A couple of weeks ago I ventured out with some work colleagues for lunch at a new place. Well…new for me, anyway. We hit-up Lime’s Fresh Mexican Grill in Dr. Phillips, and it was delish!

These days it seems the “quick Mexican food” place is always popping up. And there are a few here in Central Florida people seem to really love. But quite honestly after dining at Lime’s I’m sort of thinking this might be one of the best. In addition to offering good, fresh food to customers, Lime’s also has really entertaining branding which makes for an all-around fun experience.

How did you know?!

While everything on the menu certainly looked appetizing I was eager to dine on something on the lighter side so I opted for a salad:

Steak Salad

Look good to ya? Interested in dining here? Check out Lime’s menu before heading over, and see if there’s something you’ll dig.

Location deets:

Phillips Crossing
8031 Turkey Lake Road
Orlando, FL 32819
T: 407-370-3810
LimeFreshMexicanGrill.com

Oh…and don’t forget to get a little social with Lime! You can find them on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter for some great interactions.

Social Cuteness

I’ve been wanting to try Truffles Grill, the newest restaurant addition to Winter Park Village, for quite a while and finally had my opportunity Sunday evening.

Truffles offers both indoor and outdoor seating, but since summer’s creeping up on us, we chose to sit inside.  The atmosphere is lovely, though the main dining room did seem to be on the smaller side.

Service was tremendous, and even more so considering one of our guests was under the age of five.

Perhaps the most impressive thing about Truffles Grill is that their menu items are prepared fresh daily including delicious crab cakes which our table ordered for a starter.

Guests around the table also raved about the wine list, including a tasty sangria, and the selection of available drafts.

I’m looking forward to a return trip when the weather cools down a bit, because there simply aren’t enough al fresco dining options in town.

Have you been to Truffles Grill?  What did you think?

Who doesn’t like chocolate??? (Don’t answer that … I don’t want to live in a world where people don’t like chocolate!)

The Festival of Chocolate will be held at the UCF Arena this coming weekend, April 27-29, 2012.  Tickets can be purchased online or at the door (adults: $15; children: $9).

There will be competitions, demos, and a variety of classes during the festival (classes are extra).

Looking for something even more sinful?  How about attending one of the Wine & Chocolate pairings?!  Yum!

Maybe we’ll see you there!

This is a huge no-brainer! Show your support for a great cause and get yummy goodies.

Thanks to the little kitchen and Katie’s Cucina for the info!

Big thanks to Taste of College Park for a great evening last night. Ashley’s a College Park smarty and correctly guessed the number of college-themed street names as part of a fun Facebook contest and won two tickets to the event (WooHoo!)

The event was super fun … there were so many yummy food and drink vendors.  We enjoyed wine from The Naked Grape (loved the Moscato!), a frozen John Daly from The Margarita Man, a Tap Room Slider from The Tap Room, BBQ from Wildside and delicious desserts from The Yum Yum Cupcake Truck and Cookie Cousins.

It was fun to see friends, listen to the music and just relax with the backdrop of College Park’s Historic Dubsdread Golf Course behind us.  Can’t wait until next year!

Do you need a better reason to abandon your usual Taco Tuesday plans than to join Yelp Orlando and the Florida Film Festival for a Taco Tuesday Tweet Up at the Enzian Theater?  I didn’t think so!

From 6-9 pm tonight, head over to the Yelp VIP Lounge next to the Eden Bar and mingle with fellow FFF fans and Tweeps while gettin’ your taco on.  Everyone knows that fun follows Yelp and we’ve heard there’ll be prizes, too.

See you there!

Next week is gearing up to be a big week in the “Taste of” category.

Start with Taste of Winter Park on Wednesday, April 18, at the Winter Park Farmers’ Market featuring a bunch of your favorite Winter Park eateries including 4 Rivers, Cocina 214, Mellow Mushroom, Winter Park Fish Co. and so many more. Tickets for Taste of Winter Park are all-inclusive and can be purchased here.

Next, get geared up for the weekend by spending your Thursday evening at Taste of College Park, where restaurants like K, The Tap Room, Citrus and more will be serving up their edible delights at the Historic Dubsdread Ballroom.  There will be food, wine, live music and a silent auction!  Tickets for Taste of College Park can be purchased here.

Ready, set, eat!

Head to Uptown Altamonte Saturday, April 21, for Winestock Uncorked.

The event, which runs from 6-9 pm, will feature live music from Blender and Dave Capp, wine and food from various restaurant partners.

Save $10 and buy tickets online for $30, or buy day-of for $40.

Food + Wine + Music + Orlando = Weekend fun!

Next weekend, more than 40 Orlando-area restaurants will gather at Lake Eola for the Downtown Food & Wine Fest.  You can pair your eats from places like Dexter’s, Ember, Taverna Opa, The Meat House (and more!) with wine from Arroba, Beringer, Sebastiani (and more!).  And, don’t worry, if you’re not a wine drinker, you can enjoy more than a dozen craft beers, or mixed drinks from the Libation Station.

David Cook headlines Saturday night followed by the Little River Band on Sunday with many familiar musical acts in between.

Tickets are $10 in advance, $15 at the gate, and can be purchased at Mercedes-Benz or Centennial Bank locations throughout Central Florida.

Don’t bring your pets, any outside food or drinks or coolers, but do bring cash and lawn chairs or blankets.

We recently learned of a new location opening of Pei Wei, a member of the P.F. Chang’s family, in Altamonte Springs. Specifically, the restaurant is located just near the Altamonte Mall in the same area as Season’s 52. We don’t get to that area of Central Florida too terribly often, but hey…anytime food’s involved we make our best effort to be there.

Weekend before last I decided to give it a try and made the trip over for some lunch (take out). Of course, I had to go with some of my favorite: Ginger steak with broccoli. And brown rice. Yum! (Since I was alone I also ordered another dish to save for a later meal over the weekend. That’s right…chicken cashew.)

The place was pretty packed when I entered the dining room. But there was staff at the front door to ensure efficiency with all of the patrons coming in. I didn’t have to wait long to place my order, and my to-go orders were ready for the taking relatively quickly.

Location deets:

Pei Wei
355 E Altamonte Drive #1000
Altamonte Springs, FL 32701
407.834.0752

If you’d like to keep up with everything going on at Pei Wei you can Follow them on Twitter. You can also find the vacation nearest you by visiting the Pei Wei website.

Have you been to this new location of Pei Wei yet? What are your thoughts?

In the spirit of full disclosure, we were provided with gift cards to experience dining at this new location.