I'm loving some fast food these days

I have two new favorite meals and they are from chain restaurants! But they are in the Grove.

The first is Subway's new Ka Pow Avacado and Turkey Breast sub (no bacon). I get this for breakfast or lunch. Get it toasted, you gotta have it toasted. (This comes with bacon, too and all veggie if you like and I think there is a club or something like that). I usually go to the Subway on US1 near Dunkin' Donuts, but the other Subway on Grand Avenue has it, too. I hope they keep it on the menu, they change things around a lot. I'm still waiting for the chicken salad to come back.

My next favorite thing is the new Cantina Bowl at Taco Bell. I get the chicken one (they have all veggie and beef, too). Latin Chef Lorena Garcia created it. It's perfection in a bowl! There's only 3.5 grams of saturated fat and a lot of protein (26 g). No trans fat. For a Taco Bell item, it's quite healthy. I've had it three times this week already! I'm getting embarrassed to keep going to the Grove Taco Bell so I may go to the other on 32nd Avenue, you know, on Coral Way.

I still love our local stuff -- the tuna sandwich at The Bookstore, the fish soup at Focaccia, almost every salad at Greenstreets and the turkey sandwich at Lulu. One of my big time favorites is the roast beef sandwich at The Grove Spot. No cheese, with lettuce and tomato and horse radish on a wholewheat roll. Perfect. I love most things at LoKal (try the Classic Burger and the side of yellow and red peppers) and Calamari, as well as all our Grove restaurants. Oh yea, try the Special Chinese Soup at Confucio Express, too, and the pizza at Spartico.

One other thing, regarding the chains. I like the new chocolate Frosty cone at Wendy's, but only because for over a week this summer, I was living on chocolate Mr. Softee cones in New York and this is the closest thing to it here. It's literally a Frosty in a waffle cone. It's a bit soft for a cone, but it sort of works.

I mostly eat at Grove establishments but I just wanted to share with you some of the healthy stuff at the chain restaurants, like the Subway sandwich and the Cantina Bowl at Taco Bell because they may be gone soon. Not the restaurants, the food specials.

I'll give you my favorite food truck item in another story.