Soul Food Restaurant Review #2

I am very proud to report on this grand opening of the newest Fish ‘N’ Loaves Downtown Restaurant. The first day of opening was a grand smashing success; this new restaurant is located at 595 W. Church St, Suite E, Orlando Fl 32805 and their phone number is 407 841-8130

The restaurant is located in the heart of downtown Church Street across from the newly built Amway Center, in the same spot that the old Johnson’s Diner Restaurant was before they closed.

There is no comparison between the two restaurants, the place was gutted, cleaned, and brought back to life with soul and attitude. This soul food restaurant is a total transformation from what was there before, and it is the pride and talk of the community. Every attention to detail was addressed and it is evident to the eye even before you enter the restaurant.

The location is in an awesome spot in Central Florida, it is in the midst of the business district, and the clientele is of all financial background from the social elite such as Congressmen, Mayor, Judges, and many professionals to the mom and pops of the neighborhood; everyone gets to enjoy this gem of a place.

Downtown Church Street is known to be very congested and parking is very limited, but Fish ‘N’ Loaves took those issues in view and made preparation for their customers by securing a place for parking. This parking space is directly across the street from the restaurant and it takes the worrying of where to park away from future customers. Having proper parking adds value and class to the establishment, this will provide easier access to and fro the restaurant, allowing for their customers to come in and relax, and dine in comfort.

The first day of the Grand Opening was crazy, they had such an influx of people, and they were bombarded by the media, there were several different TV stations that showed up to cover the event, they literally camped out on their front steps before the time of opening. The opening of a new soul food restaurant brought out all the critics; it was a mixture of anticipation, curiosity, and excitement.

The place was packed to capacity for lunch, (seating capacity is 114) the staff was overwhelmed at the turn out but they managed with grace and diligence. There were numerous amounts of people with much ethnic diversity that came out to welcome in the newest, hottest, and vibrant new wave of soul food and seafood dinning extravaganza at its best. The celebration was exciting, the ambiance was great, the atmosphere was relaxing, comfortable, and friendly; it’s like going home and being a part of a family get- to- together.

The evening dinner rush was still filled with excitement and fast paste movement but with something extra added for more pleasure, yes there were live music entertainment, more specifically jazz and Gospel music which was soothing and mellow, it added to the ambiance and the entire dining experience.

What can I say about the food other than it was exceptional, you could see that there was great care and love that went into the preparation of all the meals. The top signature meal for me was the Pan Sierred Talapia served with yellow rice, collard greens and hush puppies its delicious mouthwatering right down to the last piece. No where have I tasted and enjoyed hush puppies as I did these, they are served hot freshly made and they are sweetish in taste and crisp - well cooked, other places I have tasted hush puppies were always on the salted side and soggy. The food was well cooked and seasoned just right bringing out all the beautiful flavor of each individual meal so every bite is delicious and enjoyable. The portions of the meal were great and filling; I thoroughly enjoyed my meal, it exceeded my expectation both in taste and portion size. I will be back to frequent this establishment because their menu is great and attractively laid out and it has very affordable prices

Staff

The staff is young and efficient; maybe not as much as they needed to be but they are still learning the ropes of handling such large crowds, on a whole they were great. The staff is very friendly and accommodating, and they are very diverse in culture and languages; there are African American, Spanish, Caucasian, and Italian. The diversity is awesome because they are more readily to communicate with many people visiting the state of Florida from around the world. The staff are all properly dressed in clean coordinating uniforms such as black pants, and shirt ( 3 different colors such as burgundy, beige/taupe, and green) all reflecting the colors of the décor of the restaurant, details - its all about the details.

Décor

The décor is fabulous; the attention to details was a very pleasant surprise from the color to the strategically placed wall decoration to the lighting and placement of tables, the coordination of colors worked well and was pleasing to the eyes making it a very relaxing place to dine. If I were to rate this establishment my rating would be a 9.5 out of 10, very classy.

Every day during after the grand opening they continue to have a generous crowd with lunch time being one of their busiest times. Good food, pleasant people, and good service are a combination you can’t beat. I would recommend this restaurant to anyone without any hesitation knowing that they will enjoy the overall experience of a fine soul food and seafood restaurant.