Saturday, September 5, 2009

Papa Tony's, Winter Springs - Closed

I ate at this Italian restaurant on 434 last night. The sign at the door says "Orlando's best kept secret". It should read "This place is best kept secret". First of all it's in a gas station. This would be cute if it was good. But, it's appropriate given have bad the food was. I ordered a veal parmigiana hero because I was not about to throw $15 down the toilet on this long shot. That was the median price for about everything (I think spaghetti is about 89 cents a box). They didn't have veal. On a Friday. The start of a weekend. Their busiest time of the week. I settled for the chicken at $7. Do you know the Italian Chicken Sandwich at Burger King that they drag out every once and a while? Then you know the Chicken Parm Sandwich at Papa Tony's. Same size. Same quality. The place is aged. There was a guy singing at a piano. They offered specials and a salad bar. Too scary for me. Maybe they're good. But, I'd be too scared to try. And I'd be to smart to pay what they expect for it. Another sign said the original cook or owner was back (I assume this wasn't a threat). I can't imagine how bad it was under previous ownership. The one good thing was the service. I even watch on as a waitress took the time to try and help out some deadbeat/person off his meds looking for a free glass of water read the menu before we all realized he was just taking advantage. I would also check the menu against your check. I think some things on the menu are listed lower than they appear on your check. If you don't know this place is bad, you don't know what Italian cooking should taste like.

1 comment:

woofboy111 said...

Years ago, this place used to be pretty good. Now, I wouldn't bother going here. Any sort of food in a gas station is a warning sign for me!

Just wondering though, did they preach to you while you ate? Last time I was there I seem to remember one of the employees being an ultra-conservative Christian who told us how we were going to hell and Jesus loves us anyway...