 Mills Market had a very large beer selection. This may have held my interest a bit longer if I was a beer connoisseur, but alas, I am not. My sandwich was ready soon enough. Being that it was a nice day out, it was eaten in a nearby park.

The Italian consisted of ham, salami, provolone cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, mayonnaise, and an olive tapenade. The contents of the of the sandwich were good. They were generous with all of the fillings. The vegetables were nice and fresh. The slightly spicy olive tapenade added an extra burst of flavor. That being said, the bread ruined the sandwich for me. The Italian was served on a very mushy white bread roll. Bread is a big component in a sandwich. It should add to the overall sandwich experience, where this bread did not. They might as well have use a supermarket hamburger bun because this bread was very similar.

I had ordered the sandwich as a combo. This meant that I also received a side and a drink with my sandwich. I picked their potato salad as my side. The potato salad was okay, but really didn't have any standout flavor.

While 903 Mills Market did have some other sandwiches that sounded interesting to me, I don't know if I'm in a rush to return soon. The sandwich contents were good, all to be brought down with a poor bread choice. They were also a bit pricy with a sandwich, drink, and a tiny cup of potato salad costing over $11. Perhaps I'll return to 903 Mills Market in the future or perhaps not. They didn't get placed on my list of restaurants that I want to return to ASAP.

Tamale Co. in Orlando, FL

I was at the Orlando Farmers Market at Lake Eola a few weeks ago and had lunch from the Tamale Co. tent. The Tamale Co. is also a local food truck in Orlando that seems to frequent events like the Food Truck Bazaars. This was my first encounter with them at the farmers market so I was interested in trying their "Mexican Gourmet Tamales."

The tamales were $4.50 each, or two for $8. I was both hungry and trying to be economical, so I ordered the two tamales. I first tried the Verde Chicken Tamale. This tamale was my favorite of the two. The corn tamale was topped with shredded chicken in a chile verde sauce, topped with tomitillo cream sauce, cilantro aioli, cheese, and cilantro leaves. The other tamale was the Choriqueso. This consisted of chorizo sausage and chihuahua cheese served in a red sauce with cilantro sprinkled over the top. During the first few bites of my tamales, I prefered the Choriqueso out of the two. About half way through, the spicy flavors in the Verde grew on me and the Choriqueso suddenly seemed bland in relation.

Both of the tamales were tasty and I'm looking forward to trying the Tamale Co. again sometime in the future. Perhaps next time I'll catch them when they're in food truck form rather than tent form.

Orlando's Cheesesteak & Gyro in Lake Buena Vista, FL

I had lunch at a restaurant called Orlando's Cheesesteak & Gyro in a strip mall on Apopka-Vineland Road, not far from Disney property. There is apparently a large Islamic community in the area because the majority of the restaurants in this shopping center advertized halal food. There was a halal Chinese restaurant. There were hookah bars, and then there was this restaurant, which also was halal.

I ordered their Gyro and Greek Salad combo. The gyro consisted of a pita filled with thinly sliced gyro meat (I'm assuming lamb?), lettuce, tomato, onions, and tzatziki.  The meat was very flavorful and seemed slightly spicier than gyro meat that I've had elsewhere. They were a bit skimpy on the vegetables in the pita, but I did have a big plate of salad to go with the sandwich.

The Greek salad was nothing to write home about. It consisted of iceburg lettuce, tomato, cucumbers, and feta cheese. It was topped with what tasted like store bought Italian dressing, which I didn't like very much.

My gyro here was pretty good. I didn't like the salad dressing, but otherwise it was a good lunch. Definitely much better than the Papa John's next door (I don't think pepperoni pizza is halal).

Baja Tavern in Port Canaveral, FL

I was in Port Canaveral looking for lunch. The person who I ate with had some sort of inside information that the best restaurant in the port was supposedly called Baja Tavern.

 We ate on the patio overlooking the water. For some reason this entire restaurant, inside and out, stunk like old lady perfume. Restaurants shouldn't have overpowering smells of anything.

I had the Big Bang Burrito. This was filled with fried shrimp, lettuce, tomato, cabbage, carrots, and a bang bang sauce. The shrimp had some nice flavor on the batter, but otherwise the burrito was boring and dry. The bang bang sauce seemed non-existent. Tortilla chips and salsa were served on the side.

Before I left the restaurant, I used the restroom. I noticed they had racist email jokes hanging on the bathroom walls. Is it wise to potentially offend some of your customers? The food here was forgettable and the stinky perfume smell was overpowering. I don't think I'll be back any time soon...

Croissant Gourmet in Winter Park, FL

SunRail has officially started service in Orlando as of this week. In order to try out the new train, I decided to ride to Winter Park to get some lunch. You can read all about my experience riding SunRail on a new blog that I started called FloridaTrainAdventures.com. After I got off the train, I walked over to a French restaurant called Croissant Gourmet.

Croissant Gourmet is a French bakery, serving all sorts of delicious looking croissants, pastries, crepes, and sandwiches.

I ordered a sandwich called the Croque Monsieur topped with an egg. I've heard this sandwich also described as a croque madame if egg is involved, but according to the menu this was a croque monsieur. The sandwich consisted of two slices of bread, ham, melted cheese, and a fried egg over the top. Once the yolk was broken, the runny egg was absorbed into the bread giving the sandwich an extra burst of flavor. A salad was served on the side.

I shared a cinnamon raisin roll for dessert. It had a nice, flaky, almost croissant-like texture that I enjoyed. The roll was topped with powdered sugar and was tasty.

I enjoyed my meal at Croissant Gourmet. The food was good, and although it wasn't the cheapest restaurant around, it was more affordable than a couple other similar French bakeries that I've visited. After my meal, I returned to the train station and rode home...

Las Margaritas Mexican Restaurant in Gainesville, FL

I was driving through Gainesville and decided to stop to get dinner. Mexican food sounded good and after finding out the first restaurant choice right off the I-75 exit was closed on Sundays, we ended up at a restaurant called Las Margaritas. The restaurant name was ignored and I didn't have any of their margaritas. Instead, the meal began with chips and salsa.

I ordered the Enchiladas Mexicanas. This dish came with three enchiladas, each with a different filling and sauce. There was a cheese enchilada topped with tomatillo sauce. There was a chicken enchilada with cheese sauce, and a beef enchilada topped with a red sauce. My favorite of the three was the chicken in the cheese sauce. The sauce was almost like a creamy alfredo sauce (but not quite), rather than the typical melted cheese that I've encountered more often in Mexican restaurants. My second favorite was the cheese enchilada with the tomatillo sauce. I do enjoy a tasty tomatillo sauce, and this was indeed tasty. My least favorite was the beef enchilada. This seemed the most boring of the three. Not much was going on when it came to flavor with the ground beef or the red sauce. A salad made from lettuce, pico de gallo, sour cream, and guacamole accompanied the enchiladas. 

I enjoyed my meal at Las Margaritas. After a day of driving, eating here was a nice break before the final stretch home. The food was tasty and the prices were affordable. If I lived closer to Gainesville, I'd return to this restaurant!