It's a good thing that Florida has a lot of amazing food choices in the area, because I would not put Chopsticks Super Buffet on the list of places to go back a second or third time. The more you go the worse it gets.

A few months ago when Chopsticks opened I was so excited to have a super buffet in the area that I went within the first week of them opening. The display was amazing and the place has been decorated in style. This location has been many different restaurants with little success, but this is the first time the decor actually matches the space. I was impressed by the decor and the hostess at the front that I left that cloud my judgement. The first time I went I tried numerous items and I was happily pleased with a full belly and decent service. We were seated right next to the service station where all the waitresses stand, so our drinks were always full and our plates were always removed immediately after we were finished.

I remember the sushi section being filled with choices and always clean looking. The sushi was definitely not amazing, but it was decent enough to try different kinds that I have never tried before. They had numerous choices of rice, noodles and soup. Since I normally just stick to fried rice I decided to try the noodles instead. The fried (brown noodles) were good, but very greasy. The white noodles tasted like something that Ramin could have made (although no one can beat Ramin). They had a huge selection of chicken to choose from and most of it was good. Overall I kept thinking this was a good place to eat especially for the lunch pricing. Then my friend came back from the bathroom with a look of disgust on her face. She sat down and told me that while she was in there our waitress had used the restroom and started to walk out of the bathroom without washing her hands. My friend immediately grabbed the waitress and asked her to wash her hands before entering the dining area again. I'm so proud of her for that! Apparently the waitress was extremely embarrassed, but she immediately mentioned that she was going to wash her hands in the back. You would think after hearing this story I would declined to come back here again, but the idea of all you can eat sushi weighs on your mind at weak moments.

The second time I went with Sven after a long morning of yard saling. We were starving and I couldn't wait for him to try some of the different types of sushi. Where else are you going to get to try all types of sushi for under $10.00? He was as shocked as I was the first time with the amount of sushi and food to choose from. We quickly realized after getting up to the buffet that while things were hot the buffet didn't look as clean. Maybe it's because we went on a Saturday and the first time I went it was on a Thursday. The amount of workers were the same and the funny thing was there were more people on the Thursday afternoon that I went, so clearly Saturday should have been a piece of cake. After sitting down with a plate of food with numerous choices from both of us for the sake of doing this review we realized quickly the food wasn't all that great. The cooked salmon was cooked well, but didn't taste great. The fried rice didn't taste like normal fried rice (it didn't taste good at all). The chicken selection may be large but you'll notice that the fried coconut chicken, black pepper chicken and general tso chicken dishes are so heavily coated I don't even know if there's chicken in there. The peanut chicken and wings are probably the best chicken dishes on the buffet. Both being flavorful and only having a light coating that is fried.

When we got to the sushi section Sven and I had a great time going over each piece to make sure that he wasn't going to eat anything with fish eggs (god forbid lol). The sushi section wasn't as filled as it was the first time and this time it was really messy. When we sat down to eat our sushi I realized that our waitress hadn't been back to take our plates and I was out of a drink. Neither of us could seem to get the waitress's attention to get another drink. So we started trying out our sushi while we waited for the waitress. The first piece was just a simple California roll which was fine. The second was a Salmon roll which we weren't able to swallow. Looking over at Sven I realized he didn't know WHAT to do with this roll that was inedible and still in his mouth. I think that was the first time since I was 10 that I actually grabbed a napkin and spit out my food. Immediately after I spit mine out Sven was doing the same and being extremely thankful that I did it first. The Salmon had been on the buffet for too long and it didn't taste right at all. After that we were very nervous to try anymore of the sushi. At that point I hunted down my waitress for a refill because I couldn't even think to have anything else until I had washed my mouth out.

After the incident of terrible sushi we waited a while to hit the dessert section. You really can't go too wrong with a dessert section so I'm not going to waste my time on this. Instead I am going to go through a list of items to stay far away from at the Chopsticks Super Buffet.
1. Fried Rice and white noodles
2. Check the temperature of your sushi
3. Vegetable stick (I can't explain the horror of eating this item)
4. Any of the fried bits of chicken
5. Fried Zucchini (which by the way I normally LOVE at any other place)

I'm usually someone who loves food and I have trouble saying I wouldn't go back there, but in this case I'm finished. The idea of all you can eat sushi will not cloud my judgement any longer.

My new fiancé and I decided to take a break from the daily grind and we checked out Leo’s Italian Grille. This restaurant has been so many things in the past, but I think this might be a winner. From the moment you see the building you’re greeted with cheerful yet muted colors on the walls of the building. Stepping inside there is a host with a smile on her face standing behind a beautiful stone and marble counter. From the dungeon that this place used to be you can tell that this new restaurant is looking to impress and to satisfy their customers.

Once we were handed off to our waiter we were seated in a huge booth which actually made it a little more romantic. We were able to sit next to each other and see the whole restaurant in front of us. Everything was colorful, well lit, clean and professionally decorated. The colors are very Italian with reds, oranges, greens and brown accents. This would be a great place to celebrate something. I could see that it would be family friendly, but because of the open room seating it could possibly get a little loud. While we were there we noticed that they have a stage, so we asked Jose (our waiter) what they use it for. On Friday and Saturday nights they use the stage for bands which he swears by. He said that this is the place to be on a Saturday night.

Now for the food. Sven and I came with very empty almost angry stomachs. While looking over the menu Jose brought us three large size loaves of bread with olive oil. We immediately ordered the calamari for an appetizer since we couldn’t handle waiting too long for our food. While that was being made we looked over the menu thoroughly. On their appetizer list you can find items such as calamari, bruschetta and fried mushrooms. There was more to choose from, but those are what I remember. On the entrée side they had Fettuccini Alfredo with shrimp, chicken, veal and Florentine or you can choose to do your Alfredo with tortellini instead. They had eggplant rollatini, meatballs, pizza and even a kids menu. Their dessert menu was half a page long with items like zeppole, Tiramisu, chocolate cake and much more.

When the calamari came out we pretty much had our forks in our hands waiting for the plate to hit the table. Aside from needing some seasoning the calamari was fresh and cooked perfectly. It came with a large bowl of marinara which worked perfectly for the calamari and all the bread that they gave us. Our salads were good, but our main complaint was the Caesar salad had rock hard croutons on it. The portions were good, the dressing was great, but the croutons were almost too hard to bite into.

When our meals came out they looked and tasted delicious. By this time we were almost completely full which was a shame because these were hefty portions of food. When Sven’s tortellini Alfredo and chicken came out you could smell the garlic which was amazing. My lobster ravioli came out looking beautiful and tasted even better. There was plenty of sauce on it and even though I didn’t check I think it came with about 6 healthy sized raviolis. I could only eat two at the point of over stuffing myself. Sven only made it through a quarter of his meal because of how full we had gotten off our salad and calamari. The flavors were there, the freshness was there and the service was excellent. Jose was phenomenal and he was fun to have as a waiter.

Later I asked for a tour around the place and I could see that their bar was very stylish and sophisticated; they had a party room off to the side which would work perfectly for a wedding reception or private party. They even had seating outside on a patio for those that want to enjoy a dinner outside. The only drawback to the patio is it’s in the front of the restaurant which is right off of 19N. That being said the highway there keeps it very loud and not as interesting as sitting inside with the Italian décor.

I would definitely suggest eating at Leo’s. I can’t wait to go back again on a Friday or Saturday night when they have live entertainment. This time I’ll make sure to share a meal with my fiancé and maybe even a dessert.