**** (4 stars)
Really homey decor and service is the highlight here. A extensive list of traditional Southern cooking, plu more than a dozen burgers. The five o'clock burger was just what I was looking for.
Time To Eat
7351 Theodore Dawes Rd
Theodore, AL 36582
*** (3 stars)
This restaurant is the best table service choice in Terminal A. Over the past few years the menu has become a bit more conventional. The most welcome change is that they now offer Pepsi products instead of their own weird sodas.
Breakfast is hearty, but the best choices are BBQ and burgers at "dinner", which begins at 10am.
Cask & Larder
1 Jeff Fuqua Blvd
Orlando, FL 32827
***** (5 stars)
Nice crusty biscuits that stay together while you eat your breakfast sandwich. We upgraded ours to the MacGregor, which includes bacon, cheese, and onions. Honestly, just the biscuit alone would have been more than enough. Good coffee, too.
Honest Biscuits
1901 Western Ave
Seattle, WA 98101
***** (5 stars)
This is a fabulous restaurant with great indoor and outdoor dining areas.
The way to go here is with the "Chef's Choice," a very reasonably priced sampling of a large portion of the menu. We loved everything. The standouts are starred:
Hummus
*Whipped feta with honey
*Bacon wrapped dates
Turnip noodles
Heirloom tomatoes
*Avocado crispy rice
*English pea gnocchetti
Pork Schnitzel
*Coconut Malbi with black lime and caramel cashews
As you can see, it was a lot!
At least for this location (there's another in Charleston) and on this dinner visit, the isn't much "butcher" involved, as most of the menu focuses on complex and wonderful vegetarian dishes.
Service was friendly and the meal was perfectly paced.
Highly recommended.
Butcher & Bee
902 Main St
Nashville, TN 37206
***** (5 stars)
This seems to be Nashville’s definitive hot chicken. It’s certainly very busy, so plan to go at a weird time to avoid long lines.
The half chicken with two sides is a great deal, and plenty for two people to share. I recommend getting medium spicy, even if you like hot food, because anything spicier and you will not be able to taste the chicken at all. Medium is plenty spicy.
If you prefer something a bit less messy and easier to handle, the chicken sandwich is a great choice. It comes with one side, and the components of the sandwich cool the chicken off a bit.
For sides we tried black-eyed peas, krinkle fries, and coleslaw, and all were excellent.
There’s a nice outdoor seating area. Service is friendly.
Hot Hattie B’S Chicken – Nashville
112 19th Ave S
Nashville, TN 37203
https://www.yelp.com/biz/hot-hattie-bs-chicken-nashville-nashville
Interior
Exterior
Breakfast sandwich
Grilled banana nut muffin
***** (5 stars)
This place could serve as the set for the musical Waitress. It’s and old-fashioned neighborhood diner where everyone knows your name and remembers your order.
The food is well prepared classic diner food that avoids being too heavy or greasy while still achieving that traditional sinful goodness.
If you like your meal served with a dose of friendly cheer this is the place.
Sharon’s Homestyle Cookin’
5667 S Orange Ave
Pine Castle, FL 32809
(407) 856-9565
https://www.yelp.com/biz/sharons-homestyle-cookin-pine-castle
Pork platter
Exterior
Interior
Sauces
***** (5 stars)
Orlando is an excellent town for barbecue, with many great choices, and a lot of different styles, from Southern to Midwestern and more. I like the barbecue here better than almost anywhere I travel to, because of that diversity. And I have to say, of all the great Orlando barbecue places I patronize, Ellie Lou’s is the best.
I had the pork platter with two sides. I was expecting sliced pork, so I was pleased when something more like burnt ends appeared: succulent chunks of lean, moist pork, with a nice charred crust on some of the pieces. It was a generous serving, too.
I liked all four BBQ sauces on the table: Kansas City (sweet), Memphis, Hot, and Mustard. The combination of the first three was my favorite. All of them are made in-house, and it shows.
Also made in-house are the sides. The baked beans were loaded with chunks of meat; a squirt of sauce and they were perfect. One of my favorite parts of the whole meal was the potato salad, which was also obviously homemade, with big chunks of potato, a creamy dressing and lots of herbs.
The two slices of garlic bread were also excellent: fresh, crispy and with lots of garlic butter.
Perhaps the thing that most distinguishes Ellie Lou’s is the environment. It’s not crowded and is actually quite pleasant inside. And even though you order at a counter, the staff is very attentive once you’re seated, so it’s like a real restaurant. A real GOOD restaurant.
Ellie Lou’s Brews & BBQ
336 Moore Rd
Ocoee, FL 34761
(407) 347-9515
http://www.yelp.com/biz/ellie-lous-brews-and-bbq-ocoee
Exterior
Interior
Counter and menu
Magoo’s favorite salad
Buffalo chicken salad
**** (4 stars)
When I read about a new chicken tenders place I imagined something like Chick fil a, which I despise, but Huey Magoo’s is much, much better. For one thing, if you get the chicken grilled rather than battered, it’s actually healthful.
We tried two different salads. Magoo’s Favorite, mixed greens with grilled chicken, cranberries, walnuts, grape tomatoes, & raspberry walnut vinaigrette dressing. The chicken was a bit bland, but the dressing was excellent.
Even better was the Buffalo Chicken Salad ordered with grilled chicken. It included bleu cheese crumbles, and grape tomatoes. Unlike the menu description it was made with mixed greens, not romaine. And rather then jalapeño ranch & spicy Magoo’s dressing it came with a wonderful blue cheese dressing. Thanks to the Buffalo sauces, this chicken really had a lot of flavor. This was really a top-notch salad, far beyond expectations for a quick serve restaurant.
They have a Coke freestyle machine.
While there isn’t table service, the staff was attentive.
Huey Magoo’s Chicken Tenders
7538 W Sand Lake Rd
Orlando, FL 32819
(407) 203-2051
http://www.yelp.com/biz/huey-magoos-chicken-tenders-orlando
Smoked brisket 1/4 pound
St Louis Ribs & Cole slaw
Exterior
Interior
***** (5 stars)
This small shotgun style business is always packed, and there’s a reason. While there is lots of pretty good BBQ in Orlando, it’s largely represented by small local chains such as Bubbalou’s and 4 Rivers. While those places turn out some good products, Harry and Larry’s seems to take it to another level, because of the small, home-made approach to everything.
Both the St. Louis Ribs and the Smoked Brisket I tried were, simply put, awesome, with a smokey crust and tender, flavourful meat.
Even the house-made coleslaw was a cut above, with fresh, crisp cabbage and carrot flavors coming through the light and flavorful sauce.
The only miss was the soggy piece of grilled bread served with the ribs.
Note: It can be a bit confusing on your first visit. You order at the counter (inside or out) and if you’re dining in they give you a playing card to put on your table to keep track of who to deliver it to.
Harry and Larry’s Barbeque
54 W Plant St
Winter Garden, FL 34787
(407) 614-5950
https://www.yelp.com/biz/harry-and-larrys-barbeque-winter-garden
CL burger with cheddar
Crispy cauliflower
Grilled fish
Drinks
Menu
Exterior
Interior
*** (3 stars)
This is certainly a step up in the food available in the D terminal at MCO. Fans who remember the food at the Cask and Larder in Winter Park may be disappointed, but the food her is certainly above average for an airport.
The open atmosphere is sunny and pleasant, and spacious enough to feel like a bit of an oasis from the bustle of the gates. The menu focuses on Southern and barbecue, which means the only healthy choices are three salads and the grilled fish. I chose the latter. The fish was a nice piece of swordfish, which was a bit well done, but good. The accompanying rice was delicious. Zucchini and tomatoes were very overcooked.
We also tried the CL Burger. It was a generous two patties, and we opted for cheddar rather than blue cheese. The best thing were the crispy fries, well worth the extra three bucks.
Speaking of crispy, the Crispy Cauliflower wasn’t. It also wasn’t very good: a small, overpriced portion served in an oddly sweet sauce.
Service was friendly. The kitchen was pretty slow, considering there were few customers at 10:30 am, but it’s more a place to relax than somewhere for a quick bite.
I’ll go back, but I’ll stick with the burgers and BBQ.
Cask & Larder
1 Jeff Fuqua Blvd
Gates 100-129
Orlando, FL 32827
(321) 280-4200
https://www.yelp.com/biz/cask-and-larder-orlando