I patronized these places in Thornton Park and downtown last Sunday for lunch. The first is in TP on East Washington. The middle two are on Orange closer to the courthouse. The last is on Pine St.
Iza Tapas Bar - This "puerto rican" style tapas bar named after her daughter is in a cute little house that has been a few other restaurants over the years. The menu is limited (12ish items) and predictable. I read where they are great travelers and Scott Joseph thinks they are great. Maybe they are great travelers by Orlando or Puerto Rican standards, but, if the sum result of their travels is this menu then they would have been just as well served by going to Epcot. And if Scott Joseph thinks they are anything but number 4 out 4 in the tapas rankings in the downtown area then his paper should fire him. Oh wait. They did. You can't choose this saturated trend and then deliver a generic take on it. I had Alemjas al Ajillo which is mussels in garlic broth. It cost $13. The mussels were overcooked or thawed out and or old. They were tough to crumbly. Some had a rancid taste to them. The piquante broth was nice and the crostini were fine. It was plated artfully (they stacked the mussels vertically next to each other). The portion was too small for $13 and reminded me why I hate tapas. They owners were very nice and seemed to be trying to bring forth an interesting experience. I just don't know if they have enough to make it work. They didn't even have the common sense to open the doors on a temperate afternoon to let people know they were open. People were just walking by and the "open" sign was off or not visible due to glare. I was the only one in the place for about thirty minutes. Oh yeah, it took too long to get a dish that should steam up in minutes. The place did seem (mostly the outside four patio settings) to be filling up when I walked by an hour later. It only seats about forty in total. I predict that it gets more of a reputation as a bar that serves snacks than a tapas place that serves drinks. And that is best case considering the competition. Parking was a serious pain in the ass due to the Sunday Food Market.
Empire Szechuan - I had the Szechuan (area closer to the western side of china) Chicken lunch special for $6. It came with pork fried rice and a soda. The chicken didn't compare with my favorite place, but, there was a lot of it. They use cheap cuts (probably pounded thigh meat) that has all that nasty gristle. The sauce was too viscous and sweet. My favorite place just adds some starch and red pepper flakes. The fried rice was good. It was yellow so I am assuming they bypass the soy sauce and the hypertension. There was a lot of roasted pork in it. The chicken had a wide variety of vegetables. The place has been open for 10 years. It looks like half a takeout place and half a sit in place. I can't remember if I had been there before. Fine for a fix. Big selection.
Tacos El Rancho - This place is right next door and took over for a BBQ place that last all of six months. It's an off shoot of the place I told you about near the airport in Belle Isle. The same owner served me here. I just had a taco al pastor for $2. It's not the way I like it. it seems there is a cut up pork piece version that is often fried (like this one) and a more shredded one. I also didn't taste the pineapple. In any event, I give them a pass one this one and encourage you to try them at this location too.
Zilly Bee Cafe - The menu and the place looks like it did when it was The Breakfast Club. I just had an Americano because I was stuffed and it didn't look like it could do much more than they place it took over for. They were fine and it's just basic breakfast and lunch fare, so I assume they don't f it up. They are open to 3pm most days now. Not quite so hard to give them whirl as before.
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