Mamas Kitchen on North Florida

We re-visited Mamas Kitchen at 9312 North Florida Avenue on Mother’s Day, 8 May 2011. As you may recall, dear TBB fan, Mamas is where we got our start over two years ago. Oh, how young we were back then.

There’s two reasons to go to Mamas. Three. Because you read it here on Tampa Bay Breakfasts is the third. The second is because they sling a pretty fine plate of chow. The first is because they have Vicky. Vicky is, in our vast Pancake Perception, the best breakfast waitress in the Tampa Bay Area. You could be flat out allergic to scrambled eggs and you’d still have a great breakfast experience thanks to her.

Marek, dear child, informed me with supreme vigor that he was Not Hungry and Did Not Want Pancakes. I told him he could just sit there while I had pancakes, because I was hungry. Remember this conversation and see how it turns out later.

Ivo, dear child, informed me with supreme vigor that he was Very Hungry and would be willing to eat Marek’s breakfast if it were coming up available in the next few minutes.

Did you ever say to yourself, “there’s two things I’ve always loved?” My wife and kids. Or maybe, the elegance of the shortest path algorithm and Dijkstra’s profound sense of humor. Or maybe, Star Wars and Mamas Kitchen coffee. I’ve always loved this coffee, and Marek got this great Tie Fighter for his birthday from Tio Patrick.

It’s hard to beat the coffee here. Even Marek, who said he Don’t Want Nothin!, enjoys a good dose of the hard stuff.

Dad, says Marek, you mentioned Dijkstra. Do you think he was more influential than, say, Knuth?

Ivo, as you can tell by his choice of bib, Loves Daddy. He’s also young, and he thinks Stroustrup beats Knuth and Dijkstra in a battle royale. Silly children. Without the invention of an algorithm, you can have neither description nor implementation. Point: Dijkstra. Although, in an actual caged death match between the three, Dijkstra’s at a disadvantage because he’s already dead. In which case, my money’s on Stoustrup also.

(If you think this conversation has gone two degrees south of geeky, just imagine having to suffer through this for the rest of your life like Marek and Ivo will be doing. Or even worse, being married to me.)

Remember last week’s surprise appearance of Marek’s butt for no good reason? Here it is again. I’m thinking of giving it it’s own name, like “Southern Marek” or “Marek Junior” or maybe “Louis.”

Anyone for a bowl of room-temperature paste? Ivo?

And here comes breakfast, in a flash. Note the Ivo DMZ. Also note how Marek “wasn’t hungry” and “didn’t want anything” and yet is giving “Ivo Hands” onto the plate.

That look on Marek’s face? That’s the same look feral children get when eating.

Like any good child being raised by wolves, this pup knows when to share! Steve, I only got this one bite, but I believe you’d like the bacon here.

While Marek and I were playing wolf-pack on the bacon, Ivo just looked on with this air of disbelief. Almost as if you can see his little mind turning over the concept that “I’m related to these nuts?”

Recorded here on Tampa Bay Breakfasts: This is Ivo’s First Ever Pancake that he’s actually been allowed to eat.

That’s one good pancake. (And they were, indeed, delicious!)

Marek said 50 times, he didn’t want any pancakes. Yet here we are. Mystery of the universe how this worked out.

You’re wondering, dear reader, why the sour look on Marek? Because he’s only allowed two cups of coffee in the mornings. He’s only four, for cryin’ out loud.

This, Marek would like me to mention, is “Subconscious” the lion. This is Alan’s lion, which we read about sometimes before bed. Marek of the future, I’ll admit to you that I did, indeed, censor a few lines of this poem when I read it to you as a child. But because of this poem, we call all lions by the name Subconscious.

Marek paid the bill ($11 bones, not bad!) and dear Vicky gave him THREE pops! One of which, obviously, didn’t make it all the way home.

Out in the parking lot we saw this wicked Miata. Now I’m not usually a fan of a Miata, but this one appeared to be gutted and modded with creativity and ingenuity. It was awesome.

We wrapped up and headed home to wish Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom a happy mothers’ day. Thanks to Tampa Bay Breakfasts, she slept until after 0900 this morning! Happy Mothers’ Day!

We’ve consistently given Mamas on North Florida four and a half pancake ratings over time. I think we’re just being stingy. Mamas is clearly a 4.5 breakfast. The food is nearly perfect, and fast, too. Pancakes are just right, eggs are the way we like them, bacon is crispy without being burnt, coffee is the way diner coffee oughtta be. Place is usually full of regulars. There’s the Greek lions mural that invokes conversations with Marek about the Beat Poets.

But what really pushes Mamas over the top is Vicky. She’s worth a half-pancake bump. We’re pleased to upgrade Mamas Kitchen on North Florida to a Tampa Bay Breakfasts five pancake rating. Just don’t tell them it smells like Staten Island in there.

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4 thoughts on “Mamas Kitchen on North Florida

  1. vicky

    hello tampabay breakfast fans …..
    i would truly like to thank andy , marek & our new addition IVO πŸ™‚ and everyone else πŸ™‚ who truly makes my day great everyday at mamas kitchen i would not have it any other way ….. to another great breakfast and a smile that really means something thank you from the bottom of my heart …

    love always vicky

    Reply
  2. Pingback: Tampa Bay Blogger Shoutouts « Carlos Eats

  3. Loraine

    I recently moved to North Tampa from South of Gandy (waaaay south Tampa) where I enjoyed another Mamas Kitchen. Just recently, I had the opportunity to try this particular Mamas Kitchen. Fantastic! Manny and I loved it so much, we were back two days later to eat again. The service was great, the food delicious, prices reasonable. Highly recommend!

    Reply

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