Category Archives: American

The Front Porch

Heading up to Marion County this morning.

Dunnellon’s got a lot of great things to know about it. It won a Rural Community award in 1998. There’s Boomtown Days. And then there’s this shop. A re-purposed gas station that is a bait shop AND bakery. “Pint of night crawlers and a dozen muffins, please. No, that’s alright, just put them all in one bag.”

We re-visited the Front Porch at 12039 North Florida Ave, Dunnellon, on 23 December 2012. We’ve been here maybe a jillion times, give or take a billion. It’s just Ivo and Andy today. Marek’s home being lazybones with mom.

Seems like new menus. Not new stuff in them, just new menus. Part of the major overhaul the Front Porch did after being in a bit of a traffic accident.

For all you new fathers out there, here’s a tip: Give your kid strong black coffee early in the mornings.

And then they’ll smile at you like this. Think about it, don’t you smile with your first jolt of joe in the morning?

The Front Porch also got new cups. Nicely done cups, at that.

The side porch is refurbished and looks like a pleasant place for a meal in good weather.

The professional food critic, already taking notes. (He’d draw a little line and say, “look, dad, it’s Marek!”) Also note, he seems to favor that left hand. I’d give my right arm to be ambidextrous.

These pancakes are the size of hubcaps! Much larger than I remember them being, before the rebuilding.

Bacon and eggs. Good bacon, nice and crisp without being burnt.

Julie wasn’t our waitress, but she remembered us from earlier visits. So we took her picture, since she was so nice as to remember us.

And in return, she took our picture!

Ever wonder what a pancake looks like when a two year old is busy chewing it? Here’s another mystery solved. Your Tampa Bay Breakfasts Science Department at work.

“Cheers, dada, cheers!” OK, son. You’re going to be a good bar buddy when you get older. A man could wish worse for his son than to be quick with a toast.

The bill tallied up nicely, under $10 green-backed American dollars.

Ivo had to be cajoled, shamed, and dared to go back and get the change. Finish the job, kid!

After the bill was settled, we relaxed and finished our coffee.

Heading back out to the car, Ivo took time to practice his Olympic balance beam routine.

On our way west towards Grandma’s house, we had to stop and take a picture of this fine bit of custom Dunnellon pickup truck. The Scion FR-S seems to be smaller than usual here.

This just begs for a caption competition.

Look at Ivo around the back side, like a little mouse.

The wheels were surprisingly cozy for a kid.

We’re going to upgrade the Front Porch from our last visit of 4.5 pancakes to a full-on Tampa Bay Breakfasts five pancake rating. Great chow. Friendly people (who recognized us!), super prices, and just everything you’d want in a proper country diner breakfast. Tell’em Andy and Ivo sent you!

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Trip’s Diner

We’re all glowy with our tiny moment of fame.

And now, our real problem is where to go next. This, as you might expect from such newsworthy lads, takes a lot of research.

In case you’ve wondered if the FR-S is a family car, I can assure you it absolutely is. Jalopnik agrees.

Marek picked what we’d listen to. If you can pick out of the fuzzy picture what looks like “Norwegian Phrase Book” then you may be seeing things. In this case, true things. Marek has a real hangup on learning Norwegian these days.

Again, I insist. The FR-S is a family car.

Ivo’s got the map. Marek looks like he’s been in a shoebox for 45 minutes. Just a normal day.

Good looking boys. They’re lucky they look like their mother.

Here’s a great business model. I wish I’d thought of opening a store where you pay me to come wash your own dog.

We visited Trip’s Diner at 2339 Martin Luther King St N in St. Pete on 8 December 2012. Trip’s was recommended by multiple TBB fans last week and we just couldn’t turn it down.

Trip’s tables have great scenes from old St. Pete, and there’s all sorts of old-time pictures on the walls, too. I’m a sucker for that sort of thing.

The menu has all the right parts in all the right places, as we like to say.

Two year old with a knife. Just a normal day.

Marek with his signature hot chocolate.

Ivo tanking up on coffee. Strong and black, just like dad. The caffeine helps him concentrate when using the knife shown above.

Neat picture of the old pier. Soon it will be the old-old pier, after they tear down the new pier to make a newer pier.

Inside Trip’s is clean, well-lit, and friendly. A nice atmosphere for bringing little kids to hurl eggs at people.

We had to immediately relocate the jelly jars. These would be shattered into a million sticky bits of glass that would become so embedded in the fabric of Trip’s that they’d have to move to another building … that’s what would happen if Ivo could reach them.

Marek would like to show off his Nova Southeastern University shirt. Marek’s dad spent some time there and highly recommends it.

This is Ivo, trying to stab me in the eye with a fork. Kids are so sweet.

Saved just in time by breakfast! The look on Marek’s face may be interpreted as “is that BACON?”

Ivo appears to be an employee of Science Applications International Corporation. They obviously only hire the best!

I was feeling bad about Marek hanging his head over the back of the booth. I think this cute little girl was seeing if Ivo was really drinking coffee (probably the question I get asked most, by the way. Followed by, “do you really let them pay the bill?”)

Very Large Pancake (VLP) sighted. This is a good-ole-biggun.

I just put eggs and fruit on Marek’s plate, but we all know it’s a sham. Bacon’s where it’s at these days.

Good breakfast. But 17 clams for one breakfast split three ways seems a trifle on the high side.

The boys like up to do their part. Though I getting less and less change back as time goes by.

The transaction in progress.

Ivo trying to order a pie, apparently, when I’m not looking. They wouldn’t sell him one though, since he didn’t have enough money.

The look on Ivo’s face may be interpreted as, “I’m going to the toy store now!” Or maybe to the bar, since he’s my kid.

Again, I point out: The FR-S is a family car. (Despite this report.) This head-out-the-window posture is not recommended for high-speed maneuvers, I must add. No donuts until you’re sitting back, Marek.

Really good food. Nice atmosphere. Friendly people. History of St. Pete throughout. And rumor that the owner has triplets who work in the restaurant (they all kept moving, so I could never tell!) Price was a bit high, but the VLP pancake was delish. We’re pleased to give Trip’s a four and a Tampa Bay Breakfasts half pancake rating.

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Mamas Family Kitchen

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It’s a beautiful day in Tampa, Florida. A great day for a bike ride. Ivo’s on his Kazam bike. This used to be Marek’s Kazam bike, and is the reason why he’s such a biking ace today.

Of course, you can’t ride a Kazam all the way to breakfast, so Ivo still gets strapped to the back of my bike.

I have no idea how Ivo’s face got filthy between leaving the house and stopping for a photo-op break. This morning I achieved a parenting coup and managed to convince Marek that a wrench is a toy just like Star Wars action figures or Hot Wheels cars. “Oh dad, this wrench is so much fun,” and so on.

Everyone gets a newspaper for some reason. I think the reason is, the newspapers are free.

We’re revisiting Mama’s at 9312 N Florida Ave. This is our favorite seat because we’re under the lions.

Here’s how you can tell that Ivo is really my kid. Already with the hot sauce. And still a dirty face, despite the parking-lot-spit-bath, dad-style.

The updated menu at Mamas. Also, they’re really fun on Facebook.

Ivo with crayons.

Marek showing off his Stuttgart VfB colors for our friends back in Germany. Why the look? Because I said, “show me your Stuttgart shirt, Marek,” and he made that face.

The 2011 Tampa Bay Breakfasts Waitress of the Year … Vicki!

Every two year old needs his morning coffee. Ivo is no exception.

We may have to switch Ivo to decaf. First cup he’s ever broken. In going on four years of Tampa Bay Breakfasts, we’ve only broken two coffee cups (the first was in 2009, and it wasn’t Marek who broke it).

We were joined this morning by a new breakfast friend, Carolina, who has a great camera. Another modern mystery, it ended up with a lot of syrupy fingerprints on it.

Marek’s journalism cred is well-established. The problem now is that his Christmas wish-list just got more expensive.

Just in time to save the camera from the same fate the coffee cup endured, here’s Vicki.

Here’s a plate of lovely banana-walnut pancakes.

Andy, Marek, and Ivo split the pancakes, bacon, and eggs.

A recurring theme for Tampa Bay Breakfasts is the independence of the child. We like to foster and encourage development of good judgement, level heads, and critical thinking. We think it’s more valuable to teach kids to have a good response to a new situation than to try to protect from all possible threats. We’re fans of free-range kids. And also, we give knives to our two-year-olds.

Marek doing a Brad Pitt imitation.

Ivo getting the Brad Pitt paparazzo treatment.

Here’s what Carolina was snapping. Ivo with a whole pancake in his mouth at one time. Twenty years from now, Ivo will look back at this moment … and immediately change his name and enter the Witness Protection Program.

Marek is reciting poetry to this pancake. I believe it’s Ode on a Grecian Urn.

As the level of overall chaos ascended, Ivo stepped up to pay the bill. As everyone knows, a two year old running around a restaurant waving Jacksons always has a calming effect.

He was gone for a while. I finally decided that since I hadn’t seen him for 15 minutes, I ought go exercise some parental responsibility and find him. He was negotiating for more lollipops.

Which he proudly delivered back to the table. He didn’t bring the change, though. I think his priorities need alignment.

This is a visionary look, worthy of a presidential campaign poster. “Pops for everyone! Vote for me!”

Vicki and Marek, Breakfast Buds.

We piled back on bikes. Ivo was out before we were even half-way home. Dreams of breakfasts past and future.

And we saw this neat oldtimer turning into the gas station. I didn’t know that the 7-11 had gas, diesel, AND charcoal at the pumps.

Great chow. Great prices. Friendliest service in Tampa. Lions on the wall. Exuberant Facebook page. And we get recognized every time, which makes us feel good. Tampa Bay Breakfasts Five Pancake Rating (and shhhh, also going to be the 2012 Breakfast of the Year when we do our annual wrap-up next month!).

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Nicko’s

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We re-visited Nicko’s on 27 October 2012. As you may recall, Nicko’s was our 2011 Breakfast of the Year.

Marek is doing a Bieber pose. Or maybe a Bowie pose.

We brought a puzzle to keep little hands occupied. Let this be a lesson to dads everywhere. Don’t bring a puzzle to breakfast. This did not work out as planned.

Ivo having morning coffee. The funny part is the goofy look on dad in the mirror. That’s apparently the look I get when I’m taking a picture of my kids.

The menu is basic, and makes a point of telling you about Elvis. Which is one of the top three cool things about this place.

A family photograph. Ivo. Andy. Monkey. Marek.

Monkey is the brains of the operation. I’m the financier. Marek is special teams. Ivo is the enforcer. It’s like Ocean’s 11.

Hot chocolate for Marek. Dig his OEF t-shirt. Given the proximity of MacDill, he’s probably not the only kid with one of those. But he’s MY only kid with one of those.

After a long and harsh political debate over the menu, we decided on pancakes, bacon, and eggs.

Inside Nicko’s is like rolling back in time. And this morning, back-in-time was packed.

I got desert first. Ivo kisses are the best!

Not only did we discover that this puzzle was actually made up of several different puzzle pieces, but I think we donated some to the floor under our table.

This is a quick trick brick stack.

Marek is almost ready for this.

And Marek is definitely ready for this.

Ivo gets a Mickey Pancake. The eyes and mouth cut into it are a bit macabre-looking.

Ivo puts a fork to good use.

Stuffing an entire pancake into his mouth at one time.

And then there’s the knife. Which he started swinging around like a mad pirate after a while.

Dad got breakfast also.

The whole lot rolled in at fifteen even. Not bad at all.

Marek took care of the bill. When he brought change back he announced that the coins were his. The folks at the next table pointed out that he did work for it. So there you go.

Great food. Lots of locals. Old-time railcar diner. Elvis. Breakfast of the Year winner. Go to Nicko’s to have a great breakfast. We’re pleased to re-award Nicko’s as a Tampa Bay Breakfast Five Pancake experience.

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The Hangar

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Marek’s tucked into the back of the pancake express. The FR-S is a family car.

We had to tank up on the way. I remember when I was little and I’d want to pump the gas and wasn’t strong enough to squeeze the nozzle. I see Marek try to squeeze it just like I used to do.

We’re heading to St. Pete. It’s a long ride. Long in distance, but … not in time!

We drove by the St. Petersburg Lawn Bowling Club, established 1930. Isn’t that interesting?

We’re meeting some special friends: Ivo and Mia! We last met them two years ago in San Francisco.

Marek: “I like your Hello Kitty”

Mia: “Don’t touch my Hello Kitty”

We’re back re-visiting The Hangar at Albert Whitted Airport in St. Petersburg on 13 October 2012. The airport is located at 107 8th Avenue S.E, and The Hangar has a nice little web site at http://www.thehangarstpete.com/. We last visited back in July 2010, and The Hangar was our 2010 Tampa Bay Breakfast of the Year.

Inside is still classy and attractive. But who would want to sit inside when there’s airplanes outside?!

Everyone’s listening very intently to Marek. Who is going on about something completely fascinating. Fascinating to himself. No one else knew what he was talking about.

An interesting, exotic, and yet somewhat terse breakfast listing. I’m going to have “The Beechcraft.”

Marek is very proud of his breast cancer shirt. He spent 15 minutes this morning digging through his drawers to find it.

Mia is very proud of her Hello Kitty. Which she still doesn’t want Marek touching.

Here’s two good-looking young fellows hanging out at a trendy breakfast spot in St. Pete. Not a care in the world, just relaxing. No stress from kids or work issues cropping up constantly all morning. No grey hair or middle-aged health concerns. No worry about the future.

Ooops. Wrong caption. This is just a picture of me and Ivo, and we both spent all morning battling work issues while corralling kids.

Breakfast came in the hold of a DC-3. Here’s Ivo, suffering under the relentless paparazzo attack of being a Tampa Bay Breakfast guest.

And Mia, with pancakes and bananas and bacon. And also, if I recall correctly, Ivo made some statement about how Mia was “easy” in the morning, just put her hair in a little pony tail and throw a dress on and she’s ready to go. Enjoy that while it lasts, man. I can only imagine the challenges Ivo’s going to have with a girl, challenges that I’ll never have with boys.

And Marek, who ate all his bacon and none of his eggs. Also, it’s a good thing Marek has his mom, or his hair would never be brushed.

Andy with a big plate of delicious.

Here’s a closer look. This is the first time I’ve ever had an omelet with fresh spinach and brie. It was surprisingly delicious without being overpowering. I tried it for the novelty, but I’d gladly have this again.

It’s fun to have breakfast and watch airplanes. Here’s Marek with a fist full of bacon, watching one take off. The bacon here, by the way, is fabulous. Somehow they manage to make it thick, crispy, and yet not over-done.

We watched a nice couple drive up in this little blue number, park, and come in for breakfast. Only here at The Hanger, you can drive up for pancakes in your airplane.

After we were done eating, we had a jumping contest. (It was a tie.)

And then we spent half an hour watching airplanes and drinking coffee.

Final bill: under $30 for all four. Wow! I think this was the TBB discount!

So we paid the bill and spent another half hour watching airplanes.

And getting yelled at for going above the first rung. Too high, kids! Too high!

This is what I look like when I’m yelling at kids.

On the way out, we stopped to get maps and brochures. We ARE from out of town, after all. Tampa is a long way from St. Pete. (And so is San Francisco, by the way.)

Absolutely wonderful food. Great service. Moderate prices. Airplanes. Ivo and Mia. How can The Hangar not be an award-winning Five Pancake Breakfast?

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The Frog Pond

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We’re a long way from home. Should we go left or right? Straight is also an option, but as anyone knows there’s no breakfast there. Just ocean.

We visited The Frog Pond at 7390 Gulf Boulevard, St. Pete Beach on 22 September 2012. This has been on our to-do list for years. TBB Fan Jason K, you’ll be sad to hear that we did not meet any Frenchmen.

Thought bubbles.

Over Ivo’s head … “I am going to break random things today and laugh, laugh, laugh.”

Over Andy’s head … “I coulda been a stah on Broadway if I didn’t have all dees kids.”

Thought bubbles.

Over Marek’s head … “I’m almost tall enough to steal your keys and drive your new car down the street and into the neighbors’ houses.”

Over Andy’s head … “Having kids looked like such fun in those romantic comedy movies.”

Thought bubbles.

Over Andy’s head … “If I loved these boys one mote more, I’d explode. They are everything to me.”

Over Marek’s head … “I wish I could join another family.”

Over Ivo’s head … “Hey you looking at this picture, can me and Marek join YOUR family and get away from our Neanderthal father?”

Tia Cindy, this one’s for you.

Ivo’s thinking, maybe this frog would be something I could knock over and then blame Marek.

Check out Ivo’s mad stacka skillz.

Check out Marek’s reaction.

We cozied up to the menu. Marek figures there might be something in his nose for breakfast. Stay classy, Marek!

A little Frog Pond philosophy. I always like a place that’s mom-n-pop and takes time to tell you Why They Care about what they do. The only drawback is that usually, and Frog Pond is no different, they take your order and whisk away the menus before you can read half of what they have to say. I love that they are “strongly opposed” to things! I read that and thought, hey, I’m also strongly opposed to things. Conveniently, the same things as they are.

Can’t get through the day without our coffee. Y’ought hear Ivo say “caffeeee?” It’d melt your heart like an acetylene torch on a plastic army man. By the way, “acetylene torch on a plastic army man” is another phrase that,as of this writing, is not found in Google.

Tampa Bay Breakfasts: Innovators.

Marek, too. That’s the same look I get with a strong cuppa joe in the morning. Relaxing. Pleasant. Calm.

“Relaxing. Pleasant. Calm.” And then Ivo swings a knife at your head. And then you hand over your wallet and tell him you don’t want no trouble, man, here you go, take my cash, just don’t cut me.

Inside the Frog Pond, you’ll find a cozy, well-appointed atmosphere. Knife-wielding two year olds and lots of frogs.

This is an impressive kick. Or ballerina move.

Breakfast came on a forklift. (Actually, delivered by a young waitress from Russia, not resembling a forklift at all.) Look at all this chow!

Ivo got the pancakes. Now, when you go to the Frog Pond because you read our review, you’ll see that pancakes aren’t really a big feature in the menu. Eggs, quiche, crepes (which are French, Jason K), are the big deals. Pancakes are a footnote. They were good, but the real winner was the waffle.

Try to snag some eggs from Marek’s plate and you’ve got a fight on your hands. Oddly enough, he barely ate any eggs. He just didn’t like me messing with his chow. Hats-off to the photog (me) for snapping a dynamic shot (of me) in the egg-snatching fight.

Ivo has a new trick. Point. “Look there!” Then “Yoink!” as he steals something from your plate. Seriously, he tries to say “Yoink” and it comes out “oink,” which makes it even better.

Devil-eyed Marek has a belly full of bacon. It’s good bacon. Notice behind Marek that the dining room filled up by the time we were done. Not an empty table in the house.

Here’s the bill. $23 for three breakfasts isn’t bad at all, especially given the quality and quantity.

We managed to escape without breaking any frogs.

The chow was great. I haven’t had a waffle in years, and this one was truly tops. Bacon, eggs, pancakes were all serviceable. Lots of frogs. A restaurant philosophy. And the best part was the guy with coffee. There was a guy who came around every 10 minutes with the coffee pots, and it never ran dry. That was awesome. The price was right. I can’t find any reason to not award the Frog Pond with a Tampa Bay Breakfasts Five Pancakes rating.

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As we were leaving, we noticed this wicked little Mini sportster. There’s a lot of things I’ve never seen, and this is one of them.

We’ll go here next time. Beverly’s is right across the street.

After the Frog Pond, we went to Sunset Beach.

We went swimming and did the stingray shuffle.

Neat clouds on the ride back across the bay. Truly, a lovely day today. This is why we live in Florida.

On our way home, we stopped at Inkwood Books. Our favorite book store in Tampa.

And to round out our trifecta of locally owned small business support today, we also stopped at Rollin’ Oats.

Just a normal day.

Daily Eats

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We started out with a different plan. We were going to have some of the excellent blueberry pancakes at Taste of Boston and then ride bikes on Bayshore for a little while. Taste of Boston has always been a favorite, because I secretly suspect the restaurant and the bait shop share the kitchen.

It turns out that in the three years since we last visited Taste of Boston, they no longer serve breakfast. So we ate our snacks first, lest we have to resort to cannibalism. Me and the boys, we’d already decided that the eat-or-be-eaten lines would be drawn based on gender, not age.

Here are the previously mentioned bikes and excited about-to-be-bike-riding family people.

Off we go on Bayshore, a lovely bit of hometown Tampa. For 45 minutes, Marek said “good morning!” to every single person we passed. I lost count at 50.

We stopped and took a break, and saw a stingray in the water. It’s not obvious, but in this picture it is just north of dead center, with the tail pointed down. Some people were, at that very moment, paying $20 a head to get into the Florida Aquarium to see the same thing.

And on we rode, all the way up South Howard.

I bet you were worried that we’d never get to breakfast in this report. Let me assure you, by this point, Marek and Ivo were pretty worried we’d never get to breakfast either, but here we are. Daily Eats. 901 South Howard Ave.

We were last at Daily Eats three years ago. We didn’t ride bikes back then. Marek was Ivo’s age. Ivo was barely a thought. It was a simpler time.

We had to wait 10 minutes for a table. That’s how fabulous Daily Eats is, there’s a line out the door. Give it another couple years, and Marek’s eyes in this picture would be diverted about 90 degrees clockwise and 5 degrees south.

They promptly hooked us up with crayons. That’s a good place that understands kids.

Me and Marek, two sweaty boys. That bike ride made us hungry. Of course, if we hadn’t had to go with Plan B we’d have eaten two hours ago.

Marek took this picture of the prettiest girl in the room.

A good menu, full of classics and exciting twists. For appearing to be somewhat terse, we had to take some time to decide.

Inside, Daily Eats is set up like an old rail car diner. It’s close, cozy, and very busy. There’s a lot of mimosa being poured this morning.

Coffee, juice, good.

Ivo took this picture of our cheerful waitress Betsy. It almost looks like he planned the exposure to highlight the “guest check” notepad.

When breakfast landed we all jumped. Lovely presentation of the French toast, pancakes, bacon, eggs, home fries, fruit.

I broke out of the mold and tried the Spanish omelet. The potatoes and omelet were fabulous.

Marek did a disappearing act with the bacon. Now you see it, now you don’t.

And Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom raved about the French toast. Oh la la, a fine breakfast.

And here’s the third picture of this omelet. It was super! Excepting for the hugeness of it, I could have had two.

Four breakfasts, two from the kids’ menu. $33. That’s not too bad, especially considering the SoHo location and the quality and quantity of chow. I’d say that’s actually a pretty good value. Plus, we got to meet our waitress, who is a “Puerto Rican Catholic with a Hebrew name for some reason.”

This was a great experience all around. Friendly people. Awesome food. Reasonable price. Kid-friendly, yet with mimosas. We’re pleased to give Daily Eats a four and a half pancake rating (up a half-pancake from our last visit, thanks to Betsy!).

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Fresh

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We’re going on the bikes to find breakfast this morning. Ivo invited Veronica. I think he has a crush.

Veronica is our neighbor. We live about seven miles from downtown. This was her first time ever riding downtown and on the roads, and it was her longest bike ride ever. I don’t think she really knew what she was in for.

We parked bikes in front of Fresh at 507 North Franklin Street on 25 August 2012. We last visited Fresh back in January 2011.

Veronical’s father Matt also joined us, because he knows better than to miss out on a Tampa Bay Breakfast!

They moved the cereal bar to the other side of the room since last we were here.

Matt and Veronica have been here more than we have, usually for non-breakfast meals. Matt and I share an opinion that the food is fine, the decor is really nice, but it just doesn’t seem to make sense. Where you order, where you pick up, where you sit, where you get napkins, everything seems to be sort of haphazard. We were the only customers, and yet we seemed to mill about and stand around a lot.

Me and Ivo did a recon on the cereal bar.

And supervised Veronica’s building of a perfect breakfast.

Perfect, in this case, means Fruit Loops with M&Ms and Jelly Bellies. Oh, to be ten again, where that would sound the least bit edible.

Hat’s off to TBT for “Republicane” … double entendre nicely played, given both the whirlwind that Tampa is becoming and the impending storm due to hit this week.

I had the “Belgian,” which is a “French toasted” Panini with raspberries and blueberries, along with home fries. Odd that it’s named for Belgium with Italian bread cooked in an American fashion named after France. You almost need a passport for this one!

While I was waiting, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Fresh sells candy cigarettes. Not that I’m particularly interested in providing this experience for my own kids, but I remember them from when I was young. Matt and I had a good conversation about the value. “How else would little kids learn to smoke?”

Fresh has a TV showing you pictures of the food you could be ordering, and how good it is. It’s almost like the modern habit of having a great time, taking pictures of the great time while you’re having it, and then stopping having the good time to enjoy the pictures of the time you just stopped having.

We enjoyed our breakfast outside. It’s a pleasant day in Tampa. Downtown cafe. Kids like us on bikes, stimulating the local economy and acting like Tampa’s a real city.

This is just Andy getting in the picture.

Ivo didn’t eat very well. Fresh wasn’t to his taste. And he missed his brother Marek, I think.

Here’s a close-up of breakfast. Let’s revisit the melange. It’s very attractive, with service on a classy white rectangular plate. But then it gets the plastic syrup container. The salty-savory potatoes were delish. But they completely clashed with the sweet and tart of the panini. And the panini sort of clashed with itself, the tart was overpowering on the sweet. Good, but just over-tart.

Fresh gets high marks for the ambiance and location. The food is ambitious but still seems to be looking for cohesion. The prices are OK, but you don’t walk out feeling like you just got a bargain. Fresh is certainly worth a trip and is surely going to keep getting better and better. We give Fresh a Tampa Bay Breakfasts three and a half pancake rating.

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Squads of cops on patrol in Tampa. The start of a creepy martial-law feel in the city today. The paramilitary appearance lends to my unease.

But the blocked streets and heavy police presence kept the roads clear for Ivo and Veronica to chase pigeons.

Fresh is beside the new downtown Taco Bus. We love the Taco Bus.

We’re uncomfortable with the national guard patrolling our breakfast, though.

By the time we left Fresh, these barriers to our transit were flying up all over the city. It’s a shame that the state of our nation includes a political climate where one side has to wall itself off from the other.

We rode the Riverwalk by the convention center.

We stopped to check out the fabulous Nemo on Wheaties.

Then we found the Riverwalk inexplicably barricaded under the Brorein bridge. There were guys on bikes coming the other way blocked, too. All we were missing was someone to ask for our papers.

We made our way over to Curtis Hixon Park. We had to go all the way around by the performing arts center to almost sneak in to the playground. Mickey’s been along for the whole ride.

Ivo and Veronica had a great time playing on one of our favorite playgrounds in Tampa.

We rode from Curtis Hixon to Ybor City. A flight of three helicopters overhead.

At Ybor City we enjoyed the Saturday Market.

We had fresh, hand-made smoothies.

And then we rode home. The whole ride from start to finish, about 20 miles through downtown, West Tampa, Tampa Heights, Ybor, Seminole Heights. That’s a heck of a ride!

Just a normal day.

Shrimp Landing

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We’re visiting our hometown today. Ivo found him a Ford. I tend towards a Ford also, and I never really did care for a Chevy. But this Apache looks like it was painted the color of rust to divert attention from the actual rust. Looks like a straight six under that hood and an all-American line-drive baseball into the windshield. A lot of work to be done here, but there’s potential for a beautiful truck underneath it all.

We visited Shrimp Landing at 48 Highway 19 S in Inglis on 18 August 2012. Shrimp Landing is adjacent to the Hickory Island motel and bar.

Close-up of the door to the office tells a story about the rooms here. Either that indeterminate propositional phrase is on purpose or it’s not, and either way it tells a story of my hometown.

Here’s the Shrimp Landing, and also what very well could be the first ever Scion FR-S in Inglis. Shrimp Landing used to be Peppermint Patties last year, and Hickory Island before that, and the Port Inglis for decades prior to that. The Port Inglis is where I used to say “coffee, and lots of it!” And the gal would bring me two cups, just in case.

It’s actually “Shark Week” on the Discovery Channel and we’ve been watching and learning (and not having nearly as many nightmares as you’d expect). So Ivo is very interested in this one. I’ve also got to give compliments to the blue-painted mulch, an idea that actually works pretty well here.

The menu is standard breakfast, just like you’d expect in a small town. Get too fancy and folks’ll find another place for bacon and eggs.

Ivo’s got a case of the shys this morning. He just turned two a few days ago, and it’s frankly a bit overwhelming.

But, just like all two year olds, a little bit of hot diner coffee will cure him of that!

And also, breakfast. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day. How can you be sure of this? Follow the sound medical advice of asking us, and we’ll tell you, breakfast is where it’s at!

We divvied it up evenly. Scrambled eggs: Check. Bacon: Check. Pancakes: Check. Fork: Maybe.

Simple and good, here. Decent chow that we both liked fine. Good coffee. Nice folks, with lots of regulars. Especially since it seems that Gobbler’s is under new ownership and was not opened at all this morning, making Shrimp Landing the only breakfast in town. It all weighed in at under a tenner.

That coffee really perked up our young Ivo. He jumped right up to pay the bill.

With a little encouragement on the compass heading, he promptly disappeared into the crowd.

And came back with change, a string of beads from “the kids’ treasure chest,” and a big ole goofy grin. That’s the look of pride and accomplishment my boy’s got.

After breakfast was down the hatch and the tab settled, we took a ride down Follow That Dream Parkway, as I don’t recall if Ivo has ever been to the End of the Road.

And a serious squall was just coming ashore. It’s difficult to pick out, but there’s three boys on the dock trying to fish without getting knocked off by the wind, and there’s a guy in a 20′ boat getting banged all over in the cross current trying to get up onto the trailer.

On the way home we stopped and visited the parents of a childhood buddy of mine. In the back I noticed the old Gheenoe that me and Gary used to fish out of for whole summers at a time when we were teenagers. Those were the days.

A fine breakfast day. Good chow, decent price, home-town fun, all for ten bucks. We’re happy to give Shrimp Landing a Tampa Bay Breakfasts four pancake rating.

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Mom’s Restaurant

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We revisited Mom’s at 4816 N Dale Mabry Hwy on 4 August 2012. Last time we were here was over two years ago. That’s like a million years in breakfast time. Mom’s is the kind of place where you can drive your classic v12 Jaguar and still get treated like a regular Joe.

We did not all dress alike on purpose this morning. This is a classic example of the thousand monkeys chained to a thousand typewriters for a thousand years.

Marek and Ivo are like a Breakfast Recon Team, infiltrating the pancakes.

Inside Mom’s is unchanged since we were last there. And maybe since forever. This is the way we like it.

We spent a lot of time talking about this car and what kind it may be. We never did come to a conclusion, though it probably spent a lot of time at Ronnie Setser’s.

Ivo wasted no time making a mess. He’s decreased his TTM (that’s time to mess, for technical folks) by 51% since last time he popped one of these creamers when I wasn’t looking.

The menu is exactly what you’d expect for a classic greasy spoon mom-n-pop diner.

Me and Marek, we’re having our coffee. Have you noticed, dedicated TBB fans, how Marek has grown out of looking like a little kid and into looking like a little person?

Ivo demands coffee, too. I think I’m going to start him on decaf, though.

Can’t you just imagine sitting with Marek over a slow Sunday breakfast and coffee, just talking about the news and the weather and how Grandma’s doing these days?

Every toddler ought start out this way, mainlining black coffee.

Marek of the future, read back to 2012 and this picture. When you and I are arguing over if you can take the hovercraft out for a date with your robot hybrid girlfriend and you’re mad at me because I just don’t understand, I’m going to pull up this picture and remind you how we used to be such good friends.

New tattoo. The original hand is Marek’s when he was two. Last week we got Ivo’s. Which is a bit larger than Marek, at the same age. We’re predicting Ivo will grow to be the size of a horse.

Breakfast came like Operation Vittles, a plane-load of chow. Marek is now, as of two weeks ago, on a sausage patty kick.

Pancakes this morning: Not Mom’s finest work. I mean, they were fine, but very small. We’ve encountered a lot of pancakes in our career, so I know a small pancake when I see one.

Ivo has perfected the use of the fork to deliver chow to his lap, where he then uplifts it to his maw by hand. Perfect aristocratic table manners have to start somewhere. Not here, of course.

This bacon, what tiny bit I got of it, was good. I like it just over the edge of being done plus one. This was happy bacon for all of us. The look on Marek’s face needs a caption, though.

Enough chow to feed us all, coffee, Marek coffee, and Ivo coffee all added up to a bit over 12 clams. That’s about right for a good, filling breakfast in Tampa Bay. Bacon was great. Eggs just right. Hash browns were nice. Pancakes, a bit small but otherwise OK. Sausage was a winner. And the coffee was tops, by the way. Mom’s has a great rhythm, where all the wait staff circulate the whole room and refill everyone every five minutes. That’s the way it ought to be done.

Marek and Ivo negotiated. Ivo would pay the bill, Marek would bring the change back.

This appears to be some sort of bartering about the bill.

A crowd gathered to watch the young financial wizards.

And … another Breakfast Job, well done.

The boys came away with pops when they paid the bill. That’s always awesome! Also, the 370z behind them was almost the new Pancake Mobile, but there’s no back seat at all. At least the FR-S has this thing that looks like a scale model of a back seat so I can fake it and fit them in. But not the 370, no sir.

After Mom’s, we went to the beach. What a great Florida day.

We’re pleased to award Mom’s with a Tampa Bay Breakfasts four and a half pancake rating.

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