Not open for lunch... (Gringos Locos)

well their hours on their website (http://eatgringos.com/menu.php) say open from 11-3 on Fridays...tried to go into ... closed...

has anyone else tried them during the day time? no luck?




::update:: 2/1/10
Finally was able to get my hands on one of their burritos at midnight during the week the past week. Taste? Pretty good, not too salty (salt sensitive) and I was kind of concerned it would taste like the food had been sitting their all day waiting to be eaten...but it wasn't that bad. There was no one else there on a Thursday evening at midnight, but I was thankful they were open b/c I was starving! Good alternative to after club pizza. I wish that more club goers were aware they are there! I asked them how their lunch rush was and they said it actually was very busy all at once. So that is good to hear. Sounds like they open up during high traffic times, which I guess makes sense, why waste sitting around when you will maybe get 1 or 2 customers during offpeak times. Overall good eats for times I don't want to venture too far from my doorstep ...and A++ for being open super late!

Smashburger coming to Orlando!

20 Orlando Smashburgers over the next five years as reported by the Orlando Business Journal!

http://orlando.bizjournals.com/orlando/stories/2010/01/04/daily10.html?ed=2010-01-05&ana=e_du_pub

Locations more middle america and out west, I wonder if it will be able to rival the existing chains and ma n pa burger joints in town!

Put one downtown in one of the vacant condo restaurant spots please!!!

http://www.smashburger.com

Another froyo joint... (Mochi)

Have the froyo wars officially moved to the East Coast? About friggin time! The west coast has been in the middle of a war of sorts, yogurt wars! There is Red Mango, Cefiore, PinkBerry, and tons of other one off and less recognized franchises in California. Pull up a google map view of all the frozen yogurts and you will find tons of little dots all over the west coast and finally you might here in Central Florida as well!

Is it a trend? I don't think so, I love the stuff! Best thing is, you can't really buy it in the store. So you have to support the local joints in town and make your way into these places! Mochi has a couple of other locations Jacksonville and Gainesville. And where you find a Mochi, a Bento Cafe is not too far away either! Same owners? Perhaps, or maybe its just business partners. Who knows, but they know what they are doing. I would have to consider myself a froyo aficionado of sorts. I've had just about most of the froyo places in town (minus a couple of places in areas I don't venture often anymore). And I have had Pinkberry in Cali and a couple of other small franchises that exist out there. So far Pinkberry and Cefiore have been the highest ranking for my taste buds. The froyo wars began where it was counter service but the newest rage is self serve. Where a lot of places out on the west are converting to a selfserve style, some Orlando places have decided to open just as that.

Mochi is just that selfserve froyo, taste any that you'd like, put as much as you would like in a cup and top it off as you see fit. Weigh it, and at .45 cents and oz. You got yourself your own personal froyo! Do I like the concept? I could do without as I hate how many hands have been on those machines and touched all the spoons of the toppings. I do prefer the traditional counter service. But lets get to how this stuff tastes! My first visit to Tutti Frutti on Park ave, the yogurt was way too icey and bland. Not at Mochi! The yogurt was just the right tartness and creamy texture I had grown accustomed to.

Great stuff and even better that all I have to do is walk 5 minutes from my apartment to get some at most hours of the day or night! It is open till midnight during the week and 2am on Friday and Saturdays! I sure hope they continue these hours!

Take Mochi for a spin, or a tug/pull on their yogurt machines, you won't regret it!

Mochi
145 South Orange Avenue
Orlando, FL 32801
(407) 425-9797
http://www.mymochiyogurt.com/

Simple Sushi (Sushi Hatsu)

Living in downtown Orlando, I have found myself visiting a lot more of the restaurants in the area. One in particular is not so far from my dwelling, Sushi Hatsu. I decided to try it on one of the recent too cold for Orlando nights.

Walking in, you notice it is a small quaint place. I almost feel like I walked into one of the million chinese/vietnamese/thai restaurants in San Francisco. There is a small sushi bar with a TV playing the Magic game. Score! Already a win in my book :) Sushi and the Magic game, I am a happy camper. We are greeted by the Sushi chef behind the counter and quickly greeted by our Waiter. Everyone looked Japanese, so I thought this had to be authentic! I ordered a hot water to warm myself up from the outdoor chill and looked over the menu. A very basic sushi menu, all the typical rolls, dynamite, dragon, philly, etc.. I decided to go with 2 house rolls, which was a salmon roll tempura fried and rerolled with roe (if I remember correctly). My date had 2 philly rolls. I am not a huge raw fish fan, so you may think this isn't a true sushi review. My date though loves his sushi and he felt that it tasted very fresh and was great for the price! My rolls were very good and the portions were great.

I love the small, ma n pa feel of the restaurant. I will definitely be back and recommend it for anyone in the area of a sushi fix!

Sushi Hatsu
24 East Washington Street
Orlando, FL 32801-2311
(407) 422-1551

Cup o Joe (Rock N Joe)

Quick entry tonight, on my way to the Target in SODO, I wanted to give other coffee shops a try. I decided to try a cup of coffee at Rock n Joe's in Sodo. I walk in, no one in sight except about 3 customers reading and on their computers. So I check out the menu, I take about 30-45secs to see what I want. I walk around the front of the counter to peer through the back to see if any of the staff spot me. No one. I walk around the side for another view, no one. Hmmm ok about 2-3 minutes has passed by. Alright, guess they don't want my business? I walked out. You would think that places like these, newly opened joints in a less populated, less foot traffic area would die for customers. I mean as I walked to Rock N Joe's I was given a menu to OLV a new restaurant in SODO, and that made me look at the menu and want to go in the next time we go out for dinner.

Downtown Tacos (Mucho Tequila and Tacos)

Checked out the newly opened Mucho Tequila and Tacos at the corner of S. Eola and Pine St. It is located across the former "Beacon" Restaurant and Bar newly named Imansion. To my amazement, Mucho was very nicely decorated....

insert proverbial record scratch sound clip

and this review was started after my first visit I went to Mucho...and the food was very good at that time.

BUT....... a group of us stopped in last night...around 9:40pm and was told to sit anywhere ....once a waitress came up to us...we were told the kitchen is closed......!!!! ok first of all why were we told to sit anywhere w/o a mention of the kitchen being closed FIRST....then we asked what time does the kitchen close? she said 10pm......um yea that is in 20minutes!

The food was good our first visit, but that type of service on our 2nd visit is something that will keep me from coming back....good luck to them... and the rest of their restaurant ventures that seem to be doing oh so well out in that area!

Edit:
Gave them another shot last night, while the food was excellent, we went back knowing they were apart of the buy local orlando program and as stated on the buylocal website, 15% off meal. It wasn't honored! They said you can try and come back another time and hopefully we can give a discount then!!! WTF? They offer something and then did not honor it, boo on them! Buy local should review Mucho's participation as that advertised discount is what got our group back in the door, false advertisement! If their computer couldn't do it, they should have thrown something in as good customer service...just a tip ;)

http://muchotequilaandtacos.com/index.asp
Mucho Tequila & Tacos
101 S. Eola, Orlando, Florida 32801
Phone: (407)-the worm or (407)-843-9676

roach coach burgers? am i crazy? (Junior's)

Last night I was dragged to some roach coach that a few of my friends drive more than 45 min to have a burger at. They call it hamburguesa (Hamburger in Spanish). The appeal? Other than the exquisite furniture plastic lawn chairs, the burgers are served with crushed potato chips, some pineapple sauce and garlic ranch dressing all in one. Juniors also has Arepas, Shish Kabobs and Chorizo. The burgers were good, the bun was toasted and the crushed potato chips added a nice texture. Would I drive out of my way to make it to this place? Probably not, but if I were in the area and had a hankering, sure why not! The burgers were $5 and an Arepa was $4. Prices stayed around that mark.














The trailer is parked in a small food mart plaza, here is the google street view: http://tinyurl.com/yb9zhvb

Junior's aka Hamburguesa
5697 Vineland Road
Orlando, FL 32819