The Smiling Bison - Sanford
| Address: | 107 Magnolia Ave, Sanford, FL 32771, USA |
| Phone: | +1 407-915-6086 |
| Site: | smilingbison.com |
| Rating: | 4.2 |
| Working: | Closed 5–9:30PM 11AM–2PM 11AM–2PM 11AM–2PM 11AM–2PM Closed |
Location
Photos 100
Reviews 7
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Kanchan Banga
Im struggling with this review and the food I ate at the Smiling Bison. I really wanted to like it. The reviews on both Google and Yelp were over-whelmingly positive. The menu items were exciting and appealing. But.. but... but I _really_ disliked the taste and flavours of pretty much everything I ate. So it all just fell short in the execution of the food for me. Im glad I got to try some things at Happy Hour prices, esp the Poutine ($5 instead of $9 at happy hour price). I thought the chips were all right and the curd cheese slightly too salty. The mushroom gravy was too heavy and pasty - felt like the roux in it was undercooked. The Fried Green Tomato was a really small plate share for the cost, but I did think the pimento cheese was a great addition. This was possibly my favorite of all the items I had from the menu, and its funny because it was a garnish rather than a main event! The Local mixed greens ($13) was okay. Nothing spectacular. All of us disliked the smoked cheese used. For our mains, we also split the Chicken Pot Pie ($14) & Florida Red Grouper ($26). The Chicken Pot Pie is very untraditional. This tasted more like a very hearty thickened chicken soup with a "smoked salt pie top" and I missed a proper pie crust. The Florida Red Grouper was overcooked while the accompanying creamed corn tasted like anything Id have found from a can. For me, the downfall of this item was that the whole plate just had a weird old, stale oil taste. I dont know if it was the oild used fo rteh fish or the roasted local root vegetables, but something smelt and tasted off. We thought to end the night on a highlight and got dessert - an Eggnog Creme Brûlée. Just yet another total disaster. The sugar on top hasnt been flambéed all the way thru, which meant you tasted bits of sugar rather than caramel. It was a very runny Creme Brûlée and the rum used just didnt taste that great The great pity is that the host asked us how it was at the end of the meal and I was unprepared so answered back okay. Wish Id told him the truth. Im not sure if Id be back
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Seaira Kovach
The Smiling Bison is a welcome addition to downtown Sanford, and offers a dim-lit, rustic decorated, quiet atmosphere right on Magnolia Square to have an intimate meal for two or a social dinner with a gathering of friends. The service is always top-notch, the drinks are always strong and the food is consistently good, but I agree with other reviews that while I have always enjoyed the appetizers and entrees, the desserts here never seem to hit the mark. I have had two dishes here that combined citrus fruit and fatty meats, and they definitely have that combination down well. I was almost sad that the pork belly with grapefruit mojo was an appetizer, as I could have eaten an entire entree of it for sure. My latest visit had me tasting the pan roasted duck breast, which was a combination of crispy duck meat, squash puree and citrus, cherry & sweet drop pepper salad that was perfectly balanced. Some other things that the table ordered on my most recent visit were the cheddar-bacon fat biscuits, poutine, fried mushrooms and bison burger pizza. The cheddar-bacon fat biscuits were good, but it was the honey mustard butter that they came with that really made them shine. The poutine was pretty much exactly what I expected, but the fried mushrooms surprised me the most; they were super flavorful, and only got better when dipped in the buttermilk vinaigrette that was served with them. The bison burger pizza was delicious, as well, and the pickles added a great zing to the overall taste, but the star of this dish was really the house-made mushroom ketchup. If The Smiling Bison ever bottled and sold that, myself and the rest of my party from that night would be first in line to buy it. The one thing I felt could be improved about the pizza was the crust, which was a tad dry, but I never really expect phenomenal crust outside of a pizzeria. Overall I am a big fan of The Smiling Bison’s atmosphere and food, and I hope that they continue to thrive both in downtown Sanford and in Orlando.
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Tim Carl
After hearing that the chef was from Buffalo I was excited to try this restaurant as I am from Buffalo and I know what great food the city has to offer. Their beer menu is awful, they really dont have much in the way of good beer. We ordered the poutine to start with and it was underseasoned and bland. I ordered the Beef on Weck, again, being from Buffalo I knew what to expect. I noticed that the menu read house made cheese whiz. This should have been my first warning but the server assured me it was "amazing". Well, it was not. The roll was barely a weck roll, the beef was ok but the addition of the cheese whiz made it taste like nothing more than an Arbys beef and cheddar. The fries were cold too. I hate rooting against Buffalonians but save your money and go to Arbys, it will be better.
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Terri Juanette
First off, let me start by saying the food was delicious (my husbands fries were a little on the brown side but they were still tasty), the service was fabulous and fast. I struggled with how many stars to give it. I wanted to give it 5 stars, I really did, but I didnt for 2 reasons: a restaurant charging $16 for a burger should filter the water, not bottled water, thats bad for the environment, just filter it. And both my husband and I ordered medium-well. We got medium-rare. It could have been that he didnt hear the server correctly. It still tasted amazing. Id definitely eat here again despite the water, and our burgers not quite being cooked how we like them. Try it and see if you dont think so, too. Im sure youll agree.
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mark roque
Food that I ate was good. Unfortunately the food was not brought out at the same time, so 3 of us out of our party of 8 had to start eating before the food got cold...my friends steak was cooked wrong and was brought back and cooked wrong again, both times rare for a steak requested as medium. The owner seemed disinterested in trying to make up for this sub par experience. And my friend left without eating because the whole party had already finished eating..... Looks like they need chef Ramsay to take a look at this place.
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Jennifer Meaker
So many things to love about this unique and inspired spot in little downtown Sanford! The space is adorable and theres a friendly vibe from everyone you encounter. If you sit at the chefs counter you can watch the food being prepared and finished with extreme care. The cocktails and menu are thoughtfully designed and perfectly scratch made. I discovered I have a new favorite condiment, mushroom ketchup! Its made in house, of course, and off the charts delicious, be sure to try it while youre there, you wont be disappointed!
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Stephen Chownwai
Pretty good. Went for their valentines day dinner. Food was good. I thought their dessert was a little lacking. Update: Finally got to go again, and thing as before. Food was pretty good. I got the bison burger pizza, everything on it was good, but the crust was a little lacking in flavor and texture. The crust on the bottom was equally as hard on the sides. Dessert was sub par again. I dont think desserts here are meant to be. There are plenty of dessert shops within a 2 minutes walk, I would recommend to go to those.
