Bathroom at Whole Foods in Winter Park Offers True Oasis -- A Hidden Gem

Whole Foods Market
1989 Aloma Ave
Winter Park, FL
www.wholefoodsmarket.com

Where is it?

The easiest way to find the bathroom here is to head to the cheese department. Once there, walk along the back wall of the place, westward, until you find the dividing line between the milk cooler and the wine racks (which are at the far left of the cheese department).

There, you'll see a service door leading to the storage area behind the coolers; on it is a sign reading, "RESTROOMS. Enter here and turn right."

Do that. Go in and you'll find yourself surrounded by shelves housing the various dry goods sold in the store. Slink past a few shelves until you come to a small hallway opening on your right. Down that hallway are the bathrooms, in an area that looks more like it's a place to shower down factor workers after a hard shift than an entrance to a bathroom.

What's it like?

This Whole Foods, the first built in the Orlando area, is a considerably smaller store than its South Orlando brother. That store is large, with wide aisles, plenty of roomy display areas and lots of bright lighting.

This one is about half the size of that one, if not smaller, and feels very crammed the minute you arrive (comparatively speaking, of course) -- including the parking lot, which doesn't seem well-equipped to handle the traffic load the place demands.

Still, this store offers many of the same items as its South Orlando brother. It's got a modestly sized produce with many fresh offerings (coincidentally, I think this location handles its produce better than the South Orlando store), a string of small counters selling fresh fish, meat and poultry, an assortment of freezers and a slew of aisles containing organic or gourmet dry and canned goods.

Unlike the South Orlando store, the aisles here are much tighter -- and often it's a struggle to get two carts past one another if they meet half way. Also, the lighting in some areas is a bit too dim - especially in the cheese and wine areas, for one. There are also fewer ready-to-eat options -- unlike the South Orlando store, this place doesn't have a grill or BBQ bar, just a small assortment of hot and cold food buffet tables, nothing more. (Though, if my last visit to the South Orlando store is indicative, it seems that location is phasing out those options as well -- apparently the regular clientele there doesn't make use of these facilities enough to keep them around for much longer.)

As a whole, this location packs a lot of punch into its tight quarters but at the same time it has a slight industrial air about it as well -- probably because the building it's housed in is much older than the one housing the South Orlando store, which is brand new.

Thus, when you head for the bathrooms and find yourself having to pass through a storage area, you expect the toilets here to be rather industrial in look and feel, like what was seen at Laurenzo's in North Miami Beach.

So imagine my surprise when I stepped into this luxurious locale -- which works more like a subdued version of the hip bathrooms at the South Orlando store than anything else.

This is a long and thin cavern, with large off-white tile on the floor and smaller beige tile on the walls. A tile trim line has been set to highlight the walls.

A two-station vanity is set at the front, with a counter made of marble and two individually framed mirrors set above each sink. Faucets are a bit of a letdown -- both in terms of their antiquated design (reminiscent of what was seen at the Delta Crown Room in the JFK International terminal) and their poor water flow (it kind of spits out in all directions instead of straight down -- no doubt, the low-flow blocker has to be cleaned or adjusted).

Beyond that are two white porcelain urinals, which are bordered by black metal toilet stall walls and offer wonderful privacy, like the toilets at Jimmy Buffet Margaritaville and the Central Florida Zoo.

In the back are two toilet stalls, a normal-sized one and a handicap one in the very back. Both contain standard white porcelain toilets.

The place itself was sparkling clean and fresh smelling -- another surprise. Though it should be said that I did manage to find a couple of wear-and-tear dings in the design, like a hole in the tile near where a urinal's pipe entered the wall (smaller than what was seen at the Venetian in Las Vegas, though).

Another amusing note is the sign I found hanging above one of the wall-mounted soap dispensers: "All Team Members Must Remove Aprons & Chef Coats Before Entering Restrooms." Quite a difference from the usual "All Employees Must Wash Hands Before Leaving" you usually see. Of course, the former is a sign I would expect to see -- but didn't -- in Laurenzo's in North Miami Beach. That wasn't the case there, though. Instead, that place had actual drawings showing what an employee must do to wash his or her hands.

Marks out of 10:

8. Really a 7, but I was expecting something so much worse and then found this oasis, so I had to raise the score a notch.

Comments to the Management:

This is a real hidden gem -- and worthy of commendation. Truly an unexpected find. Just touch up on a few things -- fix the faucet flow, the holes in the tile here and there -- and you may just have one of the best hidden gem bathrooms in Central Florida.

Stonewood Grill Bathroom Features Dim Lighting, Sensor-Driven Automatic Door

Stonewood Grill
Tuskawilla
5248 Red Bug Lake Rd
Winter Springs, FL USA
www.stonewoodgrill.com

Where is it?

Think of the interior of this place as a large U. At the entrance, you find yourself at the back of the U and facing the hostess station. The dining room is to your left and sprawls backward a good distance, housing in all about 30 to 40 tables. To the left is a bar area -- not as large area-wise as the dining room but still quite sizable, and with an elegant wooden bar taking up the center of it.

To get to the bathroom, go into the bar and wrap around it to the very back. Once there, you'll see a small enclave that houses the bathrooms. (Go past the enclave and you end up in the back of the kitchen.) The men's room is on the right when you enter the enclave, the women's on the left.

What's it like?

This upscale chain is one of many places these days that offers a modern, sophisticated environment and an upscale menu -- the sort of place that is a cut above the standard family restaurant chain (Friday's, Chili's, Ale House, etc.) in terms of ambiance and menu offerings.

The decor here is similar to other places of its ilk, like J. Alexander's and McCormick & Schmick's -- with its abundance of dark woods, pieces of modern art on the wall, dim lighting, sleekly dressed waiters and waitresses and an overall air of sophistication.

The food is decent -- especially for what is essentially medium-priced dishes (about $5 or so less per plate, give or take, than what's at J. Alexander's, for example) but the food is also a little less inspired than what you'll find at some of its like-minded locales. Not that it's bad (though there are a few hit and miss items), but the emphasis is on the oak grilling technique used here, not (to bring up J. Alexander's again) making contemporary extensions of comfort food. The food here is a bit simpler and more tested and less experimental and unpredictable than what you'll find at its contemporaries. Still good, especially the grilled items, but a little less original.

Service is good but like at Avanzare (which I feel is a better overall restaurant but which also has an inferior bathroom) it's also a bit too gregarious on the front end. Following the rapport between me and my waitress, it seemed like I was expected to get the blue cheese chips (which are just french-fried potatoes with blue cheese and balsamic reduction). While I didn't want them, that didn't prevent her from continuing to pus them on me -- and when the rest of the table agreed and we got them, they ended up being too vinegary and soggy. So the key here is to stick to your guns, no matter what (though really you shouldn't have to find yourself in that predicament)

Given the decor, you expect the bathrooms to be similar to what was found at either the aforementioned J. Alexander's and McCormick & Schmick's, in that they either would be very modernistic or modern interpretations of traditional setups. These sort of fell into the latter, with a setup that reminded me -- at least at its most basic -- of what I found at Texas de Brazil. It's a long environment, with a two-station vanity in the main drag (to your immediate left after entering), with two urinals beyond that and two stalls beyond that, in the back of the room.

More than anything, it was the place's dim lighting (as evident in our dark photographs) that proved most characteristic of the facilities. We're talking dark like Shari Sushi, Le Castagne and the aforementioned Avanzare. Only I think this place was even darker than those.

The floor is covered in gray tile with an ornate highlight trim. The walls are dark (and I can't recall if they are tile or dry wall, though I'm leaning towards the latter). The vanity is lit by two dimly lighted lamps, and the rest of the place is lit by soft bulbs placed in the ceiling (a la the Musée de l’Orangerie in Paris).

Like those other places I've mentioned so far, the vanity here has plush paper towels and free standing soap dispensers. The sinks are manual though -- no automatic stream. The stretch mirror overhead is flush with the wall and has no frame. In all, it's nice but not quite on par with the elegance seen in similar places.

The urinals are white porcelain and set behind thick heavy wooden privacy barriers -- a nice touch. The toilets, also white porcelain, are fitted into stalls with thick wall-to-ceiling barriers -- not quite as isolating as, say, what you'd find at the wonderful Mansion at Forsyth Park, but not too far off either. Of course, the heaviness of the stall walls is also felt while inside, which makes the stall feel a little smaller than it actually is, but for the sake of privacy it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

The other highlight here is the Sani-Door mechanism employed on the main door. What this is, simply put, is a sensor that lets you not have to worry about opening the door on your way out and getting your hands in contact with whatever germs someone who hasn't washed his hands has put on the door handle. Of course, it's not a foolproof plan -- there are still other ways you can contract germs (like turning off the faucet -- hence a good case for automatic faucets here) but it's a nice touch. I'm curious to see how it would perform in a high-traffic situation though -- since the door opens a bit quicker than you expect and I can see someone getting bopped coming in or out in the process.

Otherwise, it's a clean place and odor free and pleasant. Just very dark.

Marks out of 10:

7. Almost an 8, but the darkness keeps that score in check.

Comments to the Management:

First off, please increase the lighting here, making it more bright inside. It's a little too dark for a bathroom, I think. Second, get some automatic faucets and soap dispensers -- this will fulfill the promise imparted by the Sani-Door system you've installed. Adding a piece or two of modern art to the walls couldn't hurt either -- it extends the design of the dining room better into the bathroom.

Rainforest Coffee Company Bathroom Packed with Beer Ads, Not Coffee Ads

Rainforest Coffee Company
526 S Hunt Club Blvd
Apopka, FL USA

Where is it?

This is another long and thin interior, like the recently reviewed Pannullo's, only unlike that place you have a few more obstacles to cross in order to reach the bathroom.

From the front entrance, head to the back of the place, crossing a wine bar on your left and then a coffee bar on your right (which also has a window cooler for cakes and such), as well as a small assortment of couches and cafe tables taking up the spaces in between.

At the back wall, you'll see a door leading to a small kitchen on the far right and a small hallway leading to the rear of the establishment in the dead center of the back wall. The bathrooms are down that hallway.

What's it like?

This is a little neighborhood coffee house and wine bar located just north of Altamonte Springs, in the northern regions of the Orlando area. The place itself looks and feels similar to many of its coffee house brethren, in that the decor is homey yet funky and the spaces are meant for lounging and sipping beer, coffee or wine and for whiling away a few hours. Think of Bongo Java in Nashville, only without the crazy comic-book-inspired drawings. Or Huffkins in Witney, England.

Though having said that it's homey-er in here than those places -- while most coffee house chains (Starbucks, Barnie's, etc.) make their dining rooms hip hangouts with lots of polished decor, this one has a more homespun air to the arrangement. It's hip but earthy, if you will. Part of that's from wear and tear, but part's also from it being independently decorated.

The coffee is decent and the wine and beer selection (bottles only) are better than expected. The food is okay, though one of the two cakes I sampled tasted like it'd been in a cooler well past its due date. I've heard the sandwiches are good, but I didn't try them.

Judging from my visit, I will say the clientele is a tad sketchy and rough around the edges, which I think is perhaps due in part that the location of the store is a bit out of the way for most semi-sophisticated coffee drinkers or wine drinkers to visit. On my stop, a particular regular sitting at the wine bar decided to start up a rather volatile and long-winded drunken tirade aimed at nearly all the other customers there, the acoustic duo playing on a stage setup by the entrance hall to the bathrooms (the duo were friends of mine) and, what seemed, herself. Really, it was a bloody mess -- who thought boozers hung out and drank freely at coffee houses? Not I, until I visited here.

Anyway, when we asked the owner if he would mind stepping in and quieting things, he said that she was a regular who usually garnered a $60 bar tab and as such he felt that he needed to cut her a little slack. I appreciate the sentiment, considering today's economic woes, but at the same time you wonder if his other customers mattered much in comparison. I'm not so sure, to be honest, but I'll leave my speculations at that.

Anyway, the bathrooms don't extend the homespun hipness of the dining room. In fact, they feel more in line with what was found at Sharky's Shrimp Shack and the Long Point Cafe than anything else. One-baggers, single-chamber units, with the bare necessities and little else. Only it's not as polished as those.

It should be noted that the toilets here have many more beer ads than one might expect. In fact, I haven't seen so many beer ads in a bathroom since visiting the Pig and Whistle Pub in Sebastian, FL. Of course, this place isn't that extensive, but it's still more than what I would expect a coffee house to have. Clearly, this place is on some mailing lists!

Anyway, the place has just one toilet, one sink station and one urinal -- all white porcelain and all pretty standard in make and model (take the beer ads out and you probably couldn't tell the difference between this place and the toilet at World Market Sand Lake Road, for example). The floors are covered with that standard red-brick tile we've seen at countless other places, like Harris Teeter Raleigh and Fresh Market Orlando, among others. The walls are white drywall -- again, nothing special.

Everything was pretty clean, though the floor was dotted with lots of pieces of paper -- not sure if that was from some deteriorating beer ads or from the toilet paper or paper towels. Most likely the latter, since the towel dispenser was empty and instead of refilling it a nearly empty roll sat atop the sink for all to use (or make confetti from).

Elsewhere, there was some noticeable wear and tear in the seams behind the sink and the toilet -- and there was an mountable air freshener slipped into the area behind the door.

Marks out of 10:

5. Not terrible, but not great either. You could see the place going up or down in score on any given night, really.

Comments to the Management:

I don't mind the beer ads, but a more creative presentation might be better instead of just piling them on the back wall. And why not make the interior homey, like what's been done at Greens and Grille, or to a lesser degree, the Ravenous Pig? And it couldn't hurt to keep the paper towel dispenser stocked up so there isn't as much confetti on the floor.

Fuggedaboudit: Bathroom at Pannullo's Makes Offer You Can't Refuse

Pannullo's Italian Restaurant
216 S Park Ave
Winter Park, FL USA
www.pannullos.com

Where is it?

This is a pretty small, narrow place -- about as close to a authentically sized New York City restaurant as you will probably find in Orlando. Really, it's just a long, thin rectangle, with a thinner central area that makes room for a semi-open kitchen.

To find the bathroom, head through the outdoor seating area up front, straight past the hostess station, to the very rear of the place -- the back, left corner to be specific. Once there, head past the waitress station and look on your left -- the entrance to the bathrooms will be there.

What's it like?

This semi-upscale joint, located on swanky Park Avenue in Winter Park, is one of the city's more reliable spots for decent everyday Italian food. Think of it as a neighborhood pizzeria that's raised the quality of food a beyond the standard pizzeria fare.

Inside, it looks much like a Manhattan restaurant, with brick walls, dim lighting, and a somewhat crammed dining room that (in my opinion) packs in a few too many tables for its own good. But the food is good and well-priced and the service is commendable. The pizza baked here is some of the best in the city (at least in my top 5) and the pasta dishes (including a wonderful ravioli terracina -- ravioli stuffed with mushroom and spinach) and sandwiches (a terrific meatball Parmesan sub) are baked on fresh bread and are definitely a cut above from the standard sub shop or chain pizza house.

The crowd here ranges from regulars and families to see-and-be-seen types (it is Park Avenue) and college kids. Definitely worth a stop if you're in the area. If only the dining room were a little roomier.....

The bathrooms poke a lot of fun at the criminal end of the Italian-American persona, as the green-painted walls are covered with the names of various gangsters and characters (and, in one case, Donnie Brasco, who was an undercover cop masquerading as a gangster, but who wants to quibble with specifics, considering the subject matter, right?).

As such, as you peruse the walls here, you see names like "Sonnie the Bull," "Moe Greene" (from the Godfather), "Bugsy Seigel," and aforementioned "Donnie Brasco" and many more. It's a cute gimmick that will make any mob movie fan smile. (Coincidentally, the motif would pair nicely with a visit to the bathroom at NYPD Pizza in Downtown Orlando, since that bathroom has been designed on a classic NYC police station. As for who has a better pizza.... that's a debate best left to another setting.)

The facilities themselves, like the dining room, are a little tight-fitting. Not as tight as Club Quarters Philadelphia or at Petro Palace lobby or the SkyBar in St. Petersburg, Russia, but still a bit too tight for it's own good, especially if there is more than one person inside at a time.

The layout, like the dining room, is that of a long, thin rectangle. Upon entering, you'll see a sink station across from you, in the back corner. It's got a porcelain vanity, with a funky-framed mirror overhead and a cabinet underneath. Off-white tile covers the area immediately around the sink -- sort of like a splash-proof zone (the designers at the Lotus Blossom Cafe in Disney's EPCOT might want take note of the effectiveness of this setup). Above that, as with the rest of the upper walls of the place, are the painted green walls with the names of the mobsters on it.

In the front is an old-fashioned urinal that stretches to the floor -- combined with the tile work (which mixes straight block tiles with a wavy-lined pattern highlight), the place gives off the look and feel of an old-fashioned toilet chamber. Mind you, it's not as successful as, say, Montparnasse 1900 in Paris or Philadelphia's Davio's, but certainly more than Columbia Restaurant Celebration, which promised an old-fashioned bathroom atmosphere but didn't deliver at all.

The toilet stall is in the middle of the place, kind of pushed in between the sink and urinal. As said, it's pretty tight in here.

It's also a bit noisy, since the entrance is set right across from the main waitress station, which is behind the bar against the back wall and the drink filling station. To get here, you will probably have to dodge a few waiters.

It's clean for the most part, however. I didn't spot any spilled water or paper, but I did find a napkin left behind on the sink station. Considering the charm of the place, I said, "Fuggedaboudit."

Marks out of 10:

7. A fun place, but also a bit too crammed and noisy. Almost an 8, but I just couldn't do it.

Comments to the Management:

Seeing that you probably can't make it any bigger, perhaps add some music in here, to lessen the noise factor. Otherwise, kudos on the clever design.

Amway Arena Bathroom Really Just a Cave with Lots of Urinals

Amway Arena
600 W Amelia St
Orlando, FL USA
www.orlandovenues.net

Where is it?

This bathroom reviewed here is located near the entrance to the seats in sections 103-104 and 203-204.

So to get there, find that area via the signs pointing to them, look across the hall from them -- you'll see a large tiled divider wall (almost monolithic in size, really). Go behind that wall and you'll come across the bathrooms.

What's it like?

Orlando's main arena, home to the Orlando Magic and big concert draws, this large stadium seats around 17,000 for most basketball games and concerts. It's a pleasant enough place to enjoy such an event, though the echoes and acoustics can be a bit of a strain -- as much sound seems to get stuck in its many upper corners.

Like most arenas, it has a number of attractions, from various gift stalls selling T-shirts and other wares, to an assortment of food vendors, offering an array of fast food and such. Seats are of the plastic fold-down variety -- not too comfortable, but not as bad as other venues I've been to.

The bathrooms here are enormous, multi-person and cavernous. In fact, walking in one it really looks just like a being in a cave -- only this cave is lined with urinals along its perimeter.

And it's not as dank as the cave-like bathroom at at Pulkovo International Airport in St. Petersburg, Russia, but that's only because it's much larger than that. Still, this is very much a cave and nothing else.

Essentially, the facilities here consist of one long room. A barrage of sinks (all white porcelain, with single mirrors over them) covering both sides of the walls greets you once you step inside. Beyond that is a long single room that has dozens of urinals fixed to its left and back wall and a long row of toilet stalls along the right wall.

The urinals have no dividers between them, and black metal makes up the stall divider walls. Various posters of upcoming events hang above the urinals -- which is better than nothing, I guess. The upper walls are covered in beige tile, the lower walls with a drab gray tile. That same colored gray tile (albeit smaller) covers the floors, which is also dotted with small black tiles for highlights -- similar to what was seen at Theo's Kitchen, only on a much larger scale.

What's amusing here is that a lot of the fixtures are dated. The sink faucets, for example, are the old-fashioned turn-on variety you used to see predominantly several years back. I haven't seen faucets this antiquated since visiting the Delta Crown Room in the JFK International terminal.

Also, this is the only place I've ever seen advertisement stickers placed around the piping of the toilets -- a very strange place to place an ad, I think, since you can never really see the entire ad. So far, I've seen business cards and fliers placed in the bathroom (like at that horrid CVS Pharmacy in Savannah, GA) and I've seen printed pieces of paper taped to specific areas of the bathroom (like at the scary Goyan Gip Korean Restaurant), but I never have seen stickers wrapped around piping. First time for everything, I guess.

That aside, the place was pretty clean as a whole -- though I visited during the opening minutes of a basketball game, so few had made their way to the bathroom by then. I've made other visits while attending other events and the bathroom was far messier then. For this one, I found some trash on the floor, some spilled water and pee and some foul odors in the air, but nothing too horrible. (It's been worse on subsequent visits.)

Still, outside of the sheer size of this cave, there isn't much that's memorable here. Utilitarian at best, and best experienced early on in the game than later as it gets pretty crowded during halftime and on the way out.

Marks out of 10:

6. Really a 5, but that one visit, where I was the only person in there, really added to the experience.

Comments to the Management:

Update the fixtures and keep it cleaner when the place is being swamped -- both things I'm sure you already know, though.