The Philly Special — Restaurant in Land O' Lakes

Sitting at one of the many tables in close radius to the front counter waiting for my order, I pondered my existence. There I was, having just paid someone else to make a meal for me, as if I were royalty. As the time ticked away, I took a moment to observe my surroundings, and I quickly became horrified with life in general. Not as a result of this particular establishment, but a result of the popular opinion of established and organized religion. As I sat and reflected on the state of the nation and the world, an elderly gentleman entered the building and ordered a steak and cheese sandwich with NO cheese whiz and a root beer. I couldn't help it. I had to look at him until he looked back at me. When our eyes met, it was obvious that we both shared one common trait, regardless of the age gap.......despair. He placed his order, then took residence at a table near me to play the waiting game, which he and I both knew, could be an eternity. Shortly after, a group of three women entered. All three were considerably old. Two of them seeming decrepit, and one a little bit less decrepit and most likely the driver and master of ceremonies or possibly just the one who was the most motivated to keep the blood vessels from ceasing up in all their legs. The motivator - so to speak - that insisted the other two leave the house at least on Fridays to try new food establishments and thrift stores, and power walk around man-made ponds. She quickly took charge and insisted the order taker "give them a second to decide" as they were new to the business and needed time to figure out the menu. Two of the women, who were obviously battered down and simply needed to eat, ordered steak and cheese sandwiches, and had no objections to cheese whiz, ordered up quick. Their fearless leader however, wanted mozzarella cheese and was very insistent on onion rings, which she loudly claimed, would be "good". At this point, I was getting uneasy as it had been about 5 minutes since I was handed the plastic bottle of Coke that I bought and didn't want it to be room temperature when it came time to open it. It was messing with my head because I wasn't sure how cold it was to begin with and I didn't want to wrap my hand around it to find out, in fear that the natural temperature of my body (which I believe is higher than the average temperature of a beverage cooler in a typical food service is) would compromise the temperature of the drink, which I was hoping to be ice cold, but was growing more and more worried was not, as it being ice cold was a very appealing thought at the time. I watched as the order taker kept looking over her shoulder to the area where my order would most likely be handed to her. I kept thinking to myself, "Is she looking back there because she's watching them put MY order in a box or a bag or something because it's ready to be given to me?" Then the horror of horrors entered my mind. "What if my order was somehow more complicated than the man that entered after me or the three elderly women's orders who arrived after him." Panic ensued! The order taker's upper arms disappeared behind a beverage cooler as her body remained visible. She was doing SOMETHING but it wasn't clear exactly what. Was she putting my food in some type of container. Was she putting his food or the 3 old ladies' food in some type of container. The idea of them getting their food before me, seeing as how I ordered mine first, overpowered any positive thoughts I might have had and I became livid! Inside my mind.....there were bombs going off. Inside my mind.....life was no longer worth living. The order taker asked me for my name when I placed my order, and at that time, inside my mind, everything hinged on what name she said next. If it wasn't my name.....then there would be some major issues. Fortunately for everyone involved, my name was uttered, and I was handed a white plastic bag with a black to-go box (which was understandably strange) with my...

We've been here a handful of times usually it takes me at least 3 visits if I'm feeling a place to give a review. Ironically and unknowingly we met the male counterpart to the owner of this amazing establishment. What was better our circumstances wasn't the greatest but we just started to have a genuine conversation at an airport waiting for our plane that was drastically delayed. He didn't even mention the restaurant until our conversation led to our area of location we both resided in. He had invited us to a party at his house even. Then the restaurant came up we knew where it was and had seen the signs of it coming soon but what are the odds. As soon as we made it back hubby tested it out first and validated his visit. He knows I'm particular and had to see it for myself. My first visit was good we were hoping to see the owners that night but didn't. But our selection was solid and good. Fell in love the first visit with the video games. Old school arcade games won me over. My second visit we manage to meet the owner. We had told her how we met her husband and not only did we come out to support we came to eat! I ordered my wings straight to the arcade and this time we dined in and I could not help but tune in to the TVs which displayed music videos and diversity of music genre so that was a plus. I'm from NY and not a red meat eater nor am I'm about anybodys Philly cheese steak, but hubby who's from TN could not stop talking about the Philly Cheese Steak. If he's not getting the sandwich he's definitely getting the wings or both! Both visit 1 and 2 for me was all about the wings. Our 3rd visit I decided to challenge my palate and try the Chicken Philly just as is but extra onions. I set our son up to play the games and tried to refrain from playing that night. We came in about an hour before closing. There was a group dining in and someone waiting for food to go. We had told our cashier our order was to stay and mentioned the time as we wanted to make sure we didn't impose on their close up time. I sat and waited, I had noticed the owner in the back but couldn't get her attention. It appeared she was training a new employee or working her butt off as she was focused. The cashier apologized for the delay in our order and offered us water ice. Honestly I did not think we were waiting long at all. I graciously accepted two flavors for 3 of us to share and these were a delightful treat. Although our cashier thought we were waiting for our order to go as she thought we were in a rush I told her no we were actually dining in. We probably waited another 10 minutes and our food was ready. My son and I felt the fries were a bit salty but hubby thought they were perfect. Nevertheless the fries are good! My sandwich did not disappoint but I will definitely build my own next time. We ate and watched many to go and call in orders come in and out. As well as an older couple come in wanting to dine in but realized they were so close to closing time they decided to take their food to go. The cashier offered them water ice as well as she knew their food order would take a bit. They had never had it either but I recommended the mango. I had the cherry and mango but the cherry was too sweet for me but delicious and of course our 5 year old loved it. The mango was refreshing and light. They went with it and thanked me for the recommendation. The place is not big but I highly recommended to dine in only because the food is fresh! Nice and hot when it comes to the table. I understand eating in the comfort of your home and the food will probably still be fresh and hot if you live within 10-15 minutes. This place is definitely in our rotation of our Friday...

The food was mostly excellent, glad these folks finally opened their doors. Don't call them on the phone because it doesn't work (as of 12/16/23) and they know about it. Not sure who's in charge of that, seems absurd. Anyways here's what we ordered:

1. Philly Special (onions and Cheez Wiz) - flavorful and hot, cheezy deliciousness. I'm not a Philly expert, but I enjoyed the H out of this sandwich and I'll be back for more. Great job 👏

2. 10 wings, lemon pepper flavor - What I lack in Philly cheesesteak knowledge I make up for in chicken wing reviews. I am the self-proclaimed expert of Land O Lakes chicken wings places. These wings were the absolute BEST lemon pepper seasoned wings I've ever had in my life. Every wing was covered in the buttery lemony goodness and there were green onions thrown in there as well - H yes!!! Some might say the seasoning is over-salted and to that I would say you don't know good seasoning. Also, the ranch dressing was incredible. Not sure if they make it on-site or if it's in a tub but it was top notch. These wings are expensive but I'll get them again within the week! Looking forward to trying other flavors.

3. Chicken tenders for my daughter - she liked them. I'd say they were fine, nothing special.

4. Pretzel sticks - ours were slightly cold in the middle so hopefully management sees this and can adjust the warming time/process a bit. They were served with tasty white cheese dip and a honey mustard that was fine.

5. Fries - standard crinkle cut fries. Not bad, nothing to write home about. I'd expect better seasoning on these after the incredible wings but maybe they just wanted to make a standard side of fries, and they succeeded. These will please most people just fine. Also got the cheese sauce, I suggest you do the same.

All in all - glad to have a local biz open and have good food. The young kids working there were hard working and nice. Cool bar feeling inside but we took our food to go. We'll...