We’re serious about breakfast.
We’re Serious
7 Replies
Monthly Archives: April 2009
Nicko’s on North Florida
We visited Nicko’s restaurant at 4603 N Florida Ave on April 25th. Breakfast is very reasonably priced, especially the weekend special of pancakes, eggs, and bacon for under six bucks. That’s what we get when we visit. We’ve been to Nicko’s at least half a dozen times.
We had breakfast. The pancakes were very good. The eggs were just right. The bacon was good. The coffee was perfect diner-style, hot, bitter, and black.
Nicko’s place was visited by Elvis in 1956. No kidding. This is so cool. You don’t even have to like Elvis to dig this.
Every time we’ve ever visited Nicko’s, The Elvis Booth has been taken. Not today! We got to sit at the booth and check out the little sign on the wall.
The people at Nicko’s are always friendly. The place is full of regulars and folks know each others’ names. There’s also a lunch counter, which is simply a great way to have a meal. We’ll be sitting at the counter when Marek gets older.
When we were done, Marek paid the bill.
He made some friends and enjoyed himself. He was a little sad that no one knows our names yet. I think once we’re established as regulars (and if they add blueberry pancakes to the menu) then we’ll have to give Nicko’s our highest rating of all. This is simply a great place.
We give this Tampa Bay Breakfast a rating of 4.5 pancakes.
Recommend your favorite Tampa Bay Breakfast
Do you have a favorite breakfast in the Tampa Bay area or just want to say “howdy”? Please fill out the form or post a comment below. You can also send email to andy at tampbabaybreakfasts.com, marek at tampabaybreakfasts.com, or ivo at tampabaybreakfasts.com.
If you’re a restaurant owner and would like for us to visit specifically for us to do a review of your establishment, please let us know so we can make a special trip. We’re not “mystery shoppers” trying to trip you up. We like a good breakfast. We’ll give you heads-up so we get your A-game the first time.
We’re on our way to get some pancakes.
Our Rating System
Marek and I will visit a restaurant for breakfast. Then we’ll carefully consider several key points about the experience and together we agree on a rating. In general, we talk about these things:
- Is the business, the location, or the decor unique in some way? Extra points if Elvis, or Metallica, ever ate there.
- Do the people like Marek? Extra points given for lollipops, playing cars with him, or taking him on a tour of the facility.
- Are the staff friendly? Do they seem to know regulars by name?
- Are the customers friendly? Do they seem to be regulars?
- Is the cost reasonable?
- Does the menu have anything special or unique? Extra points for secret recipes, menus with stories about how a particular recipe was passed down for generations, or simply unique or bizarre offerings.
- Is the coffee hot, black, and bottomless?
- Are the pancakes good?
- Are the eggs good?
- Is the bacon good?
- Does Marek eat anything? Everything?
- Do we have a good time and look forward to our next visit?
We give ratings of up to five pancakes, one for each element of food, people, interesting quirks, cost, and Marek’s general reaction. For example, an overpriced, bland place with moderately cordial people but really good food, where Marek finishes a whole pancake and is comfortable enough to quietly play cars, this would be a two and a half pancake review:
We Like Breakfast
I’m Andy. This is Marek. We live in Tampa, Florida. We like breakfast.
We have breakfast at mom and pop greasy spoon restaurants throughout the tampa bay area. We avoid national chains, drive-ups, and convenience stores. We like hometown pancakes and eggs. And strong black coffee, diner style. Lots of coffee.
- We visited Mamas Family Restaurant on 18 April 2009. Rating: 4.5 pancakes.
Mamas on North Florida
We visited Mamas Kitchen Family Restaurant at 9312 N Florida Ave on April 18th. Mamas also has a location on Dale Mabry in south Tampa. Both locations make a good breakfast at a reasonable price and the people are always very friendly. Marek and I visit the Florida Avenue location regularly.
We had breakfast. Marek was distracted and didn’t eat much. The pancakes were very good. The eggs were nicely done. The bacon was a bit greasy and oddly stuck together in a sheet. The coffee was just right, even though we had a major coffee spill event while rolling a Matchbox car back and forth.
One of the neat things about Mamas is mural of the lions. The lion is a tie in to the Greek origins of the family who run the restaurants.
The best part about the Florida Avenue location is Vicky. Marek loves Vicky.
We give this Tampa Bay Breakfast a rating of 4.5 pancakes.
