I stopped by these two new spots on 434 near 17-92 yesterday.
Rookies Cantina - A really perplexing name. Do you think the owners used to own a sports bar type place and wanted to bypass new paperwork/legal fees? It is a Mexican joint now. In the location that was a Mexican joint (Fiesta) two attempts ago. Some Serbs tried to make it work as a Serb place and then an Italian place (Milan). The new place looks exactly like the old. They added a few wall hangings. I had a Speedy Gonzalez lunch special for $6. It consisted of a ground beef or chicken taco and the same in an enchilada. I did a hard shell ground beef taco and chicken enchilada. The ground beef was a little flavorless and the taco was like a Taco Bell gordita fried shell. A change from the norm at least. The enchilada was tiny and didn't seem rubbed down with chilis. The chicken was shredded. It was fine. The plate came with refried beans (usual bland mess), rice (slightly crunchy) and sour cream, tomatoes and lettuce. The free nachos were warm. I'm not sure if they were home made. The lunch menu was big, but, generic. There was one plate with cactus that was interesting and sopes. The dinner menu is even bigger and has some interesting things like - pambazo (chicken and mashed potatoes sandwich), Sinoloa bites, ceviche, a shrimp/fish tostada they call a chilapitas, pozole (soup), brochetas, bistec, chilaquiles, huaraches, enmoladas, tamales, fajitas, etc. Most of those "gourmet" plates are $10 to $12. The top price is $15. Service was good. It did take a bit to long for the order to show up. I'm not sure if it was a mistake or you also get a soda with the lunch special, but, that was what happened to me. I didn't read the menu close enough to verify that. I'm not sure what region they represent. I would guess from the seafood and some of the items that is a southwestern region. It had been open for a month. Respectable comfort food at a a fair price. It had a bigger lunch crowd than its predecessors. It's on 17-92.
Al's New York Pizzeria - On 434 on the Winter Springs side of 17-92. It replaced some Latin "who knows what" in the corner of a strip mall (watch the potholes). I grabbed the two slice special ($5) to go because I was in the neighbor hood and this was just a "get it off the list" mission of mercy. It came with a can of soda. The pizza was in the fortieth percentile of quality for Central Florida. It wasn't terrible, but, in the bottom half. It had little crust. The sauce was garlic-y and slightly spicy. The cheese was mass market quality. It was undercooked. The problem with saying it is NY pizza is that it presupposes all New York pizza is good. It isn't. There are just as many knuckle heads up there that don't know what they are doing as there are down here. I don't think I'm going out on a limb by saying that alot of those people move down here. Now, expectations probably won't run high once you see where it is and what it looks like. The building, I mean. However, just know what you are getting yourself in for. It's nothing special. Maybe it will be what the area needed. They also serve pasta, soups, salads, wings, knots, subs, calzone, stromboli and plates. Pricing is in line with this kind of establishment. It has limited seating. It has been open for a month.
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