I ate at these spots on Thursday. The first is on 436 near Rachel's where a Chinese place (3 6 8?) was most recently. The second is where an Outback Steakhouse was for years on 434 near Lake Brantley HS. The last is on 436 west of I-4 and before 434 near a large Japanese resto and K Pot(?).
Johnny's Diner - They moved from their location (torn down) at 436 and University a few months ago. Same menu. I grabbed the two eggs, 4 sausage, hash browns and toast special for $8.50. It was fine. The highest priced item is $13.50. They do lunch and dinners too. Very good pricing. Almost pre-Bidenomics. IE $5 burger. Daily specials. Dinners = chicken breast, ham, ground round steak, meatloaf, country fried steak, breaded pork, liver and onions, breaded veal, turkey, strips, fish and chips, etc. This place is bigger. A square floor plan. Dull decor. Many waitresses. Closes at 3pm. *I reviewed them previously on 12/6/2010.
Fiesta Azul Tequila House - I think the sign out front just says Tequila House. Opened just recently (one week). Vida seems more popular. But, this is better. I had the choripollo for $17. Pounded breast cutlet (plate sized) topped with ground chorizo and a cheese sauce. side of rice and refried beans. Chicken was fresh and cooked to temp. Chorizo and cheese were tasty. Rice was moist (not sticky). Beans were topped with cheese and fresh. No nasty flavors. I asked for a side of sour cream because I wanted a fajita experience as well. It was a large scoop and cost $1.25. They also tossed in some nice chips and a chipotle salsa. The menu is large and well priced. Some interesting items. Ceviche for example. And the basics too. Everyone will have something to love. I saw a cool tower of snow crab claws and some other components. Lots of tequila too. And the good kind. Cheap lunch specials near $10. They have three locations in Florida. The did a nice rehab of the space. Gray, blue, black and wood tones. Bar area (with mini booths) on the left. Tvs. Main room on the right. Booths and tables. Seats about eighty? Many servers. I was ready to write - JAMMR and move on. They impressed me. a nice addition. You don't have to drive hundreds of miles for it, but, if you live near here you should be hitting it.
Chic-N-Gyro - A Mediterranean kitchen. It's a small place. Mostly platters and sandwiches of rotisseried meats (lamb, chicken, beef). Fried chicken, burgers, tenders, salads, kabobs, tilapia and falafel too. The guy is a Christian from Egypt. I mention that if you avoid places like this because you think they mess with our food. I tried the chicken shwarma for $9 because the rotisserie looked like he loaded it with actual chicken thighs like you are supposed to. Plus they had a nice crust already. I like my shaved meats to be burnt on the outside like I like burning my marshmellows in a camp fire. I didn't eat it until the next night. I was astounded. I still don't want to overpromise about this tiny little, grubby looking outpost in the middle of nowhere, but, I can't keep myself from proclaiming that this was one of the better shwarmas that I can remember. Very cumin-y. Alot of roasted onions and tomatoes. I didn't see what he put in it for sauces/spreads. I think hummus and maybe tahini. No hot or white sauces. It was very savory. The pita was ok too. The chicken wasn't dry. And this was after it was in the fridge and nuked a day later. I really only went here because I was in the area and running out of places. I'm so glad I did. The guy was nice too. Open for seven years. I will make it a point to come back and try more. And if they don't disappoint, it will be on the Favs. No Tuesday. Open from 12 to 8pm. 7pm on Sn. Caters too.
Travel Notes - Chile: I bought a ticket to Santiago (at good times) via UA/AA for $578. No delays. I went straight through on the first day via LATAM to Puenta Arenas for $121. That is the farthest south you can fly (Patagonia). I used the Santander ATM at the airport. If you try it, be aware that you have to press this button at the left side bottom if you have a foreign ATM card. It then changes to English. If you don't, it stays in Spanish plus it rejects your request for money. I stayed at the Hotel Diego de Almagro (Expedia 8.0) for three nights at $96 per. It was a little noisy (cars). On the coast. Taxi from airport was $13. They had paddles with the prices. Many cabs. The exchange rate was 966 pesos to a dollar. So, I will just covert as if it was 1000 and list in dollars. It was the beginning of the slow season, so, the tours were not going or you had to rent the whole van. I did not want to do that. Not much anyway. Some penguin jaunts, etc. I gave up. The cool looking fjord type stuff must be seen by cruise ship or in their national parks (requires foreplanning). Or while flying over it. The town was way bigger and developed than I expected. They had a Walmart. 180,000 people! And many of the people had better cars than us. It looked like the Irish Coast or Canada. Green. Hilly. They had a few promontories to look down from. A nice coastal walk. Not Insta-crazy, but, it was cool to be at that latitude (below Australia). I only ate from the supermarket (Unimarc). Prices were lower than here than US. Wine was around $5. No wifi/cable tv issues. The taxi back to the airport (modern enough with four gates) cost $15. I flew back to Santiago and stayed the night near the airport at the Courtyard by Marriott for $86. It was a pain to get the free shuttle. I later learned that the bus companies stop here on their way and even a flat rate/max ticket was less than two bucks. The taxi assholes wanted $20 for the 3km trip. I flew the next day north to the Atacama desert in Calama (near Bolivia) via LATAM at $147. It would have been $67 had I booked it when I booked the Puenta Arenas ticket. I don't like risking that much sunk cost. It makes the gods want to jinx your trip. I did this three days in advance and chose the most expensive times to fly. It could have cost around $80. No issues with this airline. A two page check in process online. Ticket downloaded easily. Plus they had kiosks that printed out tickets too. No bs about carry on size either. No delays. Snacks. You are supposed to go on to a town called San Pedro de Atatcama (90 minutes). I didn't. I didn't want to get stuck there or not be able to see the sites they did have because of not having a car or some bs. I probably should have. I was maybe going to take the bus there and back. I didn't. Not much in Calama. Kind of like Vegas without the casinos or nice areas. It's the driest place on Earth. Mining territory. Also 180,000 people here. also had Walmarts, etc. They had a river (El Loa). World's largest mine. I stayed at the Geotel Calama (Expedia VIP 8.8) for two nights at $83 per. It turned out to be like a condo for miners. The moon was full, so, not a ton of good star gazing. Still it was cool to see the driest place on Earth. Taxi to hotel cost $10 (should be $8). $8 on return. I had been warned about Santiago taxi scams (pretending each credit card didn't work while charging each time and taking the scenic route and taking you to the scary areas), so, I was just happy not be hassled. It seemed like the people were more honest in the hinterlands though. Couldn't speak English by in large. I ate at the markets here too. Their Walmart was called Lider. Also had a Jumbo chain. I took the Turbus from Santiago airport to the city (rt for $4) on the last night. I should have taken the other company (Sur?). It stops farther inside the city. My bus stopped at the bus station (Alameda) near the train station. The beginning of the city. I thought the internet said it went farther. I had to take the metro ($2) to my hotel. I stayed about halfway in. At the Santa Lucia metro stop. I cheaped out and tried the Hotel Sommelier Loft (Expedia 9.2) for $39 (most hotel prices were very low). It was ok. I hadn't really seen this area last time. It is near this highest hill with a cathedral and great views. This time I only had a few hours. I saw the Cerro Santa Lucia park nearby and the library and oldest building (San Francisco church) and the arts museum. I walked north to an obelisk and then back south (Palacio de la Moneda, Estacio Central and a few universities) all the way to the bus station. It was safe enough. No problems at customs at either end. Only sunny weather. I only needed my sweater and long pants in Patagonia. Could have left the jacket at home. I think we flew over the mine where those miners were trapped. Easter Island next time!
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