My favorite To-Go Food Right Now
To dine-in, or take-out, this is the question facing all of us as the State of Florida enters “Phase I” of their reopening plan. I have my personal opinions about dining at any restaurant at the moment that comes from years of working in both FOH (front of house) and home office restaurant operations. Still, I put the question out on Instagram to see how others felt, and the feedback overwhelmingly leaned toward people feeling more comfortable continuing to pick up their food and take it home. (The ice cream pictured had nothing to do with the poll, but it is delicious if you happen to see it at your local Trader Joe’s.)
Beginning May 4th, we started to see updates from our favorite local places, and there continues to be a mixture of who is keeping their dining rooms closed until further notice, and who is cautiously opening and following CDC guidelines.
There is no perfect answer here, as dine-in has risks that rely solely on diligent employees, and takeout comes at an additional cost and a hit on already bleeding profit margins.
Whatever your feelings are, it’s still essential to support your most beloved establishments as you can, so they make it through these tough times. Small things you can do to help lift the burden on the small restaurants:
When you can, order from these restaurants and pick up the items yourself. Don't get me wrong, I’m a fan of getting food delivered, but many delivery apps are taking significant cuts out of these orders.
If you need to use a third-party app, look for the ones who are at least trying to do something for restaurants during this time. For instance, UberEats allows you to add a $2 fee on your order that goes to the restaurant.
Don’t take it if you don’t need it! Tell your takeout host if you don’t need plastic cutlery or napkins, and use what you have at home.
Tip the person handling your takeout food. I’ve heard people say you do not have to tip them because they are not acting as a full server. I can tell you as someone who use to run a takeout window; this is FALSE. You should be tipping them.
After you’ve enjoyed your takeout meal, leave a good review on Google or Yelp. Google Search Rankings look at several factors, but reviews left by consumers is one of them. Don’t be the person that only leaves reviews when things aren’t perfect.
Complain directly, not publically. If your order has an error don’t immediately blast them on social media for all to see. Send them a DM or a private message to get your issue resolved.
My favorite to-go meals in Orlando right now.
I’ve made a list of some of my personal favorites, as I have been chronicling my takeout orders giving them home photoshoots, some fancier than others depending on how ravenous I was at the time.
Pig Floyds
Pig Floyds has stated they are not opening their dining room yet, but standard takeout and online ordering is still happening as you can see from my lovely picnic spread from the weekend. Check their Instagram account as they are continuously grinding away with other promotions for you to take advantage of and get some good grub.
My favorite items:
Shrimp + Sausage Taco
Pork Belly Taco
Two Meat Combo
Maduros and Yucca Frita
Mee Thai
Mee Thai is located on Lee Road in Winter Park. They continue to offer call-ahead orders, curbside pickup, and contactless deliveries by Uber Eats, Bitesquad, and Doordash. They announced via Facebook that they are opening for the 25% capacity dine-in.
My favorite items:
Yellow Coconut Curry
Drunken Noodles (veggie)
Egg Rolls + Summer Rolls
Mediterranean Street Food by Shisco
The nature of this restaurant is largely takeout because they operate in a small kitchen with an order window. They do have limited outside seating but no word yet if they are opening those seats up at this time.
Favorite items:
Gyro salad
Hummus + Pita Bread
Hibiscus tea
Tori Tori
Tori Tori announced they will be re-opening their dining room at 15% capacity and is asking guests to wear masks at all times, except when eating. Takeout and delivery options are still in place with a limited menu.
My favorite to-go items:
Pork Belly Box
Pork Belly Gyoza
Garlic Crab Fried Rice
P is for Pie Bakeshop
This lovely bakeshop has remained open doing takeout only and will continue to do so until they feel it’s safe to open their small dining area. You can call ahead orders, or walk-in to order but they are limiting two customers inside at a time.
Favorite items:
Oatmeal Creme Pie
Apple Hand Pies
Any cookies
Basically, anything is pure bliss here
Mamak Asian Street Food
Mamak has not been active on their social media accounts for months, so, unfortunately, I have no update for you, but I love their food and always enjoy getting it for takeout.
My favorite items:
Roti Canai
Seasame Chilled Noodles
Wonton Mee Soup
Chicken Satay Skewers
Pot Stickers
Kai Asian Street Fare
No update yet from Kai on dine-in options, but they’ve been good to me on the takeout scene, and their wings are not to be ignored.
Literally any of their wings (Spicy Tang Wang pictured)
Vietnamese Garlic noodles
Egg Rolls
Pho when available
Swine & Sons
Swine & Sons is offering their outdoor seating if someone wishes to eat their to-go food there, but otherwise, there is no date for opening the dining room and they will continue focusing on curbside pickup and delivery.
My favorite items:
Crispy Hot Chicken Sandwich
Kale + Brussels
Southern Smash Burger
Black Rooster Taqueria
Black Rooster has opted to keep their dining room closed for the time being and will continue to offer takeout, curbside pickup and delivery until further notice. You can also continue to order Margaritagrams for delivery. (I’ll take a fancier taco picture next time, the smell was too intoxicating to wait)
My favorite items:
Black Rooster Asada Taco
Crispy Fish Taco
Achiote Pork Taco
Kale Salad topped with crispy fish
Maduros
Guac ALWAYS
Light on the Sugar
Light on the Sugar briefly closed but has reopened for pick up only! Right now they are closed Monday and Tuesday, and open 12 pm - 6 pm Wednesday - Sunday. The shop capacity at this time is five people, and you must wait outside before you enter. The best way to order is to call ahead and pick up.
Coffee Cream Puff
Matcha Cream Puff
Ok, any cream puff
Pana Cotta
Cheesecake
The Strand
My beloved Strand closed for a few weeks, but this week they reopened with a brand new online ordering function to their website! The ordering process was seamless and my order was waiting for me on their large communal table to take away with no contact.
My favorite items:
Buttermilk Chicken Salad
Fish n Chips
Any dessert they have on the menu
Chicken Fire
The nature of Chicken Fire has also been to-go, so the food truck remains open. Limited outdoor seating at A La Cart (where the truck is stationed) will is now open.
Hot chicken strips (mild to medium depending on how my stomach is doing that day)
Get the coleslaw, you’ll need the cooldown
Add on a growler of beer from A La Cart’s bar
Taglish
This fast-casual Filipino restaurant located inside the Lotte Market will continue to serve all its food for takeout, and they’ve added family meals to their menu. Check their Instagram for details.
My favorite items:
BBQ Chicken Skewers Bowl
Sisig Bowl
Always add extra Lumpia to your order
Loaded Sisig Fries
Zaza Cuban Diner
Zaza is a staple in my house and you don’t miss a beat of flavor getting it to-go. They are currently opening their dining rooms and patio with reduced capacity, but are still offering online ordering and pick-up as they always have.
My favorite items:
Lechon platter
Chicken platter
Iced Café Con Leche
Quesitos
Buttermilk Bakery
Buttermilk Bakery has remained open during this time for outside pickup only. They quickly pivoted and put together an ordering page on their website to keep things streamlined and reduce crowds of people standing in line deciding what to order. The family has announced that due to the small size of their bakery, they are continuing to only offer pickup at this time.
My favorite items:
Matcha Almond Croissant
Ham & Gruyere Croissant
Banana Chocolate Muffin
Any flavor pop tart
Honestly, they do no wrong
Honorable mentions of food that I didn’t take any pictures of:
RusTeak in College Park - especially the Almond Crusted Scallop Salad
Bento Sushi Bento Boxes
Sticky Rice Lao Street Food - crispy rice and pork lettuce wraps + garlic wings
Keep supporting local businesses!
All images are property of LemonHearted Creative.