Best Of 2021

Readers Poll Winner Highlight — Best Pizza: Lazy Moon
Photo by Hannah Glogower

They say you can only have two of the three attributes everyone wants, but Lazy Moon is the exception: It's fast, cheap, and good. But most of all, it's huuuuuge, in a way that people struggle to express — in the past, we've said holding one of their slices will make you feel like a 5-year-old in the land of giants, and suggested you could wear a slice as a festive cape. Whole pies are akin to tablecloths or Conestoga wagon wheels — a certain viral photo shows a 6-month-old baby next to a full Lazy Moon and ... the pie is bigger. But it's not just about the stunting size. The wide variety of toppings make for endless flavor combinations, and the thin, crispy crust allows one to devour an absurdly mammoth slice without exploding. And topping it off, a long-revered special, the Boxcar Willy, nets you a cheese slice and a pint of PBR for just $6.50, a public good that has surely provided many a broke Orlandoan enough calories to live another day. (lazymoonpizza.com)

First: Henry Moso, Kabooki Sushi, kabookisushi.com

Second: Wendy Lopez, Reyes Mezcaleria, reyesmex.com

Third: Jason Campbell, Luke's Kitchen and Bar, eatatlukes.com

First: 4 Rivers Smokehouse, 4rsmokehouse.com

Second: Tijuana Flats, tijuanaflats.com

Third: Hawkers, eathawkers.com

First: Se7en Bites, se7enbites.com

Second: The Briarpatch, thebriarpatchrestaurant.com

Third: First Watch, firstwatch.com

Best Brunch

First: Santiago's Bodega, santiagosbodega.com

Second: Maxine's on Shine, maxinesonshine.com

Third: Briarpatch, thebriarpatchrestaurant.com

Best Lunch

First: Yellow Dog Eats, yellowdogeats.com

Second: Beefy King, beefyking.com

Third: Black Bean Deli, blackbeandeli.com

Best Cheap Eats

First: Gringos Locos, gringoslocos.com

Second: Beefy King, beefyking.com

Third: Lazy Moon, lazymoonpizza.com

Best Date Restaurant

First: Hillstone, hillstonerestaurant.com

Second: Better Than Sex, betterthansexdesserts.com

Third: Prato, prato-wp.com

Best Outdoor Dining

First: Hillstone, hillstonerestaurant.com

Second: Grills Lakeside, grillsseafood.com

Third: Ravenous Pig, theravenouspig.com

Best Late-Night Restaurant

(serving after 11 p.m.)

First: Gringos Locos, gringoslocos.com

Second: Pom Pom's Teahouse & Sandwicheria, pompomsteahouse.com

Third: Lazy Moon, lazymoonpizza.com

Best Splurge

Restaurant

First: Hillstone, hillstonerestaurant.com

Second: Christner's Prime Steak & Lobster, christnersprimesteakandlobster.com

Third: Kabooki Sushi, kabookisushi.com

Best Place to Buy Meat

First: Petty's Meats, pettysmeats.com

Second: Orlando Meats, orlandomeats.com

Third: Freshfields Farm, freshfieldsfarm.com

Best Place to

Buy Produce

First: Freshfields Farm, freshfieldsfarm.com

Second: Winter Garden Farmers Market, wintergardenfarmersmarket.com

Third: Winter Park Farmers Market, cityofwinterpark.org

Best Place to

Eat Gluten-free

First: Ethos Vegan Kitchen, ethosvegankitchen.com

Second: Hungry Pants, eathungrypants.com

Third: Bolay, bolay.com

Best Bakery

First: Gideon's Bakehouse, gideonsbakehouse.com

Second: The Glass Knife, theglassknife.com

Third: Se7en Bites, se7enbites.com

Best Barbecue

Restaurant

First: 4 Rivers Smokehouse, 4rsmokehouse.com

Second: Pig Floyd's Urban Barbakoa, pigfloyds.com

Third: Yellow Dog Eats, yellowdogeats.com

Best Caribbean

Restaurant

First: Black Bean Deli, blackbeandeli.com

Second: Bahama Breeze, bahamabreeze.com

Third: DaJen Eats, dajeneats.com

Best Chinese Restaurant

First: Hawkers Asian Street Food, eathawkers.com

Second: Peter's Kitchen China Bistro, peterskitchencb.business.site

Third: Chuan Lu Garden, chuanlugardenfl.com

Best Coffee Bar

First: Foxtail Coffee Co., foxtailcoffee.com

Second: Drunken Monkey, drunkenmonkeycoffee.com

Third: Lineage Coffee Roasting, lineageroasting.com

Best Diner

First: Metro Diner, metrodiner.com

Second: Christo's Café, facebook.com/christoscafeorlando

Third: Linda's Winter Park Diner, winterparkdiner.com

Best Food Truck

First: Chicken Fire, facebook.com/eatchickenfire

Second: Korean BBQ Taco Box, facebook.com/kbbqbox

Third: Smoke & Donuts, smokeanddonuts.com

Best French Restaurant

First: Le Coq Au Vin, lecoqauvinrestaurant.com

Second: Chez Vincent, chezvincent.com

Third: DoveCote, dovecoteorlando.com

Best Greek Restaurant

First: Little Greek Fresh Grill, littlegreekfreshgrill.com

Second: The Greek Corner, thegreekcorner.net

Third: Mediterranean Blue, mediterraneanblue.net

Best Indian Restaurant

First: Tamarind Indian Cuisine, tamarindfl.com

Second: Mynt Fine Indian Cuisine, myntorlando.com

Third: Saffron Indian Cuisine, saffronorlando.com

Best Italian Restaurant

First: Prato, prato-wp.com

Second: Antonio's, antoniosonline.com

Third: Enzo's on the Lake, enzos.com

Best Korean Restaurant

First: Izziban Sushi & BBQ, izzibansushibbq.com

Second: Korea House, koreahouseorlando.com

Third: Chi-Kin, chi-kin.com

Best Latin Restaurant

First: Black Bean Deli, blackbeandeli.com

Second: Agave Azul, agaveazulcocinamex.com

Third: Zaza New Cuban Diner, zazacubandiner.com

Best Local Brewery

First: Hourglass Brewing, hourglassbrewing.com

Second: Crooked Can Brewing Co., crookedcan.com

Third: Sideward Brewing, sidewardbrewing.com

Best Mexican Restaurant

First: Agave Azul, agaveazulcocinamex.com

Second: Black Rooster Taqueria, blackroostertaqueria.com

Third: Don Julio Mexican Kitchen & Tequila Bar, donjuliomexicankitchen.com

Best Middle Eastern

Restaurant

First: Bosphorous Turkish Cuisine, bosphorousrestaurant.com

Second: Mediterranean Deli

Third: Habibi, habibilg.com

Best Seafood

Restaurant

First: Winter Park Fish Co., wpfishco.com

Second: High Tide Harry's, hightideharrys.com

Third (tie): The Osprey, theospreyorlando.com

Third (tie): Boston's Fish House, bostonsfishhouse.com

Best Steakhouse

First: Linda's La Cantina, lindaslacantina.com

Second: Ruth's Chris Steak House, ruthschris.com

Third: Christner's Prime Steak & Lobster, christnersprimesteakandlobster.com

Best Teahouse

First: Pom Pom's Teahouse & Sandwicheria, pompomsteahouse.com

Second: Infusion Tea, infusionorlando.com

Third: Royaltea, royalteaus.com

Best Thai Restaurant

First: SEA Thai, seathaiatorlando.com

Second: Thai House, thaihouseoforlando.net

Third: Thai Blossom, mythaiblossom.com

Best Theme Park

Restaurant

First: The Boathouse, theboathouseorlando.com

Second: Toothsome Chocolate Emporium & Savory Feast Kitchen, universalorlando.com

Third: Be Our Guest, disneyworld.disney.go.com

Best Vegan or

Vegetarian Restaurant

First: Ethos Vegan Kitchen, ethosvegankitchen.com

Second: Winter Park Biscuit Co., winterparkbiscuitco.com

Third: Hungry Pants, eathungrypants.com

Best Vietnamese

Restaurant

First: Pho 88, pho88orlando.com

Second: Little Saigon, littlesaigonfl.com

Third: Viet-Nomz, vietnomzfl.com

Best Bloody Mary

First: The Hammered Lamb, thehammeredlamb.com

Second: Maxine's on Shine, maxinesonshine.com

Third: Ravenous Pig, theravenouspig.com

Best Burger

First: Teak Neighborhood Grill, teakorlando.com

Second: The Ravenous Pig, theravenouspig.com

Third: Hamburger Mary's, hamburgermarys.com

Best Cheesesteak

First: LaSpada's Original Cheese Steaks & Hoagies, laspadas.com

Second: Kappy's Subs, kappyssubsfl.com

Third: Cavo's Bar and Kitchen, cavosbar.com

Best Cuban Sandwich

First: Black Bean Deli, blackbeandeli.com

Second: Zaza New Cuban Diner, zazacubandiner.com

Third: Cubans on the Run, cubansontherun.com

Best Desserts

First: The Glass Knife, theglassknife.com

Second: Kelly's Homemade Ice Cream, kellyshomemadeicecream.com

Third: Gideon's Bakehouse, gideonsbakehouse.com

Best Doughnut

First: Donut King, thedonutking.com

Second: The Salty Donut, saltydonut.com

Third: Voodoo Doughnut, universalorlando.com

Best Fried Chicken

First: Publix, publix.com

Second: The Coop, asouthernaffair.com

Third: Chicken Fire, facebook.com/eatchickenfire

Best Ice Cream

First: Kelly's Homemade Ice Cream, kellyshomemadeicecream.com

Second: Jeremiah's Italian Ice, jeremiahsice.com

Third: The Greenery Creamery, thegreenerycreamery.com

Best Juice/Smoothies

First: Tropical Smoothie Cafe, tropicalsmoothiecafe.com

Second: Soho Juice Company, sohojuiceco.com

Third: Juice Bar, juicebarorlando.com

Best Locally Made

Hot Sauce

First: Tijuana Flats, tijuanaflats.com

Second: Jason's Mom's Sauce, jasonsmomssauce.com

Third: MX Taco, mxtacorestaurant.com

Best Nachos

First: Gringos Locos, gringoslocos.com

Second: Tijuana Flats, tijuanaflats.com

Third: Miller's Ale House, millersalehouse.com

Best Pho

First: Pho 88, pho88orlando.com

Second: Viet-Nomz, vietnomzfl.com

Third: Little Saigon, littlesaigonfl.com

Best Pizza

First: Lazy Moon, lazymoonpizza.com

Second: Pizza Bruno, pizzabrunofl.com

Third: Mellow Mushroom, mellowmushroom.com

Best Poke

First: Poke Hana, poke-hana.com

Second: Da Kine Poke, dakinepoke.com

Third: Bento, eatatbento.com

Best Pub Grub/Bar Food

First: The Porch, theporchwinterpark.com

Second: Tori Tori, toritoripub.com

Third: Graffiti Junktion, graffitijunktion.com

Best Ramen

First: Domu, domufl.com

Second: Jinya Ramen Bar, jinyaramenbar.com

Third: Soupa Saiyan, soupasaiyan.com

Best Sandwiches/Subs

First: Publix Deli Subs, publix.com

Second: Pom Pom's, pompomsteahouse.com

Third: Stasio's Italian Deli & Market, instagram.com/stasiositaliandeli

Best Sushi

First: Kabooki Sushi, kabookisushi.com

Second: Seito Sushi, seitosushi.com

Third: Sushi Pop, sushipoprestaurant.com

Best Tacos

First: Gringos Locos, gringoslocos.com

Second: Tin and Taco, tinandtaco.com

Third: Black Rooster Taqueria, blackroostertaqueria.com

Best Thing to Eat at a Theme Park

First: Anything from Epcot Food & Wine

Second: Dole Whip

Third: Butterbeer

Best Wings

First: Domu, domufl.com

Second: Gator's Dockside, gatorsdockside.com

Third: Papa Bees, papabeeswings.com

First: Santiago's Bodega, santiagosbodega.com

Second: Maxine's on Shine, maxinesonshine.com

Third: Briarpatch, thebriarpatchrestaurant.com

First: Yellow Dog Eats, yellowdogeats.com

Second: Beefy King, beefyking.com

Third: Black Bean Deli, blackbeandeli.com

First: Gringos Locos, gringoslocos.com

Second: Beefy King, beefyking.com

Third: Lazy Moon, lazymoonpizza.com

First: Hillstone, hillstonerestaurant.com

Second: Better Than Sex, betterthansexdesserts.com

Third: Prato, prato-wp.com

First: Hillstone, hillstonerestaurant.com

Second: Grills Lakeside, grillsseafood.com

Third: Ravenous Pig, theravenouspig.com

First: Gringos Locos, gringoslocos.com

Second: Pom Pom's Teahouse & Sandwicheria, pompomsteahouse.com

Third: Lazy Moon, lazymoonpizza.com