Lunch pizza special
**** (4 stars)
This new location replaced the old tired building just to the south. Unfortunately the buffet didn’t make the move. It was the last surviving one in Central Florida. But the new location is bright and airy, and the service is friendly.
The food is, of course, standard Pizza Hut food.
Pizza Hut
12195 S Apopka Vineland Rd
Orlando, FL 32836
(407) 239-0205
https://www.yelp.com/biz/pizza-hut-orlando-51
Kings Double Cheese and Bacon Burger
Interior
Exterior
**** (4 stars)
Extensive menu of burgers, Brazilian and some Italian food. It’s not a fancy place inside, and the counter service can be slow.
Burger was good, and fries were excellent, but the highlight is being able to serve yourself over 30 different ice creams–not soft serve, not yoghurt, but real dip it yourself ice cream.
Kings Point Ice Cream & Burger
7231 International Dr
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 868-9079
https://www.yelp.com/biz/kings-point-ice-cream-and-burger-orlando
Classic burger
Interior
Exterior
*** (3 stars)
The highlight of this restaurant is the beautiful interior design, one of the best in all of Orlando, and quite shocking given the rather pedestrian strip mall location.
We went for lunch, and were the only customers throughout lunch hour. I suspect this is because of the pricing, which seems very high for Orlando. The affordable items on the menu were salads and burgers. We tried two of the burgers, the H burger and the classic. Oddly, the classic was the least classic of the two, with a rather strangely seasoned and textured patty. To its credit, the bun stayed firm. Accompanying truffle fries were good.
Whether Orlando is ready for a place where some lunch entrees are over $30 remains to be seen.
The H Cuisine
7512 Dr Phillips Blvd
Ste 80
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 930-3020
https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-h-cuisine-orlando
Interior
Exterior
Belgian waffle and bacon
**** (4 stars)
I guess I’m a little ambivalent about Keke’s menu. It’s probably because I’m not a big fan of sweets, and the emphasis here is on sweet variants of waffles and pancakes.
The rest of the menu is pretty much typical eggs and omelet dishes that aren’t particular standouts, and are more expensive that at traditional coffee shops.
On the other hand, the atmosphere is bright and open, and the service is excellent.
Keke’s Breakfast Cafe
6526 Old Brick Rd
Ste 130
Windermere, FL 34786
(407) 612-5800
https://www.yelp.com/biz/kekes-breakfast-cafe-windermere
Interior
Thin mint shake
***** (5 stars)
This is an old fashioned soda fountain and ice cream place. I really like the ambiance.
I had the thin mint shake, which had a great mint flavor and huge chunks of chocolate. Excellent!
It’s attached to The Doghouse, so you can have a dog, tots and dessert, all at the same table.
Service was friendly.
The Soda Fountain
2525 Edgewater Dr
Orlando, FL 32804
(407) 540-1006
https://www.yelp.com/biz/the-soda-fountain-orlando
Exterior
Chili dog and BBQ tots
**** (4 stars)
This is a small counter service place in college park that offers hotdogs and tater tots. There are premade specials, or you can just specify whatever you want on your dog and tots. I tried the certified angus beef dog with mustard, onions and chili. The bun had a good consistency, and the chili was okay. I wasn’t wowed by the meat, so I might try the regular do the next time.
It’s attached to a larger ice cream shop with more seating. and you can have a shake for dessert.
Service was friednly.
Doghouse
2527 Edgewater Dr
Orlando, FL 32804
(407) 412-5409
https://www.yelp.com/biz/doghouse-orlando
Interior
Exterior
Tacos Al pastor
Vegetable fajitas
**** (4 stars)
This I-Drive Tex-Mex restaurant is certainly an improvement on the counter-serve concept that was here before. Now there is full table service. While the menu seems to be a bit tourist priced, there are some excellent lunch deals.
The best deal of all is the house margarita, which is very well made, generous, and is about half price during the day. Plus, it comes with free queso which was quite tasty.
We enjoyed all the menu items we tried, and the service was pleasant.
Pepe’s Cantina
5415 International Dr
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 317-6649
https://www.yelp.com/biz/pepe-s-cantina-orlando
Interior
The Silo
***** (5 stars)
Roque offers a very extensive selection of beers on tap, and a really staggering list of beers in bottles and cans. There are many local offerings, and the list is brilliantly categorized by style, alcohol, bitterness and color. This was the most informative beer list I’ve ever seen, and is ther reason for their fifth star.
Unlike many of the beer-centric places in town, they also have a nice menu of sandwiches and pub food. The Silo was piled high with tender roast beef, and the grilled cheese panini was even better.
Service was fast and friendly, and there are darts and electronic games, plus live entertainment and special events most nights of the week.
Roque Pub
3076 Curry Ford Rd
Orlando, FL 32806
(407) 985-3778
https://www.yelp.com/biz/roque-pub-orlando
Interior
Cantina bowl
Quesadilla
Frijol torta
*** (3 stars)
If Currito were a Mexican restaurant in my neighborhood I probably wouldn’t be a regular visitor. But on the other hand, I’m not a regular visitor to places like Chipotle or Tijuana Flats, and frankly the food is better at Currito.
The atmosphere isn’t bad–considering the time-worn condition of this terminal at La Guardia, they’ve carved out a cozy niche.
We tried a quesadilla, some chips and salsa, a bowl and a wrap. All of them were just fine. The salsa was better than at half the Mexican restaurants I go to, and the chips were nice and crisp.
The house margarita is excellent, and a decent value and size serving for an airport drink.
Service was polite and reasonably attentive.
Currito
Newark International Airport
Terminal A
Newark, NJ 07114
(973) 547-7938
https://www.yelp.com/biz/currito-newark-3
Intererior
Exterior
Turkey Club
Fresh Tuna Salad Club
**** (4 stars)
This narrow space near the theatre district is still decorated the way I imagine it was designed in the 1960s, which is pretty cool. (Well, actually, their air conditioning on a hot day was not particularly effective, if it was working at all, so it wasn’t literally cool, just figuratively.)
The menu is classic diner food, and most portions are enormous. I had a turkey club, and one I located it under a mountain of french fries, I thought it was delicious. Even better was the iced coffee, one of the best I’ve had anywhere.
Unlike some complaints I’ve seen online, I thought the service was excellent, with a plethora of servers constantly refilling our drinks and checking on us, even though they were very busy. I would definitely stop here again for a pre-theatre lunch.
Times Square Diner
807 8th Ave
New York, NY 10019
(212) 315-2400
https://www.yelp.com/biz/times-square-diner-new-york-4