Restaurant Closings - Goodbye to Doc Chey's and Salsarita's

Very sad for fast casual offerings this week - two of my favorite places Doc Chey's Asian Kitchen and Salsarita's have closed. Both are franchisee chains so there is hope another one will open soon in Orlando.

Doc Chey's was located across the street from The Florida Mall in the Cost Plus World Market shopping center. I liked that you could have Japanese, Chinese or Thai food all in one place. Like Mama Fu's, they offered walk-up counter service for lunch and table service for dinner. Unlike Mama Fu's, their Thai dishes were pretty good. Plus, they offered Thai Iced Tea to drink which I love when eating Thai food. What will I miss most? The Eggplant Stir Fry - I'm not much for eggplant but I got this on the advice of one of the servers and it was fantastic! Also, I liked the options for the kids - BB could get a huge wonton soup that had pieces of chicken and vegetables and LB could get the chicken teriyaki.

I'm very sad about Salsarita's Fresh Mexican Cantina closing. I had become disenchanted with the Moe's Southwest Grill in Celebration (near where I work) because they kept giving smaller portions and raising the prices. Plus, the lines were long and I got chastised once for trying to substitute guacamole for sour cream in one of their quesadillas. I'm not a big sour cream fan but I was told I'd have to pay for a side of guac if I wanted to leave out the sour cream and add the guac. No thanks! So, I was extremely happy to find the new Salsarita's down 192 East in front of the Super Target (just east of 535). Salsarita's had all the standard Mexican-American standbys but had good prices and good portions. Also, I could add all the guacamole I wanted without an extra charge. I took the boys once to dinner there but I mostly went for lunch (sometimes 2-3 times per week). I had noticed that it was usually fairly empty when I went so I recruited some coworkers to join me. Apparently, it was not enough as Salsarita's had a handmade "Closed" sign on their doors last week and all the tables and chairs had been cleared out. However, when I checked their website, it looks like they just opened a location near Seminole Towne Center so when I need a fix, I'll be able to head up there.