One of my favorite shows on the Food Network is Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives. I was excited to find out when I was visiting Orlando that there was a restaurant nearby that was featured on the show – The Meatball Stoppe.
I got such a warm welcoming when I walked through the door. The entire staff said hello. I saw right away the signed poster of Guy hanging on the wall.
I also found the colorful stencil that the show puts on the wall of every restaurant they visit.
This restaurant lives up to their name. In looking over the menu I see they offer 12 different types of meatballs. There were several unique combinations. Luckily they offered a meatball flight so I was able to taste several of the meatballs.
While I was waiting for the flight to come out I enjoyed the fried calamari. They used a corn meal breading that gave the calamari a unique flavor and an extra crispy coating. They served a side of homemade marinara sauce. It was on the spicy side which went nicely with the calamari.
I also got a fresh garden salad. There was nothing special about the salad just that it was fresh and cleansed my palate as the meatballs were brought to the table.
So I got to try 6 of the 12 meatballs:
- Nonna’s Traditional – This was a classic Italian meatball. They were very moist and light. The mea had great flavor.
- Sausage Pepper & Onions – This was a ground sausage based meatball that was topped with peppers and onions. It was the meatball version of a traditional sausage on a hoagie roll.
- Chicken Marsala – This was a ground chicken meatball that was tossed in s Marsala sauce and accented with mushrooms.
- Spicy Pork – This ground pork was loaded with spices that really added heat.
- Mac & Cheese – This reminded me of a rice ball. They added rice with a ton of cheese to form a ball along with a little meat. It had great creamy flavor.
- Lamb – This meatball had a unique flavor because of the lamb itself. Plus it came with mint jelly. I am not a fan of lamb but I knew I wanted to try this to see how it all came together. It reminded me of lamb chops.
Now I also tried two of their sides. The fresh polenta was creamy and soft. It reminded me of grits that I get at breakfast places.
The other side was a white bean Ragu. It’s a bean dish but it reminded me of a bean soup. There was amazing flavor. It had a creamy texture full of savory notes. I could have eaten a whole bowl just of this. It was very hearty.
There was one last thing I had to try – the homemade cannoli. It had a great crunchy shell that was filled with the creamy filling and chocolate chips. It was the perfect ending to the meal.
I really enjoyed everything I ate at The Meatball Stoppe, plus the staff was so nice and clearly they enjoy working there. I would recommend checking them out at www.themeatballstoppe.com . Make sure to try all the meatballs.
Enjoy!
T
