Orlando Restaurants & Bars

[AndyPok1]

Being that Harry Buffalo is a Cleveland chain, I have a soft spot for it.  And yeah, largely it fills that niche.  Food there is wayyyy too roll of the dice though.  50/50 chance whether it comes out really good or inedible.  Also, being the "last" stop before Amway, it gets wayy too crowded to be a normal go-to

[dcluley98]

I like Ale House for what it is. Stupid cheap wings and beer fare with telescreens playing the games for an outside trip. Plus, we don't really have a good dedicated wing-joint in DT, so Harry Buffalo and Ale House have to stand in when I need a wing fix! 

Edited March 21, 2019 by dcluley98

[spenser1058]

On 3/19/2019 at 9:13 PM, aent said:

Yeah, Chick Fil A was among the first to help out with Pulse. They clearly aren't anti-LGBT in their actions, other then one very specific thing (the calling of gay couples marriage). While I no doubt strongly disagree with them on that opinion, its ridiculous to consider their entire organization anti-LGBT because of it -- and they're simply not. Thats why they have open, proud, gay store owners. And quite frankly, as a matter of law, its a settled issue, nobody (political) wants to revisit it.

My problem with Chick Fil A is more their food, I find Zaxbys much better personally... but I guess thats just me. I haven't tried PDQ, one of these days I'll have to... but I barely eat out anymore.

It seems not much has changed at CFA:

https://thinkprogress.org/chick-fil-a-anti-lgbtq-donations-tax-filings-62ca15281f17/amp/

From Think Progress

[aent]

On 3/21/2019 at 4:58 PM, spenser1058 said:

It seems not much has changed at CFA:

https://thinkprogress.org/chick-fil-a-anti-lgbtq-donations-tax-filings-62ca15281f17/amp/

From Think Progress

Except the main goal of all of those organizations has nothing to do with LGBT issues at all, they're just religious organizations that have a view that promoting LGBT is wrong. I disagree with them, but seriously, what active campaign does any of those organizations even have regarding LGBT issues? They spoke out because they believed there was a sin god told them about, the supreme court told them they're wrong, and its over.

They aren't going to back down on their religious roots... infact, clearly, since the "boycott" they've  been doing better then ever. Only the very far-left boycotts them and the religious people love them for it and go there even more because of it. Gotta literally be the least effective boycott of all time lol

 

On topic... celebrity chef restaurant Ole Red filed for permits to build in Icon Orlando for a 2 story building according to OBJ.

[Camillo Sitte]

Baja Burrito Kitchen in Colonial Plaza closed today after more than 20 years. 

I liked their food, quite a bit actually. It was the closest thing in Orlando to the real king of Cali-Mex, Baja Fresh, which the evil Wendy's bought [so that they could have their own "Mexican" brand to compete with McDonald's and Chipotle] and then destroyed. Today it's just a brand name owned by some investment group and bears no resemblance to the original Baja Fresh. May Wendy's burn in hell for all eternity.

Baja Burrito Kitchen did things a bit differently though. For one, they used to have Fox News blaring on the TVs. Not that they should have had MSNBC on, but that seems like a really odd business decision, one that was bound to piss off at least half or more of their potential customer base. Why do it?

Then there was the fact that they had pretty small portions, it was near impossible to get out of there for less than $10-12/person, and every thing, like sour cream, was an additional charge. Two tacos with a small side of beans and rice, a small drink, and a small side of sour cream was ~$12.

No reasons have been given for the closure.

 

Edited March 23, 2019 by Camillo Sitte

[dcluley98]

That chain sucked, other than the guacamole. 

Go local taco! 

[Camillo Sitte]

7 hours ago, aent said:

Except the main goal of all of those organizations has nothing to do with LGBT issues at all...

So supporting a little bigotry is OK so long as it isn't their primary focus?

During the last major national protest of Chick Fil A a few years ago, there is no question that the anti-LGBT/pro-Chick Fil A group won the battle that day. Chick Fil A's sales went through the roof and national news outlets were reporting on and showing video of all of the idiots haranguing the poor drive-thru girl as if she was responsible for corporate policy. 

But, at least at the time, it appeared that at the end of the day, the anti-bigotry side won the war as, quietly, Chick Fil A announced that they were no longer going to be contributing to any groups with an anti-LGBT bias. Of course this wasn't just out of the goodness of their hearts. Chick Fil A at the time was making a big push to get onto university campuses all across the country and being viewed as anti-LGBT was going to prevent that from happening, in fact, any time they announced that they wanted to open on a particular campus, there was almost always a major protest and they would slink away. Low and behold, after their announcement that they had seen the light, they started opening outlets on campuses nation-wide and did so with very few protests.

It will be interesting to see what response if any there is to the news of their recent tax filings.

 

21 minutes ago, dcluley98 said:

That chain sucked, other than the guacamole. 

Go local taco! 

Which "chain" - Baja Burrito Kitchen or Baja Fresh?

If you meant Burrito Kitchen, it wasn't a chain, just one location, locally owned.

If you meant Baja Fresh, then unless you lived on the west coast and ate there before  the acquisition by Wendy's in 2002, then you have actually never eaten at Baja Fresh.

Edited March 23, 2019 by Camillo Sitte

[AmIReal]

6 hours ago, Camillo Sitte said:

Baja Burrito Kitchen did things a bit differently though. For one, they used to have Fox News blaring on the TVs

I've been going there for lunch a couple times a month since they opened 20 years ago. I never encountered any news playing on the TVs. It was always music...

 

6 hours ago, Camillo Sitte said:

Two tacos with a small side of beans and rice, a small drink, and a small side of sour cream was ~$12.

That was my standard meal, minus the drink and sour cream and it was $7 and change.

 

[dcluley98]

I meant Baja Burrito Kitchen. I always assumed it was a chain because the food was bland and over-priced and it had a trendy name similar to other chains. 

I guess I was wrong. Sorry! 

Edited March 23, 2019 by dcluley98

[Camillo Sitte]

8 hours ago, AmIReal said:

I've been going there for lunch a couple times a month since they opened 20 years ago. I never encountered any news playing on the TVs. It was always music...

They stopped doing it a few years ago [because of complaints I assume], but from the time they opened and for several years, they always has Fox News playing on the two TVs.

8 hours ago, AmIReal said:

That was my standard meal, minus the drink and sour cream and it was $7 and change.

The "American taco platter" [two tacos, beans, and rice] was $6.99. A small soda was $2.30. A side of sour cream was $1.19, a total of $10.48 plus 6.5% sales tax for a grand total of $11.16, just like I said.

Edited March 23, 2019 by Camillo Sitte

[Camillo Sitte]

7 hours ago, dcluley98 said:

I meant Baja Burrito Kitchen. I always assumed it was a chain because the food was bland and over-priced and it had a trendy name similar to other chains. 

Over-priced? A bit, yes. 

Bland? I suppose that's in the eye, or the palate, of the beholder. I prefer to call it "not spicy", which is precisely why I liked it. There was no heavy "signature" seasoning added to everything as with Chipotle, etc.

Edited March 23, 2019 by Camillo Sitte

[aent]

16 hours ago, Camillo Sitte said:

So supporting a little bigotry is OK so long as it isn't their primary focus?

 

No, I said nothing like that, that is total bullcrap. Not everyone has to have the same opinions as everyone  else. And just because someone says "I don't want gay people to get married" (because of their beliefs in god) doesn't mean they hate gay people. They may believe gay people are commiting a sin, but they don't want any action taken against them, they just want god or jesus or whatever to save that person. I don't agree with Chick Fil A, but I don't have a full alignment of the political views with about any company. I never once felt Chick Fil A hated me because I'm gay. Quite the opposite in fact.

[dcluley98]

Hey, that's cool man, @aent

I don't think CFA has anything against your sexual orientation either, or anybody's sexual orientation.

Although I disagree with your political views at times, it is good to see a reasonable debate on issues without standard hard-line opinions. I may disagree with many things on both sides, but I do not think CFA has displayed any harmful opinions upon sexuality or race or creed ever. 

One does not become oppressive in their views by holding their said views.  One could still hold their own views and also accept that others' are still very valid and acceptable in this world, and maybe could learn something as well from the differing views. 

Opposition does not equal antagonisation—Tolerance is still a very valid position in the equation. 

Edited March 24, 2019 by dcluley98

[Camillo Sitte]

Argument to Moderation, False Compromise, or Middle Ground Fallacy:  An informal logical fallacy which asserts that the truth must be found as a compromise between two opposite positions.

False Balance, Balance Fallacy, or Bias Towards Fairness:  An informal logical fallacy that holds that all opinions are valid and deserve equal weight and consideration and that the truth in everything lies somewhere in the middle.

*****

Half the distance between the truth and a lie is still a lie.

Edited March 24, 2019 by Camillo Sitte

[spenser1058]

San Antonio (yep, Texas!) makes it official:

https://abcnews.go.com/amp/US/san-antonio-city-council-votes-stop-chick-fil/story?id=61886874

From ABC News

[Jernigan]

9 hours ago, Camillo Sitte said:

Argument to Moderation, False Compromise, or Middle Ground Fallacy:  An informal logical fallacy which asserts that the truth must be found as a compromise between two opposite positions.

False Balance, Balance Fallacy, or Bias Towards Fairness:  An informal logical fallacy that holds that all opinions are valid and deserve equal weight and consideration and that the truth in everything lies somewhere in the middle.

*****

Half the distance between the truth and a lie is still a lie.

Thoughts on humane treatment of labor?  By the way, do you own an iPhone?

[HankStrong]

Can't I just like chicken sandwiches without making a political statement.  Because I like chicken sandwiches a lot.

[aent]

3 hours ago, HankStrong said:

Can't I just like chicken sandwiches without making a political statement.  Because I like chicken sandwiches a lot.

Hey, thats what I was saying! I love chicken sandwiches!

[Camillo Sitte]

16 hours ago, HankStrong said:

Can't I just like chicken sandwiches without making a political statement.  Because I like chicken sandwiches a lot.

Is anyone saying you can't or otherwise preventing you from doing so? This is America, where the president can grab fistfulls of pu$$y without asking because he is rich and famous and David Duke can be elected to public office. You can do pretty much anything you want to.

Everyone is perfectly free to eat whatever and wherever their conscience, their principles, and their wallets allow.

Of course it's impossible to vet every company, every business owner, every board of directors that one does business with in order to see if they comport with their personal values. But when a business tells you upfront what they do and don't believe in, then to continue to do business with that company is pretty much an implicit agreement with those values, isn't it?  Several years ago Chick Fil A  said that they would no longer contribute to groups that had anti-LGBT practices. Now it seems that they were lying about that. Supporting bigotry and lying to the public about it, a twofer! It seems that Chick Fil A  believes that their customer base agrees with their values.

Hey, it could be worse for Chick Fil A than a little anti-LGBT bigotry. Krispy Kreme and Panera now have an inherited Nazi party and slave labor death camp issue with which to contend.

Eat where ever you want. No one's stopping you.

[shrug][/shrug]

Edited March 26, 2019 by Camillo Sitte

[HankStrong]

15 hours ago, Camillo Sitte said:

But when a business tells you upfront what they do and don't believe in, then to continue to do business with that company is pretty much an implicit agreement with those values, isn't it? 

No.  I just like chicken sandwiches.  I don't base my shopping on the owner of the shops values.  I base it on getting what I need/want.

[spenser1058]

“The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” Edmund Burke, often quoted by JFK and MLK.

”First they came for...”

Martin Niemoller

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_they_came_...

 

Edited March 26, 2019 by spenser1058

[HankStrong]

I think a lot of that depends on what's going on.  Does Chick-Fil-A have guards out front keeping people out of the store?  Does Advent Health not offer hospital care to Methodists or atheists or Jewish people? 

Do they stamp their sandwiches with "only for straight people, made with straight chickens only" or stitch you up with holy thread that now makes you an unwilling 7th Day Adventist?

Beliefs and the freedom to have them are the core of our nation.  It's not against the law to disagree, it's against the law to discriminate.

 

 

Sometimes a business is just a business.  You can vote with your wallet if you choose and I'm all for that.  However, I also just like chicken sandwiches and I'm buying a service they are selling.

Not everyone who is employed at any of those places agrees with the feelings of the people who own or run those places.  Do they not deserve a paycheck?  I grew up in a small town where the biggest burger spot in town was run by a well-known racist woman.  HOWEVER, her store managers weren't.  Her employees weren't.  They did a booming business among people of all races.  The suppliers to the store weren't racist.  The gas station next door that made a killing when people stopped at the burger place weren't racists.

Where does the moral high ground stop?  Do you punish the suppliers?  Do you punish the customers?  Do you punish the employees? Do you punish the nearby shops?  Do you punish anyone along the chain of goods or services?

[nite owℓ]

On 3/24/2019 at 2:22 AM, dcluley98 said:

Hey, that's cool man, @aent

I don't think CFA has anything against your sexual orientation either, or anybody's sexual orientation.

Although I disagree with your political views at times, it is good to see a reasonable debate on issues without standard hard-line opinions. I may disagree with many things on both sides, but I do not think CFA has displayed any harmful opinions upon sexuality or race or creed ever. 

One does not become oppressive in their views by holding their said views.  One could still hold their own views and also accept that others' are still very valid and acceptable in this world, and maybe could learn something as well from the differing views. 

Opposition does not equal antagonisation—Tolerance is still a very valid position in the equation. 

 

Chick-fil-a isn't without blame. Their foundation used to donate money to organizations like Focus on the Family that actively tried to defeat gay marriage AND civil unions. Not to mention Focus on the Family also supports gay conversion "counseling". It's one thing to have religious beliefs and opinions, but it's a completely different thing to ACTIVELY suppress other people's civil rights due to said beliefs. I grew up in a strict religious family and I also grew up with Focus on the Family being blasted over the radio in the household so I'm well aware of how they feel about my sexuality; it's a black and white issue to them (one of the exec's disowned his own daughter). My mantra is live and let live -- until you try to tread upon my rights. I personally refuse to eat at chick fil a, but I will still shop at Publix. I don't judge if anyone wants to patronize either company because every company has nefarious ways if you dig deep enough so it's my belief that we're going to inadvertently step in it one way or another. Just be cognizant of well known issues within a company otherwise you're distorting the root of the problem that people find objectionable.

http://equalitymatters.org/factcheck/201103220004

https://www.hrc.org/resources/10-things-you-should-know-about-focus-on-the-family

 

Edited March 26, 2019 by nite owℓ

[spenser1058]

A lot of folks don’t know that there’s absolutely nothing mandating a market economy in the US. Read the Constitution backward and forward and there’s nothing there to tell you what kind of economic system we must have.

But, in 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was written, Adam Smith was also publishing “The Wealth of Nations” in Britain, the first manifesto of capitalism.

So, unofficially, the country and the capitalist system grew up and thrive together

As a result, companies are built into our culture and folkways. After all, the Supreme Court declared that corporations are people.

Although companies love to deny it when it’s inconvenient,their unquestioned role in our society demands some responsibilities. In response, we pay taxes to the government to protect them (don’t think that’s important? ask the American companies booted out of Venezuela over the years).

We also provide their profits. Consumer spending is still the largest segment of the US economy by far.

Don’t think business plays a role in communities? Ask yourself why Atlanta led the New South away from segregation and became the economic juggernaut it is today

In the 1950’s Birmingham and Atlanta were about the same size. When Bull Conner unleashed the dogs on African-American citizens, however, Atlanta-based Coca-Cola, one of the first multinational firms, let the city fathers know that if Coke, as a world-class company, was to stay in town the government had to accept diversity.

Companies like Martin and especially Disney made it clear to uber-conservative Orange Countians that their move into Central Florida required a welcoming community for everyone.

It you think corporations don’t drive the culture, think about the TV networks. It took until the late ‘60’s for people of color to be featured in sigbificant roles on network television (ever see a black person on The Andy Griffith Show or Leave It To Beaver?) No government ever told Bill Paley or Leonard Goldenson to keep non-white folks off the air. As a result, it was as if those folks didn’t exist. How do you think that made kids feel and what sort of lessons did it teach?

So yes, it matters where you shop and who you choose to do business with. Thank goodness we’re free to make those choices but we also have the responsibility to encourage those companies to consider our values.

Edited March 26, 2019 by spenser1058

[HankStrong]

If I only shopped at businesses who lined up with my values, I'd be naked, starving, and living in a cave.