Grub Crawl - Osteen and Sanford: Osteen Diner, Gator's Riverside Grille and Angel's Soul Food and Barbeque

The next three posts will also be a little out of order. I want to end on the most local one. On Friday I tried the first two. On Sunday I tried the last. The first and last are in Osteen. I believe the SR is 415. I drove east on 46A and made a left at an intersection. I sometimes take this to NSB. Gator's is not far from there. Make a left to a marina and it is under the bridge that spans the St John's River. Their menu says Sanford. Not Osteen.  The diner is a few miles up on the right. Angel's in on 46A at the intersection that has a sign that points towards the airport. Sanford Ave. Behind a Marathon station.

Osteen Diner - I tried it once at breakfast on the way to Titusville. It was too packed. Pretty packed this time. Not much choice around there. I dithered between a breakfast and a lunch. I had had a Jones for a Cuban sandwich the day before. They had one. Wish I had gone with the breakfast. My Jones was subsiding and their's isn't that great. It cost $11+. Bad roll. No real pork. Just ham and some sliced pork roll. Big though. Fries could have used another minute. Came out almost too fast. Kitchen was flying. Huge menu. Nothing probably made too well or too poorly. A tad expensive. Has a country theme. Sign said it has been open since 1999. 

Gator's Riverside Grille - I ate here once way back. They said they have been open for forty years. I hate places named like this. They all have this burgers, sammie and fried critter menu. Where ever they wallow. I had a black and bleu burger for $9+ because it was one of the cheaper things and I didn't trust them with much else. Only came with chips. Everything seemed extra here. Burger wasn't that bad. Bun was good. Charred. Ok inside. Not quality bleu cheese. Soda tasted weird (ahh - receipt said RC. They said Pepsi. I'm not going crazy). Served in a small styrofoam cup. Gave a refill. They challenge themselves with grouper, alligator, catfish and some fish called pangasius. I think it is a cheap river fish that other places call something else (pango?). For some reason they claim to use Herschel Walker's family recipe for chicken tenders. He's not a Gator. He's a Dawg. From Georgia. How did they get it? Odd. They also steam snow crab, mussels, clams and white shrimp on Sundays. $12 - $19 a pound. They had enough wait staff. Views of river were nice when cigarette smoke wasn't being blown into your eyes. Mostly outdoor seating on a porch. High tops. Most of it was covered. Enough parking. Pretty full. Very casual. If you left in what you are wearing now (even if you are in your pjs) you will probably be the best dressed person there. 

Angel's Soul Food and Barbeque - I was mentally punching myself in the face while I waited forever for a pulled pork sandwich as everyone else was getting theirs. I ordered that because I figured it was pre-made (quick) and I didn't want the squirts before the football game the next day (if they tried to get revenge on me as a Colonialist). Plus they make ordering hard. They don't list the price on anything. I wasn't going to go down the list and ask the price. They already had a 'tude. As I imagined all the spit and jizz being added to the sauce on my sandwich, I saw that they serve chicken, liver, turkey, pigs feet, chitterlings, tilapia, whiting, curry, oxtail, chops, brisket, catfish, ribs, meatloaf and all the sides. Dessert too. I took my sandwich ($6) home and was surprised that I could see no fluids/gloss on it. And more pleasantly, it wasn't pulled pork. It was chunks on roast pork. I'm not sure if this is how they do it. Or if it was a substitution. I was just glad that it gave me a plausible explanation for the time delay. And that the race wars weren't simmering in Sanford. That meant that I was glad that I didn't throw it out my car window (like I was tempted to do) and with a little decontamination in the microwave for extra safety the sandwich might be eatable. It was. It was good. I don't have to eviscerate them online. I may go back again.You order in a line. The stuff is mostly displayed in front of you. Some stuff (like my pork) in back. They had some seating. People seemed scared of Covid. It was empty. Not great interior design. They said it was a book store. I swear I ate here (at another bbq type place) years ago. They said they've been there for seven years. The menu says the Orlando Sentinel voted them Best Fried Chicken. Not sure when, where (as in Sanford?) or if that was true. Closed M and Tu. Opens at 11am. 

*I also saw a barbeque food truck north of the diner called Lady Sugar Something or Sugar Lady Something. Prices were high ($13 was a sandwich) and she wasn't serving yet near 1pm (on Sunday) and you had to get sides, so, I passed on it. I tried on Friday too, but, they were closing at 4pm. I have a NSB and then a Mills/Lake Ivanhoe post coming up for you later this week.