Chef/owner Steve Saelg was one of the pioneers of Orlando’s food truck boom, and his Crooked Spoon truck was one of the more popular ones at area food truck rallies. But Saelg, who started out as a Wall Street financier before turning to a life in the culinary arts, longed to stop roaming. So he parked the truck and opened a gastropub with the same name.

In this case, gastropub probably means something closer to a sports bar. The atmosphere is casual, the bar is visible from most corners of the dining areas, and the requisite televisions hang all about.

I loved the pork belly BLT, a thick and delightfully fatty belly section with a crispy exterior, served on fresh brioche bread with spicy arugula, marinated tomato and remoulade. And as a wonderful surprise, an egg, sunny-side up, on top. It’s called a sandwich, but just try to eat it with anything but a knife and fork.

I also enjoyed the lobster grilled cheese, which was sort of like a lobster roll with a bit of melted cheeses, including brie, swiss and cheddar, on top. The sweet lobster meat was served with tomatoes on the buttery toasted bread.

Longtime Orlandoans will recognize the name Uday Kadam as the owner of a restaurant called Passage to India. Kadam sold it and the quality declined. Now Kadam is in Clermont serving the sort of fine Indian restaurant that first earned him praise, here in a modest setting made special with white tablecloths.

As you might glean from the name, Southern on 8th serves a menu of Southern dishes, both traditional and contemporary, and occupies a corner space at West Montrose Street and – you probably can figure this out – 8th Street.