Orlando Fast Food Critic » Subs and Sandwiches

Larry’s Giant Subs

Seth Cardoza — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 18:12:01 +0000

Food Quality: 7/10
Food Quantity: 6/10
Cleanliness: 7/10
Atmosphere: 7/10
Service: 7/10
Price: $6-$9

Larry’s Giant Subs is a decent place for a sandwich. Their menu might not offer a $5 foot long, but their subs are meatier, and better tasting.

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.

Amazonas Latin Grill

Seth Cardoza — Thu, 22 Apr 2010 18:12:12 +0000

Here’s another short form review.

Quality: 8/10
Quantity: 9/10
Cleanliness: 8/10
Atmosphere: 8/10
Service: 8/10
Price: $5 – $10

I definitely recommend Amazonas Latin Grill. Everything is delicious, even their black beans and rice which is often an ignored and bland side item. Their portions fit perfectly with their prices. I wouldn’t expect to pay any less for the amount of food you get, especially considering how good it is.

Arby’s Free Roast Beef Sandwich Coupon

Seth Cardoza — Mon, 12 Apr 2010 13:03:13 +0000

Arby’s has a coupon for a free regular roast beef sandwich with the purchase of a medium drink. This coupon expires April 13, so hurry up and use it.

A Couple Quizno’s Coupons

Seth Cardoza — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:06:10 +0000

Here’s a couple Quizno’s coupons. One will get you free chips and a drink with the purchase of a regular sub, large sub, or chopped salad. The other is good for $1 off of a regular sub, or $2 off of a large sub, excludes some subs. Both expire March 7.

Quizno’s Subs

Seth Cardoza — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 02:41:03 +0000

Quizno’s is interesting because, depending on the location, the experience can vary greatly. In my experiences, it seems that most Quizno’s are franchise owned, and the individual owners have widely different ideas about how to run a business, and how to treat their customers. Some give great service, give a hearty helping of toppings, and honor all coupons. Some locations don’t honor Internet coupons, some don’t honor particular flier coupons, and some are very stingy on toppings. The quality and freshness of the food can vary greatly by location as well.

Quizno’s offers a variety of subs, sandwiches, soups, and wraps. I’ve never had a sub that was particularly bad, but a really good Quizno’s sub is hard to find. If I had to choose between Quizno’s or Subway, I’d go with Quizno’s, unless I know a particular location is bad. It really is a gamble going to Quizno’s though, because, unless you’ve been to that location before, you don’t know if you will have a good or bad experience. Quizno’s, as a company, really needs to wrangle in their franchises, have all locations honor coupons, and provide more uniform service and food quality.

Gift Card Bonus Promotions

Seth Cardoza — Mon, 14 Dec 2009 21:27:26 +0000

Many eateries have promotions offering free stuff with the purchase of a gift card around the holidays. I generally don’t recommend gift cards since some come with restrictions and fees, and it binds the person to that specific place for purchases, compared to cash. If you are planning on getting a gift card anyway, or if you want to get a little bonus for yourself, I rounded up a bunch of the deals. Not all deals displayed an expiration date, and there are often stipulations on when and on what you can use bonus cards, so please review the fine print before purchasing. Also, many sites are poorly done in Flash, so I was not always able to link you directly to the deals, but did so wherever possible.

This list will continue to grow, so check back often.

Remembering Those We’ve Lost

Seth Cardoza — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 03:33:34 +0000

The bad economy has affected us all, and it has hit the food service industry hard. There have been numerous closings in the area over the past year. I’ve compiled a list of places I know have closed in the past year.

Whataburger – University Blvd. Orlando, FL
Shane’s Rib Shack – Orlando Ave. Maitland, FL
Shane’s Rib Shack – Sand Lake Rd. Orlando, FL
All Bennigan’s and Steak and Ale Restaurants (2008). There is actually one Bennigan’s left on US-192, near I-4
T.G.I. Friday’s – E. Colonial Dr. Orlando, FL
Denny’s – E. Colonial Dr. Orlando, FL
Pizzeria Uno – E. Colonial Dr. Orlando, FL
Smokey Bones – Sand Lake Rd. Orlando, FL
Natural Chicken – Orange Ave. Orlando, FL
Quizno’s – Blake Blvd. Celebration, FL
Casselberry Kitchen – Casselberry, FL (via Damien McKenna)
Fazoli’s – E. Colonial Dr. Orlando, FL (via Paul J)
Fazoli’s – Babcock St. Melbourne, FL
Hu Hot Mongolian BBQ off of Sand Lake Rd (via Ryan Price)
BD’s Mongolian BBQ off of 434 in Mailtand (via Ryan Price)
American Pie Pizza Co. – Semoran Blvd. Orlando, FL
Barney’s Steak and Seafood – E. Colonial Dr. Orlando, FL
Donato’s – All Central Florida locations (via Brian Ashe)
Krystal’s – Semoran Blvd. (between University and Aloma) Winter Park, FL
Uncle Jones on 436 in Altamonte Springs. (via Mark Branson)

If you know of one I missed, please let me know and I will add it to the list.

What’s Your Beef?

Seth Cardoza — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 03:11:22 +0000

I was invited to What’s Your Beef? in downtown Orlando by the owners, Mike and Lisa Fracasso. They are a new place, they’ve only been open for a couple months, and they have a style new to Orlando. They moved to Orlando about 10 years ago from Chicago, and missed some of the food so much, they opened their own place to make up for it. It’s a nice little place, with bar style seating.

They have a variety of excellent food on their menu. They have Chicago style hot dogs, tamales, a unique style of pizza, and a couple different styles of subs. Their specialty is the Italian beef sub. Italian beef, for those that don’t and I was one of them, is a slow cooked roast beef specially seasoned. They wouldn’t tell me their secret ingredients, but I do know that it has chopped carrots and celery. It is a very juicy sandwich. It has just the right amount of spice to it, giving a little hot sensation, but not sticking with you for too long. They have sausages with peppers and onions, and a combo sub with Italian beef and sausage.

Their meatball sub has homemade meatballs, which are plump and juicy. The sub has plenty of sauce as well, so it isn’t dry at all. The tamales are a platter covered with chili and cheese. They are flavorful with just a little bit of a kick to them. The pizza is only available on Fridays right now. It is made from scratch, and topped with peppers, Italian beef, and sausage. They have spicy and sweet varieties.

The prices are reasonable. Expect to pay between $6-7 for a sandwich and drink. They are very filling though, and the ingredients are tasty and fresh. I definitely recommend them, as they are an excellent and unique taste to the area.

Subway’s Five Dollar Foot Long “Deal”

Seth Cardoza — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:09:57 +0000

Subway has been offering this “deal” on and off for quite a while now. The issue I have with it is that it is not much of a deal. First, the $5 foot long does not apply to all subs, like some of the specialty subs they offer. Second, for the subs it does apply, it is generally only a savings of $0.60-1.00. While sometimes every penny counts, you are most likely going to get a drink, which will run you about $1.50. Add tax, and you’re looking at a meal that costs around $7, when they make you think $5. Further, Subway subs are on the low end of quality.

Do yourself a favor and skip the Subway $5 foot long. Instead, try Publix, Firehouse, and to a lesser extent, even Quizno’s is a better alternative.

On a final note, Subway recently had a weekend deal for 2 regular foot long subs for $10, telling you to hurry in because this deal is only good this weekend. I guess they think customers cannot do the math that 2 $5 foot longs is the same as 2 foot long subs for $10.