Quick Bites - Ostrich and Buffalo burgers at Fuddrucker's

At the Fuddrucker's restaurant in Crossroads in Lake Buena Vista, I noticed that they have a "healthy choices" menu with different types of burgers such as turkey, veggie, and yes, buffalo and ostrich. I was very intrigued by these exotic offerings, so with the help of one of my co-workers, we split an ostrich burger and buffalo burger.

Cost: The exotic burgers are a bit more expensive than the regular burgers at Fuddrucker's and they only come in the one size - 1/2 pound. For comparison, a regular 1/2 pound beef burger is $5.69 while the Ostrich burger is $8.49 and the Buffalo burger is $7.99.

Looks: The buffalo burger looked more like a beef burger than the ostrich did, which makes sense. The ostrich burger was a very light brown, almost grey, with what looked like black pepper flecks scattered throughout the meat.

Taste: The ostrich burger was not greasy at all, though it wasn't dry either. To me, it tasted like veal. Unfortunately, I am not a big veal fan so I wasn't too keen on finishing the burger. My co-worker didn't fancy the taste either, so we ended up putting lots of condiments on it and finishing the burger. The buffalo burger, however, tasted just like a regular beef burger and we had no problem finishing that one.

Nutrition: Are these really healthier choices? I asked the question on the Fuddrucker's website and the nice people at Fuddrucker's sent me their nutritional information for all of their food products. Guess what? The ostrich burger really is better! Here's the breakdown: Ostrich burger, 1/2 pound prepared, 390 calories, 60 calories from fat, 6 grams of fat; Buffalo burger, 1/2 pound prepared, 520 calories, 330 calories from fat, 36 grams of fat; Beef burger, 1/2 pound prepared, 656 calories, 504 calories from fat, 56 grams of fat.

Taking all into consideration, I might be tempted to get another buffalo burger when I go to Fuddrucker's, but I'll probably pass on the ostrich. If you like veal, though, you might want to try it.

Restaurant Review - BJ's Restaurant & Brewhouse, 4151 Conroy Road, Orlando, FL

Across from the Mall of Millenia is BJ’s Restaurant and Brewhouse, where the biggest problem you will have is figuring out what to choose from the extensive menu. Besides the microbrew choices, there are burgers, pastas, pizzas, and other specialty entrees.

The restaurant interior is spacious, with light and dark wood floors, large booths, and classic touches such as chandeliers and ornate picture frames. We were seated at one of the oversized booths for dinner with children’s menus for the kids and a book-like menu for the adults. The menu is so extensive that you really need to have an idea of what kind of food you want when you dine here. Do you want a burger or a Chicago-style pizza? A salad or a pasta dish? A sandwich, a stuffed potato, or maybe one of the other entrees? Oh, and don’t forget about the entire microbrew menu.

To buy us some time to peruse the menu, I ordered the Avocado Egg Rolls ($8.95) as an appetizer for the table. These were amazing. Besides being beautifully presented, the crispy egg rolls were filled with large chunks of avocado, cream cheese, sundried tomatoes and other spices, plus a tamarind dipping sauce. The avocado and cream cheese melt together and provide a great flavor combination while the various spices gave some kick. Grandma, Grandpa, BB and I dug in. LB wouldn't touch it because of the "green" stuff inside. It was so good, I might come back and make it my meal one day.

From the kids menu, both of my boys decided to get the two mini burgers ($4.95 including drink), BB choosing his with all the toppings and LB asking for nothing on the bun but the burger. Other choices on the children’s menu are spaghetti, deep dish pizza, grilled cheese, chicken tenders, and mac-n-cheese, all for $4.95. They both gobbled up their burgers. I loved the happy face potatoes that came with the kids’ meals which are like French fries but are round and indented with a smile and two eyes.

Grandpa ordered a sample of the Berry Burst Cider ($1.95 for a 5 oz. taster), and the Chili Cheese Angus Burger ($9.25), with a Wedge Salad ($2.75 with an entrée). The cider was light and very fruity and didn't taste like beer as I thought it would. If you are not sure if you will like some of the beers, BJ’s also offers microbrew taster sets where you can try several of the beers in 5 oz servings. The Wedge Salad was a hunk of lettuce as you would expect but with big crumbles of bleu cheese in the dressing as well as a sprinkling of chopped tomatoes and onions as well. The burger was served open-faced and was completely covered with chili, cheese, and thin-sliced onion rings. Grandpa, who is normally a healthy eater, could not finish the meal but declared it delicious.

I ordered the Parmesan Crusted Chicken ($10.95), a pair of flattened chicken breasts, coated with Panko breadcrumbs and fried, with sides of white cheddar mashed potatoes and broccoli. The chicken had a crispy parmesan cheese crust and was topped with a buttery white wine sauce. I couldn’t get enough of the sauce and dipped every piece of chicken in it and some of the broccoli as well.

Grandma had the BJ’s Favorite deep dish pizza, the mini-size ($9.50). This is a supreme pizza with meatballs, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, green peppers, black olives, onions and topped with chopped tomatoes. She was glad she asked for the mini as it was loaded with toppings and was a generous serving. The crust was surprising light and crispy and not too greasy.

For dessert, we tried the Pizookie, a cookie baked in a mini deep20dish and topped with ice cream. No one could agree on if we should get the chocolate chunk cookie with vanilla ice cream or the triple chocolate cookie with chocolate ice cream. Our server helped us out by offering to do a half and half Pizookie for us. When the dessert came, it was just as our server said it would be, chocolate chip cookie with one scoop of vanilla ice cream on one side of the dish and a triple chocolate cookie with chocolate ice cream and a piece of Ghirardelli chocolate on the other. The dessert was very rich with the soft cookie and the melting ice cream on top and we polished it off.

I would definitely return to BJ’s as there are certainly some more dishes I want to try on the menu, including some microbrews as well. If you go at lunchtime during the week, there are some nice lunch specials for $6-$8, most including a salad.

Website: http://www.bjsrestaurants.com/

Restaurant Review - Cheeburger Cheeburger, 504 N. Alafaya Trail, Orlando, FL

Across from Waterford Lakes Town Center, is a new crop of stores and restaurants, including Cheeburger Cheeburger. Cheeburger Cheeburger is a chain restaurant starting to make its way across Central Florida and if you can't guess, their specialty is cheeseburgers, pretty much anyway you want them. The decor is all 1950's diner with chrome and neon everywhere, and a soundtrack to match.

The menu is very overwhelming, mostly because of all the choices you can make. Pretty much anything on the menu is "invent your own" meaning you pick whatever toppings you want on your cheeseburger, you choose what flavored mix-ins you want in your drink, you choose which of over 75 flavors of ice cream you want in your shake.

Let's start with the kids' menu. For $4.99, kids get a choice of a Jr. Cheeseburger, the Cheeser Cheeser (grilled cheese), The Wedge (fried wedge of mac-n-cheese), chicken fingers, grilled chicken sandwich, or PB&J. The meals come with apple slices or french fries, and a choice of soft drink, apple juice or milk. For an extra $1.50, kids can get a half shake or a Shake-a-Soda. The boys both ordered the Jr. Classic Cheeseburger. LB (my picky eater) ordered it with just catsup and BB ordered it without cheese (he claims he doesn't like cheese anymore - don't know when that happened), and with tomato, onion, and pickles. I ordered fries for both of them and then a chocolate milk for LB and a Shake-a-Soda for BB. A Shake-a-Soda is soda water flavored with a choice of 14 fruity flavors such as watermelon, pineapple, mango, and lemon. The soda is shaken, not stirred, at your table and then poured into a glass. BB chose kiwi.

On the regular menu, you start with what size burger you want going from a 1/4 pounder ($4.99) up to a full pounder ($10.99). If you can finish your One Pounder by yourself, you get your picture placed on the Wall of Famers by the front door. Skipping that, I chose the Classic 1/4 pounder as did Grandma while Grandpa order the Semi-Serious 1/3 pounder ($5.99). Next was time to choose our cheese -- pepper jack for me, provolone for Grandma and bleu cheese for Grandpa. Then we chose from another 25+ toppings -- I went for lettuce, tomato, and guacamole to finish up my own version of a Southwest burger. Grandma chose tomato, guacamole, pickle and onion rings. Grandpa went totally over the top with lettuce, tomato, guacamole, onion, pickle, mayonnaise, and onion rings. Yeah, he really did order onion and onion rings.

Cheeburger Cheeburger also offers some classic drinks such as floats, ice cream sodas, and egg creams, as well as regular and flavored drinks. Grandma decided on a Chocolate Cola ($2.09) while Grandpa went with a flavored lemonade ($1.99). Following his over-the-top theme, he chose a blackberry-mango lemonade. I wanted a cherry Shake-a-Soda ($2.29) but the server recommended a Cherry Sprite instead. The Cherry Sprite would only be $2.09 and it comes with free refills while the Shake-a-Soda does not. I went with her suggestion.

The restaurant was pretty crowded for a late lunch on a Sunday so our food took a little longer than I would have liked. Our drinks came out quickly although there was a mix-up with Grandpa's flavored lemonade - he was served a blackberry-mango Shake-a-Soda instead. He thought it was okay, but really liked his lemonade when the server corrected the mistake. BB loved his green kiwi soda. The food finally arrived and the kids' meals were served in cardboard 3D versions of a '57 Chevy. The onion slices were very thick so I had to laugh at Grandpa's burger as he could barely pick it up without it falling apart. My meal tasted great with the burger cooked to medium like I asked and the guac and pepper jack imparting the tangy southwest flavor I was looking for. We were too full for a shake or ice cream for dessert but we will definitely return to Cheeburger Cheeburger.

Restaurant Review - Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries, 7512 Dr. Phillips Blvd, Orlando, FL

A few weeks ago, Hubby, the boys, and I were at the Dr. Phillips Marketplace and started to get hungry for lunch. Hubby suggested Five Guys Famous Burgers and Fries so we went inside to check it out. Due to the accolades posted all over the wall and on the menu, including "Willy Wonkas of Burgercraft" (Washington Magazine), and "Voted Best Burger in Charlotte" (Readers Pick), we figured we couldn't go wrong.

Five Guys is a chain from the DC area and now has locations all over the East Coast including (now) Central Florida. The decor is very basic - red and white tile and, strangely enough, huge sacks of potatoes as a decorating element. Turns out the menu is very basic as well. It's just burgers and fries (with just a couple of other choices of a hot dog or grilled cheese sandwich). Everything on the menu touts how fresh it is - Fresh Ground Beef, Never Frozen - and so I guess the potato sacks all over show that the fries are fresh as well. And, actually, a sign by the order counter stated that "Today's Potatoes" (for the fries I assume) "are from Rigby, Idaho." There's also a sign that states all burgers are prepared well done - so no "moo-ing" burgers for you. With a limited menu, it was pretty easy to choose - we all picked burgers. LB decided he wasn't hungry (I couldn't even get him to agree to a hot dog - $2.59, or grilled cheese - $1.99) so I figured he would just eat off of us. Burger choices are pretty simple - "regular" or "little" (I'll get to that in a minute), add bacon or cheese. All other toppings are free including condiments, standard toppings like onions, tomatoes, lettuce, pickles, and then some non-standard ones like sauteed mushrooms, jalapenos, and green peppers. There is no kids menu that I could see so I figured (it turns out I was wrong) that the "Little" burgers mentioned on the menu were for kids. BB ordered the Little Hamburger ($2.79) with onion, lettuce, tomato, pickles, ketchup and mustard. Hubby ordered the Bacon Cheeseburger ($4.99) with just mustard, lettuce, and pickle; and I ordered the Cheeseburger ($4.49) with mayo, ketchup, mustard, lettuce, tomato, and pickles. We decided to also get a side of the large fries ($3.79) "Five Guys Style" cooked in peanut oil - there are also Cajun Style fries. We also ordered drinks ($1.79 each) - all 24 oz - the only size they have. When I asked if they had smaller cups for the kids, the server handed me 12 oz Styrofoam cups - much better as the other cups were too big. We then sat down to wait for our order number to be called. We decided to pass on the bucket of shelled peanuts available to munch on while you wait for your food because I figured then the boys wouldn't eat lunch.

After our number was called, Hubby came back with our grease-speckled plain brown paper bag containing our food. Sorry for those greasy spoon lovers out there - to me, it's not that attractive. Inside was a very large cup with our fries, and then three aluminum foil wrapped burgers. What was really nice is that each packet had a numbered sticker on it that corresponded to a number on the order ticket stapled to the bag so we had no trouble figuring out who's burgers was whose. Then came the surprise. When BB opened his foil up, I thought, wow, that's really big for a kid's burger. Then Hubby and I unwrapped ours - and found out that "Cheeseburger" and "Bacon Cheeseburger" really mean DOUBLE Cheeseburger and DOUBLE Bacon Cheeseburger. Yep, the "regular" burgers have two patties and the "little" ones have a hefty single patty. So, there really is no kid-sized food at Five Guys - frankly, a big disappointment. Luckily, by now, LB decided he was hungry so we were able to (in a very messy fashion) split the "little" burger between the two boys. In fact, all of the burgers were very messy and would literally fall out of the bun at any given time. However, I have to admit, they tasted really good. Messy, but yummy. Unfortunately, none of us thought the same of the fries. I thought they were very greasy and, really, did not have a good taste. In fact, they tasted like I had chopped up a bunch of potatoes myself and then dumped them into a vat of oil. So, those of you who love "homemade" fries will probably love these - I guess I'm really used to the commercial-made McDonald's fries. By the way, the large order of fries was HUGE. The regular order probably would have been fine (if we had liked the fries). Maybe the Cajun Style fries are better. In all, I did not find the menu at Five Guys very family-friendly. If I was in the area, without the kids, I'd probably pop in and grab a burger, but I'd pass on the fries.

Restaurant Review - Fuddruckers, Festival Bay Mall, end of International Drive, Orlando, FL

A couple of weekends ago, Hubby, the boys, and I were at Putting Edge glow-in-the-dark indoor mini-golf at Festival Bay Mall, when we started to get hungry for lunch. We decided to eat at Fuddruckers in the mall since the boys were hungry for cheeseburgers and we were not in the mood for McDonald's. Fuddruckers is located at the main entrance of the Festival Bay Mall in what is becoming the mall's "restaurant row." There is also a Dixie Crossroads there (see my review here http://restaurantmom.blogspot.com/2006/04/restaurant-review-dixie-crossroads.html) and they are finishing up a Cricketer Arms English Pub and a Bergamo's Italian Restaurant (both relocating from the Mercado Center, also on I-Drive). Fuddruckers is the only one of the four to also have an entrance inside the mall besides an outside one.

When you first walk into Fuddruckers, you are "funneled" along a narrow pathway that leads to the ordering counter. Along the way, you pass several menu boards, along with a display of raw hamburger patties - I guess so you can gauge how big of a burger you would like to have? At Fuddruckers, you can have a 1/3 lb, 1/2 lb, 2/3 lb, or even a full 1 lb burger, with all sorts of toppings. There's also salads, and grilled and crispy chicken sandwiches, sides (all burgers are a la carte - if you want fries, you'll have to order them separate) plus a whole dessert counter. The kid's menu offers cheeseburgers, hot dogs, grilled cheese, chicken fingers, all with fries on the side (lucky kids) or mac-n-cheese. For $3.99, the kid's meals come with a drink and a cookie as well. Hubby wasn't feeling "burger-y" so he ordered the All-American Grilled Chicken Sandwich ($6.69) that comes with smokehouse bacon, mushrooms, and American cheese on a bakery fresh Fuddruckers bun. He then took the boys to find a table while I finished the order. I chose one of the Specialty Burgers (meaning some premium toppings are already included), the Southwest Burger in 2/3 lb size ($6.89), which comes with guacamole, pepper jack cheese and smokehouse bacon. Both boys wanted cheeseburgers and I upgraded their drinks to chocolate milkshakes for an extra $1.49. I was then handed a milkshake-shaped sign with a number to put on our table and was asked for a name for the order. The order taker said our milkshakes would be delivered to us but to come back to the counter when our name was called to get the food.

I arrived at the table with the sign and drinks for Hubby and me. The seating area is large, but feels very crowded. There are square booths and circle booths, and regular tables and high tables. There is pretty much no place to put a stroller and if you have a high-chair child, you'd better hope one of the regular tables is empty because that's the only kind that can accommodate a high-chair. About 5 minutes later, the kids' milkshakes arrived, which was good because it was something to keep their attention. Hubby wondered why they took the sign with the number on it when the shakes were delivered - how were they going to deliver our food now? I explained that, no, we had to listen for our name and then go back up and get the food. He thought that was very inconvenient for parents, especially if there is only one adult and a bunch of children - how would you keep track of your kids when you are going up to get the food? With so many other "fast-casual" restaurants today delivering food right to your table, I wonder why Fuddruckers hasn't adopted this as well. About 15 minutes later, our food was ready and I went up to the counter to get it. There are no trays for you to get your food with so I had to juggle the three burger baskets and one chicken basket on my way back to our table. The boys both wanted ketchup and mustard and BB wanted tomatoes, pickles and lettuce, too, on their burgers so I had to go back to the toppings and sauces bar to fix up their burgers. It's actually a pretty nice spread with fresh veggies and other toppings including onions, salsa, jalapenos, relish, BBQ sauce, ranch dressing, mayo, and about 4 different kinds of mustard. Back to the table again and now Hubby got up to fix up his chicken sandwich how he wanted it. My Southwest burger looked really good as is so I didn't feel like I needed any additional toppings. After cutting up LB's burger into quarters and BB's burger in half, it was now time for me to eat! Yum! The mix of guac, pepper jack cheese and bacon really gave the burger a great taste. Plus, I just love Fuddruckers' bakery buns. They slather them in butter and then toast them and they just taste perfect with the burgers. Hubby thought his chicken sandwich was okay - the chicken was a little dry but otherwise pretty good. Both boys did pretty good with their burgers and fries (homestyle cut and seasoned) but only got halfway through with their shakes. It's not clear when you are leaving whether you need to bus your own table or not but we didn't see any garbage cans so we left everything on the table. As we were leaving the table, though, a server did come by and start clearing our table. She also reminded us to get our kid's meal cookies at the bakery counter and that we just needed to show our receipt. That's right - the cookies! We had totally forgotten about those. I went by the counter and got two kid's chocolate chip cookies on our way out. I really like the food at Fuddruckers and the boys enjoy it too but Hubby doesn't like how it is so "self-serve" focused. I tend to agree and I'll have to make sure I have another adult with me when I bring the kids back.

Restaurant Review - Bob's Big Boy, 795 Gateway Drive, Altamonte Springs, FL

A few week's ago, on a Sunday around noon, I dragged my parents and my kids to try out the new Bob's Big Boy Restaurant in Altamonte Springs. It's a new location in Florida although Bob's Big Boys have been around for years and years. In fact, I remember going to Bob's Big Boy as a child growing up in Virginia and I remembered liking it. So, I asked my parents to go with me on a trip down memory lane. To which my dad replied, "What? Why do you want to go all the way up there to eat at Bob's Big Boy? You might as well go to a Denny's around the corner! The food is about the same." But I insisted -- "C'mon, I need to eat there for my blog!"

The location was a little hard to find, you have to head south of 436 on 434 and then look for the restaurant on Gateway Drive at a new shopping center. Upon walking inside the restaurant, a large Big Boy statue greets you, naturally. My Big Boy (my 7-year old) thought it was cool to pose like the statue and have his picture taken. The inside of the restaurant resembles an old-time diner with lots of bright chrome and checkerboard designs. We were seated at a booth and given large laminated menus (kind of like at Denny's) and the kids were given paper menus that looked like comic books. My Big Boy (BB) was a little upset because he received what he termed a "girl" comic book menu but, luckily, we were able to exchange it for a "boy" one (Ninja Turtles). There were jokes, riddles, and puzzles inside with the menu itself on the back page. We had plenty of time to decide what we wanted when our server came to the table. She took our drink orders -- chocolate milk for my Little Boy (LB), a chocolate malt for me, Grandma, and my BB (hey, they had a sign saying Malt Shop - we had to try it!), with just water for Grandpa. Then, our server disappeared. Really. We couldn't find her for 10 minutes. And it's not that big of a restaurant. To kill the time, LB and I checked out the breakfast buffet. It was a pretty okay-looking spread with all of the standards - pancakes, waffles, eggs, sausage, bacon, grits, fruit, etc. I might have to try it some time. But today, I had come to try the signature entree - THE Big Boy burger. Luckily, by the time we came back to our table, a manager walked by and asked how everything was going. We explained that we couldn't find our server, or our drinks, so she promised to find them and then proceeded to take our food order. Grandma and I got the Big Boy burger, hers was $4.29 for the burger alone while I got the combo with fries and a side item for $6.89. I chose the cole slaw on the advice of the manager and then also decided to upgrade to the onion rings for another $1. LB wanted the hot dog kids' meal and BB ordered the grilled cheese -- with a drink, fries and a "special prize" included, the kids' meals were a deal for only $2.99! Another kids' meal choice is a kiddie burger and only $1 more to upgrade to kiddie chicken tenders. The manager kept calling the kids' meals "the kid's hot dog box and kid's grilled cheese box" so I assumed they would come in some sort of box with the food and surprise all together. Shortly thereafter, our original server showed up again, with all of our drinks. The chocolate malts were served "the old-fashioned way" in tall glasses with the remainder in the silver mixing cup. LB decided he wanted to try mine and then proceeded to suck the whole thing down. Good thing I had extra in the mixing cup!

Soon, our entrees arrived. The kids' food was served on regular plates so I don't know what kind of "box" the manager was talking about. I could tell by that point that our server was new so maybe she didn't serve the kids' food correctly? My Big Boy Burger looked like... well... it looked like a Big Mac from McDonald's. Okay, but the important thing is what it tastes like! And it tastes like... a Big Mac. It did. Oh well, my childhood memories were dashed. Bob's Big Boy really IS just like a Denny's (or McDonald's). Everyone pretty much agreed. But the cole slaw was really good, just like the manager said. All told, we got out of there for only $35, not including tax and tip - not too bad for 3 adults and 2 kids. As I was paying at the cashier, I remembered that we hadn't gotten our kids' meal "surprise". I stopped the server as she was walking by and she said she had to check with the manager what was supposed to be in the kids' meal. She came back with two plastic bobble-head Big Boy figurines. The boys thought they were funny and liked playing with them. As we walked out the door, I saw that they had a "gift shop" with all kinds of Big Boy collectibles. One of them was the exact same plastic bobble-head my kids had just gotten, going for $3 each! So, an even better deal (although I wonder if the server messed up and gave us the wrong kid's prize). All in all, I don't think I would head back up to Altamonte Springs for another meal at Bob's Big Boy. But it was fun to go for memory's sake.