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Yellow Dog Eats
Rating Details »
- Price Range:
-
$$
- Accepts Credit Cards:
- Yes
- Attire:
- Casual
- Good for Groups:
- Yes
- Good for Kids:
- Yes
- Takes Reservations:
- No
- Delivery:
- No
- Take-out:
- Yes
- Waiter Service:
- No
- Outdoor Seating:
- Yes
- Good for:
- Lunch
- Alcohol:
- Beer & Wine Only
6 reviews for Yellow Dog Eats
If you have a sense of fun and a palate that appreciates creative but simple food that is above all else, wonderfully tasty, you owe it to yourself to visit Yellow Dog Eats in Windermere, FL. After you have tried it once, you will be back again and again.
Located in what was once a solitary general store/post office in the midst of vast acres of orange groves, Yellow Dog Eats is now surrounded by affluent homes. Nevertheless, it has managed to keep its "off the beaten path" feel. When entering Yellow Dog Eats at the lunch hour, don't be surprised to find yourself searching for a table and possibly hovering near diners who are almost finished eating in the hope of both hurrying them along and securing their table even before the last member of their party has gotten up to leave. There is no table service at YDE so after finding a table, you will next find yourself -- or more specifically, one member of your party will find himself or herself -- standing in line with the rest of the crowd placing an order at the cashier's counter. It all adds to the ambience, which is made almost carnival like by Fish, YDE's owner/chef who keeps the restaurant teeming with positive energy.
The menu at YDE features creative sandwiches and salads made with the freshest of ingredients and inspired culinary skill. It is not difficult to make a sandwich. It is difficult, however, to make a sandwich that is original, tasty and appealing to both the eye and the palate. YDE succeeds on all points.
Today, my wife and I took our dog to YDE for lunch. YDE welcomes canine companions to join their owners for lunch or dinner on the patio. Points to Fish for allowing guests to bring well behaved dogs because, without our dog, we usually do not go for lunch.
My wife and I both enjoyed a cup of tomato basil soup to start. The soup was full of rich heavy cream and chunky pieces of stewed tomatoes and torn pieces of fresh basil. It was simple, flavorful and the perfect start to our meal. The cashier scored some extra points by giving me the recipe before I left.
My wife ordered the Retriever's Roast sandwich: seasoned medium rare roast beef, locally grown tomatoes, lettuce, smoky pommerey mustard, caramelized onions and gouda on multi-grain bread. In close to two decades of marriage, I don't think I have ever seen my petite wife finish a sandwich -- until today. She was very happy with every morsel of it!
I enjoyed the Black Lab's Lunch: A spinach tortilla spread with just the right amount of homemade hummus and then filled with shredded carrot, sauteed baby bella mushrooms, carmelized onions, cucumbers baby corn, tomato, sprouts and feta cheese with a buttermilk-wasabi dressing. It was the perfect vegetarian sandwich and I savored every bite. It really had a wonderful texture and an outstanding blend of warm, cool, crunchy and soft elements. Really an outstanding sandwich.
Both sandwiches were served with Yellow Dog Eats homemade coleslaw, which was a standard raisin and cabbage slaw brought to new heights by the addition of wonderfully complex spicing (nutmeg? allspice? I'm not sure. But I am sure that I loved it and that I was very happy that my wife was too full to eat hers!).
Sandwiches are also served with a bag of Miss Vicky's potato chips. The chips are very good, as bagged chips go, but if I have one minor criticism of YDE, it is its choice of potato chip. Although Miss Vicky's offers excellent flavor and quality, the chips are made on machinery that also uses peanut oil. That means that some people with peanut allergies cannot eat them. I encourage YDE to change to a brand that does not use peanut oils and is not manufactured on machinery that uses peanut oils. That, of course, is a relatively minor point (except for people with peanut allergies) and does not take away from the delight we experienced in dining at Yellow Dog Eats.
Yellow Dog Eats has a one-person unisex bathroom. Given the number of people using it, YDE does a great job of keeping it clean. Toilet and sink were very clean when I poked my head in. There were a couple of paper towels on the floor but I suspect they were left there by the patron who had used the facility a moment before I checked it.
Yellow Dog Eats is a great find off the beaten track in Orlando. If you want a great dining experience that is decidedly different from chain dining, you can find no better place than to visit Yellow Dog Eats for lunch or a light dinner.
This place is fun and the food is great.
YELLOW DOG IS CURRENTLY CLOSED DUE TO A FIRE AND WILL REOPEN IN MARCH 2009!
I was very sad the other day when I attempted to take some of my family there for some of the best gourmet sandwiches in Orlando and we realized the windows were all boarded up. The signs out front say they will reopen in March. When they do I highly recomend the Johnny Rocket (turkey with peach melba sauce and some spicy peppers) or the Puppy Love (Peanut Butter and Jelly with Strawberries, Chocolate Chips and more!).
It is located in an old converted post office and general store which really helps the charm. Fish (who is the owner/chef) can be a little overwhelming when he is there sometimes - but it is worth the crowds and drive for a fun and delicious lunch at a kitschy place. If the weather is great make sure you sit in the back garden and whatever you do avoid lunch on Friday..it is ridiculously busy.
yellow dog has reopened....awsome pulled pork sandwiches...its good have a funky independent restaurant in Orlando
Wonderful, fresh eats!
Oh, what I would do for good eats?! My boyfriend and I came across a write up of this place on 10best, and we figured," Why not?!" and we didn't regret it.
This place is definitely off the beaten path for tourists like myself. It's slightly away from all the theme parks and seemingly in an affluent part of Orlando. (There was a PGA tourney starring Tiger, the day we went.)
So, back to the food. It's good. It's fresh and the combinations are mind puzzling, yet palette pleasing. For us, it was worth the journey and I would definitely go back, if I ever return to Orlando.
I'm from California, so the wine selection didn't impress me. However, the selection of iced teas was great! I love the white tea with ginger... yum!
If you know where Yellow Dog Eats is and haven't been in yet, WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR !?!?!? If you just don't know where it is, than fair enough, as it's tucked away in a little town called Gotha, between Orlando and Windermere.
Anyway, their food is DELISH! The perfect place to go grab a lunch with someone, sit down and relax upstairs, or grab a table on the calming flower garden back deck. Either choice you sit, you can't go wrong, and the same can be said about the menu. My personal favorite is the Club Elvis, which has the most amazing pulled pork on this side of town. I ask them for a little extra of the most amazing BBQ sauce on the side, and a few more onion crispies. (They obliged) The kitty Kat is excellent and they are served with a generous bag of Miss Vickies Chips and a small but very tasty homemade salad.
We haven't made it one time yet up to Desert, but they too look just amazing, so one of these days we'll sample the decadence that appears behind that counter. Too full on most days.
So all in all, YELLOW DOG IS A MUST FIND, MUST GO, and then become a must go once a week (or more if you're like us)
And if Fish(the owner) happens to be home, you'll know it. Let's just say be prepared for some handshakes, lots of hugs, and some interesting commentary, he's a trip, but obviously a master chef who has assembled such combinations most could never think of.
Who knew this great little place could be found in the quaint little package in Downtown Gotha off the beaten path. Find it once, you'll never miss it again.