I wasn't too impressed when I tried Ben's Deli. Way overpriced for a sandwich that wasn't very good. Here's a more detailed blog post about my opinion of Ben's:
http://watch-me-eat.blogspot.com/2009...

Out of all the deli's I've tried down there, I have to say that Toojays is definitely my favorite...

Jungle Jim's is out of business. It's a Fuddruckers now.

I've found that just getting pure tea drinks isn't worth it at Lollicup. You're basically getting cool aid with candy floating around in it. Next time, get a smoothy instead. That way, you actually get fruit in your drink. My favorite is their AvoCoconut smoothie. Avocado and coconut isn't a combination that I would think of, but it's tasty!

Speaking of Lollicup, I just got word the other day that the Downtown Orlando location (here: http://watch-me-eat.blogspot.com/2008...) has closed up. I haven't been through the area yet, so is there any truth to this?

The best pizza in Florida was from a place called Presto Pizza that used to be in Altamonte Springs where Uptown Altamonte is now, almost exactly where Redbrick Pizza now sits. It was a little no frills place, but Presto had the most authentic NY pizza I've ever had in Florida. When I hear people say that true NY pizza isn't possible in Florida due to the humidity or water, I always think of Presto because they proved it was possible. I have not had another pizza in Florida that compares to Presto since they closed, and I just hope one day the owner of Presto opens up another pizzeria in the area!

I love Scandinavian smoked fish. I've been by the Frosty Mug plenty of times, but have never tried it. I think I'm going to make a point of it next time I'm in Mt. Dora...

I went to check it out last weekend, and I ended up not going in. I was expecting them to charge for the food on top of the $15 admission, but I wasn't expecting them to charge a minimum of $6 an item. I was really only interested in the food, so it really wasn't worth it for me. I'd rather do the Epcot Food and Wine Festival.

Since I was downtown, I gave the Crooked Bayou a try instead. It wasn't quite Jockamos, but it was still pretty good cajun food.
http://watch-me-eat.blogspot.com/2008...

Someone was telling me about a food tasting event at Lake Eola in Downtown Orlando this weekend. They kept on calling it Taste of Orlando, but when I google the event, I get a Taste of Orlando event in Waterford Lakes. Does anyone know of any food related event going on Downtown this weekend that I'm missing, or was I given some bad information?

Thanks!

And he has a second restaurant (Tchop Tchop) in the nearby Royal Pacific Hotel, which is a short walk or boat ride away. I have yet to try either.

I gave the new T-Rex restaurant in Downtown Disney a try this afternoon. It was cool to see once, but isn't someplace I'd probably be returning to any time soon. The food tasted okay, but was way overpriced for what was served. All of the eye candy was very nice, although the dinosaurs moved like construction equipment covered in rubber skins. I did find it amusing that every half hour they would have a simulation of the meteor shower that killed most life on earth. Whoever decided to put that in a kid friendly restaurant is very demented.

I put some pictures and some more thoughts up on my blog if anyone is interested:
http://watch-me-eat.blogspot.com/2008...

I never realized that scallion pancakes were actually Korean rather than Chinese. Like I said, up north in the NY/NJ area, it seems just about every Chinese restaurant that you go into has the pancakes on the menu. Here in FL, I found them at a Chinese restaurant once, which closed up about a month later.

I rarely eat Korean food, but I think I'll need to make a point of it to fill my scallion pancake craving. There are a few Korean restaurants that I've been meaning to try...

Does anyone know of any Chinese restaurants in the Orlando area that serve Scallion Pancakes? It seems scallion pancakes are a standard at Chinese restaurants up north, but around here, I haven't been able to find them anywhere. Any suggestions?

They did change ownership after they moved, and that's when it seemed my favorite types of Cajun food, like the jambalaya and etouffee, became a sometimes menu item instead of an everyday menu item. After that menu change, I really didn't eat there that often...

The Enchanted Oak Tree at Islands of Adventure was one of my favorite themed restaurants at the Orlando theme parks. It was fast food, and the food wasn't anything that exceptional (nothing compared to EPCOT's food), but the building was wonderful. I was disappointed to find out yesterday that the restaurant was demolished due to the construction of the Harry Potter section of the park. I'll miss the restaurant on my visits to Islands of Adventure.

Pictures of the now demolished restaurant here:
http://watch-me-eat.blogspot.com/2008...

On my last visit to EPCOT, I was really disappointed by what they did to the restaurant in Norway. That was one of my favorite restaurants in Disney, especially since I don't know of any other places in Orlando to get Norwegian food (I love smoked fish). I was going to eat there on my last visit, and then found out it became a character restaurant and I decided against it. I don't know if the food is still the same, but having Disney princesses come to my table to interrupt my meal isn't something I want to pay $35 for.

That is very sad to hear. It was one of the few places that I know of in the area that actually served crawfish etouffee (although they didn't have it all the time when the new owners took over). I liked the restaurant better though when it was in the tiny store in Fern Park. It was a whole lot closer to my house, and I have to admit that I rarely made it over to their new location. Either way, it will be missed.

I've heard of the Crooked Bayou, but for some reason I always thought it was a bar and didn't serve real food. I'll need to check it out as well.

I have them a try for lunch today. It was plenty to eat with a nice selection of food, and you can't beat the $20 price that I had with a coupon when compared to the dinner price.

My only complaint was with all of the beef served. I personally find it really unappetizing to see blood dripping out of the meat I'm about to consume, and it seemed this was the case with every skewer of steak that they came around to serve. It would have been nice if they had some throughly cooked steak come around every so often, rather than have every skewer splattering blood on the table cloth as they cut the meat.

More thoughts on the restaurant here:
http://watch-me-eat.blogspot.com/2008...

Has anyone ever been to Texas de Brazil (Orlando) for lunch? I noticed that lunch is almost half the price as dinner. For that big of a price difference, how is the menu for lunch? Is it a big difference from dinner?

I haven't gone in a few years, but back when I did go, I always wished they had some sort of pay-one-price deal where you got to try a bit of everything and not have to shell out more cash for every sample sized portion

I second the Willow Tree...

I second the Udipi Cafe. Go for lunch and eat at their buffet. Very good (and different) Indian food.

Is there any source that everyone is hearing this from?

Where is this Del Dio located in Altamonte Springs? I'm pretty familiar with Altamonte's food choices, but I've never heard of this one...

I second the Black Hammock. You don't get a water view in the restaurant, but the food is pretty good. Outside, it's a short walk across the parking lot and through a biker bar to see one of the most alligator infested bodies of water in Florida. Its fun to flash a camera over the water at night and watch all of the eyes that reflect back...

The Swamp House Restaurant in Orange City is pretty good too, and here you get a wonderful view of the St. Johns.

It was going into Uptown Altamonte in the building with the Cold Stone and Volcanos in it. Drive by at night when the signs are lit up and you can somewhat see the backlit Giordanos sign.

That whole area is pretty sad with how little is open there...

Yep. Same place.

They turned the sign that was up backwards, so it's not a good sign...

2716 E Colonial Dr
Orlando, FL 32803-5025

It's in the Colonial Marketplace Strip Mall. I hope it's still open though. I just noticed the other day that their other location in Altamonte Springs had closed up.

Garibaldi's in Apopka is by far the best in the Orlando area in my opinion. I've eaten here several times and they have yet to disappoint. I know of one other Garibaldi in the area that I have yet to eat at, but from what I understand, the restaurants aren't really connected anyway. Here's my review from my last visit if you're interested:
http://watch-me-eat.blogspot.com/2008...

I haven't eaten here in ages, but Amigos in Altamonte Springs used to be pretty good. I've heard bad stuff about the restaurant though lately, and several other Amigos locations in the area have closed up.

Also, Baja Kitchen is a small restaurant with counter service only, but their salsa bar is amazing. It's worth going just to try out all of the different types of salsa. It's over on Colonial Drive.

I actually did fill out Jockamo's survey on their website about this. Didn't get any response though.

And very true about there being no alternative in Orlando. I'm still waiting for another non-chain cajun restaurant to open somewhere, that has eoutteffe...

I went to Jockamos a few days ago. I had no clue that the ownership had changed, but the people working there now were nowhere as friendly as the previous owners. And my big complaint about the new ownership was that Étouffée and Jambalya are no longer regular menu items. Back when this restaurant was closer to me at it's location in Fern Park, I would get Étouffée all the time. Now Jockamos only has it as a special occasionally, and that's real disappointing to me. That was my reason for going!