Blue Bird Bake Shop- 5 Stars

Cozy and sweet, Blue Bird Bake Shop is the place I love to go for a treat! Located in Audubon Park, it is a place I hope you will also soon call a favorite.

Cupcakes, scones, brownies, cakes, cookies, ice cream sandwiches, coffee...whatever you're craving, Blue Bird has you covered. What to try first, what to come back later for? It is definitely a hard decision. But, no matter what you choose, you will be completely satisfied! My stomach has always left happy.

The few times I have visited so far, Blue Bird has exceeded my expectations. To start, the customer service has always been great. You are greeted the moment you walk in the door with a smile and a welcome that is genuinely sincere. The staff who work here thoroughly enjoy their job. First time, no problem! Just mention it, they love to tell you about the sweets and coffee they have to offer. Customer service will never disappoint you here!

Marsh Nutter and Tuxedo Cupcakes

Their sweets are just as great as their customer service. I have been twice so far and have loved everything I have tried. My favorite cupcakes so far are the Red Velvet and the Marsh Nutter. Red Velvet is always there, but the Marsh Nutter is one of their specials. Check the top shelf for their daily specials. Get them when you see them, because they are only offered for a short time (sometimes just that day). I am so glad I went last week and got to try the Marsh Nutter; it is by far one of the best cupcakes I have had.

Want something different or a Cup of Joe to go with your cupcake? No problem. They have several different varieties of muffins, scones and cookies. Looking for a Banana Chocolate Chip or a Strawberry Streusel muffin? Or maybe a Lemon Cherry or Mocha Chocolate Chip scone? Maybe you would like a Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake cookie? It all looks amazing. I think you will be happy.

Now onto that Cup of Joe. Their coffee is called Top Hat. It is 100% Organic and Rainforest Alliance-certified. The beans are grown in the highlands in Nicaragua just for their store. They have Dark, Light, and Decaf, or if you'd prefer a specialty drink, they have that too. I am definitely going to get a cup on my next visit!

If your mouth is not watering for a taste of Blue Bird yet, then check out their website (http://bluebirdbakeshop.com/) or stop on in. I am confident that you will not walk out empty handed.

Visit Blue Bird Bake Shop and give yourself, friends, or family a sweet treat! 

(Don't forget to mention Local Girl Eats sent you to try their sweets.)

Cafe 906 - 5 Stars

Looking for a new place to try? Cafe 906 is the place to go! Authentic, charming, and delicious; I have not been disappointed yet.

What to eat, what to try? It is definitely hard to choose once you step in the door! They offer many different choices from crepes, omelettes, croissants, quiches, eclairs to lunch choices like soup, salads, and sandwiches. Want a good cup of Joe to accompany your breakfast or sweet? They have great coffee...or mimosas. 

             Croque Madame                 Eclair with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc

Service is also great. The owners and staff have always been friendly and helpful when it comes to deciding on new things. They have even offered to do Gluten Free choices again, once a month, for people like my mom who have Celiac Disease. 

And best of all, you cannot beat the view! Outside seating offers a great view of Lake Baldwin. When the weather is right, outside is the place to sit!

Cafe 906 is a great place for breakfast, lunch, dessert, or brunch...to stop in alone, pick up to go, or enjoy with friends or family. Located in downtown Baldwin Park, it will quickly become a favorite, just give it a try. Don't forget to mention Local Girl sent you! Bon Appetite!

      Paris Crepe                                          Almond Croissants

For more information or for updates check out their Facebook page at: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Cafe-906/253770161327543

The Smiling Bison- 5 Stars

The Smiling Bison​ is a great place located in Baldwin Park off Bennett Rd. If you are looking for a good burger, I'd say try here. Their burgers are delicious!

My first visit was a couple months ago, in January. I went with some friends, after a run, to celebrate a birthday. The place was busy and parking was difficult, but to me that is a good thing. Busy means it is a good place. After walking in, I noticed right away I was going to like the place. They had a live Jazz band playing and the ambiance was casual. Definitely a place to go with friends or even on a date.

Bison Burger with fries

The food. I decided since it was my first time, and that they are known for them, I should try a Bison Burger. I was definitely pleased. It is hard for me to find a place that cooks a burger the way I ordered, and they did. The burger was cooked perfectly! The bread, Texas Toast, is a favorite of mine. It makes the burger taste even better. Imagine a group of people who are chatting, having a good time. Then the food comes out, and everyone is quiet. That's how good the burgers are. We all were definitely enjoying them!

Along with the burgers, they have many other options as far as food goes. Don't want a burger, no problem. They also have a roast beef, smoked chicken sausage, or crispy fish roll sandwich. Prefer a salad, pizza, ravioli, ribeye, or a small plate (like meatballs), they have that too. There are many choices when it comes to dinner. Don't forget dessert, they have a few that sound delicious. I am looking forward to trying the Mascarpone Brownie next time I go.

On Sundays they have brunch from 11 am to 3 pm. For brunch they offer anywhere from fish & grits, banana bread french toast, biscuts & gravy, to a breakfast burrito, basic breakfast, or brunch poutine. I have not been for brunch yet, but the menu looks really good.

Drinks? There are many choices of beer and wine to choose from. Happy hour? Every weekday from 5:30-7 pm. Special events/music? They have a calendar on their website: http://thesmilingbison.com/.
Check it out to see what's happening each month.

Great food, good time, & definitely a hidden gem, The Smiling Bison is a place I will visit again! And it should be a place you visit soon and frequently. Let them know Local Girl sent ya and recommends the Bison Burger.

Don't forget to try the pickles! They are so good, I bought a jar to go.

Hotel Angeleno- 5 Stars

Everyone at Hotel Angeleno​ is the best! The moment my family and I drove up, the staff was nothing but extremely helpful and nice!

I stayed at Hotel Angeleno in Los Angeles February 15th through the 17th with my brother, sister in law, and niece. We had just arrived in California earlier that day and had reservations with a different hotel in Venice Beach. When we arrived at the first hotel (we booked it online before our trip), we realized very fast we had been scammed. We left. My brother immediately got online and found Hotel Angeleno and called. We went to check it out. From the outside it looked very nice and like a great place to stay. My brother checked out a room (we were not going to book anywhere anymore without seeing the rooms) and came back down. We all agreed to stay.

When I got out of the car, I was immediately greeted by the Valet/Bellhop guy, Forte. I knew from the greeting and help he offered, we had chosen much better this time. I went and checked in while Forte got the bags out of the car. When I got to the front desk, Day was so awesome! He could tell I had not had a good start to my birthday (the 15th) and told me right away they were going to make it better. While checking in, my brother found a deal online for the hotel and Day gave us the deal without hesitation. I have never had such awesome customer service at a hotel before!

When we all went to our room, we were definitely thrilled to see how clean everything was, even the elevators. We finally all sat down to relax and sighed with relief because it had been a long day.

Later that evening my brother's and my friend's came to celebrate my birthday. We went upstairs to the restaurant/bar, West. It is definitely a nice place! The view is amazing. It was Happy Hour, so we definitely indulged a little. The food was absolutely delicious. The bartender was very nice and thoughtful. He added ginger extract to my ginger ale to help calm my stomach; it was still a little sick from the plane ride and chain of unfortunate events earlier in the day. Later that night when I went to my room I found a birthday gift from Hotel Angeleno in my room. That made me feel so special; they literally made my day! All in all, we had a great night and my birthday was definitely saved.

Hotel Angeleno is pretty much the nicest hotel I have ever stayed at! It is very clean, quiet, and roomy. To top it all off, included with your great night's stay you also get a heated pool, fireplace and lounge chairs to sit around the fire, gym, cafe, a free wine hour daily from 5:30-6:30 pm, and free valet parking. Free parking is hard to find in LA!

I have nothing bad to say about this hotel. Customer service can make or break your experience. I had the best customer service I have ever had, at this hotel. Whenever I travel to LA again, I look forward to staying here!

For more information or to book a room, you can visit their website at: http://www.hotelangeleno.com/. You will not be disappointed! Make sure to say hi to Day and Forte for me!

Here are a couple pictures of my amazing experience:

It is a very beautiful hotel!

 Such a nice, thoughtful surprise!

Breakfast is really good at West too.

RusTeak Restaurant and Wine Bar- 3.5/4 Stars

New restaurant, great location, and delicious food! RusTeak is a much needed and great addition to College Park. I have been waiting for something awesome to come and help bring College Park back to being a good place to go for food; RusTeak is doing just that.

While driving around and running errands for Christmas gifts (2014), my family and I got hungry. Being in College Park and knowing how my mom and sister in law love good food like me, I recommended RusTeak. I had heard from a few friends I needed to try it, so I decided this was a great time. I was excited when my mom parked and agreed to try it. We arrived at about 11:30 am, so it was not that busy yet for a Saturday. Parking lot was also pretty much empty, except for a few cars. I was happy because I was hungry! 

Truffle Fries and Sweet Potato Tater Tots

We all walked in and were immediately greeted by a hostess. She was very friendly. The tables and setup are really nice inside. It is also really clean, which is always a must if I am going to eat there. After we sat at the table, I decided to go check out the bathroom. It was also nice and clean inside. Clean bathrooms are important. As my mom says, "If they don't keep their bathrooms clean, then how do you think the kitchen probably looks?" Great to remember when going to a restaurant for the first time!

Food, food, food...the menu had so many mouth watering options. We decided to start with Sweet Potato Tots and Truffle Fries. Great decision! My sister in law and I couldn't stop eating the fries. The seasoning they use is unique and flavorful. My mom and niece loved the sweet potato tots! They were good; I could definitely taste that they were made from a real sweet potato. 

When it was time to order my entree, I had a hard time deciding. It was nice to see creative menu options; I love new and creative ideas. For example, instead of regular hamburgers, they have venison burgers. Looking for tacos? How about Duck Confit Tacos...sounds delicious! Their salads are also tasty. The Southern Gent has grilled chicken, egg, maple pepper bacon, cucumber, tomato, Gouda, roasted corn, edamame, mixed greens, and their honey mustard seed dressing. The Southern Gent according to my mom and sister in law is amazing! It definitely looked amazing! I decided to get the Blackened Mahi and Pear Sandwich. It was great! It tasted fresh out of a kitchen and the pear slices definitely were not from a can. It was better than I expected, I loved it!

Blackened Mahi and Pear Sandwich

A great experience was definitely had by all 4 of us! The staff and food were great! The waiters were very helpful with the menu and any questions we had. The only question they did not answer was about the different seasonings on the truffle fries. Chefs don't give away their delicious secrets! It was fun to try and figure out the ingredients and seasoning. They also have a gluten free menu, which was awesome because my mom has Celiac Disease. This made RusTeak even better to me.

Edamame is delicious

Update: I recently have gone back several times since my first visit. The truffle fries are still one of my favorite items on their menu; I love that they are a staple. They also have Daily Chef Specials that offer unique dishes (most of the time they are fish, but not always). Their fish entrees are usually pretty good, however, I have had a couple rough experiences lately. I ordered the special on my friend's birthday and it was delicious. But that same night my friend ordered a regular entree including fish and it was not as flavorful as it normally is. She was not impressed with the place and it saddened me because it was her first visit. The second time was after that. I went to dinner with my family and again chose to get one of the chef's specials. This time it was a different fish and included different side items. The meal was overall not anything I would order again. I couldn't finish the fish because it was just too salty. Sometimes chef's are a little too heavy on the salt; this was one of those times. The truffle fries are still really good and I recently tried and was very happy with their Edamame appetizer. To sum it all up, my update is to tell you it was a favorite of mine when I first started going, however, it has now moved down on my list. I really hope they work out some of their kinks that are starting to show because College Park needs a good place.

RusTeak is located in College Park, FL off Edgewater Drive and are open Monday- Saturday 11 am - 11pm. They also have another location in Ocoee, FL. For more information and for a look at their menu (it changes monthly), you can visit their website at: http://www.rusteakwinebar.com/.

Salads are always good! Pictured: House and Southern Gent. Honey Citrus dressing is the way to go!

The Briarpatch- 5 Stars

Have you been to Briarpatch in Winter Park yet? If your answer is no, then here is why you should. It has been a fav of mine to visit for breakfast, brunch, or just lunch for a long time now...I'd say about 6 years.

Sticky bun...yes!

Sticky buns, coffee, eggs, bacon, grits, omelettes, waffles, pancakes, french toast...Oh My! There's so much to choose from for breakfast, you won't be able to try just one thing. I personally love their sticky buns with a good cup of coffee; there is nothing better to start off a Saturday or Sunday morning with. But, if you prefer a full breakfast, then their omelettes are really good and definitely more than enough to satisfy your craving. Or maybe you feel like eggs, grits, fried green tomatoes and bacon...delicious as well. I found myself eating my friend's grits even though my omelette was sitting right in front of me unfinished. But, I am a country girl at heart, so grits are a must when eating breakfast. The Raspberry and Brie Stuffed French Toast is always another great option. You won't leave a bite on the plate! Whatever you choose, you will leave "fat and happy!"

Looking for lunch instead, I would recommend their burger. But if you like it medium well, make sure to say well done (but not burnt) because the beef they use (Wagyu Beef from Snake River Farm) cooks differently than regular beef. But it is delicious and really good! They also have great options for salads with a unique blend of fruit, nuts, protein and greens. Or maybe you are looking for a sandwich? Well, have no fear, they have plenty of great options there too! Grilled Chicken Breast, Corned Beef Reuben, Three Cheese Grill, Turkey, Brie, & Raspberry Croissant...Yum is all I have to say to that! Their menu offers many great choices for lunch.

Stop in and give Briarpatch a try sometime! While you are there, make sure to save room for dessert or some of their Homemade ice cream! These have to be tried, otherwise you will leave forgetting to try something amazing!

Located off Park Ave in Winter Park, it is a happening place, so you may want to go at an off time for breakfast or lunch. Or you can be like me, just wait, because it is worth the wait. Don't forget to mention Local Girl sent you!

Want more information or a chance to see the menu before stopping in, check them out on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/thebriarpatchrestaurant?rf=172885909437805

Eggs, grits, bacon and fried green tomatoes or...an omelette with toast and potatoes, it isn't easy to choose! 

Vanbarry's on Orange Ave. - 2 Stars

Vanbarry's Public House. If you have not been or are thinking about going soon to eat, my recommendation would be to skip it. I went about a month ago and was really excited to try it. I have a friend who posts about going all the time and so I went. My experience was, well I will just say, not what I expected.

My first impression was, it's a neat place. Parking was not bad. Walking up I noticed the outdoor seating and decorations were nice. It's a seat yourself place, we sat inside. It was a warmer kinda night and we wanted to stay cool. After about 3 minutes a waitress came over and took our drink order. We also ordered an appetizer, the mac n cheese with prosciutto. The beers and mac were good, but the mac was too salty. I know prosciutto is salty, but it was too salty for my liking. 

We then moved onto entrees. I ordered fish tacos. I love Mahi and was really looking forward to eating some delicious Mahi tacos. After my first bite I could tell I should have chosen something else. The Mahi was too fishy, which I have been told (by my brother in law who is a chef) means "old fish". I did not ask the waitress, but am certain it had to of been frozen Mahi. The one time I cooked frozen Mahi, it was fishy tasting, not good. My friend ordered the Taco, Mama. He liked his and ate both with no problem. I did not finish mine due to not enjoying them. Guess I should have ordered differently.

For the last part of my experience, my friend talked me into ordering a dessert to help redeem my opinion of the place...to give them a chance to make up for the bad fish tacos. I ordered the s'mores. The waitress told us it's a favorite at the place. Out came graham crackers, marshmallows, and a Hershey bar on a plate with a little fire in the middle. It looked delicious and it was. I love chocolate. Was it unique, no. The little fire on the plate was cute, but I can make the same s'mores at home.

Vanbarry's...a bar with not so good bar food. A few people who have gone have told me they like it and continue to go back, but I most likely will not return. I look for and enjoy places with great food. It is part of the family of FinnHenry's and Ollie's...just not my types of places or food.

Update: I decided to give it a try again to see if it had changed. I met up with some friends this past Saturday night (May 30, 2015) for dinner and drinks. When first arriving, I noticed it was packed like it usually always is. That's a great thing for a business, especially this location. The multiple places that had been there before have not been able to stay open. So, on the outside Vanbarry's is still doing well. However, I was again disappointed with the food. I ordered the nachos; I love nachos. Their nachos come with cheese, chips, quac, chicken, sour cream, and pico. I am not an onion fan, so I ordered it with tomatoes instead of pico and no guac. I wish restaurants would start offering quac without onions. How were the nachos? Not good, just very plain. The chips were okay, the sour cream was some kind of southwestern flavor, and the chicken was not fresh. Would I order them again, no. I apparently need to try their burger, according to my friend. Maybe one day.

But, I do have to say their Moscow Mules are good. Their bartenders can make a good Mule. They also have homemade ice cream sandwiches for dessert. I have to say they are pretty good. The ice cream is homemade. It tasted just like the ice cream I used to make with my grandpa where we had to churn it. It was really good. I would definitely recommend going for dessert and drinks. Bathrooms were also clean (just a side note that I find important). New score: 2 Stars, just because the meals have been disappointing the two times I have been.

If you decide to try it for yourself, it is located on Orange Avenue near the Racetrac and across the street from Julie's Waterfront. They also have a Facebook page you can check out for more info.

Mac n Cheese Appetizer and Fish Tacos

      

Beer and Dessert: Sweetwater 420 and S'mores