FloridaFoodHound

Final Two Weeks in Tampa

This post is a bit overdue, due to limited Net access until two days ago, but I thought some of you would still be interested in how our last two weeks of dining in Tampa went before our move up to Gainesville.

The weekend before last, we decided to stop into Castellano & Pizzo Italian Gourmet Foods on Henderson one last time.  This time, instead of bringing my parents, we went with Traci's dad.  In addition to enjoying another pressed Cuban sandwich, we also ordered dessert this time from their  bakery, too.  Mazzaro's is the king of local Italian markets/delis, but I will still miss Castellano & Pizzo.

We hadn't been to Interbay Meat Market in several months, but were looking for a cheap and quick meal one night that was close by and thought of Interbay.  On our previous visits, we had stuck to deli sandwiches, but on this visit we went with some of their cafeteria-style Cuban food.  It's hard to beat a big serving of ropa vieja, black beans and yellow rice for five bucks (and no, I don't want to think about how long that food may have been sitting there).  No frills and good food always works for me.

Speaking of no frills, we also stopped into El Taconazo aka "the Taco Bus" on Hillsborough in Seminole Heights one day for lunch.  While I didn't love the place after my first visit maybe a year ago, the Taco Bus has grown on me with each subsequent visit.  The "specials" for lunch - two soft tacos with refried beans and rice- are a good deal.  The tacos are small but tasty (you do have to be a fan of cilantro to like 'em) and the thick green hot sauce on the table makes things taste even better.  The Bus will be missed.

On our last week in town, in a break from packing, we hit Mel's Hot Dogs on Busch one day for lunch.  I ordered a "Reuben" dog and Traci went with a "Chicago" dog.  Mel's is a cool little place full of history and I'm glad that multiple readers suggested we visit Mel's before we moved.  Mel himself unfortunately wasn't there when we stopped in, which, from what I understand, is part of the unique experience.

I also re-visited another reader favorite, the Tampa Bay Brewing Company, one day for drinks after work.  To me, the  Brewing Company's new location in Centro Ybor doesn't have nearly the charm of their previous location a few blocks away, but the beer selection is still great (I'm a light beer wimp and like their True Blonde Ale the best).  The outdoor bar and patio area at the new location is a good addition.

We also couldn't leave town without having going-away drinks one night at Kahuna's, a favorite neighborhood dive bar of ours on Gandy across from Derby Lane.  The food at Kahuna's can be dicey, but the drinks are  stiff and priced right.  People that think this place has a rough crowd probably spend too much time in SOHO.

Finally, we went ahead and splurged with a Sunday brunch at the Don CeSar Hotel on St. Pete Beach.  While the Vinoy and Oystercatcher's may have better brunches, we have a warm spot for the Don since Traci grew up in South Pasadena/St. Pete Beach and we used to spend a lot of time in the area.  For me, the fresh seafood selection was the highlight of the brunch.  Traci liked the made-to-order pasta station.  We were also able to get a table near the window with a direct view of the beach and the gulf.

There's lots of additional local restaurants we would have liked to hit before we moved, but we ran out of time.  While some of the criticism of the Tampa Bay food scene is justified, the area certainly isn't starved for good food and good local restaurants either - if you know where/how to look.  Granted it does take time, effort, experimentation (you can't find "hits" without being willing to eat at a fair share of "misses" as well), talking with your friends and neighbors, and just keeping your eyes and ears open.

And with that, it's time to start focusing on restaurants here in Gainesville...
 

Dan Marino's: Why We Tend to Avoid BayWalk For Food

On Friday night, we decided to head across the bay for a change and visit downtown St. Pete.  We decided on having dinner at Dan Marino's Fine Food & Spirits in BayWalk.  We had eaten or had drinks at Dan Marino's a few times before, but hadn't been back in maybe a year.  Previous visits had been positive, but not the kind of knock-out experiences where we were in a rush to return.

When we arrived last Friday night we were told that there was about a 20 minute wait for a table.  Being impatient, we checked out the bar area of the restaurant, found an open high-top table, and sat down.  Next, we watched two servers walk past us and not say hello or offer us a menu.  After several minutes, one of these servers finally returned, took our drinks orders and offered us menus.

For a starter, we ordered a spinach and three cheese dip with tortillas.  For my main course, I went with a grilled steak salad and Traci picked a turkey burger.  The spinach dip was tasty and my salad was solid (nice slices of steak).  As for Traci's burger, it was Asian themed and came with a dipping sauce she didn't like and an Asian salad on top of the burger that she wasn't a fan of either.  I had a few bites and thought the burger, once it was stripped of Asian accouterments, was pretty good.   

As we began our meal, the guy at the table next to us returned his order of "Dan's Meatloaf", saying that that it tasted like "a pack of spices from the grocery store that hadn't been mixed well."  Fortunately, our meal wasn't that bad, but overall it was a mediocre experience.  Service was lackluster and the meal was just average.  I realize that, by choosing to sit in the bar area instead of the dining area, we didn't get the full experience (we've done this before and the service was better). Still, our latest visit to Dan Marino's was a reminder of why we tend to avoid eating at BayWalk.  I still think Dan Marino's, particularly the outside balcony area, is a good spot for drinks.

There are other Dan Marino's restaurant locations in Las Vegas and Miami, with the Orlando location scheduled to reportedly re-open in "mid 2007."  The original Dan Marino's locations in Coral Springs and Fort Lauderdale both apparently closed.  The St. Pete location appears to do pretty good business, but one never knows.  It's unclear to me how involved (or uninvolved) the Hall of Fame quarterback and NutriSystem pitchman is these days in the restaurants that bear his name.

The Dan Marino's St. Pete location also came in fairly average on its last health inspection report.   

As for BayWalk, the food selection on the second floor besides Marino's includes: a location of TooJay's Deli (a generally good lunch choice), Gratzzi's (an Italian place that I've never heard much about), Tokyo Sushi Cafe (went once and thought it was okay).  There is a new little Italian place downstairs with pizzas and salads (we stopped after dinner there Friday night for gelato) and a Johnny Rockets location is still next to it.  Finally, Dish, a sort of make-you-own stir fry restaurant concept that I could never get into, closed its BayWalk and Centro Ybor locations recently.         

Bottom-line:  Dan Marino's at BayWalk is a good choice for drinks and appetizers, particularly if you can sit in the outside balcony area.  As for dinner, there's better choices in downtown St. Pete.

Inspection Scorecard: Last Inspection: March 2007 violations - Critical (7), Non-Critical (0).

Trib Writes About Local Blogger Meetup Last Week

There's a nice piece in the Trib today by Sarah Hoye about the local blogger meetup last week at Hawks Neighborhood Grill, which was organized by the State of Sunshine, Sticks of Fire, Seminole Heights, Out in Left Field, and In Theory.  There was a good turnout and it was indeed nice to get out from behind the keyboard and meet more local bloggers in a casual setting with no set agenda.

Another article in the Trib today profiled Eric Sturm, who was also at last week's event and writes the very useful Weekly Options of Tampa Bay newsletter.  He's also the author of ACCESS: TAMPA BAY.

Additional pictures of the event can be found at Tim Fasano's Tampa Taxi Shots.

Kahuna's: Fun Neighborhood Dive, Good Food Too

On Friday night we headed about five minutes down the road to Kahuna's Bar & Grill, which is directly across from Derby Lane (the venerable greyhound dog track in St. Pete for the out-of-towners).

Loosely tropical-themed Kahuna's is your classic dive bar and I mean that in a good way- cheap eats and drinks, darts, pool table, video games, and an always blaring jukebox- what else do you need. In the evenings, Kahuna's attracts it share of families for dinner, while at night the crowd does shift to being a little more rough-and-tumble- I'd call in the "anti-SoHo crowd."

We started out just going to Kahuna's for drinks and then one night decided to order an appetizer- we were pleased with it- and from there we became bold enough to order an entire meal - and surprise, surprise it was very good bar food. This past Friday, I ordered a pound of the warm peel-and-eat shrimp and Traci ordered the chicken quesadillas, which is her favorite Kahuna's dish.

The shrimp tasted fresh, were all a nice size and had some spice to them (I hate bland shrimp). Of course I had to sample the quesadilla and it also received a passing grade. Another good choice at Kahuna's is the chicken fajitas, which come out piping hot and have all the requisite side fixings. I think pretty much everything on the menu is under ten bucks.

Bottom-line: For those of you who enjoy good bar food in a fun dive bar setting once in a while (and who doesn't), then check out Kahuna's next time you're in the neighborhood of Derby Lane.