The Dessert Lady: Hidden Stairway to Heaven

The Holy Grail of dessert just might be in a secluded plaza in the edges of Orlando.

Not kidding.

The cuisine version of 30 Rock, an extremely-acclaimed show with minimal ratings because of multiple factors, The Dessert Lady is a highly-acclaimed dessertarant that doesn’t seem to draw much business during their rather limited hours open (Not being open in the evenings might affect them a little). But nonetheless this place delivers arguably the best dessert in all of Central Florida. Not joking folks, the last time I mentally melted because of a dessert in this manner was my first visit to Jaxson’s Ice Cream. If you want a sneak preview of what heaven tastes like, look no further.

This place offers over 20 different types of cakes by the slice or by the entire thing. They range from your typical classics like carrot and key lime, and then stretch into creative levels like the coconut brulee cheesecake---with macadamia nut crust and toasted coconut caramel topping. I went with the carrot cake and the 6-layer chocolate cake (both the most popular in the bakery).

I for one do not like carrot cake in the least bit. One of my least favorite cakes. I would rather have dessert from Dennys. But the carrot cake here is very potent and very rich, with some of the best cream cheese frosting since the invention of cheese. The dosage of cinnamon makes all the difference here. Now each slice runs at $7 which is a bit high for a cake, but the portion is definitely generous enough.

And now we have the chocolate cake.


Yikes son. Let me re-post these pictures....

This cake, which is a marathon of chocolate ganache, mousse, and cake is so rich it makes Oprah look like Oliver Twist. It can double as a breakfast option because of how filling, how deep, and how mammoth it is. Each bite overpowers the last one, and you will wind up desiring more, even with the stomach holding up the white flag. Hands-down one of the best chocolate cakes of all-time, ranking up there with the pastries of Mazzaros in St. Petersburg.



Bottom Line: If you are lunching within the 20-mile radius of Dr. Phillips, you must find a way to save room for dessert and make your way to this small hidden building where the best in Orlando dessert can be discovered. While the place doesn’t drift from the cake menu and even though it closes early, you can’t let these elements distract you unless you want to deny your heart the most wholesome dessert in Central Florida. As long as you like cake, and as long as you like dessert, you can do no wrong whatsoever making your way to The Dessert Lady.


Final Verdict: Strongly Recommend

The Dessert Lady
7600 Dr. Phillips Blvd.
Orlando,  FL Ste 78

Ferg's Sports Bar and Grill: Mild Appetizer Before the Rays Game

Ferg’s Sports Bar and Grill is an example of a location that started up in the right place at the right time, and are taking advantage of it.


Sometimes to a point that it negatively affects the consumers.


Now, traffic is a pure nightmare in terms of attempting to get to the Rays’ Tropicana Field. That interstate traffic can get pretty hairy and will unleash the kraken in you. The alternative is to take a few smaller local roads and make your way to the area that has this restaurant for smoother parking, a short little walk, and getting some cheaper food at this institution on the way there. Paying $10 for a hot dog and a drink is always ludicrous no matter where you are.

Ferg’s Sports Bar opened before Tropicana Field became the home of one of the winningest franchises since 1998. So while attendance is a pathological disaster, it still draws a crowd of at least 10,000. So if Fergs can get a fraction of that 10,000 every home game? Well, the owner will be jamming out to Jay-Z and Kanye while wearing nothing but boxers. So how does this affect us anyway?

The service. We have to seat ourselves. We put up with this because the damn place is so close, but seating ourselves is rather ridiculous, especially when the place gets packed and is quite big. I battled for seven minutes finding a seat before nesting myself in the boondocks of the restaurant. The menu itself consists of lots of bar food with minimal amounts of main entrees to fill your belly.

I went with the fish dip and their wings---garlic parmesan and honey bbq. After finally managing to get a server, I ordered this while my friend got one of their hot dogs. I shall remind you if we had a seater there would have been a better chance for some organization to see who just got seats and needs menus and a starting point.

Luckily for me, the food actually wasn’t half bad. The ball of fish dip isn’t exactly the biggest and they attempt to counter this with an assortment of veggies. The stereotypical man in me thought that if I really wanted so many veggies I would order a salad. However the fish was good, as it mixed the delicious Tampa Bay seafood flavor with a little spice kick. The wings were actually quite good, although the bbq ones were far superior. They both had enough spice to flavor the meat and with enough of these you can actually make a filling lunch out of it.

Bottom Line: Fergs is surviving mainly because of its close proximity to Tropicana Field. Otherwise, its lack of service, the lack of a seater, the claustrophobia feeling, and the punishing parking prices nearby would have driven any other business out the window into Failsville. The food is good, but seeing that this is Tampa Bay, and there are far better options out there (The Eternal Legend known as Mazzaro's Italian Market comes to mind), Fergs needs to step up its game especially if the Rays were to move elsewhere.


In the meantime, Ferg’s is one of the luckiest restaurants I’ve visited.


Final Verdict: Lightly Recommend Before a Game.
Do Not Recommend in the Off-Season

Ferg's Sports Bar and Grill
1320 Central Ave
St Petersburg, FL 33705