Beefy King,
And some firm fans have been eating there since it opened
an iconic Orlando restaurant that has maintained a loyal following for decades, prepares to celebrate its 50th birthday Saturday.
Rick Davis says he has been eating at Beefy King a few times a week for 50 years.
The Orlando restaurant was a favorite of his in high school and where he ate his first meal in Orlando after being discharged from the Marines. Now, he frequents the drive-through during his lunch hours working for the city of Orlando.
“I get the same thing every time: a roast beef sandwich, spuds and a cup of water,” said Davis, 68. “It tastes the same as it always has.”
It’s hard for some longtime customers to explain exactly how Beefy King has become one of Orlando’s most iconic restaurants as it prepares to celebrate 50 years in business Saturday.
Yes, the fresh-made, roast beef sandwiches served on soft white buns and the crispy tater tots are delicious, they said. But mostly, they say, the small restaurant at 424 N. Bumby Ave. with a simple menu and outdated ’60s decor is celebrated for its family-run atmosphere, consistent flavors and a friendly staff that knows hundreds of customers by name and order.
Like Davis, a few customers have been regulars at Beefy King ever since it opened, giving birth to multiple generations of fans.
Ann Wilensky started visiting Beefy King in 1968 when she was 15, introduced to it because her neighbor Freeman Smith had just bought the place.
“You support your local entrepreneurs,” she said. “And it didn’t hurt that our family was big roast beef sandwich fans.”
As Wilensky got older, she continued to eat there and two of her sons got summer jobs at Beefy King. Now retired to North Carolina, she stops at Beefy King whenever she returns to Orlando, ordering a pastrami sandwich with onions and cheese.
“They were here before Disney was here,” she said.
When Orlando’s most famous restaurants are listed, Beefy King is almost always at the top of the list, even though the menu is simple and the food is “OK, but not great,” said Orlando restaurant critic Scott Joseph.
“It’s a good roast beef sandwich, better than most, but it’s not the best thing you are ever going to eat,” said Joseph, a former Orlando Sentinel food writer who now blogs. “I think it comes down to it being locally owned and by people who really care about their customers.”
Late-night host Jimmy Fallon ate at the restaurant during a 2013 visit and celebrity chef Alton Brown stopped in before a 2015 appearance in Orlando.
But many, like Wilensky, were introduced to Beefy King because of personal connections or at the urging of friends.
Eight-year-old twins Katie and Campbell Williams chowed down on turkey and roast beef sandwiches, tater tots and chocolate milkshakes during a visit Wednesday, sitting next to mom Jenny Williams.
“I first started coming here in high school,” Jenny Williams said. “These girls have been coming here as far back as they can remember.”
She said she was introduced to Beefy King through a personal connection. She was classmates with a girl, Shannon Smith, whose family owned the restaurant. Williams has been a fan ever since, she said.
The Smiths came to own Beefy King shortly after the restaurant was opened by founder Tom Veigle in 1968. Veigle, who owned a chain of pizza restaurants, discovered the roast beef sandwich on a trip to New York City in 1967 and immediately opened a restaurant in Orlando.
He sold the original Beefy location to Freeman Smith that same year, and Veigle took Beefy King public to support the growing chain. Eventually, Veigle sold the Beefy King brand and many of the restaurants closed, leaving the Smiths as the only Beefy King franchisee.
The restaurant has been passed from generation to generation over those five decades. Son Roland Smith took over when Freeman Smith retired. Now Roland Smith’s daughter and son-in-law, Shannon and James “Woody” Woodrow, run the restaurant.
“We always admired them for being closed on Sundays and making their family a priority,” said Sue Roberts of Altamonte Springs.
Roberts, too, became a lifelong Beefy King fan. Her three sons went on to work at Beefy King during summer vacations. A roast beef sandwich is always a priority when she’s in the neighborhood.
William Manit, 40, of Sebring, made sure to grab sandwiches from Beefy King with his two sons when he was in town last week visiting his father in hospice. His father, who passed away this week, started the tradition.
“My children love it,” he said. “I’ve been taking them there since they were born.”