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Walking into Whole Foods one day, I noticed a small store front that had several tables full of people eating outside. I hadn’t seen it before, so I decided to walk over to check it out (since it looked popular). Hot Krust Panini Kitchen was the name of the place and my immediate reaction was that’s an interesting name, and it also looked pretty good. I made a mental note to come back and have lunch here.

Last week my wife and I ate at Hot Krust Orlando and thoroughly enjoyed our experience. The interior is very nice – modern and clean. The menus above the register are flat panel LCD screens which adds to the decor. Your immediate reaction is that the sandwich descriptions look delicious. If you read any of the material or talk to the staff, they’ll immediately tell you about how the items are all made with fresh ingredients. All meats are roasted in-house and are not processed. No preservatives. No hormones. All good stuff.

I tried the Florentine Chicken which is a hot panini with Roasted Chicken, Sundried Tomatoes, Havarti Cheese, Spinach, Lite Mayo & Pesto Sauce. I opted for the multi-grain bread, sweet potato waffle fries and a drink. The total was just over $10. A very reasonable price for the amount and quality of food. The sandwich tasted very fresh. The sweet potato waffle fries (baked, not fried) were delicious. My wife ordered a salad with pineapple crusted tilapia on top and she loved it.

There are several reasons I want to go back to Hot Krust (and will in the near future). First, I’m anxious to try other sandwiches on the menu (several looked really good from the dsecriptions). Second, the price point is very good for what you get. Lastly, the food is fresh and of high quality. I’m hooked after one visit.

Because I was excited about the new restaurant, I decided to contact the owner to learn a little bit more about what they are doing over at Hot Krust:

OB: Why did you start Hot Krust?

HK: I’m a business developer. I open new concepts or existent franchise businesses, make them profitable and sell them. However, HK is somewhat special. For one, my family and I love a good sandwich but, unfortunately, there wasn’t any place making sandwiches made with only freshly roasted meats with No additives, No preservatives, No Hormones, No nitrate and other bad stuff that are injected into most of the deli meats. Thus, I spent many months researching a way to make it possible to roast all the meats in-house and using only high quality products and, most importantly, at very affordable prices. Two, I wanted to involve the whole family to help me accomplish it. My daughters came up with the name of the business and the name of most of the sandwiches. My wife developed most of the recipes.

So, the main reason was to provide my family a healthier meal using NO additives, NO Preservative, NO grease, NO butter and NO trans-fat (even our Sweet Potato Fries and Waffle Potato Fries are not really fried. they are baked to order). Moreover, I wanted to involve the whole family in this business.

OB: How would you describe your daily approach to serving customers at Hot Krust?

HK: I want my customers to feel that “The Good Old Times” is back. The times when fresh really meant fresh; the time when customers were treated with respect; the time when businesses don’t cut corners to make a quick bulk; the time when businesses used to close Sundays for family time.(HK closes Sundays).

OB: Do you have plans to add future locations in Orlando or elsewhere?

HK: My goal is to make sure this business is very profitable and establish the proof of concept before expanding.

Hot Krust is located at 8015 Turkey Lake Rd #200 (next to the Whole Foods).

Spain has provided our melting pot society with a wide assortment of tasty fare. One of the most well-known contributions is the deliciously simple concept of tapas, or small plates. Tapas are essentially miniature, sharable versions of sides and entrees. They are usually exceptionally rich and have tremendous variation. Savory and sweet, cold and hot, it’s like eating a meal made up of appetizers, without that awful guilt that comes from being far too stuffed to eat your entrée.  Add a glass of wine and interesting conversation and you have a beautiful evening to look forward to. In Orlando, tapas restaurants are abundant. From Ceviche on Church Street to Mi Tomatina in Hannibal Square, it’s tough to go wrong with those choices.

You love the concept, but wish there were a simpler approach for tapas in Orlando? Perhaps the small, varied portions without the pomp of a sit down restaurant and the necessity of reservations? Well 100 Montaditos in Waterford Lakes Town Center is a perfect solution. Serving tapas with a twist, this quick order tavern style eatery takes some of the traditional tapas fillings and places them on a Montadito, a small, Spanish hoagie.  The options are numerous, 100 to be exact and each little sandwich is a taste bud explosion.  Options include philly steak and mayo, pulled BBQ pork and serrano ham, fried calamari and their spicy brava (mad in Spanish) sauce, or even hot dog with bacon. Vegetarians need not be afraid; several cheese-based Montaditos exist to suit the palate! End the meal off with a sweet Montadito on chocolate bread. My absolute favorite is 99, with heavy cream and ice cream bites.

Craving something more? The special tapas include ham and cheese plates and chicken strips, appetizers of brava potatoes or French fries, and even salads for a break from all the carbs. Then there are the drinks; the fantastic, sweet, refreshing Tinto de Verano, or Wine of Summer, a mix of red wine and sprite over ice. If you prefer beer, they have that, too! I always go for the Sangria, a light favorite of Spanish restaurants.

The trickiest part is choosing which tapas to indulge in. With prices ranging from $1 to $2.50 you will need 3-5 to feel comfortably full, perhaps with an order of fries. 100 Montaditos has an answer to your woes of keeping your order straight. The menu assigns a number to every Montadito. When you arrive, you pick a table, settle in, and grab an order card from the center of the table. They even have pencils for your convenience! There you write the number of the Montadito you want, along with the quantity, and check off anything else that might suite your fancy, such as a Beer Bucket or Asian salad. Once you are ready, grab your card and walk up to the counter, give it to the attendant, and pay your way to a delicious meal. A short wait later, your name is called and voila, your meal is ready for consumption.

As if it could not get better on Wednesdays is their Dollarmania, where every single Montadito is $1, and every other menu option is $2. You may find the long line daunting, but once you figure out exactly how affordable your meal can be, a serene gratitude will befall you as you spend the entire wait trying to narrow down your list of choices and still have 10 more Montaditos at the end than you could ever eat.

100 Montaditos hosts a mix of college students, business colleagues, and the occasional family. It is best for smaller parties, as more than 5 will have trouble finding a table and can overwhelm the small venue. With flavor combinations to satisfy any craving, I highly recommend this quick, yummy destination for an evening out with a couple of friends or a tasty lunch in the middle of your day.

Wawa is a gas station. It’s not often that people are interested in whether or not a brand of gas station is planning to expand into an area, but Wawa is an exception. With the build of several new Wawa locations in Orlando, FL, the buzz surrounding Wawa is real.

Why do people care about a new gas station? After all, we have plenty of gas stations in this city. The reason is that Wawa isn’t your average gas station.

A major reason why people love Wawa is that it is a great place to get food – namely subs and sandwiches. Wawa is the gas station that essentially decided to sell food that doesn’t suck. And, not only does it not suck, but it is inexpensive, high quality and extremely fast.

When you head inside to the Wawa store, you can head over to one of the touch screen consoles and order your sandwich. You can choose between a number of hot and cold sub options and essentially build your sub from scratch. It’s an easy-to-use system that is efficient and ensures your sub is built exactly to your specifications. A receipt prints out, you go pay at the register, and when you come back the sub will be ready for you. It’s faster than most sub stores like Subway or Firehouse.

Wawas are very popular and for good reason. There aren’t really alternative options for grabbing a high quality sub for cheap while your car fills up with gas. The stores are clean and well managed. You won’t be afraid to eat food that comes from the store.

Where are the new Wawa locations in Orlando? I recently visited the Wawa located on Central Florida Parkway across from SeaWorld, but here is a full map of the various locations in town: