Best Bites November 2012 : Page 1

12 THE LE D G E R • TI ME OUT • THUR SD A Y , NO VE MBE R 1 5 , 20 1 2 • W W W . T I M E O UTP OLK . C OM 12 DINING GUIDE: 2012 ABC PIZZA ★★★ 890 Main St. W., Bartow, 863-533-1177 (Reviewed Dec. 31, 2009) www.abcpizza.biz a bit overpriced. Entrees range from $10.99 to $18.99. Wing plates range from $7.99 for 10 and $36.99 for 50. Credit cards — V, MC. Open 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 1 a.m. Friday and Saturday. Haines City location opens at 11 a.m. daily and offers karaoke from 8 p.m. to 12 p.m. Friday and Saturday. CHEF SP O TLIGHT ROMINA LAYMAN EARHART’S RUNWAY GRILL, LAKELAND Romina Layman left her native Venezuela in 1998 to pursue a degree in human resources at the University of Maryland. Upon graduating, she returned home for two years but never lost her love of Maryland. So she and her husband at the time and their two children moved lock, stock and barrel to the United States. Seeking employment, Layman attended a Hilton Hotels job fair. As fate would have it, the only position offered her was breakfast cook. “In six months, I was a sous chef,” she said. Several years passed before Layman left the Columbia, Md., hotel for Miami, where a friend needed assistance opening a restaurant. Fresh from a divorce, Layman was in search of a start. In Miami, she met and married pilot David Layman and developed a love for fl ying. Meanwhile, Romina Layman pursued a culinary career, taking a job as food and beverage director at Westgate River Ranch east of Lake Wales for seven years before opening her restaurant — Earhart’s Runway Grill — at Lakeland Linder Regional Airport in February 2010. David Layman, who had no culinary experience, managed the books. He died Feb. 14 after a brief battle with cancer. ■ HOW DID YOUR HUSBAND’S DEATH AFFECT YOUR ABILITY TO MANAGE THE RESTAU-RANT? Losing David was like losing my life, he was my soul mate. But he made me promise not to get rid of this place. ■ YOUR MOTHER, A RESTAURATEUR IN VEN-EZUELA, WAS ITALIAN. DOES SHE INFLUENCE YOUR MENU? She helps me at Thanksgiving. And I have a garlic sauce that goes on some of my sandwich-es that’s from my home country. The fl avor is crazy. ERIC PERA/The Ledger ANNA’S DINER ABC Pizza has more than pizza. It has a feeling of coming home to a neighborhood Italian res-taurant your parents took you to when you were a kid. Portions are large, fresh and hot. Servers smile a lot and seem to enjoy din-ers dining when they enjoy it. Order your meals before the appetizer or salad. Entrees need time to cool. Tried and recommended include: lasagna eggplant parmigiana, gyro, veggie pizza, House Special pizza. Prices run $1.25 to $13.95. Credit cards — V, MC, D. Reservations. Appropriate for children. Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Friday. Closed Saturday. ½ 5221 U.S. 98 S. (Highland City Town Center), Lakeland, 863-647-9111 (Reviewed Oct. 1, 2009) ABOUT THISGUIDE Welcome to The Ledger’s 21st annual Best Bites Dining Guide. On these pages you will fi nd abbreviated reviews by a variety of Ledger reporters, including Ledger restaurant critics Eric Pera and Rick Rousos. Only restaurants we have visited since 2009 that have received at least three stars and above appear here. WHAT THE STARS MEAN  Extraordinary ½  Super  Great ½  You look forward to going back  Good, meets all expectations AMBER GLO ★★★ 1504 Lake Alfred Road, Lake Alfred, 863-956-4420 (Reviewed Oct. 20, 2011) ABUELO’S MEXICAN FOOD EMBASSY ★★★★ 3700 Lakeside Village Blvd., Lakeland, 863-686-7500 www.abuelos.com (Reviewed Dec. 2, 2010) This corporate-owned Mexican restaurant is bright and friendly, a little noisy and a lot of fun. Portions of some dishes are so big that they come with reheating instructions. The menu is long, so a sampler ap-petizer is welcome. Mixed platters easily feed two people. Voted best margarita and best ethnic restau-rant in The Ledger’s 2012 Golden Plate Awards. Tried and recom-Open 6 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sat-mended include Dip Sampler, urday through Thursday, 6 soups, The Monterrey, Pescado a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday. Guerrero, Los Mejores de la Casa, ﬂ an, Dulce de Leche Cheesecake. Entree prices run from $6 to ANDREA’S FAMILY $19.79. Credit cards — all. Chil-RESTAURANT ★★★ ½ dren’s choices: $4.99. 1498 Havendale Blvd., Winter Open 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday. Haven, 863-299-4564 (Reviewed March 8, 2012) Open for breakfast and lunch, Am-ber Glo Restaurant in Lake Alfred is described best as a spot for a faithful cup of coffee alongside any number of basic griddle favorites. Don’t be deterred by excessive wood paneling and dank lighting; the made-to-order food won’t disappoint. Richard Gardner, who owned the restaurant for 28 years, recently sold it. It’s now being man-aged by Robert and Clarine Leslie, who’ve taken out the gift shop to expand seating. Also, the menu offers prime rib on Sundays. The Amber Glo servers don’t skimp on the French Toast ($3.59), served as a long line of triangular, sugary goodness topped with sugar and syrup. The egg sandwich with sau-sage ($4.09) comes with a kick of spice, though they should consider offering cheese on the sandwich as a default. Price range: $2 to $11. Credit cards — V, MC. There’s nothing like a blast of nostalgia to make old-fashioned food taste ﬁ ne. Music from the speakers matches the old records decorating the walls of this open, bright diner. Daily specials are written and a copy stays on your table to make choosing easy. Tried and recommended: fried chicken, turkey burger, fried pork fritter sandwich, liver and onions, Greek salad. Prices run $2.50 to $9.25. Credit cards — V, MC, D. Reserva-tions for up to 50 people. Children’s choices: $2.25. to $6.95 Monday to Thursday 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m., Friday and Saturday 7:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., and Sunday 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. ANTHONY’S HEALTH HUT ★★★ 5329 S. Florida Ave., Lakeland, 863-644-5330 (Reviewed April 1, 2010) Open 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday. Yes, there is an Anthony, and she has had the shop since 1978 and the restaurant since 1983. A small part of the shop is devoted to the EDITOR: Jennifer restaurant that serves wholesome, Audette interesting food, freshly prepared COVER at fair prices. Then look around for ILLUSTRATIONS: something healthy to take home. Calvin Knight and John Tried and recommended: smoked Pitts chicken breast, adzuki burger, len-ON THE WEB: www. til soup, chicken salad, tofu egg salad, salads, hummus and chips. timeoutpolk.com/dining Prices run $3.65 to $7.99. Credit cards — all. Children’s choices — none. Food: Ambience: Service: 346 W. Central Ave., Winter Haven, 863-293-1797 www.arabellasristorante. com (Reviewed July 19, 2012) ALL STAR GRILL ★★★ 94 Maxcy Plaza Circle, Haines City, 863-422-3455; 2019 S.R. 60 E., Lake Wales, 863-679-9689 www.allstargrill.com (Reviewed June 23, 2011) The place plays up their wings. They are tasty, and seem some-what bigger than what you’ll ﬁ nd at a larger chain. But there’s no shortage of places to get wings right now, and there isn’t much setting theirs apart. The menu does boast some other interest-ing choices. The smothered ﬁ sh is blanketed in sauteed peppers, on-ions, mushroom along with melted provolone and Swiss. It comes with good portion of steamed broccoli as a side. It’s good, but at $12.99, People were waiting in line for one reason, and it’s the same reason Andrea’s has been in business since 1986. The food is outstand-ing and price reasonably. The place is squeaky clean. When it’s crowd-ed, though, it’s difﬁ cult to maneu-ver between tables. You may ﬁ nd a better Greek salad in Polk County, but not sure you can. The sirloin steak tips are marinated with wine and herbs and served with mushrooms — delicious. Tried and recommended: Greek salad, sirloin tips, Grilled Tilapia Athenian, baklava. Meals are $5.95 to $9.25. Children’s meals are mostly 43.95. Beer is $2.95 and wine is $3.95. Credit cards — V, D, MC. Open 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday and Monday. 201 Cypress Gardens Blvd., Winter Haven, 863-294-7777 4835 S. Florida Ave., Lakeland, 863-701-7400 230 Arteva Drive, Lakeland, 863-853-8400 www.applebees.com (Reviewed July 9, 2009) APPLEBEE’S NEIGHBORHOOD GRILL & BAR Not all links in a chain are created equal, or don’t end up that way. Menus are the same, but how they are carried out make the dif-ference. Tried and recommended: Crispy Orange Chicken Bowl. En-trees run $7.49 to $16.99. Credit cards — all. Children will have no trouble with their menu. Open 11 a.m. to 2 a.m. Monday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to midnight Sunday. CALVIN KNIGHT/THE LEDGER Arabellas Ristorante hews to the idea that dining out can — and should — be a special occasion. This is as ﬁ ne as ﬁ ne dining gets in these parts. Bravo to owners Franco Basalone and Brian Rich. Bellissimo, chef Italo Casini. Year in, year out this trio turns out gor-geous Italian dishes served with ﬂ ourish in an intimate, brick-walled dining room where one is propelled in time to a period of white linens and black-tie service. Do treat yourself to the house Caesar, a salad and show, where a wooden salad bowl is anointed with egg, garlic, anchovy paster, Worcester-shire, Parmesan and bits of this and that. Recommended: house focaccia, Chilean sea bass, risotto, ■ PLEASE SEE PAGE 13 ARABELLAS

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