Ole Mole: Mexican Resturant

Ole Mole: Mexican Restaurant

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This is a restaurant about two miles from my house so I decided to give it a try even if yelp had 50/50 reviews on the place. I was in the mood for Mexican so I wanted to check out a place other than Tijuana Flats.

I ordered tacos with rice and black beans. They served chips and salsa a few minutes after I arrived.  The chips were bland and the salsa was smooth with a red color but tasted like black olives. No cilantro that I have come to expect in most salsa's.

I got the pork tacos and my dining mate ordered beef so I could try both since they would not let me order one of each like I have been able to do at other family owned restaurants. That made me question the freshness of the food. Normally things that are pre-portioned are not always the freshest.

The pork was seasoned correctly and I really liked it. The rice was almost all crunchy rice as if they did not want to make a new batch or rice for me since I arrived 45 minutes before they closed which was more than enough time to be served and eat at the Mexican restaurants I have been to already.

The black beans were just horrible. The flavor made me gag and I normally love black beans.  I have no idea what they seasoned it with but there seemed to be only one seasoning, which was not a good choice.  The beef taco was not as amazing as the pork but it was seasoned well. It was a different seasoning then what I am used too.

Overall it took 30 minutes from being seated to getting our food. There were two couples and a family that were there when I arrived as well as a police officer who walked in as I was parking so it was not packed by any means.

I am wanting to go back to try other items on their menu just to see if tonight was a fluke. For two meals and two sodas the total was $18 which is not bad. The taco platter was $5.99 and it was $1 for the beans and rice. Two sodas were $2.98 total.

Once Upon A Child - 4900 Colonial Dr

Once Upon A Child

4900 Colonial Dr, Orlando, FL

On more than one occasion I have visited Once Upon A Child off 50 near Fashion Square Mall.  This is the worst place ever.  I got sucked in by people telling me I had to check them out and that they were amazing.  The other locations are not as bad as this one though.

A few key experiences:
1)  Tried to take clothes in to sell.  They told me they were not taking those sizes and some where stained.  All the ones I took in where BNWT (brand new with tag) and not stained at all.  While I was waiting for them to let me know what they were going to take and what they were not they took another ladies pile of clothes of the same size but older styles without any issues.  Not very happy since they told me they were not taking that size but since they knew the lady they took her items of the same size and gender.

2) Found a stroller at BRU that I loved but couldn't spend $200 on.  My daughter had some birthday cash left and so I called Once Upon A Child to see if they had one.  They had 3 of the same style that I was looking for.  I wanted one that would lay flat as well as be able to change from forward-facing to rear-facing.  I went to the store and ended up picking up a red stoller for $80 as the other two strollers where purple and out of my price range.  The store was so packed that we did not have room to test the stroller and they wouldn't let us take it outside to test so we had to buy it on the premise that Once Upon A Child test their items before accepting them or selling them.  Turns out that one of the wheels was broken so we could not push it without a struggle.  They refused to take the stroller back and said that it was my fault it did not work correctly.  Way to stand behind what you sold and very poor customer service.

3) Though I vowed never to go back I was about to move and needed money ASAP.  I took in 3 huge boxes of clothing, shoes, 2 mobiles, and 1 bath tub.  As I walked in the door one of the girls yelled at me that they did not accept mobiles nor bath tubs.  She didn't even let me get 2 feet in the door before yelling that from the desk 10 feet or so away.  There were bath tubs and mobiles in the store so I know that they do accept them and a friend of mine took one in a few days later to test my theory and they bought it from her.  The clothes I took in where never worn and in boxes most of the time since my daughter had so many of a certain size since she was in 9 month clothing for over a year.  They refused to take anything but 3 pairs of name branded shoes and 12 name brand items of clothing and offered me $7...The shoes sell used on craigslist for $5-10 each as well as the clothing going for around $5 each.  That was an insult.  Then they turned away my other items saying they were dirty which they were not.  I ended up buying 6 skirts while I waited.  With a fussy toddler in my arms I didn't inspect them as well as I should have.  Since they didn't take my items that were clean stating they were dirty I assumed the clothing would be in great shape.  They were anything but in good shape.  Half had stains all over them and a few were ripped.

Please, check out Goodwill and The Salvation Army before supporting Once Upon A Child.  Goodwill's items are resonably prices and sometimes have amazing deals on name brand items.  They also help those in need where Once Upon A Child is only a store to make money.  Please think before you shop at this horrible store.  I am not the only one with these issues.  They are posted all the time but get deleted.

One employee has been super rude.  Once Upon A Child really should look at who they are hiring and how they are treating people.  Rebecca C. is one of the rudest people I have ever come across.

Ale House - Waterford Lakes, Orlando, FL

Ale House - Waterford Lakes

Orlando, FL

I eat here a lot.  The food is good for the price.  I like to go on Tuesday's when kids eat free.  That way I can get a meal and then my daughter's meal be free.

This is their mahi kids meals.  I ordered it both ways to check it out.  Mine was fried and my daughter's was grilled.  Both were good but the grilled was actually better.  The fried ones had old oil so I can not really judge it well.

I normally get a side Caesar salad or a chicken finger platter.  The side Caesar is a good size and is only $2.50!  The Chicken Finger Platter is 5 fingers for $7.99 and are good.  This past Tuesday I had the best chicken fingers there that I have had anywhere.  They were crunchy and the chicken was juicy.  The breading seemed to have had a double coating and was perfectly seasoned.

They just redid their outside bar/patio area within the last year and it is amazing.  They have tv's everywhere for those who like to watch games.  There are also fans with misters so you can enjoy being outside during the hot summer days and there are heaters for cold winter days/nights.  There is a balloon guy that comes around until around 9pm who is amazing.  My daughter is only 2 and his balloon poodles stand up to her playing with them and normally last 1-2 weeks before the air comes out fully.

Tuesday nights there is also a poker league that plays on the patio.  Play is free so feel free to join in.  You can always tell them that "Beth" sent you.  They are a learning league so if you have very little experience they will still let you play and even help you along.  I have played with them 3 times and it has always been so much fun.  You can check them out for more info or other venue locations to play at.

Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor and Resturant in Dania, FL - 7/29

Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant

Rating: F

Overall this place is way overpriced and the experiance was anything but pleasant.  The restaurant is very crowded with "collectables" and the tables are tight.  You could tell from the smell that they do not clean regularly as there was a stench of old oil.

We did not go back for ice cream after the way we were treated and how horrible the food was.  Not only was the service super slow the waiter also added items to our bill that they refused to take off.   I wrote on their Facebook page after our experience there.  They deleted my post and added me to the blocked list so I could not comment on their page again while others still can without even sending me a message to acknowledge my issues.  I would avoid this place at all cost unless you are only going for ice cream, want to see something that had been on tv, or do not mind paying overpriced prices for sub-par food.

 This was really the only thing that we ordered that could be eaten.  The fries where greasy but the buger was ok.  It was really bland so I can see why they gave so many onions to try to cover up the lack of seasoning in the patty.  The clowslaw was not horrible but it is not the best that I have had.

 This is what I had.  This is their Chili.  The chips were stale and they would not bring me out any new chips.  The chili seems to have come from a can as it was bland and something I would only eat if I had a cold and could not taste or smell.

This is the kids chicken tender meal.  They were editable.  The fries where just pure grease so we skipped those.  My daughter is not picky at all but she refused to eat here.

Budget cuts

Due to a small budget I have no gone out as much as I would like over the last few months, especially since I just moved, so my reviews will come when I do go out.  I have a few to catch up on and will be typing those up now.  Soon this will be just a product review blog and I will have a separate food blog.  Thanks for stopping by!

Sweet by Holly: Waterford location

This is a cupcake and frozen yogurt place in the Waterford Lakes shopping center.  I have been there 3 times over the last year and they are wonderful.  I recently had a little issue there and they went above and beyond to fix the issue.  I am very impressed with this company and their ethics.  I am definitely a Sweet customer for life!


There is a long list of amazing cupcake flavors.  I am trying them 4 at a time so I can try them all.  So far the Creamsicle is my favorite.  I tried it two nights ago and I have never had anything so good.  There is zest in the cake part and then the buttercream icing is orange flavored.

Make sure you sign up for their email club.  You will get a coupon for free cupcakes upon signing up and on your birthday.  What is better than FREE cupcakes!

Below are 3 of the 4 that I tried.  I did not get to take a photo of the White Out.

High Hat

dark chocolate cake, chocolate ganache dipped vanilla buttercream

Cookies n' Cream

 white cake, vanilla buttercream, crushed oreos and cream filling

Creamsicle (my fav)

orange zested yellow cake, orange butter cream

I have also tried:
Key Lime - my fav pie flavor but I was not a fan of this cupcake flavor
Red Velvet - pretty good
Boston Cream
Carrot - really good

Warm Bodies (movie - released 2/1/13)

I saw the screener to this movie before the actual movie was released in theaters.  I am one of those people that do not really like movies and when asked "what is your favorite movie" I cannot list a single one that I really liked.  This movie changed that.  This movie was AWESOME!  It was funny for the most part and had the theater laughing through most of it.  I noticed that I was not picking out every flaw in the movie but instead was enjoying the movie.

I do like to watch zombie and vampire type movies but even Underworld or Resident Evil did not capture me like this movie did though they are both decent movies that I have watched countless times.  I cannot wait to watch it again!  This is definitely a must see movie.




I did not receive any compensation in my review of this movie.

New Blog since I lost the old one

I had another blogger page but for some reason it has been lost in the shuffle.  I had reviewed Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor & Resturant down by Miami back in July 2012 and a few others.  I decided to just restart my blog and regain my followers.


All post here are my opinions and may vary from yours.  I will be posting about places I go to eat, movies I go see, and more.  Thanks for checking me out.