L Cemi Boriquas Cuisine Food Truck

L Cemi Boriquas Cuisine Food Truck

I don't know where they're typically located, but they were outside of Double Down Live (the old Common Grounds) on a Friday night.

4 thumbs up

I don't know where this truck came from or where it's going to end up, but I was certainly intrigued to find it parked outside of the Double Down Live last night. The truck looked super pro and wasn't merely a converted van or old ambulance. It was a commercially viable food truck. Despite it looking uber pro, they only had about 5 things for sale. Regardless, I decided to give it a go. The most expensive thing on the menu was a 6 dollar, 3 meat, foot-long sandwich. It still looked like quite the deal. Everything else was from 1-3 dollars. They specialize in traditional Puerto Rican items, which I am somehow completely unfamiliar with. I've never even seen a Puerto Rican restaurant, let alone eaten Puerto Rican food.

I ordered the "potato balls" and the corn meal sticks. Each had a Spanish name, which I negligently don't remember. The potato balls were 1 dollar. The corn meal sticks were 2. I don't know how you could complain about spending 3 bucks on fresh cooked food.

Let's start with the corn sticks. They weren't very good. I was hoping for so much more. They looked deliciously crispy and flavorful, but in actuality were a bit chewy and lacked flavor. I immediately forgave them for the corn sticks upon biting into the potato balls. Sweet lord-a-mighty, what tantalizing confection have you sent us from your merciful bounty? I was immediately blown away by these. I've never seen anything like them before. It was literally deep fried balls of mashed potatoes with savory seasoned ground beef inside (I honestly wouldn't have bought them had I known there was ground beef inside, but once I bit in, it was too late). They should probably consider advertising that there is meat in this item, as there are certainly many vegetarians in town who might be accidentally duped.

On rare occasion, deep frying can be a light and fluffy yet crispy and savory way to prepare food. Most of the time, however, it just makes the food laden with excess fat and super heavy when it hits your stomach. The corn sticks were the latter while the potato balls were miraculously the former. The frying process created a gossamer thin crisp layer around what was the lightest, fluffiest, and softest textured mashed potatoes inside. In the dead center was the ground beef. These things were so damn good. I got my order to go and ate them at home. While biting into the first potato ball, my cat jumped up on the table and was aggressively trying to eat it out of my hand. I couldn't get him away; it was as if he was possessed by them. They served them with some sort of pinkish-orange sauce that I think was just ketchup and mayo combined.

All in all, it looks like this truck will be serving up the perfect late night, post-drinking munchies. I'm really pleased to see the food truck becoming a part of Gainesville's food scene and hope it will continue.

Cafe C

Cafe C
424 N.W. 8th Ave
Open for lunch only from 11:00-3:00

3.5 thumbs up for meat based sandwiches. 0 thumbs up for vegetarian based sandwiches.

I have to be honest. I've been ignoring this place since it opened. Maybe it's the horrible paint job on the outside or the fact that it never seems to be open, but I really haven't even thought about eating here until last Thursday. I was very pleased and somewhat shamed to find out that it was pretty darn good. Not only that, but the place was PACKED for lunch. Apparently everyone else in town knew but me.

Their menu is somewhat hard to absorb, as there are many options. They have a sandwich section and a salad section, each costing 10 dollars with tax. I wanted a sandwich AND a salad, but couldn't see paying 20 bucks for lunch. I noticed they had a 1/2 and 1/2 option, but the sandwich and salad were pre-determined by the restaurant. Eventually, I realized that almost all the sandwiches come with a salad or side of sorts. I settled on the grilled cheese on rye with the mozzarella and tomato caprese atop greens salad with balsamic vinaigrette and some sort of pesto.

I didn't mind the sandwich, but I did agree with my lunch partner that it looked like something you'd serve to a 3 year old. It was barely toasted and the cheese wasn't melted all the way, but it really wasn't bad. It just didn't look good. The salad was quite good and fresh and I enjoyed it very much.

My lunch mate got the pesto chicken sandwich, which came in a more than ample serving size.
Despite it being quite good, he actually couldn't finish it because it was so much food.

If you "check in" to Cafe C on your smartphone, they'll give you a free dessert. We were really on the fence about this, as we went there for a healthier lunch option and now we were being presented with some really overly-indulgent goodies. Being the spineless gluttons that we are, we took advantage of the deal and got a lemon bar and a rocky road brownie. Both were quite good, but could easily be considered weapons of mass cardiac destruction.


Overall, I liked this place on my first visit. I've gone back 3 more times and have been increasingly disappointed with the vegetarian options. To be honest, I'd just flat out say that they're boring and uninspired. My lunch partner has thoroughly enjoyed all of the meat based sandwiches that he's ordered, so I'd only advise to go here if you're a meat eater.



As with anywhere, you have to choose the right menu option to have a good meal. I'd really avoid the salads if I were you and go more for the combos, as they present a better meal.

Re-visit: Kozmic Bluz Pizza & The Hyppo Popsicles - St. Augustine

Previously, in one of my "daytripper" pieces, I recommended a little off the beaten path pizza place in St. Augustine called Kozmic Bluz. I happened to spend the afternoon in St. Auggie today, so I hit up the old parlour for a slice. It was pretty terrible. I won't go so far as to say that it was the worst pizza I've ever had, but it was really bad. I'd be hard pressed to ever go back there again.

On a positive note, I'm happy to see that The Hyppo Popsicle shop is doing well and featuring more flavors. We had Key Lime, Datil Plum (Datil is a spicy pepper), and The Elvis Presley (peanut butter, banana, honey). They were all very tasty. I'm really curious to try pineapple cilantro next time.

East End Eatery

1202 NE 8th Ave

Zero thumbs up

I SWEAR I've already reviewed East End Eatery. I can even remember specific lines from the review. But for some reason, I can't find it anywhere. So here it goes again. You'll have to forgive me, as I literally just deleted all my old photos from my phone today and I had a few from here on there.

East End Eatery is yet another example of everything that's wrong with Gainesville food. It's not good, the service is very slow, yet for some inexplicable reason, EVERYBODY loves it. Go check out Yelp or Urban Spoon. Their reviews are through the roof even though the place is really, really mediocre.

I've even eaten here at least 3 or 4 times and tried many things on the menu to come to this conclusion. I've had the unimpressive tabbouleh platter, complete with soggy grape leaves and over garlic-ed and lumpy hummus. I've had the greasy quesadilla of the day. I've had the utterly depressing grilled tempeh and vegetable panini. All of these items were very lackluster. The sides of the day range from a bizarre potato salad with a "white-out" consistency mayonnaise glaze to unappetizing pasta salads. I've eaten here with many other people who ordered meat dishes who completely agree with me. Bottom line: Unimpressive.

The only reason they don't get the scathing 5 thumbs down review is because the place looks cool and they're helping revitalize the worn out east end of town. Otherwise, it's a waste of time, money, and calories.

I marveled to a lunch partner that this place was run by a catering company. Surely, they'd have to know how to cook in order to cater. But as he said, "have you ever been impressed by catering?" I couldn't think of a more apt description.

The Bull

18 SW 1 Ave

Bar/cafe/breakfast & lunch

5 thumbs up!

The Bull has become my go-to spot when it comes to nighttime in downtown Gainesville. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday nights, they have free live music by some of Gainesville's best musicians (Ricky Kendall, Michael Claytor, Nicole Miglis, and several others). They serve a solid sampling of local Swamp Head Brewery's offerings, including rare and limited run batches as well as a modest yet impressively hand picked selection of national and international beers. I honestly prefer a place that has 30 amazing beers as opposed to 300. I feel it's a sign of sophistication to limit your selection to choices that won't let anyone down but won't overwhelm customers. They also serve a very nice selection of fine, yet reasonably priced wines.

Don't want alcohol? Grab a coffee, tea, Italian soda, or Ginger Beer to whet your whistle. They custom make their own syrups for the Italian sodas. I find the particular brand of ginger beer to be one of the best I've ever tasted.

For lunch, I had the TLT, which is tempeh, lettuce, and tomato served open faced on a toasted bagel with veganaise (vegan mayo). I added some nice avocado for 75 cents. The sandwich cost me about 7 bucks total and the ginger beer was 3. The sandwich was very tasty, and they prepared the tempeh with white wine and mustard seed.

I've heard people complain that their beer prices are to high, but for 5 bucks (and occasionaly 6), you can get an excellent draft beer. Also, their bottles range from about 2 bucks to 5 bucks.

As one of downtown's newer establishments, The Bull seems to have already carved its niche despite competing directly with longer standing places such as Volta. I honestly think that while both serve fine coffees, teas, and small desserts, The Bull takes the lead in nightlife offerings and real food. Volta certainly knows their stuff, and I prefer to support them when it comes to coffee, as they were there first. But I can personally find a use for both.

I highly recommend checking this place out. It's certainly a great addition to downtown.

Bento

Two Locations:
3832 W Newberry Rd
3841 Southwest Archer Road

3.5 thumbs up

Bento used to be a regular staple in our dining out options. For a period, I think we ate there at least once a week. When you have a choice between 25 rice bowls/Bento Boxes, 9 noodle bowls, 8 noodle soup bowls, a dozen other soups and sides, and a full sushi menu, it's hard to run out of options. I will say that we somewhat burned out on Bento and haven't been in some time, but that doesn't detract from its quality. Also, Bento is a local business that is constantly growing and expanding. They currently have restaurants in Orlando and Jacksonville too. I always like to see a local business succeed that deserves it. Let's focus on each of the choices.

Sushi:
Their sushi is pretty good, but not amazing. The business focuses on quick turnover and a college age market, so it doesn't have to be the best in town. It certainly isn't bad, but it's not my favorite. That being said, I don't think you'll be disappointed or find it worse than Drangonfly, Ichiban, or any of the other lackluster sushi places in town.

Bento Boxes / Rice Bowls:
Most of the main dishes can be ordered in Bento Box or rice bowl format. The Bento box comes with small portions of ginger salad, rice, string beans, noodles, and a tiny dessert. The desserts are almost always terrible, but the Asians aren't renowned for their sweet teeth. The rest of the items are all very fresh and tasty. The Bento Box is ideal to get a little sampling of several different things. If you don't want all of the pan asian accoutrement, you can just order the same main dish on a bowl of rice. Some of my favorites are the spicy chicken, korean chicken, and the teriyaki. It's pretty impressive how many options there are with the Bento Box and Rice Bowl.

Noodle Bowls:
I've never honestly had these, but I'd imagine they'd be on par with the rice bowls.

Bubble Teas:
Of course, they have Bubble aka "Bobba" teas. These are various flavors of tea, combined with milk and sweetened quite a bit. You can also order tapioca "bubbles" or pearls to suck up through a giant straw. I honestly find them kinda weird, but can see how they're popular in pan asian culture, where desserts are mysteries to me.

So, why do they only get 3.5 thumbs up if I"m raving so much about them? First off, the service is always notoriously slow. I don't think I've ever received my food in less than 20 minutes. Also, on busy nights, the place is packed, making those 20 minutes climb above 30 and sometimes 40 minutes. For a somewhat fast-ish food restaurant, that's inexcusable. Also, their vegetarian options are quite bland and uninspired.

Overall, Bento is a good restaurant. It's not the best in the world, but it's definitely one of the better Pan Asian options in town.