Tis Me Michelle

The cutest little spot tucked away in the secret garden off of the main Park Ave. street in Winter Park. I always love going back into that garden area. I’ve checked out the shops that have come and gone from the area and always walk by this super cute restaurant, but only recently gave it a try.

Parking: Refer back to the many posts I’ve made about spots off Park Ave.

Atmosphere: A cross between a cute Italian rustic spot and a local pub. The atrium is gorgeous and kind of has a romantic feel. I’m sure it’s beautiful on a nice, clear evening. I can imagine it’s hot during the summer. It happened to be raining when I was there, but it was still super cute. There was also plenty of seating inside in a back room, along with bar seating. My friend pointed out that there was an upstairs, which looked like a cozy loft area. It’s a charming spot for a date and still chill enough for a casual hangout. I saw a good mixture of friends grabbing dinner and folks on dates.

The Menu: We luckily caught the tail end of happy hour, which ended up being a really great deal. There’s a great selection of appetizers and drink deals on happy hour, which goes from 4-7PM Tuesday – Friday.

We started with a couple of apps, an order of the crispy cauliflower, and the big effing pretzel. On the regular menu, it is buffalo cauliflower, which is what we wanted, but since it was named differently on the happy hour menu, we made sure to ask for buffalo sauce on the side. These were very yummy. A light, airy battery. My friend made the great comparison that it had the batter of a fish from a good fish & chip shop. I enjoyed the buffalo sauce; it was runnier than most, but had a nice vinegary flavor. Their ranch was dill forward. Both my friend and I aren’t huge fans of dill, he wasn’t a fan, but I actually rather enjoyed it. It added a touch of freshness that I appreciated. The big effin pretzel was effin big indeed. It was on par with some other big pretzels I’ve had. The pretzel was nice and soft. The beer cheese was so nice, and a solid dijon mustard as well. Plenty to share with a few people. Both of these were solid bar apps.

My friend and I both ordered the Old Faithful burger, also part of the happy hour menu. It was $10 for both a regular-sized burger & a full serving of fries. The burger was average, nothing special, but filling. The fries were nice and fresh, can’t really go wrong with fries. For the price, it was a solid option. I probably would try something different if I went back. There were plenty of options on the regular menu that sounded yummy.

Overall: I enjoyed the vibe and appreciated a full meal that didn’t break the bank. They have a large enough menu that there are plenty of things on the menu I’d like to try. I would say the food isn’t like a culinary masterpiece, but rather no-fuss bar food. My one complaint was service was kind of slow. Our waitress was super sweet, but it was hard to get a hold of her through the night to put our orders in and get the check. All things considered, I would definitely come back to Garp & Fuss.

Rating: 8.4/10

Address: 348 N Park Ave #5, Winter Park, FL 32789