Thursday, October 16, 2014

American Q BBQ in Orlando

**UPDATE: This restaurant is now closed.**

Recently I had the pleasure of experiencing American Q BBQ & Beyond at the B Resort and Spa near Downtown Disney for a blogger event and was blown away by the food, the drinks, and the hospitality!

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American Q is Orlando's newest BBQ restaurant that provides a Brazilian steakhouse experience while serving up American favorites. The table side carvings included nine different selections including Bacon Wrapped Boneless Chicken Thighs and Homemade Sausages while the all-you-can-eat buffet featured 20 different side items served on the bed of a cherry red 1951 Ford pickup truck.

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The restaurant has some real southern charm to it from the mason jar glasses on every table for water or sodas to the murals on the walls to all of the little southern accent pieces. It was a really fun restaurant and had so many different things to look at!



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I started the night off with a Raspberry Lemon Cosmo made with Belvedere vodka, raspberry simple syrup and fresh raspberries. It was a very light and refreshing drink and tasted exactly like fresh raspberries! I highly recommend it!

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During the cocktail hour, we were able to sample a few snacks from the bar menu including:

Swine Candy smoked bacon roasted with molasses & spice 'til crunchy (they were sweet & then pretty spicy!)
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House Made Tater Tots with bacon salt and served with homemade ketchup
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Photo Credit: Leah and Andy from Our Florida Project - Check them out!

Deviled Crab Stuffed Eggs made with blue crab & rémoulade
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I really enjoyed the swine candy (although the spice does catch up to you! Have a drink in had for this dish!) and the deviled crab stuffed eggs (two of my favorite things: crab meat and deviled eggs. Yum!). The tater tots were good although the homemade ketchup was a little chunky for my taste.

After the cocktail hour, we were seated at a long table and introduced to our servers for the evening who began bringing out our starters from the A La Carte Dinner menu.

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Virginica Oysters grilled in shell with bacon jam
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Alligator Boudin served on top of roasted tomatoes, peppers & okra
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Mahogany Glazed Slow Braised Pork Belly served with a spicy watermelon salad
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I was impressed with the Vigincia Oysters because I'm not typically an oyster fan. These were pretty tasty! The Alligator Boudin (Gator sausage basically) was so good! The Pork Belly was fantastic as well and the watermelon salad complemented it very nicely!

We made our way to the Flatbed Buffet which was served on the back of a '51 Ford pickup truck and included 20 different items that change daily. My favorites here were the baked macaroni, the baked potato bar, the pasta salad, and the chili con carne.

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Executive Chef Justin Leo stopped by our table to talk to us about the food and answer any questions we had. He was super nice and extremely passionate about his career.

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The Table Side Carvings started coming around shortly after and our servers were great about answering any questions we had about the meats they were carving. My favorites from this serving were the Picanha of Beef (highly recommended by our server!) and the Smoked Pork Shoulder with Spiced Onions.

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Housemade Sausage
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Slow Smoked Tom Turkey Drum with Mahogany Glaze  photo SLOWSMOKEDTOMTURKEYDRUMWITHMAHOGANYGLAZE.jpg

Brisket of Beef with Texas Bark  photo BRISKETOFBEEFWITHTEXASBARK.jpg

Picanha of Beef  photo HerculesAQ.jpg

Everyone was stuffed halfway through the carving but we pushed through it! And then came dessert... I felt like I was going to explode but my sweet tooth was telling me to go for it and I wasn't disappointed!

Berry Cobbler served with vanilla ice cream (By far my FAVORITE!)
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S'mores Pie layered graham crackers, flourless chocolate cake & toasted marshmallow
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Salted Caramel Cheesecake vanilla cheesecake & salted caramel drizzle
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Overall, I had a great experience at American Q and will definitely be back!

Make sure to follow American Q on their social sites:
      Facebook
      Twitter - @American_Q
      Instagram - @American.Q


American Q kindly provided a complimentary meal, but all opinions are my own. 

7 comments:

  1. I am so bummed I missed this! And that you didn't find out if the chef was single ;)

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    1. I know! I wish you were there! We may just have to go back to find out. ;)

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  2. ohmy word. that looks amazing. I need to try that!

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    1. Eryn, next time you're in town you need to check it out! The food was sooo good!

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  3. This looks amazing! I think I might take Jason for his birthday!

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    1. You should! It's definitely one of those "special occasion" restaurants because you end up eating way too much!

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  4. O M G ! ! ! ! ! I just ate lunch and that still made me hungry!!! WOW.... I am most definitely going to have to check this place out!!

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