Orlando Fast Food Critic » Deals and Coupons

Top 10 Meals in Orlando for $10 or Less

Seth Cardoza — Wed, 02 Nov 2011 13:32:28 +0000

Orlando offers a variety of food options, both in quality and in price. Below are the top 10 meals for $10 or less, to help you get the most bang for your buck.

Pad Thai at Thai Place. There’s many great Thai restaurants in Orlando, this just happens to be my favorite. I like the free salad with peanut dressing here too.
Baja Burrito at Baja Burrito. Their namesake, it’s delicious.
Gyro platter (includes a bag of chips and a drink) at New York Deli. They’ve been doing it for more than 30 years.
1/3lb. or 1/2lb. Burger at Fuddrucker’s
Lunch Special Chicken Teriyaki Bento Box at Seito Sushi – does not include a soft drink or tip, but you can have the complimentary green tea.
Beef Brisket platter at 4 Rivers Smokehouse
Jumbo Chicago Dog with fries and a drink at Hot Dog Heaven
Wings and Things Meal at Zaxby’s, at lot of food for the money. It includes 3 chicken fingers, 5 chicken wings, fries and a slice of Texas toast for under $7. It does not include a drink though.
Boxcar Willy (1 slice of pizza and a pint of Pabst Blue Ribbon) at Lazy Moon Pizza. This one is actually under $5.
The extra large BBQ beef combo meal (includes tater tots and a drink) at Beefy King

Let us know your favorite meal in Orlando for under $10.

Delish Frozen Yogurt (Baldwin Park)

Seth Cardoza — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 18:36:52 +0000

Food Quality: 7/10
Food Quantity: 8/10
Cleanliness: 7/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Price: $3-$6

If you’ve read any of my reviews of one of the numerous froyo shops, they you’ve read them all. There’s really not much to differentiate one from another. All of them rotate the flavors of frozen yogurt. Some have more toppings than others. It’s 100% self serve, so service is never really an issue. They all have the same type of atmosphere, but some do have more seating, indoors or out. Every froyo shop I’ve been to so far has a loyalty card as well, usually giving you 1 free cup of yogurt after you’ve purchased 10. I think the main factor in picking which one you go to is which is the closest, considering most everything else is more or less the same.

While service is normally negligible at these shops, I will say I received some service above and beyond what was required of them. My fiance and I had gone here with our dog. He’s obviously not allowed inside, so we took turns getting our frozen yogurt. My fiance went first, and the lady at the counter allowed here to take her yogurt without paying so that I could pay for both of them when I was done. It’s a very minor thing for them to do, but that simple trust put in us (yes it was only over a cup of yogurt) for our convenience goes a long way.

There are a couple minor differences with Delish Frozen Yogurt. They give you a free cup of yogurt (up to 8oz) on your birthday. I have not seen a special like this anywhere else. While most froyo shops have a flat, per ounce pricing structure, Delish charges $0.32/oz for frozen yogurt, and $0.42 for frozen yogurt with toppings. I really don’t see the need to do this, since most people really don’t pile on the toppings, and I can’t see toppings other than fresh fruit costing much more than the yogurt itself.

ShakeOut 25% Off July 4 Weekend

Seth Cardoza — Fri, 01 Jul 2011 14:57:53 +0000

ShakeOut, in the Orlando Fashion Square Mall, is offering 25% off any shake with this coupon. You can print it out or show them the coupon on your smart phone.

Smokey Bones Now Has $5 Lunches

Seth Cardoza — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 16:49:42 +0000

Smokey Bones is offering $5 lunches Monday through Friday, from 11am to 2pm, for a limited time. The selection is limited (see below), and only available for dine in. Basically it’s a way to get you in the door, hoping you buy a soda along with the meal, or even a beer or two. And, of course, you’ll have to add a tip as well.

Monday
- Baked potato and salad
- Chicken Caesar lunch salad
Tuesday
- Classic burger
- Southwest chicken lunch salad
Wednesday
- Avocado turkey burger
- Steak and spinach lunch salad
Thursday
- Soup and sandwich
- Nutty chicken lunch salad
Friday
- Buffalo chicken sandwich
- Cool turkey Cobb lunch salad

I assume since they specify “lunch salad” every time that this means it is a smaller portion than usual, but it will probably still be plenty for a lunch.

Free Pizza From Papa John’s

Seth Cardoza — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 16:16:00 +0000

Papa John’s is giving away one large three topping pizza if the Super Bowl goes into overtime this year. There is some prep work involved.

You will need to go to the Papa John’s website
Sign in or register for an account
Click on Papa Points
Click the opt in button

You can check out their overly complicated Flash website to get all the information on this deal.

McDonald’s Customer Appreciation Day 2010

Seth Cardoza — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 14:41:37 +0000

McDonald’s is hosting a customer appreciation day Wednesday, December 22, 2010. What does this mean? It means, buy any Big Mac or quarter pounder with cheese at regular price, and get another one for one penny.

Gift Card Bonuses 2010

Seth Cardoza — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 13:53:34 +0000

Here’s the 2010 round up for restaurants offering bonus gift cards with purchases. If you know of any I missed, leave a comment, and I’ll add it to the list. Keep checking this page for updates as well.

Texas de Brazil: purchase $60 and get a $10 bonus, or purchase $100 and get a $25 bonus. Use code HOLIDAY214. Extended through December 24.
Taco Bell: get a free large drink with the purchase of a gift card.
Outback Steakhouse offers a $20 bonus card for every $100 purchased.
Sonny’s Bar-B-Q offers $10 in bonus cards (looks like they give you two $5 cards) free with a $50 gift card purchase.
Carrabba’s: get a $20 bonus card for every $100 gift card purchase.
Applebee’s: get a $10 bonus card with a $50 gift card purchase.
Charley’s Steakhouse: get a $50 bottle of wine with a $100 gift card purchase.
Del Taco
- Buy a $10 gift card, get 2 regular tacos free.
- Buy a $15 gift card, get 2 chicken soft tacos free.
- Buy a $20 gift card, get 1 free menu item.
Fuddruckers: purchase a $25 gift card and get a bonus $5 gift card
Jeremiah’s Italian Ice: Black Friday, November 26th only, get a free small item voucher with every $10 gift card purchase
Arby’s: get a free combo meal with a $20 gift card purchase.
Denny’s: get a free $5 gift card with the purchase of a $25 gift card, online or in the restaurant.
Smokey Bones: buy a $25 gift card, get a $5 bonus card, make it a $10 bonus card if you are a Bones Club member. Bonus cards only good between certain dates, details here.
Chipotle: buy $25 in gift cards, and get a free burrito, bowl, salad, or order of tacos.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse: get 10% back in holiday bonus cards with every gift card purchase of $250 or more
Tijuana Flats: purchase a $25 gift card, and get a bonus $5 gift card.
Friendly’s: get a $5 bonus card for every $25 gift card purchase, must be purchased in store.
Buffalo Wild Wings: buy a $25 gift card, get a $5 bonus card. Bonus card good from January 1, 2001 – February 28, 2011.
Jason’s Deli: purchase a $50 gift card, get a $5 bonus card.
Panera Bread: purchase a $100 gift card, get a $10 bonus card.
Logan’s Roadhouse: get $10 in Logan’s Bucks for every $30 gift card you purchase.
Anthony’s Coal Fired Pizza: get 10% for yourself with gift card purchase of $100 or more.

While I do try to include any of the fine print details I can find, you should pay close attention to the deals listed here and elsewhere. Bonus gift cards often are only good between certain dates, have a minimum purchase necessary, or cannot be used with other gift cards.

Veterans’ Day 2010

Seth Cardoza — Tue, 09 Nov 2010 18:12:09 +0000

Many restaurants offer free or discounted meals to retired and active duty military on Veterans’ Day. Here is a list of all the deals in your area. And, for those of you eligible, thank you for your service.

Chili’s offers a choice of 1 of 6 entrees to all veterans and active duty military.
Outback Steakhouse offers a free Bloomin’ Onion and non-alcoholic beverage.
Applebee’s offers 1 of 7 free meals to all active duty or retired military.
Golden Corral offers a free meal on Monday November 15th to all military personnel. This year marks their 10th anniversary in honoring our troops.
Pizzeria Uno offers 1 free entree with the purchase of another entree.
Hooters offers a free meal, from selected menu items.
Grab a free doughnut at Krispy Kreme on Veteran’s Day.
Subway is giving away one six inch sub to veterans. Check with the location beforehand, because many locations are franchises and it is up to the owner to participate in this promotion.

If you know of any other restaurants offering deals on Veterans’ Day, leave a comment and I’ll add it to the list.

Tropical Smoothie Cafe – Downtown Orlando

Seth Cardoza — Tue, 11 May 2010 02:41:07 +0000

Michael Riley, part of the family down at Tropical Smoothie Cafe in Downtown Orlando, invited me down to review this establishment. It is a family run franchise, opened a little over a year ago. There are currently 3 generations of this family working various positions at this eatery.

They are located a little of the beaten path of downtown Orlando, just west of Orange Ave. on Washington St., so you might not have visited them yet, but it is worth the extra few minutes of walking. They have a wide selection of smoothies, wraps, sandwiches, salads, and flat breads. The food keeps with the tropical motif, and is very refreshing and perfect for the Florida heat. The smoothies are made with mostly fresh fruit, while some of the more exotic fruits are frozen or from concentrate. They also have excellent breakfast options that taste much better than fast food alternatives, and are competitively priced.

One of the things that Michael and his family do to differentiate from other Tropical Smoothie Cafe, is customer appreciation day. Generally, about once a month, they have a day for a particular business downtown (Regions Bank, Channel 13 News, etc.) where employees can get $1 low fat smoothies. You may say, “eww low fat”, but they are naturally low fat because of their fruit base, not because they are modified versions of regular smoothies. They also offer 50% off their low fat smoothies on Monday through Thursday from 4pm to 6pm. Lastly, they have a breakfast club, which entitles the bearer of one of those key chain tags to 20% off their breakfast order before 10am, Monday through Friday.

One of the great things served to me during my visit was the Royale cookie, colloquially known as “Fat Kid’s Heaven”. It is an amazing mix of oatmeal, chocolate chips, macadamia nuts, and cocoa nut. This definitely isn’t the healthiest item on the menu, but it is one of the most delicious.

Connect with Tropical Smoothie Cafe Downtown Orlando on Facebook.