Teak Neighborhood Grill

Everyone can appreciate good food, killer drink specials and great service. Teak is a grill place in West Orlando right near Valencia's west campus. I went this Wednesday to indulge in a few extra tasty and odd treats they had to offer.

Let's start with the service. The waiter's name was Cliff, he was great help and very attentive to our needs and questions. Be sure to ask for him when you head over there, tell him Wendy the blogger sent you.

I started my lunch off with a very delightful spinach and blue crab dip. It was so creamy and filled with the perfect amount of crab meat. I just wanted to keep dipping every chip in, but I needed to save room for the other stuff. It was very cheesy, perfect consistency to enjoy the seafood added to it. The crab wasn't like biting into a crab itself, but it was a great balance to taste it with the greens.

My main course was the succulent Cronie Burger. Now if you have heart problems, or suffer from wild medical issues, this would be your very LAST choice. This burger in the middle was an amazing half pound of Angus meat, topped by some smoked Gouda cheese, an egg, and some bacon (no swine) all in between two bad ass french doughnuts tossed in cinnamon to seal the deal. This burger was so huge I had to press it down to make it fit inside my mouth without looking like an ant trying to eat a whole grapefruit. On the side of that sinful burger I dove into some fresh, sweet potato tater tots. These tots were the perfect meet of toasty outside, and soft warm inside. I asked for a side of warm caramel to dip the tots in, greatness.

Of course I would not miss the last bit to close out my meal. The REAL sweets. I purchased a Trio platter. Pieces of cake, pineapple with a layer at the top of coconut flakes. Strawberry, with a creamy white top maybe buttercream, vanilla, or cream cheese, could not put my finger on it. Lastly was the Nutella with walnuts topped over it all. These three cakes were so good and allowed me to get a little taste of more than one cake.

This establishment makes everything gluten free, minus most of the buns.. But they have clearly labeled where some meals are completely gluten free also. They also serve flat breads, soups, sandwiches, and entrees. 

They have great drink specials everyday, and ladies night on Wednesday which include great food and drink specials on top of the great deals they provide daily. Also they have days where they provide life music too. This is a great place to grab drinks, watch a game, grab lunch, or relax in the outside patio at. The food was amazing, the service was great, and it isn't too pricey. I paid $12 for my huge burger, my tots were included, my dip was also $12 (which my friend put on her bill) and dessert was $7. This was all full price and nothing on sale except the drinks my friend had. She drank two drinks for $4.50 of vodka and sprite (I don't drink.) They do however have great choice for their daily happy hour picks.

Hope you all get to grab a bite to eat, or even a few drinks to start or end your night off well. Feel free to contact me on my social networks or via email on my 'contact tab' to ask any questions about this or any other place I've visited.

"Love and allow to be loved" XoXo

6400 Times Square Ave. Orlando, Fl 32835

(407) 313-5111

Open Everyday 11am-2am

Fun & inexpensive activities in Orlando! Pt. 1

We all enjoy fun days and nights in the city. If you are anything like me though you are a college student, regular Joe or Jill on a budget. How do you incorporate fun outings with little to no change to spare? I am here to guide you around the beautiful city with some fun activities to get into. I took my time and visited a few interesting places in Orlando to have a bit of variety for you all.

First on my list I visited 'Natura Coffee and Tea.' they have different fun events on different days of the week, I went on a Wednesday night which is Jazz night and on a Sunday witch is open mic night, a mixture of comedy, live music, and poetry. This location is right around the University of Central Florida which makes it very accessible for many. Both nights start at about 9pm, I arrived about 30 minutes after to both. My personal favorite had to be the Jazz night though, super laid back, amazing music overall. Staff is very nice and helpful, you do have to kind of wave them down at the bar to get things considering the few people that work there. This is a lounge that serves coffee, teas, beers, wines, finger foods, a few pastries and hookah. Everything ranges from about $3-$8. The hookah has a happy hour 6pm-8pm in which you can enjoy them for $10 (regularly about $13-$15.) They even have different art around the shop that you can buy if you like them enough. This place has a totally funky and unique environment. They have no cover charge which is awesome if you just want to hop on the wifi and study. You are more than welcome to just grab a spot on a couch or a table and enjoy the vibes, their products smell so good though, I'm sure you will want to enjoy a coffee or some spinach dip while you're there (grab the pita chips with any dip.) I had the pleasure of listening to Caleb Joel on the Saxophone that night along with his band, and let me tell you if every single person in there doesn't tap a foot, or nod their head I will personally buy you TWO drinks, the whole atmosphere is just leaking with talent and vibrant music. If you are in the mood for somewhere to hide out alone, enjoy an inexpensive date or overall just love to listen to talent and celebrate creativity this is the place for you. Not to mention if you have a talent that you would love to let others enjoy, give them a call and find a slot to show off your art.

Naturacoffeeandtea.com (407) 482 - 8599 12078 Collegiate Way Orlando Fl, 32765

Next place that I swung by is a little more on the family oriented side. I took this chance since I do not have kids of my own, while my 3 year old goddaughter was in town from Buffalo I took her to the Downtown Orlando public library. We simply did a walk in to Story time for toddlers and school kids. This is all free and every child will enjoy it from beginning to end. They stretch to start off, loosen up those muscles and get a kick of energy started. The librarian reads the children three books, they sing songs and best of all her voice alone make the stories come alive for kids. This is a great way to expand your child's vocabulary, allow them to interact with other children and also to expand their imaginations. The librarian teaches them new words, animals and places that you can later bring up again to refresh their memories and expand their education. She allows them to sing tunes a few times during the session and allows them to shout and express themselves too. Another thing I loved was how she allows them to use props in the stories and songs. She had a light scarf the kids had to throw around and make believe was a waterfall, and use it for certain sounds. I found this awesome because it is a great way for children to learn to follow directions while still having fun. You can choose to sit in the shadows or interact with your child in the mist of it all. They have different activities for different aged children on different days too. This is a great outing for kids in my opinion. Its educational, fun filled, best of all safe and free.

www.Ocls.info find the library near you and find out when their story times are or contact me for help.

Last location that I stopped in at was a little more slow paced, but very rewarding, artistic and also educating. I visited the Cornell Art museum located at the Rollins college in Winter Park. Conveniently this also was a free event, thanks to Dale Montgomery '60. This isn't too big of an art museum, but it is just right to spend an hour or two of your day either alone, with a date or a couple of friends. The woman at the front desk was so welcoming and helpful with all the questions I had. This museum has a lot of older European art, mixed with a little modern and a new featured artist each semester. The new artist for every semester has their own section in the museum to exhibit their work. There is a booklet that allows you to follow the great art as you go and gives you a good amount of information on many of the pieces. I went alone to this one and loved every tranquil bit of it. I personally enjoyed just going to each piece reading up on the piece itself, the artist and getting a close look at the brush strokes and colors. I find it fascinating how art work stays in tact or how others can remake such an original piece and still make it look marvelous. This is more of a place to head to if you like art, quite small places and learning about old artifacts. You can also call and do scavenger hunts with your kids on specific days and engage in hands on art activities. This can be something that can also be fun for the whole family.

 Closed Mondays Tuesday-Friday 10am-4pm Saturday-Sunday Noon-5pm (407) 646 2526 1000 Holt Ave Winter Park, Fl 32789 Building 303

Now all these places are in Orlando or right around considering I live here. I do hope that this does not limit my audience that are in other cities to get up and out. Search for places in your city that offer these same great options. Most cities offer free art museums on certain days, and all should have free library reading times for kids. Now this was a very brief and simple start to my adventure take off for you all. I will be engaging in a lot of fun things to do on a budget as time passes. Tune in next Sunday for a wild, adventurous and high experience. Remember "Love and allow to be loved." Thank you all for the amazing support, please drop comments, likes, or contact me personally with any questions or feedback. Xoxo