Grub Crawl - UCF Area: Yummy Taste and Fat Shack *CO Travel Notes

I tried these two dogs on Wednesday at lunch. The first is in a strip mall across from the Waterford Lakes Mall. The second is in that strip mall I last reported from near UCF at University and Alafaya. I'd like to add (before we start) that the fat girl with the big tits on Channel 6 reminds me of the after photo of the younger sister from Sanditon. Do you see it?

Yummy Taste - Failed in all areas. AC wasn't adequate, so, I changed my sit down to a to go. I tried the cumin beef noodles for $12 because the regular was even costlier than that. It was bad. The beef wasn't overcooked, but, the noodles were. Probably reheated. Broke apart when twirled. Clumsily spiced. The rest of the menu was dull. Rabbit and some tiger skin thing were the only intriguing items. Most things were $16 - $22. Decor was bad. Service was slow. One waitress (not great with English) and (I'll wager) one cook. Menu had little description of the dish. I really can't find a reason for you try this place. Opened recently.

Fat Shack - The funny thing is I just was in Fort Collins where they started. A chain that ripped off the R U Hungry food truck from New Brunswick NJ gimmick off putting side dishes into a sandwich. Mark Cuban bought in. They are the first location in Florida. I grabbed a small Fat Bronco for $9. It had one chicken finger and one mozzarella stick and fries in tomato sauce. The fries were beyond soggy. The mozz was tasteless and rubbery. The chicken was inconsequential. As was the bun. A real expensive mess. They sell around a dozen of these and burgers and snacks. I'm not sure what the burgers cost. Their menu (with the prices) wasn't working. The place already looks twenty years aged and they opened a month ago. I don't hate the concept. It just needs to be done at least one quarter assed. And the prices are out of line. You can go to Arbys and get two sandwiches for $6 and mozz sticks for $3 and make yourself TWO better sandwiches. The original was on the Food Network.

*Travel Notes - Colorado: Flight there on Frontier was $206. Hertz was $445. Stayed night one at Baymont near airport for $100. Did recon on day one. Had sausage rarebit with broccoli and beer at Baker's Brewery in Silverthorne. Slept at Quality Inn for $93. Skied Arapahoe Basin for $99 with $52 ski rental. Had tots with pork belly and beer at Cabin Creek Brewery in Georgetown. Slept at Microtel for $115. Nice lake there. Skied at Loveland for $85 and $45 ski rental. Ate Italian sub at Enza's Deli in Silverthorne. Had a good steak and queso empanada at Lazo Empanadas at Bluebird Market. Had terrible tinga and carnitas tacos at Baja Chimayo at same market. Slept at Silver Inn for $105. Ate breakfast at Sunshine Cafe. Good trout and eggs. It started to blizzard, so, I had to change ski plans and head back down stream. Went to Idaho Springs and bathed at Indian Hot Springs for $20 (plus $7 for locker and towel). It was gross. Mainly because of the people. Had a disgusting pizza at Picci's. Had beer at Westbound & Down. Had beer and pastrami sandwich with fries at Tommyknockers. Slept at Columbine Inn (bad) for $106. Idaho Springs main street was cool. Though the charge for parking before 6pm. Drove through Denver north to Fort Collins. Had bad al pastor and carne asada tacos at Vatos. Had good carrot cake ice cream at Old Town Churn. Had interesting cheddar covered Liege style waffle at Waffle Lab. Slept at Armstrong Hotel for $126. Visited New Belgium Brewing. Ate trout and eggs (even better) at Silver Grill Cafe (in Esquire). Drove to Estes Park. Saw elk, etc. Drove through Rocky Mountain NP. Slept at Nicky's Resort for $78. Drove to airport and had bad lasagna at DiCicco's.

 I was going to try other ski areas, but, they were more expensive. Arapahoe had flex pricing. Loveland was constant rate. Both were way better than I expected. The more I go, the more I think you need to tell Vail and Aspen (et al) to go fuck themselves. It was in the 60's to start and then it dropped to the 20s. Crazy. Snowed over a foot after I left. The highway closed down. Fort Collins is cool. So many breweries and cideries and distilleries and restaurants. May be dearer than SLC in my heart now. Estes Park also had a nice lake. Nice drive there. Silverthorne is blowing up. Drove through Keystone (closed for season) too. Nice drive from Loveland to there over Loveland Pass. Found a cheap ski area called Echo near Idaho Springs. It had just closed though. No travel issues. Gas was cheaper there.