Power House Cafe — Restaurant in Winter Park

Just off the corner of East Lyman, hovering near the latest and greatest shopping additions, is a little restaurant called the Power House Café. Some might call it a throwback to simpler, hippier times; this is what used to be called a "health food" restaurant. The menu is replete with tabbouleh and yogurt, sunflower seeds and bulgur wheat. Power House has been in business since 1970, an enviable accomplishment in a town where far more ambitious restaurants have closed and reopened several times in that span. There are tables throughout the place, but most of the action takes place at the counter, sort of a Whole Earth diner concept, where you’re invited to join your fellow diners. Pitas and salads rule, as does the delicacy that single-handedly revived the blender -- the smoothie. From the vantage point of a counter stool, strange happenings are spotted. What’s that, being spooned into the blender for a smoothie? Real strawberries? Where’s the prefrozen, melted, sugared syrup we’ve come to expect at smoothie bars? And wait -- bananas? Not powdered ’nana extract? And they use real honey instead of white sugar. Are they trying to put me in shock? To watch the whole ingredients being placed in a well-used blender and shaken into submission is an almost thrilling reminder of how food used to be made in our younger, precorporate days. There’s also a big list of yogurt shakes with granola, peanut butter and all-natural fruit juices. The solids on the menu ain’t bad, either. I was very impressed with the hummus, chick peas puréed with garlic, lemon and tahini paste. The "Middle Eastern platter" is accompanied by lovely fried falafel patties and tabbouleh, the rich, green parsley salad mixed with cracked wheat and fresh tomato. An unusual item is a chicken salad mixed with carrots, deliciously sweet and served on apple slices and raisins. Or try something as simple as a veggie sandwich with avocado on a pita, and savor the...

Truly a hidden gem, originally I expected it to be like a tropical smoothie in terms of quality based off of the very corporate food photos online but the food itself was so much better than the photos and was probably the best salad I ever had, the smoothies are real and don't taste like fake fruit and sugar like most places I've been and the baba ghanoush was really good. All in all it was a pleasantly surprising lunch that blew me away, and nearly entirely empty inside although that seemed to be in part to people taking their food to-go. Also there was a dressing on my salad that I'm still thinking about over a week later, it was delicious, I wish I asked...

I order maybe twice a week or more over a hundred dollars worth of food and typically get what I order and no issues. Today I placed and order and decided to call since the Buffalo chicken warp is not on there DoorDash menu and I was rudely hung up on. I tried calling back and I am now being ignored when I have a $200 pending order. Horrible service I can’t believe I am being treated with way when my last order included free cookies for continuously ordering here. I will never recommend this place again and as for me and my company and any affiliated hospitals we will certainly take out business to where it is...