Tusker House, Animal Kingdom, Orlando Florida.

The Tusker House, is located at Disney's Animal Kingdom park.  You'll find it just as you cross over the bridge when you walk into the "African land" part of the park.  As with most Disney restaurants, I HIGHLY recommend that you make reservations when you plan your trip.  Even with reservations,  some of the more popular places, you can expect to wait up to an hour to be seated.  One thing done to help occupy your wait is the offering of a character photo opportunity.

Our little family waiting to be seated

Despite waiting about 45 minutes, the Tusker House, in our opinion, was very much worth the wait.  The restaurant is in a buffet style that has a very large selection of hot and cold foods, plus a very nice dessert bar.  One of the more interesting parts of the restaurant is the "Wall of Fire", an 18 foot long rotisserie style grill that continually cooks the grilled meats that are served.  Some of these grilled selections included pork loin, roast beef, rotisserie chicken and much more.

The service was quite acceptable, our waiter was very friendly and promptly kept the drinks refilled and the empty plates off the table.  Which when it comes to buffet's is really all you can ask for.  In addition to the characters outside, the inside portion is also character dining.  Four Disney characters circulate around the room offering photo opportunities.  We were able to get our Pictures taken with Goofy, Micky, Daisy and Donald.  Having them walk around was a really big plus for us because of our little ones.  Also, they periodically have a miniature parade, and the little ones are given African noise makers and they can get up and walk around with Goofy and the other cast members

Little man with his Grandma during the parade

Price wise, it was a little steep, but you definitely get what you pay for.  All-in-all, this was a really fun dinning adventure, one that we would like to do again.

Scores:
Food: A (Outstanding selection, and really tasty)
Service: B (It's a buffet)
Portion size: N/A (Again, buffet)

Beefeeders, Palm Springs, Fl

Beefeeders Steakhouse has re-opened (again) in Palm Springs, Fl.  It is located on Forrest Hill, just West of Congress Ave on the south side of the roadway.  I'll start out by showing a picture from inside the restaurant. 



The ambiance is done really well, and they have a very "old school" elegance inside.  Beefeeders is dark with out being dreary.  It almost reminds me of restaurants from up north. 

We went with a fairly large party (7 including both boys) for a birthday party.  We had reservations set up for 6pm on a Saturday, but we probably didn't need them as the restaurant was not very crowded. 

As for the Food and Service, I'll be honest, we weren't impressed.  This is, for this area, a pretty pricey establishment.  Average entre' costs are between $20-40, if you don't get one of the "early bird specials", then you can expect to put down a pretty large chunk of change.  As for the steaks, I wasn't impressed.  While they were excellent cuts of meat, there was hardly any flavor.  It just tasted, dull.  There was no pop or kick or pizazz.  Our server though very friendly and personable, just didn't seem like he was interested in the quality.  It's little stuff, like asking if people want anymore drinks, or making sure the correct side dishes go on the right plates.  You know, basic service type of things.  Another thing that dropped Beefeeders down, is that they got rid of their Salad Bar.  Now you have a choice of House Salad (lawn clipping style aka Mixed greens.) or Caesar, no more do you have the option of getting the unlimited salad bar, with that awesome green ranch dressing.  The reasoning behind it is that they were loosing too much money on the salad bar.

Overall I was highly disappointed with this trip out and unless some changes are made, I can't recommend this restaurant

Scores
Service: C (Friendly, but with messed up orders)
Portion size: C
Food: D

Friendly's Royal Palm Beach, Fl

I'm starting to think that Friendly's, might just be one of the best kept secrets for going out on a Friday night.  We've been several times, and each time there is no wait, good service, pretty good food and best of all not that pricey!

As parents of 2 little ones, when we have a chance to go out as just a couple, we try to take it.  Most of the time, we don't have time to wait 45 minutes to an hour for an open table at a restaurant.  Being able to sit down right away, with out a reservation is awesome.

For starters, we split an appetizer combo, which we got with chicken quesadilla's, mozzarella sticks and loaded waffle fries.  This seriously could have been a meal all on its own, there was a pretty good portion of food on this plate. I had the roasted turkey dinner, which comes with stuffing, corn, mashed potato's & gravy and garlic bread.  Although it was a little salty, it was still quite tasty and they really don't skimp on the portion size.

The wifey had the fish and chips, which she described in exquisite detail as "yummy".  She also ordered from the "4 for More" section.  This allows you to add your drink and a 3 scoop-2 topping sundae for only $4 more.  Considering a drink is like $2+ and the sundae is about $3, it's not a bad deal.

The food overall isn't what you might call "gourmet", but it is tasty and filling and we like it.

The service was good, though it did start getting a little slower near the end of our meal.  Also, though I didn't have a first hand experience, the wifey said the bathrooms were really pretty and clean.  Though I think that might be a girl thing :D

All in all we would definitely go back, but it should be noted that this is a "Dry" establishment (no alcoholic drinks)

Scores
Food: A
Portion Size: A+
Service: B+

John G's Manalapan, FL

On Saturday, I had the opportunity to visit John G's new location.  The restaurant is now located in the shopping center on the Southwest corner of Ocean Ave and A1A.  It's right across the street from the Ritz-Carlton hotel and the Lantana Beach .  One thing you'll note right away though, is that John G's no longer has that signature view over the ocean, it's now surrounded on all sides by Trees and other buildings.

We arrived around 9am and the "traditional" line had already started forming.  I should add that for this trip, we had a fairly large party, 5 adults and our 2 little ones.  Due to this, we had to wait till one of the larger tables was available and we didn't get seated till around 10am.inside of the restaurant.  The new facility is very nice, it's a lot more open than the old restaurant, and significantly brighter too.  They must have moved some of the old furnishings and wall decor because they still had the wood paneling along the kitchen, The prep area also was still decorated with those old fashion "flip chart style" menu's that announced the specials of the day, which I don't believe had been changed in 30 years.

Although they were extremely busy, the server came back after a few minutes and with our drinks and took our food orders.

The menu though not too large, does still have a good selection of items. 

The food overall was good, and we enjoyed our meal.  I'm not going to go into what everybody ordered because, quite frankly I don't remember :).  However I ordered the # 5 which is 2 Eggs to order(scrambled), Hash browns or Grits (Grits), toast and fruit cup or juice. I also chose the side of ham at additional cost.

Despite how good everything was, this outing was missing something.  I don't know exactly what it is, the food was like it always has been, and the restaurant was clean and the staff friendly.  I don't know if it is the change of location that was throwing me off, but not being able to look out on the water might have had something to do with it.  Hopefully I'll be able to get used to the change.  That being said, one of the good things about the new location is free parking.  So not having to worry about getting a parking ticket while waiting in line is definitely a plus.
Also for those who don't know John G's is only open from 7:00am to 3:00pm and they still do not accept credit cards.  Though they do have an ATM on site.

Scores:
Food:  B+
Portion Size: A
Service: A

Duffy's, West Palm Beach, Fl

Wow, it sure has been a while since we've done a review.  Seems like it might be time for another.

Tonight the wife and I went out on a very much needed date night.  We thought we might hit up Longhorn, as we didn't think it would be that busy at 6:30 (ish) on a Thursday night.  This turned out to not to be the case.  The wait for 2 was 35-45 minutes and unfortunately we just didn't want to wait that long.  Luckily though there was a Duffy's right across the parking lot, so we figured we might as well check and see what the wait time would be.  Lo and behold, no wait, sounds like we had a winner!

The first thing we noticed as we walked in was a little "DJ" style booth with a lady sitting in it.  As we were walking by, she announced to the crowd "Welcome to Thursday night Trivia"!  We got to our seats and the hostess reminded us that it was 2-4-1 drinks till closing.  So far, Duffy's was on the right track with us. :)

The menu, though not very large size-wise, has a pretty good selection of items.  You've got some pretty standard appetizers, along with your normal Burgers & wings type of offerings.  We started with the appetizer sampler, which comes with Boneless (or bone-in) wings and your choice of sauce, Tex-Mex egg rolls and Friend mozzarella.  The sampler had fairly small portions of each item (to be expected though) but everything was very flavorful.  The fried cheese had what tasted like a homemade batter, the wings were very meaty and about half a size bigger than "bite size", and the surprise for me were the egg rolls.  These had a really good flavor with little bits of chicken, cheese and corn all mixed in.  Next time we might just get an order of these by themselves.

For the main course, the wifey ordered the Rodeo Burger which comes with cheese, BBQ sauce and a literal tower of onion rings.  She said the flavor was ok, and it was a big burger, but it's not something she would order again.  I had the Churrasco Steak, which is an 8oz skirt steak w/ Chimichurri and comes with Black beans, rice and plantains.  Portion size was great, they gave a whole mess of the beans and rice, and the steak was a pretty good size also.  As for the flavor, all I can say is.... WOW!  This is probably one of the most flavor meals I've had in a very long time.  The steak was cooked to perfection and the rice and bean combo was outstanding.  I was tempted to order another one, just so I could take it with me and have it for lunch at work.  I really can't say enough about it, if you like the Latin style of steak, then you'll probably love this.

The service was pretty average, not really outstanding, but nothing to complain about either.  One thing to note though, is that it was most definitely NOT a quiet place, what with the TVs playing and the Trivia game going on, along with the regular restaurant & Bar crowd, the sound level was pretty loud. 

All-in-all, this was a good night out and surprisingly pleasant.  We would definitely go back, and next time we might even bring some friends.  Here is a link to the Menu.  They also have a gluten free selection for those that may need it.

Service: C
Food: A
Portion Size: A

Overall: A-

Cici's Pizza Greenacres, FL

The best way to describe this establishment is also exactly what it is... "Cheap pizza Buffet". If you're looking for a gourmet culinary experience you might want to just pass on by as this is not the place for you. On the other hand, if you want to consume large amounts of cheap, but filling pizza. While getting the opportunity to play some arcade games and watch TV for a ridiculously low price, then you might want to stop on by.

You'll be able to get a dine-in meal with drink for less than $8.00. Also at this location, they have several arcade machines and a big screen TV that they use to show cartoons.

The pizza choices are pretty good, and they continually put out new options.

If you've got kids who are around ages 4-14 (ish) then this is decent place to go out for a night. Also, teenagers tend to head here on the afternoons of Half-days at school.

Food quality wise, they won't win any awards, but it's still pretty passable and the garlic bread sticks were very good.

We would definitely go back again, even if price was the only consideration.

King Super Buffet Chinese West Palm Beach, Fl

This was a very disappointing adventure. This Buffet used to be one of the best places around. The food was good, the price was very reasonable and the service was above average. We considered it highly enough that we actually had our wedding reception here.

We haven't been back here for a while and I don't know if they are under new management or something, but today was just bad.

The food wasn't very fresh, everything looked and tasted like it had been left out over night. They still have a fairly large selection, but it all tasted bland or overcooked.

The service, which at a buffet consists essentially of refilling drinks and removing empty plates, was pretty much non-existent and unfriendly.

As for cleanliness, the restaurant wasn't too bad. The decor was a little dated, and the seats weren't exactly comfortable. But the worst part was the bathrooms, they were disgusting. There was water all over the floor and it just had a very "grungey" smell.

The only thing this place had going for it today was price, which was less than $9 per person including taxes.

Overall, we can't recommend this restaurant anymore unless they really turn their act around. Which I hope they do as this was one of our favorite places to eat.

Tokyo Peking II, Lake Worth, Fl (re-visited)

Since we had such a good experience last time we were here, we decided to try this restaurant again.

We arrived around 11:30 (ish), the restaurant wasn't crowded and we were sat right away. The serving staff was very friendly and attentive. We never had to get someones attention if we wanted any refills on our drinks or take away the empty plates. Which, at a buffet is all you can really ask for.

The food was good and tasted very fresh, but the selection seemed a bit more limited than last time. However the Hibachi grill was excellent. I believe that the primary draw for this restaurant is both the hibachi grill and the sushi bar. I think that the regular buffet aren't bad, but not as good as the grill and the bar.

All in all, we really like this restaurant. It's clean, the staff is friendly and the food is good. What more can you ask for?

50's Prime Time Cafe - Disney's Hollywood Studios Orlando, Florida.

User Submitted Review

50's Prime Time Cafe - Disney's Hollywood Studios

We were enjoying an impromptu trip to Disney's Hollywood Studios (formerly Disney-MGM Studios) when we decided a meal was in order. We were debating between the Sci-Fi Dine-in Theater and the 50's Prime Time Cafe, when we decided we wanted a little of Mom's home style cooking. So the Cafe it was. We did not make dinner reservations which are highly recommended for this restaurant. The hostess did let us know they served food at the bar, if we were willing to sit there. We really wanted the whole dining experience that is offered but instead opted to take seats at the bar for quicker service. The stools were comfy and our bartender/server was super nice and kept use entertained the whole time we were there. All the wait staff that came to pick up drink orders and even the bar back were joking with us and made it a pleasant dinner. The options are few but classic. Both my companion and I opted for the "Mom's Sampler" Which consisted of pot roast, meatloaf, fried chicken, mashed potatoes w/ gravy , green beans, and collard greens. All generous portions and all fantastic. We also split the blue crab salad appetizer which was fresh and crispy and had just the right amount of vinaigrette on it. We were able to savor the atmosphere of a 50's style home. There were plenty of salad options on the menu and full sized versions of each of the items on our sample plate offered with plenty of sides.

Overall it was a pleasant experience and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to dive into the fantasy aspect of Disney. The booths all have various versions of 1950's style kitchens, the servers refer to guests as kids, and don't be surprised if they tell you to get your elbows off the table and to finish your dinner if you expect to get dessert!

Thanks for the Great review!

Friendly's, Royal Palm, Fl

After our break, we're back!

I know this is a "Dinner" review site, but we like to review all sorts of meals :)

The other morning, we went out to breakfast at Friendly's. Now most people probably think of Friendly's as an Ice Cream/Dessert place, but they'd be wrong. They actually have a full breakfast, lunch and dinner menu to go along with the desserts Options.

We arrived around 9:30`ish in the morning, and were able to be seated right away. The server came over and was very personable and he got our drink orders right away. Throughout out the whole meal, out server was great. He was quick with requests and very friendly and professional. It was the kind of service that brings people back.

For the meal, I chose the Lumberjack, It comes with 3 eggs' any style, bacon or sausage and either 3 pancakes, 3 slices of French toast or Muffin ($6.99) I ordered it scrambled, w/ bacon and french toast, and I added a slice of ham to go with it. The food itself wasn't bad, the bacon was just the way I like it, cooked and chewy but not crispy/burnt like some people like it. The French toast was surprisingly good, I'm not normally a fan, but these I'd order again. The eggs were OK, but I don't know if they used a full 3 eggs, it didn't really look like they did, but they cooked properly and had great flavor. The ham slice, which actually ended up being 3 smaller slices, was cooked nicely and went well with everything.

The wife ordered the French Toast breakfast, which comes (again) with bacon or sausage, and she had it with bacon. Also she added a side of country potatoes. Everything I said about my french toast and bacon can just be repeated for hers :). She, said it tasted really good, but recently she's only able to eat a few bites at each meal due to the pregnancy.

For our little guy, we ordered the kids meal "two egg's" breakfast, which also comes with bacon or sausage and toast. As I'm sure you can guess, he had the bacon. Let me tell you, little dude tore into that bacon, it was almost like he couldn't get enough. He also ate most of his eggs and a slice of toast and several of the wifey's potatoes. We were really proud of how well he did with his eating.

Overall, this was a nice family breakfast out and for all 3 of us with drinks, meals and sides was under $25 without tip. For the amount of food and the service we received, we consider this a good deal.

Grades:
Food: B+
Portion Size: B+
Service: A+

Red Lobster Lake Worth, FL

This is a VERY short review.

Tonight, GG (Great Grandma) was baby sitting our little guy so that the wifey and I could have a nice date night out. So we decided to go to the Red Lobster at the corner of Lake Worth Rd and Jog Rd.

The manager and a hostess were seating a family as we walked in and we took our spot as next in line. Also, as we were coming in several people came in behind us. The manager came back and asked how many in our party, and we told her "two". Now keep in mind we were at the FRONT of the line. She then stopped and looked around at the other guests and asked if they were next, as if we had "cut" in front of them. The other party pointed at us and said "they were". After the manager finally decided we really were the next party, she sat us in the front dining room. She also didn't tell anyone working in that section that she sat us. She just walked back to the office area.

After about 10 minutes of being ignored, with out any of the staff who were walking by even acknowledging out presence we decided to leave.

As we were walking out, I gave the manager a card and told her how disappointed we were. I will say she did try to fix the situation and did offer to "comp" our dinner for the night, but we declined.

Overall, we were quite disappointed, as we'd never had this situation happen to us. Normally this Red Lobster has had excellent and quick service. We also, don't really blame the server assigned to our section. Yes, they are supposed to monitor it and are responsible for it. But, if someone seats a party in your section and doesn't tell you about it, it's kind of hard to keep track of things. Hopefully this won't happen to anyone else in the future. In our opinion, it was a failure of management more than anything else.

TooJay's Wellington, FL

The other night, we went out to the Wellington Mall to let our little guy play in the play area. Our original plan was to just hit up the Food Court and then call it a night. Instead we decided to go over to TooJay's which turned out to be a nice choice. We arrived around 7:30pm, and their was hardly anyone there and we were able to be seated right away. We were seated near the window, which looked out into the mall. For us, this was a nice feature as it helped keep our little one entertained, but for people who might prefer a bit more privacy, might not be a great choice.

Our server was really friendly and welcoming. She was also very patient with us while we got the little guy settled in. Sometimes servers seem to get irritated with customers who have children. Having been a server, I can understand their feelings, but a good server can, and will, hide any annoyance they might feel. Overall we were very satisfied with our waitress. So much so, that we'd make a point to request sitting in her area again if/when we go back.

Moving on to describing the food. For those who don't know TooJay's has a lot of menu choices. It's actually almost overwhelming on the number of choices they offer. I ended up getting the "Grilled London Broil" that came with Mashed Potatoes and Mushroom Gravy, and I selected the vegetable of the day which was Broccoli. I ordered the meat cooked "medium" and it came out perfectly. The potatoes and gravy were also really good, although I did have to pick the mushrooms off, but that's just because I don't like the texture of mushrooms. Vegetable wise, the broccoli was quite tasty, but the portion size wasn't all that large.

The wife settled on the "Classic Chicken Pot Pie" which doesn't come with anything else, but is filled with chicken and other fresh veggies. She said that she really liked the flaky pastry part of the pie, and the chicken and sauce and other veggies were also very good.

All in all, this meal out was another nice surprise for us. The food was good and the service was really good. Add in that there wasn't a lot of people out and it made for a pleasant and quiet night out.


Grades
Food: A
Service: A
Portion Size: A

The Carving Station Lake Worth, FL.

The Carving Station is a buffet style restaurant located in Lake Worth, Fl on the South East corner of Jog Rd and Lake Worth Rd.

I'll start this review by saying that we fully expected to be disappointed by this restaurant. It's located in a shopping center that just lost its anchor store Winn-Dixie, and the whole plaza has been in what seemed like a downward spiral for a few years.

We arrived around 11:30, and were some of the first customers of the day. I will admit my surprise at just how clean the place was. Everything in the restaurant seemed to gleam and the decor reminded us of a vintage type of diner.





As we walked in the manager/owner (I forgot to get his name) welcomed us very warmly. He told us to take a look around, and that if we liked what we saw to have a seat and dig in. He let us know the prices which were amazingly reasonable, the full lunch price was $7.99 per person or you could get just a soup & salad buffet for $6.29.

We took him up on his suggestion and checked out what they had to offer. Just on a quick walk through we noticed they had several stations set up. These included a cold food section that served salad, bread, and cold pasta. A hot food section that had 4 different kinds of soups, tacos/chips & salsa station and a hot food and carving section. They also have a cakes/desert section for a small additional fee.

After looking around we liked what we saw and decided to stay. The wife and the little guy started out with some salad. She said that the tomatoes tasted fresh off the vine, and they had what looked and tasted like "in-house made croutons". She only had one minor complaint, and it wasn't on the food itself but on the layout of the salad bar. Which was, with her pregnant belly, a little hard to reach the iceberg lettuce. The iceberg was placed near the back and they had a romain lettuce and bean sprouts in the front.

All of the food served appeared and tasted "home made". I've got to add that buffet's are a guilty pleasure of ours and usually at most buffets the emphasis is on quantity not quality. The food at the Carving Station was great, I was especially happy with the mac & cheese. It wasn't just an average dish, it had a lightly baked crust on top and several additional seasonings. Everything else was also very good -- from the mashed potatoes and 2 types of gravy, to the 3 or 4 types of chicken and everything in between.

Our server wasn't the most smiley person in the world at first, but she kept our drinks filled and our tables clear in a quick and efficient manner and she warmed up as the meal went on.

Overall we were highly impressed with this place. If you're a fan of buffets or a fan of good "old fashioned" American style cooking, then you should definitely give this place a shot.


Grades
Food: A
Service: A
Portion Size: N/A (its a buffet)

The Rum Shack, Lake Worth, FL

This is our first submitted review, hope you enjoy.

I Had the opportunity to spend the evening with my parents and several of their friends at the Rum Shack on Lake Ave in Lake Worth . It was my parents 47Th anniversary. Although the Rum Shack is not a higher end place one would expect to go to for an Anniversary dinner, mom and Dad wanted a casual and relaxed place for the evening.

I really liked the decor and atmosphere. It was very casual and laid back and for a place with a bar and T.V.'s it wasn't too loud.

Our server was fairly attentive and checked on us 2-3 times to see if everything was alright. The food was great, but what she did not ask was if we needed refills. Although, when she asked if everything was ok, we should have used that opportunity to ask for more beverages.

My mom and I had the Black Angus NY strip with Scampi butter, they came with fresh steamed vegetables (broccoli) and your choice of side I took the sweet potato fries which were delish and mom took the baked sweet potato which she enjoyed. We both got our steaks medium and they were grilled to perfection and the garlic in the scampi butter really made the flavor pop. The steamed veggies were just that steamed with no seasoning. I finished my steak and potatoes Mom left about half her steak because she was full.

Dad and his friend ordered the fried coconut shrimp with potato wedges. He really enjoyed it and was not able to finish all of his dinner due to the generous portion size. His friend barely finished his dinner too. They both loved their dinners.

Moms friend ordered the salad with shrimp and she was full about half way through and she said the salad was very good and the shrimp were good size and cooked just right.

I would say that overall, the portion sizes and prices are reasonable. If we would have had ordered appetizers I never would have finished my dinner. There was no room for dessert! A nice bonus of being on Lake avenue is that it was a fairly cool evening and with benches and wide sidewalks it was a nice night for a stroll. Quite a few restaurants have sidewalk seating including the rum Shack and about half the shops were still open after 5pm, which led to a pleasant atmosphere.

Overall I would rate it B with service B and food A and prices B+

Coral Reef, Epcot, Orlando FL

Dinner Adventures is back from Disney! We had a lot of fun on our trip and got to see and do some pretty cool things. For one thing it was the first of four Star Wars Weekend held at Disney's Hollywood Studios, which is great for anyone who likes Star Wars or movies, and it's always nice to get away with family and friends. On our last day at the parks, we had the opportunity to review the Coral Reef restaurant at Epcot during lunch time. Their Lunch and Dinner menu's have a decent selection of "Surf and Turf" meal choices.

To start with, the ambiance is quite amazing, Almost the entire far wall of the restaurant is part of the huge 5.7 million gallon saltwater aquarium in The Seas with Nemo attraction. Throughout the meal, you could watch as Sea Turtles, Sharks, Rays and many different types of fish swim by the windows. The lighting is very subdued and with the view of the "seascape" it leads to a very relaxing atmosphere, although with the glass wall, it does seem to be a bit louder than you'd might expect. The ambiance was done quite well, as you might expect from Disney, and both my Wife and I enjoyed how relaxing they were able to make it.

We started our meal with the "Appetizer for Two" which came with 2 smaller sized crab cakes, that I thought had a little bit of kick to them, but were enjoyable. It also came with 4 pieces of fried shrimp, that quite frankly were average, there wasn't really anything special to them, but there wasn't anything wrong with the shrimp either. The last part of the appetizer was an amazing Creamy Lobster soup. I can't begin to describe how great the soup tasted, it was rich and creamy with just the right amount of lobster flavor and tarragon. The server was able to provide a recipe card for the soup that we could take home with us. One thing that I was unaware of before today is that Disney has many of their recipes available on a post card sized paper that they will give out upon request. For recipes that they don't have printed out they will give you a recipe request form, that you can either put down a mailing or email address and Disney will send you the recipe.

For the main course, my wife ordered the Grilled Mahi Mahi with the coconut-lime sauce and was able to switch out the Jasmine rice for some "smashed potatoes". I ordered the Seared Scottish Salmon on a Lemon and Pea Risotto with Bay Scallops. The Mahi Mahi was cooked perfectly, and the coconut-lime flavor went great with the potatoes. The wife was very satisfied with her meal. My meal didn't go quite as well as my wife's. The salmon was over seared on the bottom portion, almost to the point of being burnt, and a big portion of the Risotto tasted almost underdone. I was able to cut off the over cooked portion, and enjoy the rest of it. The risotto I wasn't able to finish, it had a great flavor and sauce and the scallops were cooked wonderfully, but the actually risotto part was just not that good. I pointed out these things to the server, and she made several offers to replace the salmon, or even get me a different entree which I declined to do, mostly because it had been a long day at the parks and we were ready to go back home. I should also add that her management also offered to comp us a dessert, but again we declined because of fatigue. However, that they had even made the offer went a very long way in our book. But in the future, if we chose to dine here again, I probably won't be ordering the salmon. I also can't recommend that anyone else order it either. The Mahi Mahi on the other hand, would definitely be on an "order again" list.

The last thing I want to talk about, is the service at the Coral Reef, overall I was impressed with the staff. We had our lunch reservations set for just after 2pm. We happened to show up a bit early, and they were able to seat us around 1:45, and we had a booth almost right next to the aquarium window. The service started out a bit slower. We felt we were waiting longer than necessary for our drinks and food orders. Despite the overall initial speed, our server was very friendly and made a great impression on us by offering to help "fix" our meal.

All in all, we were happy with our choice to eat at the Coral Reef, and we would defiantly go back, and we would recommend it to others. Just get something other than the Salmon.


Grades
Food-
Mine: C-


Wife's: A+


Appetizer:A
Overall: B+

Portion Size: A
Service: B+

A quick announcement.

We are excited to announce that we will be traveling to Orlando, Florida over the weekend to go to some of the Disney theme parks. We plan to review the Coral Reef restaurant at the Epcot theme park and many of the other dinning options that are available. We will be staying on property at the Disney All-Star Sports Resort and will be going to Hollywood Studios for the Star Wars Weekends, Animal Kingdom, Downtown Disney and as mentioned before Epcot.

We may not have complete Internet access while we are at that parks but we will try to do some mobile write ups. If not then we will definitely do the updates on Monday.

Bonefish Grill, Wellington, Fl.

Tonight was a spur of the moment decision to go out to eat. We decided on Bonefish as the wife was in the mood for seafood, this turned out to be a great decision on our part. The restaurant wasn't very crowded when we got there, and we were able to be seated right away. Our waiter was quite good, he was able to balance the right combination of leaving us to enjoy the meal, but around enough to make sure our drinks were filled and get anything else we may have needed. This was probably some of the BEST service we have received when dining out in a long time. I really cannot praise him enough.

The food was also very good, from the appetizers to the main course everything was very tasty. We started off by getting the Maryland Crab Cakes and the Bacon Wrapped Atlantic Sea Scallops. The crab cakes have quite a bit of a kick to them, but it doesn't over power the taste of the crab and other ingredients. The Scallops are fairly large, and they're topped with a "chutney". I'm not sure what was in the chutney but whatever it was, it worked great with the taste and texture of the bacon and scallops. The only thing I can find to complain about is the portion size, with the crab cakes they only serve 2 cakes as the appetizer and with the scallops you only get 4+ the mango salsa salad.

Our main course consisted of my meal which was the Grilled Atlantic Salmon with Potatoes Au Gratin, and the wife's meal of the Sir Will's fish and chips. With the grilled fish you get a choice of 4 signature sauces that include a Mango Salsa, Chimichurri, Pan Asian and Lemon Butter. Our server recommended that I get the mango salsa or pan asian with the salmon. I chose the Mango salsa and it was excellent. The fish and chips came tempura-style and a tartar sauce made in house. Again the food was very, very good. We both would order these meals again with no hesitation.

The only complaint that we could really bring up would be on portion sizes in relation to the prices. However, despite being bit smaller than you might expect, the meal did end up being quite filling.



Grades:
Food: A+
Portion Size: B-
Service A+

All in all, this was an outstanding "adventure" I encourage everyone to try this place out and experience it for yourself. I hope you will be as satisfied as we were.


As a side note, this restaurant also has quite a few Gluten free options on their menu for those who need it.

Olive Garden Lake Worth, Fl

Last night we went to the Olive Garden, because when a pregnant wife craves something, you better deliver the goods. For being a Thursday night, the restaurant was not crowded at all, and we were seated right away. Service started out prompt, and in no time we had our drinks and had placed our orders. I should add that we had a fairly cranky two-year old in our party, and the servers handled it well.

The food was not bad, but I've noticed that the quality has been going down hill for a while. It used to feel like, when you went out to the Olive Garden, you were getting something special. Now it almost feels like "factory food", with no soul behind it. I ordered the Seafood Alfredo, portion size was good and taste was alright also. If you like Shrimp and Scallops in Alfredo sauce, then you just might like this dish. The wife ordered her standard Chicken Parmigiana, which she never finishes and always gets a to-go box. So for her portion size is wonderful, as she gets a meal and a lunch out of the deal.

One thing though that I had a MAJOR issue with, was when the server brought out a refill for my drink. He placed the drink on the table next to the empty glass. Took the straw out of it, and placed it in the new drink. This, as you can imagine, is NOT something that a waiter should EVER do. Yes, I know that all employees are supposed to wash their hands on a regular basis, especially after using the restrooms, but still you don't ever touch your customers food, or straws or utensils with your bare hands. That's just common hygienic consideration.

Over all the meal was quite good, but after the whole "straw incident" I'm not sure if we'll be back to this particular location. Or if we do go, we'll defiantly be requesting to NOT sit in this waiter's section.

Grades:
Food: B
Portion Size: A
Service: D

I was really disappointed on this Adventure, the service really was quite good, but our waiter greatly upset as he had apparently never heard of germs before. I could understand 15 or 20 years ago doing that sort of thing, but nowadays... it's just not appropriate.

Chili's in Orlando, Fl

Went to Orlando for a meeting, and went to Chili's for lunch with one of the Supervisors from work. This Chili's was located off of S Semoran Blvd. We got seated right away and the Waitress came out and took our drink orders. Very quickly I should add. Despite being about 1:30 in the afternoon, the restaurant was not very crowded.

When waitress came back, she had gotten the wrong drink order, which is not a big deal as mistakes can happen. She appolgized and brought the right drink out a few moments later. After she fixed the drink mistake, she then took our meal orders and our food came out fairly quickly. Both of our meals were served with no mistakes, which was a nice change from some of my previous experiances with other Chili's. Over all the service level was pretty average.

As for the food ratings, well it was ok. I probably won't order the Grilled Ham & Swiss sandwich again, or at least it would not be my first choice. For me, the sandwich either needed, more ham, or less bread, it just didn't seem to have equal parts. Although the taste was not bad at all it just wasn't something that I would eat on a regular basis.

All in all this "adventure" wasn't anything special, nothing really great, and nothing really terrible. Personally I find most of Chili's food to be ok, with no significant difference between different locations. At this kind of "chain" establishment it is the service that can make or break a meal, and this time they were able to make it work out all right.

Grades
Taste: B
Portion Size: B-
Service: B

Recommendations: I would go back to this location if I'm ever in the Orlando Airport area again.

Friendly's (Palm Springs,FL)

Another day, another adventure...

Sunday, we had Mother's Dinner out at Friendly's. The food was fairly reasonable in both taste and price. They have a pretty good Kids Meal deal where a little one can get a Drink, Main Course w/ side, and a Desert. Our little guy like the Mac & Cheese with Hot Dogs. The wife had the Honey BBQ Chicken Strips with rice and fries. I had the Sirloin Steak Tips, but I order it with out the mushrooms, peppers or onions, with mashed potatos that had a very flavorfull brown gravy and brocolli. Mom had the Chicken Bruschetta Mozzarella SuperMelt and said that it was quite good, but that the mozzearella could have been a bit more melted. Grandma got the Senior Grilled Chicken Deluxe Sandwich , and all senior meals come with a sundae for desert. Mom's hubby ordered the Delux Cheese BurgerMelt “Set-Up”. Everybody seemed fairly satisfied with their meals, I however, was disapointed with the small ammount of brocoli served on my plate. Usually they serve the side dishes in a small to medium size bowl filled to the top and this is how everyone else at our table was served except me. That being said the food was fair to good.

As for the service, I should really cut our servers a lot of slack. They had a big party to deal with, which included a cranky 2 year old. Having been a server before, I know how difficult it can be to deal with larger parties and or parties with kids, and while we were eating the meal the service was standard. It wasn't anything to write home about, although our waitress was very friendly, and their was nothing to really complain about either durring the main meal time.

That being said, when you're table appears to have finnished eating, and is sitting around talking, that is the time to come over and ask if you can get them anything else. Especially when 2 of your orders are supposed to get dessert, and you know that you haven't served them that part of the meal yet. What you don't want to do, is go and hide for 15-20 minutes. If you're due for a break, you need to make sure someone is covering your tables, that's just serving 101. We were waiting so long, one of our party had to ask one of the other servers if she could either take the dessert orders or if she could find "our" server so that she could take them. We did finnally finnish our meal and get our check, but I am not happy with the wait times involved. It just goes to show poor attention to your customers.

Grades
Food: B
Portion size: B+
Service: C-

It really wasn't bad, but it could have been great.

Recomendations: We would go back to this Friendlys, but if we get served like we did this time, we are likely to not return a third time.