How to Pick the Best Fast Casual Restaurant in Orlando
· By the Sus Hi Team
Orlando has a lot of fast casual spots. Like, an overwhelming amount. Every plaza on Colonial has three of them and half of them are basically the same bowl with a different sticker on the lid.
So when somebody asks us how to find the best fast casual restaurant Orlando actually deserves, we don't just say "come eat with us" (okay, we say it eventually). We tell them what to actually look for. Here's the checklist we use, and yeah — we're biased, but we've also eaten at pretty much all of them.
1. Can you actually build it your way?
This is the big one. A lot of places say "customizable" and then give you three protein options and a sauce.
Real customization means you pick the base, the protein, the mix-ins, the sauces, the crunch on top. That's the whole reason we built Create Your Own bowls, burritos, poke bowls, and rolls the way we did back in 2011 — before build-your-own sushi was even a thing in the US. Robert and Teresa spent three years testing it at family sushi parties. Three years. For a bowl.
Quick test
- Can you order it spicy AND vegan? (Our Hi-Ya! Waska Bowl says yes.)
- Are there more than two sauces?
- Do they torch anything? Flame matters.
2. How fast is "fast," really?
Fast casual should mean you're eating within a few minutes of ordering. If you're standing there for 15 minutes, that's just a restaurant with no chairs.
Pro tip that works anywhere: order ahead. Over half our orders come through digital now — people figured out that walking in, grabbing a Boom Boom Shrimp Bowl, and leaving is undefeated.
3. Do the hours match your actual life?
Here's where most places fall apart. Orlando is a late-night city — UCF, USF, hospitality workers getting off shift at midnight, people leaving shows downtown.
Select Dojos are open until 2AM. That alone rules out about 90% of the competition. Nobody's building you a Fry Me a River Burrito at 1:40am except us.
4. Is there anything you literally can't get elsewhere?
This is the tiebreaker. If the menu could exist at four other places, it's not the best fast casual restaurant Orlando has — it's just fine.
Our answer: Mac & Cheese Crunch Burritos. Sushi rice, mac and cheese, crunch, all wrapped up. It shouldn't work. It absolutely works. And honestly, the Party in My Mouth Bowl is underrated — people sleep on it because they go straight for the Lit Bowl.
5. Does the place have a personality?
We call our stores Dojos. Our team are Ninjas. Our managers are Senseis. Is it a little much? Maybe. Do we care? No.
The best fast casual restaurant Orlando can offer you should feel like somewhere, not anywhere. Seven Dojos — UCF, Altamonte, Lake Nona, Millenia, Colonial, Chickasaw, and Tampa near USF — and they all feel like us.
So where should you go?
Run the checklist. Honestly run it on everybody. We just think we hold up.
Closest Dojo, order ahead on the app (rewards stack up faster than you'd think), and get the Mac & Cheese Crunch Burrito if it's your first time. If you hate it, come tell us in person. We'll be here till 2am.