Restaurant Review - Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza, 8031 Turkey Lake Road, Orlando, FL

Recently opened, in the Whole Foods shopping center at the intersection of Turkey Lake Road and Sand Lake Road, is Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza, a pizza chain started in South Florida. The inside of the restaurant is very open, with walls covered with black & white and color photographs of NY icons, and a few wide-screen TVs.

The menu is limited with just pizzas, a few side orders, grilled wings, and one dessert, NY-style cheesecake naturally, although there are some other sandwich and salad items available for lunch that are not on the main menu. There is no kids menu but you generally don't need one for a pizza place as everyone can dig into a pie. When the server came to get our drink order, we found out something interesting. Anthony's only serves bottled drinks (there is no soda fountain, although you can get wine by the glass). Since it was just me and my boys, we ordered two sweetened Gold Peak Tea bottles ($2.50), and one Minute Maid Lemonade ($2.50). There are also sodas available and unsweet tea. The Gold Peak teas were 16.9 oz bottles and the Lemonade was 20 oz which allowed for about a glass and a half each. The only problem was telling my kids to make it last as there are no free refills.

Pizza prices are pretty reasonable with a small 12" starting at $11.50 and a large 16" starting at $14.50. Toppings for the small start at $1.50 and for the large at $2.50, but there is a volume discount -- the more toppings, the less per each you pay. Toppings available are Italian sausage, fresh mushrooms, Calamata olives (yep, not just your regular black olives), prosciutto, Long Hot Finger Peppers (um, not exactly sure what these are), anchovies, onions, pepperoni, or sweet peppers. There are also Specialty pizzas for $15.95 for a small and $18.95 for a large. These looked very interesting such as the Meatball & Ricotta, the Frittata (Onion, pepper, and egg), Eggplant Marino, and more. For this visit, we ordered a large with 1/2 cheese and 1/2 mushrooms and olives ($17.00). We also order the Fresh Mozzarella and Tomato Salad to start ($6.25).

Our salad arrived, with four large slices of deep red tomato, topped with thick slices of fresh mozzarella, many strands of basil, olive oil and a bit of balsamic vinegar. In the center was piled a mound of sweet peppers. BB and I each had two of the tomato stacks. The tomatoes were cold and fresh and the mozzarella was creamy, plus there was plenty of basil for each piece. We left the sweet peppers alone as we both aren't fans. Another side dish is the grilled chicken wings. We didn't order it but saw a plate of them pass by. It looked like a huge portion of grilled wings, settled on slices of foccacia bread and them completely covered with grilled onions. That doesn't really appeal to me, but it might to you!

As soon as we were done with the tomatoes, the pizza came out. As their motto implies, the pizza at Anthony's was definitely "well-done" which also means that the edges and bottom of the pie can look a bit charred. That was not a good thing for LB who instantly balked at eating the pizza. I had to cajole him into eating it. Of course, he just wanted the cheese. Unfortunately, the cheese had large "holes" of just sauce that he didn't like either. Oh, the curse of a picky eater!

BB and I loved the pizza. It has a sweet sauce that was more pronounced with the plain cheese side. The crust is a bread-like consistency, not doughy at all. The mushrooms were piled on generously although we were a little disappointed with the amount of olives. I know that Kalamata (on the menu they were spelled "Calamata) olives are typically a lot stronger in taste and a bit salty; maybe that is why there was only a sprinkling of finely chopped olives on the pie? Just wish there was more.

Between the three of us, we ate all but slices, which we took home to Hubby. I'll definitely be back, and I'm sure BB will want to come as well. We'll probably have to leave LB at home with Hubby, though.

Anthony's Coal Fired Pizza website: http://www.anthonyscoalfiredpizza.com/index.html

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 - American Pie Pizza Company, 336 Moore Road, Ocoee, FL

Kid's Night Review: I like American Pie Pizza Company as they have lots on the menu that the whole family likes and it is not your typical pizzeria/Italian menu. Sure, you'll find the pizzas, wings, and calzones, but they come in unusual flavors such as the Ranchkin Calzone (one of my favorites) that comes with chicken, bacon, mozzarella, tomato and ricotta and is served with a side of ranch for $8.29. But, I'm here to talk about their Monday night Kids Night. Just by pure luck, Hubby had a work appointment on Monday night and the boys and I decided to go to American Pie (I had no idea it was Kids Night.) I found out that Kids get a free kids pizza for every adult entree ordered so I paid for one of the kids' pizzas ($4.25) -- still sounds good to me! For myself, I ordered the Greek Salad ($7.69), and ordered each boy the kid's pizza -- cheese for LB and black olive for BB. They actually have Cheese or Pepperoni as the kid options but BB asked for black olive instead and the counter order girl said sure. She handed me the large number to put at our table so the runners could find us with our order.

The boys had already run off to choose our booth based on the PS2 game that is featured. Each booth in the restaurant has an associated small flat-screen TV that plays a certain PS2 game. You can get the controllers just by giving your driver's license and then the kids can play while you are waiting. It can get pretty crowded on some nights and sometimes we don't get a booth, much to BB's chargrin, but since it was a Monday night (and, smartly, kid's night when a restaurant tries to get more people to come in) the boys had their pick. The boys started to play a PS2 wave runner game while I went up to get the drinks.

I wasn't interested in the PS2 game, so I watched the music videos that are featured on other large-screen TVs hung all around the restaurant. I watched a few songs by Daughtry and Matchbox 20 when one of the runners came by with a 3-cup holder for each of the boys. BB's had a cup with pizza sauce, another with cheese and the third with sliced black olives, while LB's had just the pizza sauce and cheese. He also brought a small round flat with raw flattened pizza dough on it. Huh? I asked what this was and he explained that on kid's night, kids get to make their own pizzas. Wow, cool! The boys were very excited and LB yelled out that he decided he wanted black olives, too. The runner said he would bring back another cup of olives. The boys had a lot of fun spreading the sauce carefully over the dough and then adding the olives and cheese. Well, BB was careful with it. LB was good with the sauce and then just dumped a pile of cheese and olives in the middle of his pie. Another runner came by and picked up the pies to take them to the oven. She offered to take away the cups as well but both boys decided they wanted to eat the rest of their toppings, including slurping up the sauce. Oh well, no harm in that. LB was very excited and claimed he couldn't wait for his pizza to come. In fact, they didn't even finish their PS2 game and just talked about their pizzas and what they thought they were going to look like and taste like. Hmm, I'll have to start having them help me in the kitchen with dinner!

A short while later, my Greek salad came. It was a generous portion with two garlic bread knots on the side topped with big pieces of garlic and Parmesan cheese. The salad itself had chopped tomatoes, chunks of feta cheese, a pile of pitted Kalamata olives, and the house dressing on the side (I asked for no onions). I had to share half of one of my garlic knots with the boys while they waited, impatiently, on their pizzas. Their pizzas arrived and the boys dug in. I really think making it themselves helped because they both polished off their entire pizzas. I guess pride of workmanship makes one hungry. My Greek salad was delicious as usual with the crisp veggies and the bitingly tangy dressing. I like to mix in the feta cheese with the dressing as it gives it more of a "Greek" taste that I like. It was too much for me (although I had no problem finishing the garlic knots) so BB offered to help me finish the last of the salad. It was a lot of fun, the kids were occupied and eager to eat, so I'll have to remember to come back the next time we are looking for a place to eat on a Monday night.

Restaurant Review - Mellow Mushroom, 2015 Aloma Avenue, Winter Park, FL

No, it’s not an all-mushroom menu at Mellow Mushroom, as my oldest son envisioned as we headed to the restaurant on Aloma Avenue in Winter Park with Grandma and Grandpa. It’s actually a pizzeria although it’s hard to tell from the cute chalet-looking exterior with a large covered patio on the side. The patio had plenty of whirling fans above and looked like it might be okay, even in the summer. There are a few parking spaces around the actual restaurant itself with more parking available at the nearby shopping mall.

The interior of the space is bright yellow with reproductions of famous Masters paintings throughout featuring the two Mellow Mushroom mascots, who are mushrooms, of course. So think "Starry Night" with two mellow mushrooms hanging out viewing the stars. The rest of the décor is very subtly psychedelic including the motto of “Give Pizza Chance”. We were seated at a table by the small bar, near the booths that are on the raised level of the restaurant. While there is no children’s menu, our server brought the boys coloring pages and crayons to keep them busy.

After reaching the table, LB decided he needed to go potty so we followed the signs to the “Mellow Flushrooms” which had me chuckling. When we returned to the table, we perused the menu. Besides pizzas and calzones, there are also salads, hoagies, and appetizers, as well as mircobrew beers and wine. There is an emphasis on healthy and premium offerings such as pizza toppings like tofu, tempeh (another soy-based product like tofu), pesto, spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, and other fresh ingredients. There’s also a hummus appetizer and most of the hoagies are topped with sprouts.

We ordered drinks, including iced tea for BB and chocolate milk for LB. Grandpa tried one of the microbrew beers called Purple Haze - a wheat-based beer with raspberry tones. He liked it but wished it had more fruit flavor. I almost tried the “Monk in the Trunk” microbrew just because of the name, but decided I wasn't in the mood for a beer and ordered an iced tea.

We decided to try a small order of Parmesan Pretzels (3 for $4.25 or 6 for $7) and a small Greek salad ($4.75) to start. The pretzels are more like breadsticks in the shape of pretzels. They were thick and doughy, basted with butter and topped with Parmesan cheese, and served with a warm marinara sauce. They were very filling and had enough flavor even without the sauce on the side. The Greek salad came with the house Esperanza dressing which is like a light Caesar-type dressing. The dressing perfectly complemented the fresh crunchy vegetables, big chunks of feta cheese and Kalamata olives that topped the salad. BB helped me with the salad while everyone tried the pretzels.

Mellow Mushroom pizzas range from 10 inches to 16 inches and are $7.50 for a small cheese up to $22.50 for a large Specialty pizza. Hoagies are around $4.50 for a half and up to $7.75 for a whole. To try a little bit of everything, we ordered a small cheese pizza, a half ham and cheese hoagie, and a medium House Special pizza ($17.50) which is topped with pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, black olives, tomatoes, bacon, ham and extra cheese. Wow, when they brought the House Special pizza, it was completely loaded with meat and veggie toppings yet still had a generous Parmesan-topped crust border. Each slice was like a meal in itself and the dough is more bread-like than a NY-style crust. The cheese pizza was a perfect size for an adult or for two kids to share. Grandma, Grandpa and BB worked on the specialty pizza while LB and I shared the cheese pizza. The cheese was nice and stringy and the Parmesan coated crust really added to the flavor.

The ham and cheese sandwich, which was for me along with two slices of the cheese pizza, was on a toasted sub roll with thick slices of ham and cheese, generously topped with sprouts, and with mayo as the only dressing. I typically prefer thin-sliced ham so the thick-sliced was a little too "hammy" for me. Also, I would have liked more dressing, such as the Esperanza, so I probably wouldn't order a hoagie again. I did like how the sprouts added a nice crunchy texture, though.

Needless to say, we brought home leftovers, and will definitely be back for more.

Restaurant Review - Panera Bread, 2260 East Highway 50, Clermont, FL

There's a new Panera Bread location that opened up in Clermont, right near the intersection of Hancock Rd and S.R. 50., next door (literally) to the Carrabba's. I've been to Panera before, mostly the Sand Lake Rd location, sometimes the one at Millenia Mall, and while it is fine if I'm in the area, I usually don't "crave" the food there. I'm just not one of those organic sandwich/salad eaters. But, Grandma and Grandpa called and said Panera has a new product called the Crispani and it was really good, so I gathered up the boys and we headed to Clermont to meet Grandma and Grandpa for dinner.

The Crispani is basically Panera's version of a flatbread pizza (with organic ingredients of course). This Panera offered three different versions - three cheese, tomato and basil, and sweet sausage with roasted peppers. The Tomato and Fresh Basil Crispani looked really good in the photo - slices of tomatoes, leaves of basil, and chunks of mozzarella cheese baked onto a flatbread crust. I then checked the kid's menu on the menu board - there are three offerings: Grilled Cheese on whole grain bread with organic American cheese, Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwich on whole grain bread made with all-natural peanut butter, and the Kid's Deli Sandwich on, you guessed it, whole grain bread with a choice of deli meat and, yes - you guessed again, organic American cheese. For $3 - $4, each Kid's Meal comes with a squeezable organic yogurt tube and a choice of organic milk, organic chocolate milk, or apple juice (I'm guessing it is organic as well). I asked the boys what they wanted and LB said he wanted the Grilled Cheese. BB wasn't happy with any of the choices (he's like me, not big into organic stuff) so we decided to share the Crispani (it looked big). When I went up to order, the server told me that the Crispani takes a little longer than the other items at Panera so they would give me a number to put on my table and deliver it when it is ready. She suggested getting a soup or half salad to start and that by the time we are done, the Crispani should be ready. That sounded good to me so I ordered a cup of the Wild Rice and Creamy Chicken Soup for $3.29 to start and then the Tomato & Basil Crispani for $6.99, and then LB's Grilled Cheese. Grandma and Grandpa decided to share the Sausage & Pepper Crispani.

We sat down in the "living room" section of the restaurant - that's usually the section in the front of Panera that has smaller round tables and sometimes couches. There were other kids there running around so I figured my kids wouldn't disturb anyone in that section. A few minutes later my name was called - our soup and LB's Grilled Cheese was ready. The soup was really good, very creamy and flavorful - BB liked it too. LB wasn't too keen on the Grilled Cheese. He took one bite and then just drank his chocolate milk. I tried it and I could see why he didn't like it... it tasted too... organic and wheaty. Not like the greasy grilled cheese sandwiches I'm used to! LB didn't want his strawberry yogurt either so BB actually asked for it and ate the whole thing.

About ten minutes later, our Crispani(s) were delivered to the table. LB perked up at that point and declared that he wanted some pizza, too. The flatbread pizza was good - not too crunchy, not too chewy, with nice big chunky toppings -- and, it didn't taste organic, even if it was. Also, because of the flatbread crust, it made it really easy for the kids to pick up and eat. Grandma and Grandpa liked their Sausage & Pepper Crispani as well. They both said they didn't like it at first because the sausage and caramelized onions really did make for a sweet taste at the beginning. But they said the taste really grows on you and they ended up liking it. There ended up being enough pizza for all of us, I realized, so next time, I will skip the kid's meal and just get the Crispani for all of us.

Restaurant Review - Pat's Pizzeria, 1218 Winter Garden Vineland Rd (535), Winter Garden, FL

Update 10/13/07 - Things are not looking good for Pat's Pizzeria. Tonight I tried to call to order a pizza and no one answered the phone. When we drove by to see if they were open, a sign said they were closed - and it was a Saturday at 7:30 pm.


Pat's Pizzeria is located right on 535, just south of S.R.50 in Winter Garden. It's located behind the Publix shopping center in a new strip mall that is next to a storage place. If you didn't know it was there, you would probably go right by or think it is just a take-out pizza place like I did. Instead, it is a quaint little sit-down restaurant serving New York-style pizza. And when I say "little", I mean it - Pat's only has seven tables total with five booths that seat 4 people and two larger tables that can seat 6 - there's also the "Wine Cellar" room that is a private function room in the back that can seat more folks. Also, they appear to really discourage pizza delivery - if you want your pizza delivered to your home, they only deliver from 5 - 9 pm, and there is a $4 delivery charge. You'll probably want to eat-in or take-out.

Pat's Pizzeria is also a work in progress. Since they opened a few months ago, they are experimenting and trying new things to become a part of the community and increase their offerings. They just added beer and wine on their menu and are now open for lunch on Sundays. They also just added an "Italian Style Breakfast Buffet" on Sunday mornings starting at 9 am. The flyer says it will feature fried dough, meatballs, eggs, bacon, pancakes, toast, muffins and more for $6.99 for adults and $3.99 for children under 12. I don't know if I exactly think of going to a pizza restaurant for Sunday breakfast, but hey, it's creative so I'll probably give it a try.

The restaurant, as I noted above, is very small but is nicely decorated. They went with an "Italian countryside" theme so there is faux paintings on the walls that make it look like you are eating outside an Italian village. The open kitchen is along the left-side of the space and the booths are along the right. There are also two TVs on either end of the restaurant so patrons can watch while they are eating (or waiting).

The boys, Grandma M., and I ate at Pat's on a recent Friday night and we were able to get the last booth. Pat's doesn't do too well, service-wise, when their place is crowded and our visit was no exception. Our server came by to get our drink orders and then disappeared for a while (which is hard to do in such a small restaurant). When she finally did return, she brought Wikki Stix for the boys to play with (for an explanation of Wikki Stix, see my review on the Florida Waffle Shop), and then took our order. We just ordered a large cheese pizza (18") for $12.99. I usually like mushrooms but Pat's only has canned mushrooms, so we went with just the cheese. Grandma M. also ordered a side garden salad, without onions. They do have children's items (but no coloring menu - BB was upset until the Wikki Stix arrived) such as spaghetti for $2.99 or chicken fingers for $3.99, but usually in pizza places we just have the boys eat the pizza with us. While we were waiting for our pizza, a manager dropped off some garlic bread at our table - I actually have no idea why since pizza is not supposed to come with garlic bread, but I don't quibble when there is garlic to be had. The bread was fantastic - small slices of Italian bread drenched in garlic butter and toasted just right. About 15 minutes later, our server dropped off our pizza at our table, along with cute pizza-shaped dishes for the boys, and then promptly left before we could ask about the side salad for Grandma M. Pat's makes a great pizza - crunchy crust, slightly sweet sauce, and a "fresh bread from the oven" smell. After 10 minutes, we finally had to stop a manager to ask about the salad (our server had disappeared again). He came back in two minutes with the side salad, topped with... onions - oh, well, at least he tried. When we were done with the pizza, the boys started to get antsy and we still couldn't catch our server so Grandma took the boys outside while I waited to get the check. If Pat's could fix their service problem, it would be a great place to go, at anytime. However, since the pizza is really good - I'd say the best in the area - I'll keep coming back, although I'll probably do take-out more often than eating in.

Restaurant Review: RedBrick Pizza, S.R. 436, "Uptown Altamonte", Altamonte Springs, FL

RedBrick Pizza is a new restaurant in the "Uptown Altamonte" section of Altamonte Springs, located right next door to the Altamonte Mall. Uptown Altamonte is a brand-new area of restaurants and retail shops, with more to come. The boys, Grandma M., and I arrived for lunch on a recent Saturday, eager to escape the food court at the mall, where we had been back-to-school shopping. RedBrick's eating area is very open with various types of seating including booths along one wall. I immediately noticed that each booth had a small flat-screen TV so I made a beeline for one of those. BB, my seven year-old boy, grabbed the remote (yes, each TV had its own remote!) and started searching for Spongebob Squarepants. He quickly found it (I believe Spongebob is on 24 hours a day, you just have to keep switching channels to find him) and he and LB sat quietly entranced in the booth while Grandma M. and I perused the menu.

RedBrick is a "fast-casual" restaurant meaning you have to order at the counter but then they deliver the food to you at your table. Options are Pizzas (of course), Chopped Salads, and Fhazanis (pretty much a pizza folded in half to make a sandwich). There is also Gelato (Italian ice cream) for dessert. I liked how each pizza came in Small (for 1), Medium (for 2), and Large (for 4-6 people), with the same size options for the salads. Some of the featured "Gourmet Favorites" pizzas are traditional such as Four Cheese, Margarita, and various meat combos. Others are more in the vein of California Pizza Kitchen such as BBQ Chicken pizza, Thai Chicken, and Greek. Small pizza prices average $7, Medium are about $11, and Larges are about $17 (just cheese is around $14). Salad options are Caesar, regular green, Chinese Chicken, Greek, Italian, and a Salad of the Day - all for $4-$9, depending on the size. To keep it simple, I went up and ordered a medium Margarita pizza and a medium Caesar for us all to share. There's also a Kid's Meal available for the under 10 crowd - cheese or pepperoni kid pizza, small soda, and a small gelato for $6. But, I figured sharing would work out better as I never know if the kids are hungry or not. I also got each of us a medium drink for $1.50 a pop.

When I returned to the table, the boys were still deep into Spongebob and Grandma M. asked me which type of crust I had chosen for our pizza. Huh? I relooked at the menu and saw that in one corner it listed different flavor crusts such as Parmesan, Pesto, Roasted Red Pepper, and others. It's less than $1 to go with one of these "gourmet crusts". I guess they didn't train the employees about upsell here because no one mentioned these flavored crusts to me when I was ordering and they are not that prominent on the menu. At that moment, our Caesar salad arrived. It was the perfect size for the four of us as LB doesn't like lettuce and BB loves it. It was just your basic Caesar but was a nice appetizer as we waited for the pizza. The pizza came shortly after we finished the salad. It had nice big chunks of tomato on it, as a Margarita pizza should. And, the medium definitely would have fed just two as it came in four slices. Since we had already had salad, though, one slice a piece was fine. The pizza was nicely done, with a crispy crust that was doughy in the middle. Both boys ate every inch of their slices which means they must have really liked it.

I must mention a strange thing about the medium drinks - the lids don't fit on the cups properly. After getting lemonades and iced teas, I tried my best to put the lids on but they each had one little spot that didn't completely get covered. Why do I bring this up? Well, halfway through lunch, when BB reached for his drink, he tipped it a bit and SPLASH - it went all over him. I quickly jumped up and grabbed some napkins and told the employee filling up the straws that there had been a spill and can he get a towel or something. Apparently, RedBrick has a lot to learn as far as customer service goes, because he came to our table and handed me a paper towel to clean the spill up with. Yeah, I guess all spills are do-it-yourself here. Just so you know it isn't just me, another customer also spilled her medium drink while carrying it from the counter to her table, about 10 minutes after our incident. She also complained about the poor-fitting lids. So, you have been warned - you may want to bring your own drink containers!

Since the boys had done such a good job with lunch, I decided to treat everyone to some gelato. I wasn't really impressed with some of the flavors - a lot of fruits when I am all about chocolate - but the Bon-bon flavor looked like chocolate so I sampled some. Okay, even better, it was hazelnut gelato - hello! I got a small cup (and they ARE small) for us all to share for $2.50. Remember, gelato is very rich and is a lot thicker than ice cream so a little goes a long way. It ended up being a perfect size for the three of us to share - Grandma M. passed as she said she was full.

From a family point-of-view, I thought RedBrick was a great place to take the kids for pizza and to get a healthy dose of salads thrown in there as well. The employees have a lot to learn about taking care of the customer but they were never rude, it just seemed like they were not trained about how to treat the customer. The TV in the booth was a big winner as well... as long as your kids like to watch the same program. The menu noted that another RedBrick is going to be opening in The Loop, the new shopping area in Kissimmee so those of you in the southern part of Orlando can try it as well.