I went to these restaurants on S. Orange Ave yesterday around lunch. The first is near a new strip mall with a Diarrhea Flats and the other two are in an old strip mall a few hundred feet further south. Man traffic sucks down there.
Freddy's Frozen Custard and Steakburgers - This is a chain out of Wichita KS. They have been open for a month. Let me just say that you know the world is upside fucking down when we have one of these and hundreds of McDonald's. For nearly the same price as a Big Mac Combo, I was treated to a quasi-excellent double cheeseburger with real toppings, triple the fries and a drink. The meal cost $8 and the burger alone is around $4.50 (Big Mac is around $4.19). The patties were expansive and thin. I like two kinds of burgers. The hand molded, double ground artisinal "house" burger that is rare on the inside and the crusty, crannied, thin "crusty" burger. This is the latter. The patties had texture. A rippled surface resembling the inside of an English muffin that has maximum surface area to get crispy and develop flavor. This creates craters that hold the juice and grease and oozing cheese and proves that some ham handed weasel didn't press all the life out of the patty while it cooked. I couldn't see if they covered the patties to get the complete cheese melt, but, they accomplished it somehow. And two layers of cheese. Not one layer between two patties. The beef also tasted like it may have have come from a cow. Most fast food burgers now taste like cardboard or worse. The cheese was a little salty. It came with pickles (cut long wise so they don't squirt out of the sandwich), onions (halos) and mustard. You can add lettuce, tomatoes and ketchup for free. Of course you should. They forgot the tomato (was on the receipt), but, the other items were very fresh. And the thing stayed warm for a while. I've noticed that fast food fare seems genetically engineered to lose its heat in under a minute. I guess so you might be disgusted and buy another or you will give up your seat more quickly. The fries were also great. Very thin shoe strings. I'd say their burgers are better than any other fast food or fast casual chain burgers in the country. I find In and Out Burger to be a "go to" response for most people. However, I think they aren't what the used to be. I take these over them and definitely over 5 Guys. If they had better cheese it would be non-negotiable. They also serve custard, chicken tenders, chili, hot dogs, chicken breast, veggie burger, grilled cheese and for some reason a California Burger. The place looks like a Johnny Rocket's. White tile, red around a red and black foreground. Steel trash bins. Pictures of the owners from various points in time. It seats about seventy. They have a drive thru. It was close to being packed. You order at a counter and they call your order number. It will be on the low price point "Best of 2016" list. A real shocker.
Flavors Nigerian - Welcome to the area's only Nigerian restaurant. It was my first time trying this cuisine. It looked closed every time I went by in the afternoon, but, they are open at lunch time every day except Sunday. Dinner ends at 7pm (6pm W and Sa). It was what I expected. It's at the bottom of the food tennis ladder. Caribbean like. Limited flavors and ingredients. I had a Fufu (pounded white yam "globule") platter for $13. It comes with fish or chicken or goat. The owner was nice enough to let me try all three. I would guess by the condition of the meat that she makes a big batch on her day off (Sunday) and then warms it for the rest of the week. All the items were like jerky. Dry, tough, overcooked. She said the fish was whiting. It was a "steak" cut. I'm used to seeing it as a fillet, so, I can't confirm. Not that you particularly care to when the item is whiting. I mean how much worse can it get? The sauce/rub was like a medium hot tomato based red curry. It was ok. It also came with a side of stewed spinach mixed with ground and boiled melon seeds. The menu says Ewdu (jute leaf) and Ogbono (mango seed). The owner told me what I wrote. I mango has a big pit, so, I think they mistranslated on the menu. It was ok. Better than I expected. It also had some dry shrimp and other things in there, so, I chickened out. I saw a thing that was probably a shrimp feeler and it made me think of a roach feeler. I know how they love to get over on whitey (even though we seemed to have a good rapport), so, I let it be. I haven't tried the yam "pillow" yet. They also sell fried rice, soup, gizzard, porridge, bean cakes, and other native dishes. I would like to see what African honey beans taste like. It seats about forty. No one was there at two pm. Cheapest item is $11.
Ameca - This is a restaurant and taqueria a few doors down. It looked like a place I might get knifed for entering from the street. However, it wasn't scary. It has been there for six years. It's a Guadalajaran type of Mexican. I had four soft tacos to go for $1.25 a piece. Makes me hate gringo pricing. I had a barbacoa, buche (pig belly), cabeza (face - probably cheek), and suadero (shredded beef and onions). They also had others. Along with a menu of most popular dishes. All tacos were very good. All but the buche were beef. They threw in an extra tortilla, so, I really had five tacos. They use pre-made tortillas. The tacos are plain and then you add what you want from the salsa bar. It has eight or nine booths. One other couple was there. They have beer. English was not a problem.
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