Locations in Orlando: Menu

Currently offering free delivery in a 2-mile radius. Established in 1998, featuring NY-style pies, Italian entrees, sandwiches/subs, pastas and salads. Order online for delivery or pickup. Visit our website for specials and the full menu.

Sushi and noodles are all the rage at this cool lunch spot. Handsomely presented "torch rolls" with conch, scallops, salmon, tuna and sriracha are luscious, while spicy red tobiko proffer a proper pop. Bento boxes run the gamut and a bonanza of boba awaits tea-totalers.

BBB offers a wide variety of healthy food and can accommodate most dietary needs.

Bubbalou's Bodacious Bar-B-Que seduces you before you even lay eyes on it, which is just what good barbecue ought to do. The siren smell of smoky, sweet meats is in the air outside this new location, just north of Universal Studios Florida. Even from the parking lot, Bubbalou's is alluring, with that bold, unblushing name lit up in neon, flanked by three hot-pink piglets tip-toeing over flames.

Inside, the atmosphere is cheerful and bright. It's roomier than the original Winter Park eatery, but both dish up Big Barbecue. You name it and they smoke it: pork, chicken, beef, turkey, ham, sausage, lamb; and for the barbecue rebel, gizzards and livers. Country music hits are on the sound system, and a stuffed bear rises over the wood-paneled dining room.

My guest and I placed orders at the counter, choosing from an array of sandwiches, baskets and dinners, priced from $2.69 to $8.99. We found seats at a picnic table in back, the only spot that hadn't been claimed by a hungry, lunchtime crowd.

The food soon arrived, and we dived in with abandon. I tried "Bubbalou's Special" ($8.99), a sampler platter with four side-orders, and quickly honed in on the spare ribs. They were divine in the most primal way: succulent on the inside and slightly charred outside. Of the shredded meats, the pork was moist and tender, but the beef was a bit dry by comparison.

My guest ordered the quarter chicken basket with two sides ($3.99). Her chicken, like mine, was glazed to a rich, brown hue. On the inside, it was well-done, yet juicy. While most of the smoked meats stood on their own, we laced them with the barbecue sauces anyway: "Mild" had a hint of sweetness with a gentle bite; "Hot" was warm with a tangy edge; "Killer" was fiery enough to make your mouth glow.

On the side, baked beans were sweetly simmered with pork. The cole slaw was creamy yet light. Corn bread was moist and savory, which was nice given that the grilled bread was a bit limp and unexciting. Ripple-cut french fries were delicious. My only quibble is the size of some side-orders. At $8.99 for a dinner plate combo, I expected more than a cuplet of beans and a dollop of slaw.

Although Bubbalou's was approaching capacity when we arrived, we were on our way with boxed leftovers within 50 minutes. And we swore to do some bodacious workouts so we can go back soon.

I'll admit it: I'm not thrilled by Chinese food, at least not the overly greasy and sodium-filled kind that dominates the American foodscape. If I'm going to eat Chinese, I want it to be from some back alley in Chinatown where the menu barely taps the English language. I've always said that you should dine with someone Chinese who can show you the ropes about the good stuff. But when I walked into China in College Park with two of my least Asian girlfriends, I learned a thing or two about the validity of the Chinese-American hybrid – Chimerican, one of my friends called it.

China in CP has one of those menus that numbers everything because there are so many items, all familiar and safe. Who hasn't heard of sesame chicken? Vegetable fried rice? Egg foo young? These dishes are so embedded in the American culture that they've almost become clichés of themselves. But what would a neighborhood be without Chinese takeout? People describe vapid districts of town, lacking culture, as places that "don't even have a Chinese restaurant." So China in CP not only fills a gap, but fills it well in its small spot on Edgewater Drive.

We walked up at night, the bright interior beckoning. As we stepped inside, we were awash in familiar Chimerican smells – vegetable oil, sesame, shrimp and steamed rice. This truly felt like an urban Chinese takeout, with people popping in and out for paper bags brimming with red-and-white paper boxes, plastic soup containers and fortune cookies.

I must mention the service, which was so friendly that it had the feel of a corner diner, the kind of place you go by yourself on a rainy night and pour out your sorrows while drinking hot tea and catching up on gossip. Every dish we ordered generated our server's excitement, along with a story about who else eats it or why she thought we'd like it spicier.

Shrimp fried rice ($6.95) was an enormous dish of tender rice stir-fried with a plethora of diced vegetables and shrimp pieces. It was exactly what it promised, except it was three times larger. For value, you can't go wrong at China in CP. A family of four could feast for under $20 if they put their minds to it.

Because it fit the atmosphere so well, we ordered crab Rangoon ($3.95), six pieces of deep-fried wonton filled with crab and cream cheese. These antiquated party appetizers originated at Trader Vic's, the legendary 1950s tiki hideaway. Even though crab Rangoon has filtered down from the days of groovy gastronomy, they are still satisfying to the American palate.

One of my friends ordered chicken with lemon sauce ($7.95), which was more like chicken with lemon curd. The chicken was battered and deep-fried, and from the looks of the heaping plate, there was again enough for three portions. Alongside it, a bowl of bright yellow sauce was goopy-sweet. It tasted just right with chicken, but my friend admitted that she could eat the sauce on ice cream.

My other friend ordered an appetizer of sushi. Now that grocery stores sell sushi, places like China in CP feel free to do so, too. The sushi bar that fills the back of the restaurant serves decent sushi and sashimi. My friend got the sashimi sampler ($7.95) with great toro, mediocre tuna flank and flavorless yellowtail. For her entree, she chose something that wasn't on the menu, Singapore noodles – one of those ubiquitous dishes – and they had no problems accommodating her request. They make it all the time, they told her. Her plate was a huge mound of wok-fried rice noodles with spicy, curry-flecked vegetables and seafood.

I zeroed in on Peking duck ($15). I love this Beijing specialty that involves a process of glazing and drying to produce a succulent bird with a crispy skin atop a layer of delicious fat. It had been sliced into manageable portions and was served with thin pancakes to wrap around it and hoisin sauce for dipping.

Although China in College Park is a far cry from authentic Chinese, it is firmly filling its small place in its neighborhood.

When I hear a place mentioned a couple of times in one week, it causes me to stop and listen – especially when the restaurant is neither new nor fancy. Having recently moved back from New York City, I've been lamenting the dearth of decent pizza in Orlando, and people keep confidently mentioning Cornerstone Pizza, a dive-y joint on Michigan Street, at the corner of Ferncreek Avenue. My appetite for a slice was keen.

So there we were in the starkly lit, harshly undecorated pizza spot on a dreary March evening; the pit-pat of rain could be heard beneath the shriek of the pizza oven opening and closing. The Simpsons blared from a TV mounted above our table. We were alone in the greasy air that filled the room until a man stumbled in, coughing loudly. He drunkenly made his way through a conversation with cook/owner Scott Bruens (who once upon a time saved up enough money delivering pizzas to buy Cornerstone).

We started with 10 wings ($5.49), fried ultracrisp and drenched in tangy-hot buffalo sauce. I licked the sauce off my fingers and delved into the chicken Parmesan sub ($5.99), well-seasoned chicken doused in surprisingly fresh tomato sauce atop a lily-white bun.

The stromboli ($6), with pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, onions and green peppers, came next, and it was totally over-the-top in a made-by-hungry-stoners way. (I almost canceled the pizza so as not to ruin this Cornerstone moment of rapture, but thought better of it.) When our pizza came, we munched on satisfactory slices of pepperoni and mushroom. The crust is not as thin as I like, and the cheese is not charred and bubbly on top – but it's close.

Mr. Can't Stand Up was still trying to put a sentence together, while an acne-faced teen munched on a slice. A woman in business attire leaned against her car under an umbrella and talked on her cell phone while waiting for her pie to come out of the oven. Stopping by Cornerstone on the way home seems to be a neighborhood sport. So, it wasn't quite New York, but it was damn close – present company included.

I've officially found the laziest kitchen downtown: the staff at Due Amici, the South Orange Avenue joint formerly known as Dan's Midnite Pizza. Seriously, 30 minutes to heat up a couple of slices and make a panini? Frustrating, considering the restaurant wasn't packed and the folks behind the counter were text-messaging away.

I've officially found the laziest kitchen downtown: the staff at Due Amici, the South Orange Avenue joint formerly known as Dan's Midnite Pizza. Seriously, 30 minutes to heat up a couple of slices and make a panini? Frustrating, considering the restaurant wasn't packed and the folks behind the counter were text-messaging away.

The two slices I had ' a white pizza and a mushroom ' weren't bad. They were large enough to be satisfying for the price ' $4.95 with a soda, a daily special ' and the New York crust was appropriately thin. My companion was less pleased with his 'Sicilianoâ?� panini: too-thick prosciutto surrounded by too-chewy bread. We were both disappointed by the garlic bread-with-cheese appetizer; there was no cheese to be found. I've enjoyed calzones here in the past, and I tried a tasty fried ziti special once ' maybe if they put it on the menu, I'd go back. (Due Amici, 28 S. Orange Ave., 407-425-8881)

A garden of leafy delights awaits at Eden’s, a clean, spacious green house on North Orange sandwiched between Winnie’s Oriental Garden and the Ravenous Pig. The focus here is on the body (healthy food), spirit (a place for quiet reflection and artistic expression) and mind (free Wi-Fi), though their wraps and salads really take center stage. The blues and greens of the interior reflect the colors of the sky, plants and water, but are also reminiscent of an Aegean café, which may have induced me to order the Athena ($4.80). The mélange of greens, kalamata olives, tomatoes, cukes, peppers, snow peas and feta can be stuffed in a wrap or enjoyed as a traditional bowl of salad. I opted for the former (in a tomato-basil wrap) and had some lemon-pepper chicken thrown in for an additional $2. The flavors were rightfully tangy, if a tad salty. I really liked the Daisy ($4.80), a refreshingly sweet and delightfully nutty salad that I enjoyed sans wrap. Mandarin oranges and strawberries provided the pop, almonds and sunflower seeds the crunch and raspberry vinaigrette the invigorating splash.

There are 11 different salads from which to choose, and if none tickles your fancy, create your own from Eden’s 37 available “tossings” and 12 dressings. Counter service can slow considerably during the lunch rush, but that’ll give you a chance to peruse the original artwork and sayings on the walls. Oh, and if you’re looking for a little quiet reflection, the consistent chatter and piped-in music could foil any meditative urges. It should be noted that the items above, though ordered “small,” were enormous portions, but really – eating too much salad is like taking too many naps; how bad for you could it possibly be?

Seems like everywhere you look, there's another Giovanni.

I'm talking, of course, about Giovanni's Italian Restaurant, which is now a triplet with the addition of their newest location. I had to look up the location myself; drive all the way east on Curry Ford Road, then hang a left.

I'm talking, of course, about Giovanni's Italian Restaurant, which is now a triplet with the addition of their newest location. I had to look up the location myself; drive all the way east on Curry Ford Road, then hang a left.

Echoing the decor and menu of the other two establishments (Giovannises?), the place has Nu Yawk Eye-talian written all over it in hearty tomato-sauce letters, and that's a very good thing, indeed.

Echoing the decor and menu of the other two establishments (Giovannises?), the place has Nu Yawk Eye-talian written all over it in hearty tomato-sauce letters, and that's a very good thing, indeed.

If the pizzas don't tempt you, the "chicken sorrentino," "baked clams oreganata" and combine-it-yourself pasta combos will. This isn't a chain as much as a guy who likes cooking Italian food with a bunch of restaurants that he likes to keep an eye on. It's sort of a family thing ... no offense.

If the pizzas don't tempt you, the "chicken sorrentino," "baked clams oreganata" and combine-it-yourself pasta combos will. This isn't a chain as much as a guy who likes cooking Italian food with a bunch of restaurants that he likes to keep an eye on. It's sort of a family thing ... no offense.

Read the review on the Giovanni's located at Alafaya.

Weighing more on the healthy than the vegetarian side, Green Day is nevertheless quite veggie-friendly. Patrons can opt to global-warm chicken, turkey, tuna or veg wraps on a grill, or make them green by leaving out the sauce and cheese. A side of broccoli crunch, flecked with sunflower seeds and subtly sweetened with raisins, nearly upstages the wraps.

The sleepy barrio of Guavate, in the heart of Puerto Rico's Sierra de Cayey mountain range, has become a haven for palates with a penchant for pork, particularly of the roasted variety. The rotisseried piggies are as much of an attraction as the town's pastoral expanses, so it was a surprising to see just a handful of pork dishes on the expansive menu of this restaurant named after the mountain hamlet. There were no pigs impaled over open-air spits here, but we were excitedly informed that mondongo ($5.99) was available.

Not to be confused with Puerto Rico's national dish, mofongo, mondongo is, as our charming and informative waitress put it, 'drunk food.â?� The main ingredient of the hearty Latin American soup is typically beef tripe, but Boricuas use pig stomach to create the pungent, wonderfully seasoned meal in a bowl. The soup isn't for all tastes, but if you downed a few too many Medalla beers the night before, it will certainly help you regain your sobriety. Each comforting slurp is made all the more so with chunks of taro and potatoes.

If you sour at the sight of tripe, other soupy starters can be had. Less adventurous diners will find the broth of the asopao de pollo ($7.99) just as comforting. My dining partner remarked the chicken soup was reminiscent of her Puerto Rican sister-in-law's asopao, thanks to the inclusion of pigeon peas, olives, red peppers, taro and plenty of rice. For fried beginnings, the assorted meat appetizer platter ($9.99) offers a nice representation of the island's delicacies. Achiote-tinged potato balls stuffed with ground beef and mini meat turnovers begged for a splash of house-made hot sauce. Chicharrones (chicken cracklings) were nuggets of moistness, while alcapurrias, mahogany-hued cylinders of mashed plantains, starchy yautía and ground beef, failed to arouse our appetites.

Boricua kitchens are judged by the quality of their mofongo, and if you're a fan of the mashed-plantain-and-meat staple, you'll have a field day with the more than 20 varieties Guavate deftly churns out. The churrasco mofongo ($16.99) blended wonderfully tender chunks of chimichurri-basted skirt steak into an impressive heap of green plantains flavored with garlic and crispy pork skin. The mofongo didn't suffer from the desiccated texture often associated with the dish, but if you opt to enjoy it with a side of yautía (included), carb bloating is virtually assured. Chillo frito (red snapper, $15.99) was as flaky as it should've been, but it was the accompanying sauces ' a garlicky salsa ajillo and a zesty creole sauce thick with green peppers, onions and capers ' that really livened up the fish.

Such uncompromisingly traditional fare calls for traditional liquid refreshments, and fresh-squeezed juices like passion fruit ($2.99) and lemon ($2.99) are standout quaffs. Desserts, on the other hand, weren't as impressive ' a cinnamon blanket on jiggly tembleque ($3.50) negated any semblance of coconut essence, and creamy flan de queso ($2.99) could've used more caramel syrup.

Still, Guavate's dishes are a notch above other Puerto Rican restaurants in town, and the restaurant has left an indelible mark on regulars. A lease disagreement led to a relocation from East Colonial Drive to South Alafaya Trail, but the drive hasn't deterred patrons. Now if they'd just get that open-air spit â?¦.

There aren't that many places in town, if any, that serve the gloriously spiced chapli kebab, the popular Afghan-Pakistani patty that's made my mouth water ever since sampling the beefy delight when I was but a lad. So when I saw chapli kebab ($11.99) listed on the menu of Kabob n' Curry, a quiet, tastefully appointed corner-space eatery in a tourist-area strip mall, a Pavlovian impulse kick-started my salivary glands. As I soon found out, the kebab was well worth the drool. The sizable slabs of moist mince, oh-so-subtly crunchy with pomegranate and coriander seeds, are pan-fried and served on a bed of lettuce. On a previous visit, the kebabs were served sizzling on a hot plate, but no matter how they're served, they'll totally gratify. Just be sure to ask for a plate of rice (it's complimentary), and an extra bowl of their incendiary chutney to drizzle atop the meat.

Even though the restaurant touts a menu of 'Indian gourmet cuisine,â?� I found myself drawn to the Pakistani dishes ' specifically the nehari ($11.99), arguably the country's most luscious dish. 'Neharâ?� translates to 'morningâ?� in Urdu ' so no surprise, then, that the meal is traditionally enjoyed in the morning hours. No matter the time of day, this is Pakistani comfort food at its finest. The velvety-soft shanks of beef are cooked overnight in a thick, lubricious curry spiked with bursts of ginger and chilies. The dish is best enjoyed with one of the many breads offered ' I opted for fluffy tandoori roti ($1.50) as my sop of choice.

Aloo paratha ($2.99) worked better as an appetizer. The spiced-potato-stuffed flatbread was cooked to a slightly greasy crisp, but wonderfully flavored nonetheless. No Indo-Pak feast is complete without an order of samosas ($2.99), and the pair of deep-fried potato-veggie pockets here are served up piping hot, though not together. Our waiter brought but one samosa at first and, naturally, I thought we were getting hosed on the deal. But soon after we cut it in half and finished it, the second one was delivered ' much to our delight. The service, it should be mentioned, has always been efficient and friendly, if somewhat inexperienced, but the wait staff is always eager to please. I ordered the pani puri ($3.99) ' the classic street food snack consisting of puffy puri bread stuffed to bursting with curry, potatoes, puffed wheat and chutney ' but they didn't have enough of the wee whole wheat crispy puffs to warrant charging us, so they placed a trio of puri on a plate, filled them with chickpeas and served it with a bowl of spicy ginger water, at no cost. The result, unfortunately, wasn't worth the price. Even the ginger water flourish couldn't save this one. Note: If you do sample the dish, or any of the 'chaatâ?� (snack) dishes, be aware that a primary ingredient is asafoetida, and that its strong sulfurous odor may be too much for diners unaccustomed to its pungency.

Falooda ($3.99), the rose-essenced ice cream dessert drink, neutralized the odor, but I was a little disappointed by the absence of vermicelli noodles, not to mention the fact that the ice cream had all but melted when it got to the table. Doughy rounds of gulab jamun ($3.99) didn't come in a pool of syrup, but they were saturated enough to satisfy a sweet tooth.

Diners, take heed: The dishes here pack a lot of heat, but culinary riches await those who battle the blaze.

Chief among my Orlando restaurant crushes has been Woodlands, the vegetarian Indian restaurant on South OBT. It was the only alternative I knew to fighting the tourist hordes down on I-Drive when I need a masala fix. The atmosphere falls somewhere between fancy and casual ' no need to dress up, but you won't be chasing your chickpeas around the plate with a plastic fork, either. The fact that Woodlands is purely vegetarian is a big plus, too: I'm not, but my usual dining partner is, and restaurants that serve meat sometimes get slapdash with the veggie dishes. Little did I know that there's been a gem twinkling away just around the corner from Woodlands all along.

In fact, Khasiyat has been open longer than Woodlands, according to owner Bhanu Chavda. Hidden away on Lancaster Road, a few blocks west of Orange Blossom Trail, Khasiyat is stuck between a Mexican market and an Indian music/DVD store. If you didn't know it was there, you'd never run across it. Bigger cities than ours don't have two excellent vegetarian Indian restaurants to choose from ' we should consider ourselves incredibly lucky.

Khasiyat is decidedly casual. Food is served on styrofoam dishes and eaten with plastic cutlery; you order and pay at the counter. The room is spacious but very plain, dominated by an enormous flat-screen TV. Satellite service supplies Bollywood musicals in a steady, mesmerizing stream. (Even with the sound turned down ' or perhaps because the sound was turned down ' we were enthralled.) They offer an inexpensive buffet of Northern Indian specialties and three different Southern Indian thalis (sampler plates), but the real strength of the menu is the vast assortment of snacks. Fully two-thirds of the menu is devoted to appetizers and 'bites.â?�

I vaguely remembered OW's resident expert on all things Indian, Jason Ferguson, waxing rhapsodic over a street food called bhel puri. I spotted it on the 'bitesâ?� section of the menu, surrounded by several other similar nibbles, and we decided to give it a try ($3.99). After a brief misunderstanding ' we almost got a poori (puffed flatbread) instead ' a bowl of what looked like broken ramen noodles and Kix cereal was placed in front of us. One bite, though, and we were hooked. The mixture of puffed wheat, sev (Indian noodles) and tiny diced potatoes and onions, brightened up with fresh cilantro leaves and a hint of chili, was a perfect balance of crunchy, soft, salty and spicy. Absorbed as we were in trying to untangle the plot of the muted musical, if they had put a bathtub full of this stuff in front of us, we probably would have finished it.

The other big hit was the dosa we ordered. Dosai, if you haven't tried them, are huge, paper-thin savory pancakes, sometimes filled. And when I say huge, I mean huge ' our masala dosa ($4.49) was at least 18 inches across, and we ordered the regular, not the 'largeâ?� ($5.99) or the 'oversizedâ?� ($6.99). Because they're fried on the grill, sometimes dosai are greasy ' in the most delicious way, of course ' but this was crisp, not at all oily. The potato-and-onion filling squished pleasingly under the crackly wrapper, accompanied by heavenly coconut chutney.

I went in knowing that I had to try the buffet ($5.99), because I felt obligated to try the most commonly ordered dishes. The spread satisfied: rice, dal, four curries (the sag paneer was especially good, with bursting kernels of fresh corn) and several sweets. But, tasty as it was, I'll stick to the dosai and 'bitesâ?� next time. I think I have a new Sunday-afternoon ritual: bhel puri and Bollywood.

While there is a host -- nay, horde -- of sushi bars within walking distance of Lake Eola, we haven't seen very much Thai food downtown, which is odd considering how much pad Thai can be found elsewhere.

One of the places known for that sweet, sticky rice-noodle dish is Thai Cuisine on Edgewater Drive. This was where my partner and I had our first chicken sate and spring rolls together, and I remember the food cooked by its original owners (since changed) quite fondly. Those owners, it turns out, were the parents of the young people who opened Sawadee Thai on Kirkman in 2001, a restaurant I quite liked. Now those (still) young folks, lead by Odum Ketsatha and his wife, Kanjana, have moved to Pine Street and brought the flavors of Siam to the old Le Provence building in the form of Napasorn Thai.

One of the places known for that sweet, sticky rice-noodle dish is Thai Cuisine on Edgewater Drive. This was where my partner and I had our first chicken sate and spring rolls together, and I remember the food cooked by its original owners (since changed) quite fondly. Those owners, it turns out, were the parents of the young people who opened Sawadee Thai on Kirkman in 2001, a restaurant I quite liked. Now those (still) young folks, lead by Odum Ketsatha and his wife, Kanjana, have moved to Pine Street and brought the flavors of Siam to the old Le Provence building in the form of Napasorn Thai.

Not much has been changed inside, aside from a new color scheme for the two-level room, a new bar and a complete overhaul of the kitchen, run by Ketsatha's Uncle Damri. ("Thai cooking is very different from French," Uncle Damri tells me.) The menu isn't 100 percent Thai, with smatterings of Chinese (a dark-brothed and savory wonton soup with plump dumplings for $3.50), Japanese gyoza and a good but not stellar sushi menu.

Not much has been changed inside, aside from a new color scheme for the two-level room, a new bar and a complete overhaul of the kitchen, run by Ketsatha's Uncle Damri. ("Thai cooking is very different from French," Uncle Damri tells me.) The menu isn't 100 percent Thai, with smatterings of Chinese (a dark-brothed and savory wonton soup with plump dumplings for $3.50), Japanese gyoza and a good but not stellar sushi menu.

Appetizers are both authentic and jazzed-up. The crispy spring rolls ($3.95) are stuffed with ground chicken and a coleslaw-like shredding of vegetables, both crisp and mellow. The "cheese roll crisp," on the other hand ($3.95), finds cream cheese and tiny bits of shrimp inside the wrap, and I'm still not sure if I liked it or not, but it's different. Most traditional is "sate gai" ($5.95), rich, peanut-sauced chicken slices on a skewer.

Appetizers are both authentic and jazzed-up. The crispy spring rolls ($3.95) are stuffed with ground chicken and a coleslaw-like shredding of vegetables, both crisp and mellow. The "cheese roll crisp," on the other hand ($3.95), finds cream cheese and tiny bits of shrimp inside the wrap, and I'm still not sure if I liked it or not, but it's different. Most traditional is "sate gai" ($5.95), rich, peanut-sauced chicken slices on a skewer.

My favorite carryover from the Sawadee days is the basil duck dish ($15.95), a savory combination of dark duck meat and spinach-like basil leaves that now features mushrooms and peppers added to the lime-and-basil flavored sauce. Also a treat is "garlic and pepper meat" ($9.95), your choice of beef or chicken ($2 more for seafood) with a tang of spicy garlic, spicier black pepper and even spicier sauce that sneaks up on you until the sweat is pouring. I wasn't as impressed with the "madsa mahn" curry ($10.95), a dish from Islamic south Thailand that is usually loaded with potatoes which here seemed to have cooked down to a thick paste. Still, the combination of roasted peanuts and tender chicken was enjoyable.

My favorite carryover from the Sawadee days is the basil duck dish ($15.95), a savory combination of dark duck meat and spinach-like basil leaves that now features mushrooms and peppers added to the lime-and-basil flavored sauce. Also a treat is "garlic and pepper meat" ($9.95), your choice of beef or chicken ($2 more for seafood) with a tang of spicy garlic, spicier black pepper and even spicier sauce that sneaks up on you until the sweat is pouring. I wasn't as impressed with the "madsa mahn" curry ($10.95), a dish from Islamic south Thailand that is usually loaded with potatoes which here seemed to have cooked down to a thick paste. Still, the combination of roasted peanuts and tender chicken was enjoyable.

Napasorn is both a welcome addition to the downtown food scene and a chance to eat Uncle Damri's great cooking a lot closer to home.

The overwhelming smell of garlic, the barely-20-something staff and the fluorescent glow coming from Panino's Pizza and Grill, on the corner of Orange Avenue and Pine Street, suggests just another pizza joint with faux'New York slices and soggy wings. Not so. With more than 14 by-the-slice variations and many others available in whole-pie form, it's easy to be enchanted. From their loaded seafood pizza teeming with calamari, shrimp, baby clams, mussels and tuna ($18.95 for a large), to the rich and cheesy chicken cordon bleu version slathered with white garlic sauce and pancetta ($3.90 for a slice) there's a pie for every preference. The multitude of bankers and court reporters that flood in around lunchtime and the partiers and bike-hipsters who trickle in for a midnight snack don't fear the wings, either. The morsels ($6.95 for 10) arrive gloriously hot, slightly crispy, garlicky and bathed in the appropriate amount of Frank's RedHot sauce. Open until 5 a.m., Panino's is one of the few choices in Orlando for late-late-night grub, a perk for a city with night life but very little night food that doesn't involve pancakes. After hitting the bars, order a Phillyboli ($7.25), a stromboli-esque pocket of folded dough filled with cheese, steak, sautéed onions and peppers. The only downside: It's served with marinara sauce instead of something more appropriate, like jus or mustard or even horseradish mayo. If you want to keep drinking, the specials at Panino's rival those of any Church Street hotspot. Draft beers are $2 every day, all day (Bud Light, Budweiser American Ale and Miller Lite are all on tap); order a slice and get a draft beer for $1. Or order two and get a draft beer free. It doesn't get much better on steamy Orange Avenue nights. [email protected]

No man's pie is freed from his ambitious finger,â?� Shakespeare wrote in King Henry VIII, and though I'm not exactly sure what that means, I'm sure there are scores of you out there with digits as desirous as mine when it comes to pies layered with tomato sauce and mozzarella.

So, given that 'tis the season for pizza (October is National Pizza Month), and that 93 percent of us eat at least one pizza every month, we thought it fitting to pay a visit to a trio of the nearly 70,000 pizzerias scattered across the country.

First stop: Alfonso's Pizza & More. The once-venerable, once-independent College Park pizza joint was recently taken over by the Anthony's Pizza clan ' that is, the members of the estranged family that run Anthony's Pizza Café in Thornton Park, not Li'l Anthony's on Colonial Drive, who claim to have the original family recipe for their N.Y.-style pizza. And though the name remains unchanged, Alfonso's Pizza & Less would be more apt a moniker. In the not-too-distant past, these guys served up some of the best pie in the city ' just peruse the accolades adorning the brick walls if you need proof. But now, those kind words aren't worth the paper they're printed on.

Though the sauce on my cheese slice ($1.99) had an adequate zing, and the overall flavor was passable, the crust lacked any semblance of the crispness characteristic of top-notch New York-style pizza. Even if you're a folder, you'd be hard-pressed to keep your slice from flopping.

So my yearning for sustenance had me perusing the menu. The wings ($3.99), ordered 'as hot as you can make 'em,â?� couldn't rouse my tastebuds from their oral slumber and failed to elicit a single pang, pop or pow. The handful of ridiculously greasy flappers were overcooked and fried to the bone, though I will say that the three celery sticks were served the way I like them ' washed. Unfortunately, the accompanying container of blue cheese dressing was already open, and half-empty, when it arrived at my table. Not sure if it was used previously or not, but our waitress was nice enough to replace it when I brought it to her attention.

Service was quick and prompt, but even that positive element was negated by the blare of Fox News on one of the dining room's two televisions. In the name of all that's good in this city, bring back the old Alfonso's.

Next, it was off to Pizza Xtreme, housed in an isolated strip mall adjacent to a Shell gas station on one of the few barren quarters of the tourist sector: Kirkman Road and Carrier Drive. Pizza Xtreme isn't new ' they've been around for about six years ' but they dish out a damn decent pie. The sauce is made from scratch; the dough is hand-stretched and tossed (a glove in the face of competitors using preformed crusts); and toppings, including pineapple, are cut fresh. The result is the quintessence of pizza.

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Pizzeria Valdiano

510 N. Orlando Ave., Suite 103 Winter Park Area

(407) 628-5333

Italian, Pizza, Casual, Kid Friendly, Menu

Judging by what passes for pizza these days, it's not as as easy at it sounds.

Fortunately, the newly opened Pizzeria Valdiano in Winter Park Village has the technique down. And its next-door proximity to the Regal cinemas there, will help the word spread quickly.

Fortunately, the newly opened Pizzeria Valdiano in Winter Park Village has the technique down. And its next-door proximity to the Regal cinemas there, will help the word spread quickly.

Casual and inexpensive, Pizzeria Valdiano (referring to the Vallo di Diano area of Italy, known for great peasant food) serves up the basics of cheese and toppings, along with specialties like "pizza Gamberetti" (shrimp, oil and garlic), "Fiorentina" (spinach and artichoke), and "Valdiano" (sausage, pepperoni, meatballs and veggies). The crust is breadlike and crisp at the same time, and the smells are so wonderful you'll start drooling at the front door.

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Pollo Pio Pio

2500 S. Semoran Blvd. East

(407) 207-2262

Latin American, Kid Friendly, Menu

Pollo Pio Pio

11236 S. Orange Blossom Trail South

(407) 207-2262

Latin American, Kid Friendly, Menu

Pollo Pio Pio

5752 International Drive West

(407) 248-6424

Latin American, Kid Friendly, Menu

I owe many of my favorite meals to my husband's penchant for monster movieplexes with stadium seating. For months, our friend, who happens to be Cuban, had been trying to get us down to his part of town to eat at his favorite Latin place, Pio Pio. The problem was, he lives in a southern part of town I generally refer to as the BFE – the Bad Food Extravaganza. Snobbishly and repeatedly, we refused the invitation.

Then one night, we were leaving the Cinemark Festival Bay Theater – after watching a loud movie in which humans outsmarted aliens, natural disasters abounded and everything else blew up – and, suddenly, I was hungry. And there it was – Pio Pio (which translates into "Chick Chick"), sequestered in a wasteland of deserted shopping malls off a six-lane highway. Later, I realized my friend was right about this place, to which I would return again and again, like a sequel junkie.

Pio Pio, a Peruvian and Colombian restaurant, opened its first Orlando location in October 2000. After successfully running four restaurants in New York, the Diego family decided to try their luck here and opened close to a dollar theater near Kissimmee (11236 S. Orange Blossom Trail; 407-438-5677). Months later, another family member opened a location on International Drive near Kirkman Road, strategically situated on our driving route home from the movieplex. This past summer, another site popped up on the southeast side (2500 S. Semoran Blvd., 407-207-2262). Let's hope they have a Godfather-sized family, so they can keep them coming.

The menu choices are the same at all the Pio Pios, and they are limited; but in my experience, this is exactly what makes them so appealing, because everything is good. The "pollo Pio Pio a las brasas" ($8) is some of the most exquisite rotisserie chicken that has ever crossed my lips; consistently tender and moist, its crispy, herbed skin is the treasure. Juan Diego, owner of Pio Pio on I-Drive, claims the secret is a family recipe. But he agreed that the original marinade, a mixture of spices, vegetables and herbs, does make the difference.

Their beans and rice ($4) are a homemade Colombian-style mainstay. The beans are plump and supple, seasoned with just the right amount of pepper and garlic, in a brackish broth of their own flavorful juices. I've never tasted rice so consistently tender, devoid of the starchy mushiness that so many restaurants try to pass off as rice. Orders of tostones, maduros and yuca ($3 apiece) are best when dipped in the worship-worthy sauces that come with every meal: tangy garlic, and a green-tinged hot sauce made with jalapeños and habañeros.

Although chicken is the star at Pio Pio, they serve a very decent grilled steak with french fries for a mere $9.50. Also on the menu: pork chops ($9.50), empanadas ($1), posole-style chicken soup ($3) and saffron rice ($3).

Tucked away behind a curved bar littered with chicken statues, wine bottles and plants is the giant rotisserie. There is a row of wall hangings at eye level on the bright-orange walls – letters from customers and New York Times reviews – that we had to lean into awkwardly in order to read. The atmosphere is comfortable and complete in its family modesty.

For dessert, the exceptionally tasty flan ($4) and the tres leches ($4), both made in-house, are recommended. A good flan has no air bubbles and is doused in deep-amber caramelized sugar, and Pio Pio's is flawless. My favorite dessert, by far, is tres leches, dense yellow cake soaked in three milks (condensed, evaporated and half-and-half). Please, skip the crème brûlée – you're at a Latin restaurant, after all, and a good one.

It's a rare movie – never mind the bombs and brains – that isn't worth a try, when there's Pio Pio waiting afterward.

ALFONSO'S PIZZA & MORE

3231 Edgewater Dr.

(407) 872-7324

PIZZA XTREME

7250 S. Kirkman Road

(407) 226-3333

AMERICAN PIE PIZZA & DRAFTHOUSE

2912 Edgewater Dr.

(407) 648-8835

Pizza