My Cousin Vinnie's - King of Steaks

My Cousin Vinnie's - King of Steaks
855 South Nova Road
Ormond Beach, FL 32174
(386)677-3800 - Phone
(386)677-3521 - Cell

I had a stellar day last Friday for a foodie. I did two restaurants for the very first time and both were pretty good. I'll start with lunch, so things progress chronologically.

My friend Kelly was out of town on Thursday when I called her for lunch, but she told me she would join me at My Cousin Vinnie's when she came back in town the next day. This was a perfect suggestion since I have been wanting to go there for some time. It should be noted here that the picture above is not of one of their sandwiches. I pulled that from Google images, since I forgot to take one myself. However, this one looks pretty darn close to what they have to offer.

It should be noted that this is a small location. They do have seating outside, but in this hot Florida weather, it really isn't an option right now. When we visited last week, the air conditioners inside were challenged and it was almost unbearable there, but we stuck it out. The seating inside accommodates roughly 16-20 people, but it wasn't a full-house on the day of our visit. Get there prior to noon and you should be all right.

You order your food at the counter and there is a great menu to choose from. All of the classic cheese steak varieties are available. I actually learned something on Friday and that is an Original Philly Cheese steak means a steak sandwich without cheese and onions. It is just the meat on the bun. I guess it makes sense since you have to order your sandwich "wit" or "wit out." That is with cheese and onions or without cheese and onions for folks not from Philly. You can also get your sandwich is three sizes. If memory serves me correctly they come in 6", 8" and12" versions. Kelly and I both ordered a steak sandwich wit, but she went 6" while I went 8". I was tempted to go the distance and probably would have done so if the air conditioning was working. I know that sounds weird, but if I am hot, I cannot eat that much. We also both ordered fries and a drink. My Cousin Vinnie's advertises fresh-cut fries, but the one order is big enough for two people.

Once we placed our order it took just a few minutes for our food to arrive. It has been a while since I have had a good cheese steak so I was really looking forward to this. The sandwich and fries came out hot and looking great. The cheese steaks were loaded with cheese sauce and perfectly grilled onions. The sandwiches and the fries were both very good. I think I could definitely go 12" if I leave out the fries.

My Cousin Vinnie's - King of Steaks is owned by Vinnie Tarlini who also does all of the cooking. He seems to be a great guy, coming out to the dining area to talk to people and ask if everything is good. I really wish him the best. As we were leaving, he thanked us for our business and asked us to please come back. He gave me his card and told me to call ahead for take-out if we didn't have time to eat-in. I thought that was a nice touch.

My Cousin Vinnie's is also open for breakfast. I may have to go there someday to check this out as well. I'll surely be going back for a cheese steak. Please support Vinnie if you are looking for a good cheese steak. I want to see this place survive.

For my visit to My Cousin Vinnie's - King of Steaks with Kelly, I will have to give them three Stiffy's. They would definitely have gotten a four if the A/C had been working properly.

Eat, drink and be merry!

Harry