Food is to be enjoyed
We combine our recipes
With emphasis on taste
Comfort and relaxation
About Us
Bem Bom on Corrine is a vibrant casual dining restaurant with a cozy dining room and a relaxing patio. Its family-friendly ambiance and delectable cuisine helped it earn the Restaurant of the Year award.
As one of the best Orlando restaurants located in the heart of Audubon Park Garden District, it attracts a dedicated following of families, foodies, and professionals alike.
We combine our recipes
with emphasis on comfort
taste and relaxation
Our Vision
Bem Bom on Corrine is a fast-casual dining restaurant in Audubon Park Garden District, Orlando, FL, which offers Mexican & Portuguese cuisine. We earned a unique position in the marketplace and a reputation as one of the top Orlando restaurants through our world-class culinary expertise; a fully integrated and successfully executed extension concept of Bem Bom Food Truck & Catering; a flourishing 5-year operation with a very large existing customer base; a premium high-traffic location; a family-friendly atmosphere; and a genuinely customer-centered service that represents a truly competitive value.
Bem Bom on Corrine is a locally-owned restaurant with a passion to become an integral part of the Audubon Park Garden District & surrounding communities. Our principles are demonstrated in our dedication and support to our community as well as our commitment to source locally-raised ingredients and employ local area talents.
You may check our gallery to get a glimpse of our customer's unique and authentic food dining experience.
Our Concept
Bem Bom on Corrine delights their customers and their palates with famous Mexican and Portuguese restaurant dishes. Prepared from only the freshest ingredients, each plate is presented in an invitingly fun set-up.
Our name itself translates to “ Good Good,” commonly used in the Portuguese language, added with the street name of the location of our restaurant in Audubon Park Garden District.
Our concept embodies a world-class, chef-driven culinary direction with a delicately balanced menu that boasts a unique combination of Mexican cuisine and Portuguese staples.
We are proud to have renowned chef Francisco Mendonca at the helm. Chef Mendonca draws from his passion and impeccable background as a classically trained French chef. With rich experience in creating dishes faithful to both the Mexican and Portuguese heritage- infused with his own creativity- each dish is both original and refined.
Our Cuisine
Serving up some of the best dishes in Orlando, our cuisine captures the authentic zest of Mexico and Portugal by sourcing from local farmers, fishermen, and reliable importers to find the most flavorful ingredients.
From the fresh handmade Portuguese bread, tasty salsas, and savory sauces made fresh daily in-house-- you’ll definitely want to order online.
Meet the Team
Portalia Team
Executive Chef
Francisco T Mendonca
Managing Partner
AJ Campofiore
Testimonials
Bem Bom Reviews
The food is very flavorful and well-prepared. Service is very friendly and the ambiance is great! Definitely recommend!
Lola Kurtzhals-klingKent School District
Amazing food by Chef Chico! I will be there often! Such flavor and such spices and sauces but no surprise there- this is how Chico does it!!
Jim Lummus Senior vice President, Academic Partnerships
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2012
Bem Bom Foodtruck
First authentic Portuguese food truck, also serving gourmet tacos and pastries from Chef Chico Mendonça. Our official debut date was April 25, 2012, which is the Portuguese Carnation Revolution held in Palm Bay, FL -
2013, Jan
Featured in Traveler Foodie
"Portuguese Sausage was spicy, bold, semi hard, and full of flavors. Piri Piri Chicken had a smooth buttery spiciness that hits just at the right level. The flavors and textures of these simple dishes packed an amazing bundle of joy to my heart. Tacos were firm and pliable, held together very well." -
2013
Won as Best Food Truck in Orlando A-List
Won as Best Food Truck in Orlando A-List, based on more than 3,000 votes from local experts. "Bem Bom is our favorite food truck in Orlando. Chef Chico is a poet of taste. Try his chouriço taco and you will know what I mean!" -
2013, July
Featured in Food Trucks around the World, AFAR
"Chef Chico Mendonça brings a taste of Portugal to Orlando with his food truck, Bem Bom. For the signature Prego de Frango Piri-Piri, he marinates chicken in his own piri-piri and serves it on fresh, warm prego (a crunchy yet chewy Portuguese bread) with hot mustard, cilantro, and pepper relish. If you’re lucky enough to be at the truck when Mendonça has piri-piri for sale, don’t leave without buying a bottle." - Sarah Clements Olivieri, AFAR.com -
2013, Oct
Featured in Exploring Orlando
"For our first visit, we got two different types of tacos. Both were amazing with the way the meats and the toppings came together. I've had issues with good food being covered up with bad garnishments, but this wasn't the case. Everything tasted fresh and came together with full flavor. This was some of the best food I had enjoyed from a food truck. A nice bonus that night was being able to enjoy the food inside Redlight Red Light." -
2014, January
Featured in Food Network's Eat St.
Food Network’s “Eat St.” was in Florida to film some of the food trucks. We were first to be featured with chef Francisco “Chico” Mendonca behind the wheel and in front of the stove. -
2014, Aug
Featured in Spork Olando "Finding Orlando's Tastiest Tables"
" Bem Bom, an authentic Portuguese food truck, serves gourmet tacos, pastries and “The Bomb” from Chef Chico Mendonçain in various Orlando locations. We recently spotted Bem Bom at Tasty Tuesdays in the Milk District. After surveying a handful of trucks, we couldn’t refuse these glorious fries, especially after we noticed every other person placing a fry order. These “Bomb” fries are tossed in Thai Chiles, Thai Basil, white truffle oil and topped with finely shaved Parmigiano Reggiano. I’m pretty sure I fried the roof of my mouth as I shoveled multiple fries onto my taste buds, they were just that good! The basil added an interesting depth of flavor and balanced out some of the Chile spice. The Parmigiano Reggiano was divine, shaved to perfection and rounded out the white truffle flavor which can sometimes be overpowering." -
2014, December
A write-up from Mr. Trailers
"Bem-Bom is a truly unique food truck serving up Portuguese and Tex-Mex inspired dishes to residents of the Orlando area. In many cases, Bem-Bom serves meals you simply can’t find anywhere else." - www.mr-trailers.com -
2015
The Plan
We got together for some eating, drinking, and laughing and we came up with a business plan to take an already amazing product and give it a brick and mortar home. -
2015, November
Orlando's Tastiest Food on Wheels
"A food truck that pays homage to Portuguese cuisine may seem less unusual in South Florida, where international cultures play center stage across much of the food scene. But in Orlando, it feels a little like a revelation. Bem Bom is the brainchild of Francisco “Chico” Mendonça, a chef who grew up in the Azores, and whose culinary influences also include French, New American, and even Tex-Mex. Today, that eclectic background can be experienced through BemBom's menu, which includes items such as a chicken sandwich made with a traditional piri-piri marinade, and the Nata, a Portuguese-influenced egg custard tart first made by monks in the 18th century." - Valerie Conners, Travel Channel -
2016, March
Orlando's Hottest - Edible Orlando
"There’s hot – and then there’s chef Chico’s hot. If you order one of his juicy tacos, get ready for a picante culinary ride. For the past three years, Francisco “Chico” Mendonça—the owner and chef of Bem Bom—has successfully set local tongues on fire with serrano, malagueta, habanero and other potent chilies. Blending cuisines of France, Mexico and his homeland of Portugal won him the best food truck title on the Orlando-A-List, twice. Orlandoans voted for his lively sauces, vibrant salsas and senses-blowing fries." - Marta Madigan, www.edibleorlando.com -
2016, October
The 10 Best Food Trucks In Orlando, Florida
"Bem Bom is one of the best places to pick up high quality Portuguese food in the Southern states. Chef Chico Mendonça perfected his skills by working in Bermuda and Dallas before bringing his unique blend of Portuguese, New American and French cuisine to Orlando. Specialties include mango infused fish, mushroom truffle quesadilla, and carnitas tacos – a type of Portuguese taco filled with braised pork. Anyone who has visited Portugal will be familiar with pastel de nata, the famous Portuguese custard tarts, and you’ll be pleased to learn that they sell them here. They also sell soups and salads that can be taken away to eat at a later date." - Rowan Anderson, www.theculturetrip.com -
2018, August
Bem Bom on Corrine Opens
Opening of our newest restaurant, Bem Bom on Corrine -
2018, August
Bem Bom Take-Out Service Opens
We open our doors for the first time to begin our take-out service! -
2018, August
Introducing our very own House Beer
Our neighbors at Redlight Redlight have worked with us to create our very own house beer. This dark, Mexican larger called Á nossa - a phrase used to make a toast in Portuguese, that means "to us!", is the perfect pairing for your Bem Bom dinner. -
2018, October
USA Today 10 Best Value Venues in Orlando
“With the opening of Bem Bom on Corrine, another of Orlando's amazing food trucks goes brick and mortar, much to the delight of Chef Chico fans around the metro. With Portuguese (Piri Piri!) and Mexican delights populating its early menu, it's doubtless more creativity will come, but for now, delicious wine and craft beer, vibrant live music and delicacies from Portuguese sausage to queso fundido to fish tacos and lots more tempt the taste buds of its guests. Truffled, whipped potatoes in several incarnations are carb-loading at its most decadent. Try "the bomb," which incorporates Thai basil and chiles with Parmigiano Reggiano.” -
2018, November
Bem Bom makes the successful transformation from food truck to must-stop restaurant - Orlando Weekly
"After enduring 33 months of struggles and budget overruns just to get their restaurant open, Mendonça and co-owner A.J. Campofiore have shown a resolute commitment to seeing their vision through, no matter the cost. It's clear Bem Bom's eats will be of the authentic – not diluted – kind and that's, well, bem bom." - Faiyaz Kara, Orlando Weekly -
2019, April
Orlando Magazine named us the Best New Restaurant in Orlando
It’s been one long journey to make our dream a reality... and we couldn’t be more proud today!! Thank you to all of our amazing customers that have supported us and big thank you to Orlando Magazine for naming us the Top New Restaurant in Orlando!! It’s Chef Chico’s passion to deliver an incredible dining experience is in everything we serve. What an honor to be blessed with. From our family to yours thanks again and see you at the place to be... A’nossa! -
2019, May
Featured in Orlando Sentinel "Cinco de Mayo: Five Mexican eateries offer ways to celebrate in Orlando"
"Bem Bom will transform May 5 into an indoor-outdoor party zone with free chips and salsa. Carnitas tacos and sandwiches will be served from the food truck window as guitarist Fito Espinola entertains the evening crowd. To power his Cinco de Mayo celebration, chef Chico Mendonça will create a special, Mexican-dishes-only menu available starting at 10:30 a.m. Though details are secret, the word is patrons can expect a mole poblano sauce. Originating from the Mexican state of Puebla, chef Mendonça’s mole calls for 30 ingredients, among which are chiles and chocolate. Also leaked from the secret menu: Agave wine margaritas and free tequila shots with selected entrées. So say: Cheers!, ¡Salud!, À nossa! And bring your own chair." -
2019, April
The 13 Hottest Restaurants in Orlando Right Now, Spring 2019
"To say the transition from food truck to brick-and-mortar operation was a challenging one for Bem Bom chef/owner Francisco “Chico” Mendonça and business partner A.J. Campofiore would be an understatement of epic proportions. Now that it has opened, the Audubon Park charmer is consistently hopping, and the inviting patio fronting Corrine Drive is one of the toughest seats to snag in the neighborhood. They come for Chico’s Portuguese and Mexican dishes, much like the ones he fashioned inside his food truck and, prior to that, at Winter Park’s Cocina 214. Frango de churrasco (or barbecued chicken) done in the piri piri style is a must, but dense and porky grilled chouriço is hard to overlook, as is the center-cut salted cod topped with caramelized onions and peppers drizzled in Portuguese olive oil and served with punched potatoes." - Faiyaz Kara, www.miami.eater.com -
2020, February
Bem Bom Honored as Restaurant of the Year in 2020 Orlando Sentinel Foodie Awards
I see it every time I go to Bem Bom. Over and over. Servers, bartenders, and even Chef Chico Mendonça — whether outside, where hands may be shaken or hugs exchanged, or a quick salute from inside the small kitchen as he mans the many pots and pans — greeting guests as they arrive. Like old friends. Like family. He’s connecting people with food, the kinds of people who enjoy lingering, talking over a bottle and a bite and having an experience. A bem bom experience." Amy Drew Thompson, www.orlandosentinel.com
Restaurant Hours
MONDAY 4:30pm -8:30pm (Happy hour all night)
TUESDAY-WEDNESDAY: 4:30pm - 8:30pm
THURSDAY: 4:30pm - 9:00pm
FRIDAY-SATURDAY: 11:30am - 9:00pm
SUNDAY: 11:00am - 5:00pm
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
COPYRIGHT ©2020
BEM BOM FOOD
