Four Rivers Smokehouse

Open a barbecue joint and the world will beat a path to your door.

And in the case of Four Rivers Smokehouse in Winter Park, they’ll line up outside the door and wait up to 20 minutes to be served.

Owner John Rivers had a much longer wait to see his barbecue joint open to the public. Rivers started producing barbecue in 2005 as part of a fundraising effort to help a local family with high medical bills. A business producing barbecue sauces and such resulted, and Rivers started catering.

(By the way, John Rivers is not be be confused with Johnny Rivers, who also has a smokehouse. Read about that -- and how I missed my flight to New York -- here.)

A restaurant, or at least a retail outlet where people could eat his ‘cue whenever they wanted, seemed like the next logical step. But as with so many other first-time restaurant owners, Rivers learned the path to getting a restaurant open is loaded with pitfalls. Licensing, permitting and code inspections delayed the opening of Four Rivers for the better part of a year. First references to an imminent opening were in June; I reported in August that September would see the new smokehouse open.

It finally started serving customers on November 11.

4Rivers Smokehouse Officialy Opens November 11 in Winter Park

4Rivers Smokehouse, the Orlando area's newest "premium" barbeque joint to woo diners with lip-smacking ribs in an upscale setting, will hold a grand opening November 11th in Winter Park.

Partnering with Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida, the official ribbon cutting and grand opening commences at 10:00 AM. Sales to the public will begin at 10:30 AM until 8 PM with proceeds from the day benefiting the largest provider of homeless services in Central Florida and the largest residential facility for children. 4Rivers Smokehouse is located at 2103 West Fairbanks Avenue, 407-474-8377 (407-4RIVERS) featuring premium Texas-style barbecue in a rustic, authentic smokehouse setting.

Additional parking will be made available for the November 11th festivities with parking officials ready to direct traffic for this important grand opening. 4Rivers Smokehouse is giving 50% of the day's proceeds to Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida to help provide food, shelter and supportive services to their homeless clients.

Local owner and resident, John Rivers has spent 20 years perfecting his recipes. He takes pride in using the highest quality products for his mouth-watering menu featuring his award-winning 4Rivers Smokehouse Sauce with items such as Angus brisket, St. Louis style ribs and southern pulled pork. The Texas Destroyer and the Messy Pig are just a few of 4Rivers Smokehouse Signature Stacker sandwiches and the menu's featured side items include 4Rivers BBQ beans, baked cheese grits and smoked jalapenos. Dedicated to helping others, 4Rivers Smokehouse is committed to the financial support of schools, charity organizations and the local community.

Coalition for the Homeless of Central Florida is the largest provider of homeless services in Central Florida and the largest residential facility for children. Of the 600 people served on any given night, nearly 200 are children with an average age of six. This non-profit organization provides food, shelter and comprehensive case-managed services, with the goal of helping the homeless become self-sufficient. Over 70% of the Coalition's resources come from the community's generosity.

4Rivers looks like a winner to me. I'll be there to check it out for you and report back.

Sleigh Rides at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort

"Dashing through the snow...In a one-horse open sleigh...O'er the fields we go...Laughing all the way". And why are we laughing? The bells maybe jingling, but I don't think you will be dashing through the snow on Disney's Holiday ‘Sleigh’ Rides at Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. You may be in a pair of shorts with a Mickey hat on though, and that's pretty funny. That's right, you will now have the opportunity to experience a horse-drawn “sleigh” ride through the secluded beauty of the 700-acre backwoods around Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground right here in sunny Central Florida. Since its Disney, you know it will be done right. A shiny, fire engine-red sleigh decked out with garland and twinkling holiday lights to take you on a 25-minute sojourn through the lush forest.

It runs from Nov. 29-Dec. 30, 2009, with a cost of $60 per sleigh. Each sleigh can hold four adults – or two adults and three small children. Children ages 17 and under must be accompanied by an adult. Sleighs depart from the Blacksmith’s Shop near the Settlement area inside Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. Guests driving to the resort can park at the entrance of Disney’s Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground and board a Disney motor coach to be transported to the Settlement area.

For reservations and more information, guests can call 407/WDW-PLAY.

What Wines to Serve for Thanksgiving - Wine

What Wines to Serve for Thanksgiving - Wine

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Tai Shan in Washington, DC

Here's another post from the Watch Me Eat archives of previously unpublished food adventures. Memories are fallible, but I will do my best to keep these posts as accurate as possible. Mistakes in the details may happen though. Feel free to correct!

Today's post comes from some food adventures from June, 2007 in Washington DC's Chinatown. Washington has a large Chinatown with both lots of independent Chinese restaurants along with plenty of chains mixed in. I found it really interesting to see stores like Starbucks and CVS with their signs in Chinese rather than English smack dab in the middle of the nation's capitol. Very cool...

I ate at a restaurant called Tai Shan right up the block from Chinatown's huge Friendship Arch. Tai Shan wasn't my first restaurant choice in Chinatown, but due to a broken air conditioning in the first place, combined with some very hot travel companions, I ended up here.

Tai Shan had an interesting menu. They had all of the American-Chinese food standards, along with a lot of stuff I had never seen in a Chinese restaurant. And that's what I would want in a restaurant in a Chinatown. I decided to try something new and ordered something called Chicken Yak-Mein. Yak-mein was a type of thick noodle soup. It consisted of chicken, a hard boiled egg, onions, and noodles, all in a dark brown broth. It definitely could have used some more variety in the vegetables mixed in since the end result was kind of brownish and lacked color. Regardless of how it looked, the yak-mein did taste okay and I finished a good amount of the soup.

And now for the fun part at Tai Shan. After I finished my food, I went to the restroom to wash my hands from some sticky duck sauce. The restroom was down in the basement, right next to the kitchen. I entered the small bathroom and as soon as I closed the door, I noticed the large rat sitting on the sink. He then saw me, and after a few seconds of us staring at each other, he jumped on the floor and ran into a hole in the wall behind the toilet. At that point, since I had already finished my dinner, there was nothing I could do but laugh. I suppose Tai Shan is lucky that I found a rat in the bathroom funny, since I'm sure many other people's reactions would be quite different...

Shin Jung - Korean - Orlando

Shin Jung - Korean - Orlando


The meat sizzled on the iron plates in front of us, smoke rising into the vents above the tiny house. The bulgogi and kalbi marinated meats hissed and crackled as the flames flickered below the grills. The smell of Korean barbeque is always intoxicating, especially if you are eating at Shin Jung.


Shin Jung Korean restaurants sits on Colonial Drive just west of Bumby Avenue in a little house-like structure with a green roof. The dining area is tiny, maybe less than 40 people can fit in here at one time. The entire building smelled the wonderful aroma of delicious food cooking.

But the problem about being in a small place with lots of bbq fumes is that the fumes literally stick to your skin, your hair, and your clothes, thus I would recommend showering after your experience at shin jung and also do not wear any fancy clothes or anything that you wouldn't mind reeking of korean bbq stank.



An average meal here averages about $20 and up, a bit pricey considering that you only get one complementary bowl of korean rice, but its enough to get full. Definitely come with friends though as it takes at least 4 people to make the meal worth it.

Our party orders the traditional dishes: soon tofu, a spicy tofu style soup and one of my favorites here at Shin Jung, kimchijigae, a kimchi spicy soup, seafood pancake, bulgogi and kalbi. Our meal is served with tiny dishes of pickled cucumbers, cabbage, bean sprouts, anchovies, and other delectable appetizing items.