FloridaFoodHound

Carrabba's Italian Grill in Gainesville

I don't have anything against corporate chain restaurants, I just find in general that we have the most interesting and unique experiences at local restaurants.  That's not to say that there aren't local places that turn out to be real duds or chains that feel local and are very well done.

With this in mind, last weekend we headed over to the local Carrabba's Italian Grill for dinner.  In the interest of full disclosure, a Carrabba's representative had contacted me a few weeks ago and asked if I'd be interested in a complimentary meal in return for a honest, no-strings-attached review of the experience.  I accepted.

When we arrived for dinner, the place was already pretty busy.  We decided to sit at one of the counters that surround the open kitchen.  This ended up being a good choice as we were treated to several samples, compliments of the kitchen, throughout our meal.  We sat right next to the wood-burning oven and pizza prep station.  The manager working the area was friendly and knowledgeable, which made up for the fact that our server was new and still learning the menu.  At least she didn't lack enthusiasm.

For our starter, we tried the antipasti platter of calamari, bruschetta and mozzarella.  The bruschetta and mozzarella were both solid and the calamari was nicely done - lightly fried and not greasy.  Moving on to our main course, I decided on the lobster ravioli and Traci ordered the chicken gratella, which was a grilled chicken breast with herbs and oil.  Her sides were mashed potatoes and grilled asparagus. 

My lobster ravioli was a good choice, as it's hard to go wrong with lobster and pasta.  This being said, I would have enjoyed a little kick to the sauce, although I realize this might have overwhelmed the lobster flavor. Traci enjoyed her chicken, which had a nice grilled taste and was juicy.  She called her mashed potatoes delicious, which I can vouch for after stealing a few bites.  The asparagus was solid.

Seemingly taking a page out of the Seasons 52 play book (a Darden chain that doesn't seem like a chain by the way), Carrabba's desserts are available in "dessert shot glasses" for lack of a better term.  "Full-sized" desserts are also available.  We went with samplers ("shots"?) of cannoli and fudge brownie.  I'm always a sucker for a good cannoli.  Needless to say, we had to be rolled out of the place.

Overall, we had a good experience.  Sitting up at the chef counter certainly added to the meal and I think the counter works well for couples or diners eating solo.  There's also a nice bar area.  In comparing Carrabba's to other Italian chains, it's obviously a cut above Olive Garden in food and atmosphere, but you pay for it.  I've only eaten once at Romano's Macaroni Grill, but enjoyed Carrabba's more.  I am partial to the Maggiano's Little Italy chain.  We had several very good meals at the Tampa location.

Drop me a line if you've eaten at the Gainesville Carrabba's - what did you think?

In related news, I haven't had a chance to try it yet, but Francesca's Trattoria is now open.

T-Rays Burger Station, Blue Water Bay, Chopstix and Francesca's

The summer certainly seems to be flying by.  I still can't believe we've lived in Gainesville for a year now, although this place certainly has felt like home for many months.  As you might expect, over the past few weeks we've revisited several restaurants we've been to before, as well as tried some new ones.  Below are quick reports on several of them. As always, drop me a line with Gainesville area restaurants to check out.

• On a bit of a whim, we took a day trip to Amelia Island/Fernandina Beach last week.  Before hitting the road, I looked up restaurant recommendations on Chowhound and came across T-Rays Burger Station.  It sounded like the kind of local diner/dive that would be right up our alley.   From the outside T-Rays still looks very much like an old gas station because it is or was (the pumps don't seem to work anymore).  We arrived as T-Rays was changing over from its breakfast to lunch menu.  Locals sitting patiently waiting was a good sign.  Once T-Rays opened for lunch, I ordered a special of the day, shrimp salad on a hoagie roll. Traci had a burger.  Our meals were tasty, the price was right, and for being first-timers, the service was certainly friendly.  Chalk it up as a good little find. The picture below is of T-Rays (impressive, huh?).  

• The weekend before last, we decided to celebrate Traci's new job by driving out to Blue Water Bay in Melrose for dinner. Our one previous visit for brunch a few months ago had been very enjoyable.  This time I wanted to check out their well-known seafood buffet and Traci was in the mood for a steak.  To speed up our wait (I'd guess we spent at least 30-40 minutes waiting for a table), we decided to grab the first two available seats at the bar (we actually like the feel of this side room with its rustic Florida decor more than the main room).  Next thing we knew, we were accidentally chatting with Byron Terwillegar, the owner and head chef at Blue Water Bay, who was sitting a few seats over.  Needless to say, we had a great meal and I enjoyed talking food with Byron. For special occasions or when you just want to treat yourself, Blue Water Bay and Mark's Prime are tops on my list.

• Now on to a not so stellar meal.  This past weekend, we were in the mood for Asian of the non-takeout and non-buffet variety and Chopstix Cafe on 13th St. seemed to fit the bill.  Our one previous visit to Chopstix had been a fair to good experience overall, although I can't say I fully understood even then why lots of people seem to get excited about the place.  After our second visit this past weekend, I'm further confused.  Granted, the view of Biven's Arm Lake is great and the prices are very reasonable.  The food on the other hand, to me at least, just tastes average, the service is mediocre and  the place is fairly run-down (call me crazy, but I feel cleaner in La Tienda).  On this visit I tried the spicy duck soup and Traci went with a bowl of Thai-style noodles (I forget the her particular entree).  For appetizers we ordered chicken satay and bo cuon (rice angel hair noodles, thin sliced beef and lettuce wrapped rice).  Unfortunately, nothing really stood out for us.

• In other news, I received an email yesterday that a new Northern Italian-style restaurant called Francesca's Trattoria is slated to open in the coming days.  The opening could come as soon as next Monday.  For more information, check out Francesca's website and consider signing up for its VIP list.  In the interest of full disclosure, I'm friends with Dave Khey, whose family is opening up the restaurant.  I've always enjoyed talking restaurants with Dave and since I really don't have a go-to Italian restaurant in town, I'm looking forward to trying Francesca's.  So what's your favorite local, sit-down Italian restaurant (this doesn't mean pizza joints like Satchel's and Blue Highway)?

That's all for now.  The picture above is of sunset last week at Amelia Island.  Enjoy your summer.

The Top, Pei Wei Asian Diner and Mac's Drive Thru

The summer break has meant a little more time for eating out and exploring more restaurants in and around Gainesville.  We also got over to Tampa for a day last weekend.  On with the latest updates.

• The Top:  Believe it or not, we've lived in Gainesville for about a year now and haven't been to The Top.  Pretty bad, huh?  Thanks to encouragement from Lynn and Tim, we had our first meal at The Top last week.  I  now understand why The Top's sweet potato fries have a cult following - simply delicious.  Lynn also turned us onto the corn fritters, which even topped the sweet potato fries.  Traci and I both went with burgers.  I was warned in advance about the hipster servers at The Top and had the opportunity to experience their indifference first hand (I think I was very nice in requesting a correction to my order, but I digress).  Overall, though, it was a good experience (I particularly like the funky vibe of the place) and will likely try The Top again for drinks, dinner or a combo of the two. 

• Pei Wei Asian Diner:  Anyone who has read this blog for a while knows that I focus most of my efforts on supporting independent, local restaurants rather than chains when I can help it.  This isn't to say that there aren't some quality chains out there (Chipotle comes to mind).  Last weekend, before heading back to Gainesville, we had an early dinner at a Pei Wei  in Tampa.  Pei Wei shares the same owner as P.F. Chang's.  Traci's sister in Texas had raved about Pei Wei.  The set-up is fast-casual style (order up at a counter and the server brings out your order).  The look and feel of the place is similar to a  P.F. Chang's.  The menu is an interesting selection of salads, noodle bowls and rice bowls.  Traci ordered blazing noodles with chicken and I ordered the Pei Wei pad thai with chicken.  We both liked our choices and the servings were big enough to have food to take home.  The bill came to under twenty bucks for the two of us.  Not bad.  I can see why Pei Wei is a hit.

• Mac's Drive Thru:  Again, thanks to encouragement from Lynn, we tried another long-time Gainesville restaurant for the first time today for lunch.  I also still have a list I printed out from Gainesville.com nearly a year ago of "best restaurants" in town which has Mac's on it. Mac's was everything that Sandwich Inn wasn't - great greasy burgers and fries (and I mean this in the best way) and solid service at a good price.  I now understand firsthand why this old double drive-thru always has long lines around lunch time.  For nostalgia, I still don't think you can't beat sitting down at the counter and having a burger at Louis' Lunch.  In terms of taste, my favorite burger in town right now is from New Deal.  Of course, Mac's and Louis' are more in the neighborhood "diner and dives" category, while New Deal is decidedly a cafe.  Copper Monkey also does a quality burger.

That's all for now.  As always, drop me a line about the Gainesville food scene and beyond. 

Blue Desert Cafe, New Deal Cafe, Sweet Dreams, Five Guys and Original Pizza Palace

While it's been far too long since I last posted some restaurant reviews, we haven't stopped trying new places (and revisiting old ones) over the past two months.  Below is a quick run-down on our latest hits-and-misses in and around Gainesville.  As always, drop me a line with suggestions.

So here's goes with the latest and greatest:

• Blue Desert Cafe: Last night we were in the mood for something different.  One restaurant that has intrigued us each time we've passed it on the way to Cedar Key is a funky-looking, little place called Blue Desert Cafe.  So yesterday evening we called ahead to make sure they were open and then took the 45 minute drive out to Cedar Key.  Little did we know the long drive would be the quickest part of our dinner.  While the server was pleasant (and she warned us of the wait), we literally sat and waited for over an hour from the time we placed our order until we were served.  Traci ordered a personal sausage pizza and I had a shrimp and scallop burrito.  The menu is an eclectic mix and our meal was good, but this still couldn't make up for such a long wait on top of our drive.  For a kicker, we were pulled over leaving for supposedly "speeding".  Cedar Key's finest graciously gave us a warning (We were doing "41" in a "30"; the sign said "35", anyways).

• New Deal Cafe and Sweet Dreams:  This evening we stayed much closer to home and went back to New Deal Cafe for dinner.  New Deal is the  casual accompaniment to the adjoining upscale Mildred's Big City Food.  After having eaten at both, we prefer to save our money and enjoy New Deal's very reasonably priced menu.  We tried New Deal for the first time last month.  On this second visit, I ordered a Maytag blue cheese burger and Traci had a regular hamburger.  Both burgers were winners.  For an appetizer, we shared a Mediterranean plate (a sampling of vegetable spreads with fresh bread).  After dinner, we walked down to Sweet Dreams where I was able to twist Traci's arm into ordering some ice cream.  She selected a cup of Mojito italian ice and I had a cup of  chocolate hazelnut and toffee flavors.  I've heard multiple people rave about Sweet Dreams having the best ice cream in town, and it's easy to see why (Sweet Dreams is also available at Buddha Belly and goes down great after a hot, spicy plate of curry).

• Five Guys Burgers and Fries:  I guess we've been on a bit of a burger kick lately.  A few weekends ago we hopped in the car one Saturday and drove down to Ocala.  Why there isn't a Five Guys Burgers yet in Gainesville I have no clue.  I think a Five Guys would be a slam dunk in a college town.  It's likely only a matter of time as new locations are popping up all over Central Florida.  Originally started in Virginia, Five Guys is all about serving up big giant, sloppy hamburgers and bags full of fries.  Nothing is frozen and the fries are cut daily.  The Ocala location, which was swarming with retirees (maybe a steady diet of burgers and fries are the real secret to a long life?), didn't disappoint.  On an unrelated note, there is a surprising amount of new construction on the southwest side of Ocala.  There's several Five Guys now open in Jacksonville and a growing number sprouting up in and around Orlando and Tampa.

• The Original Pizza Palace:  Dan Rua of the Florida Venture Blog turned me on recently to the re-opening of the Original Pizza Palace on NW 13th Street a few blocks from campus.  Apparently, before it closed in 1999, Original Pizza Palace was something of the Satchel's of its day.  The Sun recently did an interesting piece about the back story of the restaurant's re-opening.  On our first visit, we had a spunky server and a pretty good meal.  I had a tasty lasagna and Traci had a plate of "mama's meat sauce."  On our second visit with two friends, the level of service went down the tubes and our food was mediocre at best.  Plus, unless we're imagining things, it seemed like the place had already raised prices since our first visit.  The pizza was fairly plain tasting.  I like the laid-back vibe of Original Pizza Palace and I hope it makes it, but the food isn't Satchel's or Blue Highway caliber.  If you've been since Original Pizza Palace re-opened, I'd love to hear about it.

That's all for now.  With a little luck, I'll have the chance to post more frequently this summer...

Blue Water Bay, 43rd Street, Campbell's and Sushi Matsuri

As even occasional readers of this blog have probably noticed by now, I rarely write about restaurant ideas for breakfast or brunch.  For the most part, we do our eating out either for dinner or lunch on the weekends.  Over the past month, though, we've tried two breakfast/brunch-oriented spots and plan to try more in the future.  We've also been on the hunt lately for a good local seafood restaurant (This weekend we're hitting the Cajun/Zydeco Crawfish Festival in St. Pete).  So far, we've been out of luck.

So on with some quick recaps of recent dining experiences in and around Gainesville.

• Blue Water Bay: What a pleasant surprise!  We went here for brunch a few weekends ago and came away impressed.  Located in tiny Melrose, we were treated to what I would consider a gourmet brunch (delicious food and great presentation).  I had the Earlton Hash (crawfish tails, rock shrimp, andouille sausage, hashbrowns, cheese and fried eggs topped with creole hollandaise) and Traci went with the Bananas Foster French Toast.  The menu is very seafood oriented and creative.  While it's definitely a drive for us, we plan to give the place a try for dinner sometime.

• 43rd Street Deli & Breakfast:  We tried the Williston Rd. location of 43rd Street Deli a few weekends ago for breakfast.  This isn't exactly Blue Water Bay, but the food and service were both solid.  I haven't been inside the other locations around town, but the Williston location is nicely done inside.  Traci had a bagel and I tried a traditional eggs benedict.  Certainly a cut above in food and menu selection than a breakfast chain joint (Denny's, Village Inn, etc).  On the way out, we noticed UF Athletics Director Jeremy Foley off in a side room with a group.

• Campbell's Seafood:  Trying to satisfy my recent seafood craving, last weekend we decided to check out Campbell's in Bronson (on the way to Cedar Key).  Traci had heard good things about Campbell's from someone at work and it had the run-down look to it on the outside that suggested it might serve up good food.  Unfortunately, the service was friendly and it was actually pleasant inside (apparently they renovated the place recently), but the food was just mediocre.  Our appetizer of gator bites was lightly fried and tasty.  As for my meal, a small piece of fried catfish on a plain bun, well, it was just plain. Traci's cheese steak hoagie sandwich wasn't much better.

• Sushi Matsuri:  Traci doesn't eat sushi and I have to really be in the mood for it.  I point out this caveat to put this review in perspective.  In any case, we tried Sushi Matsuri, a little sushi bar and restaurant located in a strip center on Archer (in the Butler Plaza megaplex) for dinner a few weekends ago.  Our beef negimaki appetizer didn't have much taste to it.  Unfortunately, neither did Traci's entree, chicken teriyaki.  So maybe the sushi is where Matsuri shines?  Maybe, but not with the several rolls I ordered.  They were small and nothing out of the ordinary taste-wise.

• Blue Highway Pizza:  We revisited this old Micanopy stand-by for dinner last weekend.  This was the first time we've been to Blue Highway for dinner (we usually hit it for lunch on the weekends) and it was very busy.  We sat up at the bar and shared an Abruzzese pizza (great mix of meatballs, garlic and mozzarella).  I also sampled a slice of mushroom pizza from the couple next to us (if you're into mushrooms, you'll love it, if not, well you'll look the other way) Satchel's may be the top dog for best local pizza, but Blue Highway certainly runs a close second.  It's also closer to our side of town, and even when it gets busy, it's nothing like the wait of Satchel's.

Speaking of local breakfast/brunch and seafood restaurants, if you have any favorites that we haven't tried, please send them my way.  I always hear good things about brunch at Ivey's Grill, but I hate long lines/waits and the two times we almost tried it, we saw the long line and left.  Paramount Grill looks like they do an upscale Sunday brunch that  we might try for a special occasion sometime. Any others?

p.s. FloridaFoodHound was quoted in an article last month in the St. Pete Times about Boss Hog Ribs in Pinellas Park, Fla.  You can check out the article here and learn more about Boss Hog Ribs here. 

Sandwich Inn, Leo's of Millhopper, Brown's Buffett

Another long overdue post as I emerge from the salt mines of PhD life for a few minutes...I feel like we've been on a bit of a cold streak the past two months in finding good new restaurants to add to our regular rotation.  So if you have a favorite that I haven't tried yet and reviewed here, please drop me a line.

Our new fave by far is Buddha Belly, which we've now been to three times in a month or so.  Buddha Belly's curry isn't really Indian-style per se, but tasty nonetheless.  Other casual, local spots we continue to visit include Green Plantains (still my fave for local Latin food), La Tienda (authentic Mexican, no frills!), La Fiesta (solid tex-Mex), Louis' Lunch (crunchy burgers, and I mean that in a good way, with tons of tradition), Falafel King (the food is okay, but the service always seems annoyed), Adam's Rib Co. (solid barbecue, sit up at the counter), Satchel's (has turned pizza into an art), Blue Highway Pizza (they're not Satchel's, but also high quality) and Pearl Country Store (a nice change of pace).   

Below I've included quick reviews on three places that we've tried for the first time in recent weeks:

• Sandwich Inn: Not sure what I can say positive about this place.  I was told this was a good choice for tasty, cheap burgers and fries.  I liked the looks of the place.  Semi-run down, old school, double drive thru.  Sandwich Inn is located near the corner of N. Main and NE 16th Ave.  I figured a place wouldn't stay open this long if the food wasn't good?  At least on our visit, the food was very forgettable.  Traci and I both ordered burgers and fries.  Service was gruff to put it nicely.  The burgers were big and sloppy (both good things!), but there wasn't much flavor to the beef and the fries were forgettable.  For an old-school burger place, I certainly prefer Louis' Lunch- pretty good food and not bad service either.

• Leonardo's Pizza of Millhopper: The combination of curiosity and a coupon lured us into this Leo's.  When we first moved to town, we ate at Leo's By the Slice and Leonardo's 706 and didn't understand the mystique of either.  As I understand it, the Leo's at Millhopper hasn't been affiliated with the other two for many years.  We ordered a deep dish pizza, the signature item at Leo's at Millhopper, a pitcher of beer and garlic rolls.  The garlic rolls looked promising (drenched in garlic and melted butter), but were just average.  As for the pizza, it was clearly fresh, but didn't knock me over in the flavor department.  Service was good, prices were fair, and I liked the look of the place (made us wish Tony & Pat's was still open).  I also appreciated that this Leo's doesn't have the snobbish attitude of Leo's by the Slice.

• Brown's Country Buffet:  A few weekends ago we were in the mood for a big Southern-style lunch.  We had heard of Brown's Country Buffet in Alachua and decided to check it out.  The buffet was smaller than I expected, but I still thought we were in for a good meal.  Not really.  The fried chicken was nicely done, as was the cornbread, but beyond that, nothing was memorable.  Growing up in Louisiana (with time in southern Mississippi and having spent a decade now in central/north Florida), I've had my share of good country-style/Southern food and Brown's doesn't rank up there.  That said, service was friendly, the price was reasonable (less than ten bucks a head), and the place wasn't hurting for business from the locals. For me, I'd rather pay more and have a better quality meal at Conestoga's on Main Street in Alachua.  At some point, we should probably check out the Ivy House in either Williston or now with a new location in Alachua, too.

Hopefully, it will be less than a month before I have time to check in again here. 

Thanks for reading!

p.s. Tomorrow we're celebrating Valentine's Day a little early with a brunch at Blue Water Bay in Melrose.  The owner of one of the antique shops in Micanopy swears by this place; we'll see.

Buddha Belly, Amrit and Taste of India

Traci and I went on a bit of an Indian food-eating binge over the holidays. 

On our way back from the airport in Tampa from our visit to New Orleans for Christmas, we stopped at Amrit Palace in Ocala.   As on our first visit some months back, we had a good meal. I tried a lamb curry this time and Traci had a chicken curry.  We shared an order of naan bread (great for sopping up the curry).  While Amrit's interstate billboards may be huge, the restaurant's main dining room is small, which made us feel like we were having a conversation with the whole room.  I still think menu prices are a bit on the high side, but both of our meals have been very good and the service is fine, too. 

A few days later we were down in Melbourne (Space Coast area) visiting a friend.  Flipping through a guide in our hotel room, we saw an ad for Taste of India, a local Indian restaurant.  While the predictable move would have probably been to try a seafood place for lunch, we were still craving more Indian food.  So off we went to find Taste of India.  What a good find.  For twelve bucks each (cheaper during the week), we enjoyed a buffet filled with a nice selection of authentic Indian food. 

Several years ago we had tried an Indian buffet place in Orlando (Altamonte Springs) and had been disappointed.  The selection was small, the food wasn't spicy and looked like it had been sitting for some time.  At Taste of India, on the other hand, there was a nice selection and no shortage of good flavors.  Unfortunately for us, Melbourne is three hours away.  The last time I had been there must have been five years ago.  I guess it makes the forty-five minute drive to Amrit in Ocala look short in comparison.

I think our visits to Amrit and Taste of India made us even more interested in finding a place in Gainesville that serves up good curry.  So with this in mind, after reading a good review about Buddha Belly, as well as having seen some ads, we decided this past Friday to give this new restaurant a try.  Buddha Belly is located on the other side of town from us, on NW 16th Ave just west of Main Street.  The restaurant's set-up is fast-casual.  You order at the counter and then your order is brought to your table. 

The menu is an interesting mix of curries, fried rices and sandwiches.  Sides include sweet potato fries, zucchini fries, and 'shroom fries.  I ordered chicken and steak fried rice and Traci decided on a special butter chicken curry.  A friend with us tried one of the sandwiches and the zucchini fries.  The portion sizes for the fried rice and curry are huge.  This is good fried rice, not the greasy rice at the corner Chinese take-out place.  My rice was filled with chunks of meat and veggies, and wasn't greasy.  Traci similarly enjoyed her curry.  Our friend's sandwich was somewhat smallish and he wasn't impressed. 

Service was solid.  The manager came to our table and checked on us twice.  I hope this is an idea that sticks. Big portions, reasonable prices (nine bucks or less for most entrees) and a place that, at least on this visit, seems to care about serving up good quality food. We'll be adding Buddha Belly to our rotation.   I've tried other local fast casual concepts like Bento Cafe and Rolls 'N Bowls and have never understood what the fuss is about.  Buddha Belly, on the other hand, is a place I get.

Mark's Prime, Louis' Lunch, Satchel's, Pearl, and More

Having finished my first semester at UF earlier this week, I now have some time to catch up on some non-school work, such as a much-needed blog update.  I'm going to try a different format than usual so I can cover more ground.  What follows is quick, bulleted takes on several local restaurants:

• Mark's U.S. Prime:  What a pleasant surprise.  Traci took me here a few weekends ago for my birthday (being 30 feels the same as 29, but certainly seems "older").  Great experience.  We've been to many of the "chain" steakhouses (Morton's, Ruth's Chris, Capital Grille, Palm, Shula's, Fleming's) and top-tier independents (Bern's and Charley's in Tampa), and Mark's compares very favorably.  Our fillets were perfectly prepared (served on a sizzling plate of butter a la Ruth's), good service, good sides, nice environment.  Our new favorite special occasion place in town.  Mildred's was a nice experience, and Mark's is certainly more expensive, but worth it in my view.

• Louis' Lunch: Shifting to the other end of the price spectrum, we tried out Louis' Lunch for the first time a few weekends ago as well.  Owned by the same family since it opened in 1928, Louis' may be the oldest restaurant in Gainesville.  Louis Pennisi, the diner's namesake, lived to 106, passing away in 2003.  Louis' has a run-down, step-back-in-time charm to it, which Traci and I love.  One long-time customer we chatted with on our first visit appropriately called Louie's a "living museum" about old Gainesville.  Old pictures line the walls.  If you like homemade burgers, fries, onion rings, shakes and history, I recommend checking out Louie's while it's still here.

• Satchel's Pizza: Before moving to Gainesville this past summer, we had tried out Satchel's for dinner one night and had been impressed.  I think the only reason we hadn't been back since was that Satchel's is on the other side of town, we knew there'd be a wait - and then we found Blue Highway Pizzeria in Micanopy, which is closer to us with little or no wait and very good pizza.  Well, we hit Satchel's last night and were reminded just how good the salad and pizza is here.  Prices are still reasonable, but certainly not cheap.  Maybe I'll change my mind after eating at Blue Highway next time, but for now I think Satchel's edges out Blue Highway for best pizza in town.

• Pearl Country Store:  A classmate turned me onto the Pearl Country Store, which, as the name implies, is a gas station/convenience store/barbecue joint.  The barbecue isn't the best I've ever had, but is solid, the people are friendly (ok, they turned friendlier on our second visit), the prices are good, and Traci and I tend to like most places where you can sit up at the counter. You know you're in the country when half of the customers are wearing camo, everyone seems to know each other, and the girls & guns magazines are on sale at the front of the store next to the country jams and other homemade items.  Pearl is right down the road from Blue Highway on US 441.

• No Good Cuban Sandwiches in Gainesville:  I'm now pretty convinced that a good, authentic Cuban sandwich simply doesn't exist in this town. (For that matter, I haven't found yet a great deli/sandwich shop here, either.  Hogan's is better than a Subway/Quizno's etc, but that isn't saying much).  I've now tried Cubans at Virtually Cuban, La Familia, Mi Apa Latin Cafe and Flaco's.  All of these places are fairly skimpy on toppings and/or use bread that might qualify for a Miami-style Cuban, but not a Tampa-style Cuban.  La Familia gets their bread from Tampa, but was skimpy with the meat, cheese etc (plus, they have an Italian name/motif and use bread from Tampa, but no salami?).  The only Latin restaurant in town I haven't tried yet is Emiliano's.  Our favorite Latin place here by far is Green Plantain's.  Agree? Disagree?  Where are we missing?   

Send your Gainesville-area restaurant suggestions to: flfoodhound@gmail.com. 

As always, thanks for reading and happy holidays!

Mildred's Big City Food - One-Year Wedding Anniversary

This past Saturday night, Traci and I had dinner at Mildred's Big City Food near University and 34th St. to celebrate our one-year wedding anniversary (where does time go?).  After mostly being budget conscious when it has come to eating-out since moving to Gainesville, it was nice to splurge a bit.  

Mildred's describes its cuisine as "using only local, organic produce, fresh farm products and Florida seafood" with each dish prepared from scratch "honoring the integrity of classic cuisine."  The restaurant itself is fairly nondescript from the outside, but nicely done inside.  Again, we're big fans of small, affordable, hole-in-the-wall spots, but a nice meal in an upscale setting was a nice change of pace.

We started with an appetizer of crispy chicken livers in a blue cheese hot sauce.  Think hot wings and blue cheese only chicken livers instead of wings - an interesting combo.  I ordered a Maytag blue cheese salad (I can't pass up blue cheese) with pecans and Traci had an organic field greens salad with a vinaigrette dressing.  Both salads were very good.  For our main course, Traci had a New York strip on Yukon gold mashed potatoes and I went with veal and corn fritters (the exact name doesn't seem to be up on their site).  The veal wasn't bad, but a little tough for my liking.  The fritters were delicious.  Traci loved her mashed potatoes.  There wasn't anything wrong with the steak, but it wasn't outstanding either.  For dessert, we couldn't pass up sharing a slice of cheese cake from the case in the front.

Our server was knowledgeable and did a nice job.  Again, for the price, we expected a good meal and that's what we got.  Mildred's sister restaurant next door, the New Deal Cafe, offers casual dining.  We plan to check out New Deal one of these days and, while Mildred's wasn't perfect, we had a good time.

p.s. If you haven't already, check out my better-half's blog at: www.traciintheswamp.com.   This past summer I gave her tips on how to start up her blog and now she's running circles around me!     

FloridaFoodHound in GAINESVILLE Magazine

When I first arrived in town this past summer, my initial source for learning about local restaurants was by visiting the archives of the Gainesville Sun (particularly David Carlson's restaurant reviews) and GAINESVILLE Magazine.  I also picked up tidbits of useful info on sites like Chowhound and Yelp. 

This post is a bit overdue, but the October/November issue - "The Food Issue" - of GAINESVILLE magazine is now available.  As the title implies, this issue is full of interesting pieces about local restaurants, recipes and restaurateurs. The local food scene has certainly developed over the years. 

FloridaFoodHound is even quoted in the article, "Survival Amidst The Chains."  The three independent local restaurants I recommend in the piece are Satchel's, Blue Highway and Newberry Backyard Bar-B-Q.  Again, keep in mind I'm new in town and still feeling my way around. 

Anyway, even if I wasn't mentioned, this is an issue worth picking up - and keeping around! 

p.s.  Hopefully, I'll have time to post a new restaurant review or two this weekend...