We visited Consciousness Blossoms at Tampa Road in Palm Harbor on 2 June 2012.

Today it’s just Ivo and me, because Marek told me he “doesn’t want to go to breakfast with you anymore, dad.” He told Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom that “dad always drives too long to get to breakfast and I don’t like it.” Given that Consciousness Blossoms was a 45 minute drive, I guess he was smart to stay home.

Well-tended little garden out front. For a Pinellas County strip mall, this is very unique.

Ivo’s perfectly capable, and in fact encouraged to used a regular cup. But he got a nice sippy-cup, which is actually the first time we’ve ever seen where a restaurant has proper sippy cups like this. And there were big crayons, too. I let Ivo draw with them when I was done.

Nice, welcoming menu cover.

Inside is equal parts food and essay. I did not attempt to order a side-helping of philosophy, but since it’s in the menu I presume it’s possible. And probably offered free of charge. If I wasn’t here with a two year old, I’d have taken the time to read this.

But instead of reading the philosophical underpinnings of Consciousness Blossoms, I turned Ivo upsidedown and commenced to tickling him.

Consciousness Blossoms is very friendly, very clean, and very unique. But it’s not fast. So we spent some time goofing off.

Inside is nice and clean and bright. Cheery, even.

And on the table is a set of randomy cards with uplifting notions.

After goofing and after discussing Sri Chinmoy’s aphorisms. Note that Tampa Bay Breakfasts is a non-denominational breakfast organization and does not endorse any philosophy or religion that does not serve pancakes.

And speaking of serving pancakes, where we go!

Now speaking of breakfast, which is the whole reason we’re here, you’ll see that this is a very unique breakfast for us. We’ve never had soy bacon (I make it at home sometimes, but never when we’re out performing our official breakfast function). The whole thing is dairy-free. The eggs come from happy chickens. I know, because I asked, did the eggs come from happy chickens? The answer was, “yes, of course.”

Pancakes, with blueberries, were a decent size. A hungry boy can go away happy.

The “1 fish 2 fish” shirt is Ivo’s favorite. I put that on him and he runs around pointing at the fish, making his cute little “I can’t talk yet” grunts and squeaks. Ivo dug right into breakfast. He didn’t like the potatoes, but I loved them. He did, however, polish off the eggs. The pancakes were very good, probably be best whole-wheat blueberry pancakes we’ve ever had in our Tampa Bay Breakfasts. The only ones, too.

Even the toast was nice. Though the little Smuckers jellies seemed out of place in a breakfast that was so hand-crafted.

Ivo was sort of gooey and sticky after we finished, so we went to wash up.

When the bill came, we found out how much it costs to have happy chickens and Karma-free breakfasts. Much like in the software world where we say “think freedom of speech, not free beer,” “Karma-free” does not mean “less cost.” We had to trot out more than a Jackson for breakfast me and Ivo.

Ivo paid the bill. I mean, really, who else would do it? Obviously, we need new business cards if Marek doesn’t get back on the breakfast train! (And the timing’s good, because we’re almost out of business cards!)

Ivo found his way to the back counter and paid the bill. He did not, however, get one of those cookies.

On the ride home, I endangered us all by taking this cool picture of me and Ivo in the rear view mirror. Art without danger is merely decoration.

Consciousness Blossoms was a good and unique experience. The food was delish. Great pancakes, wonderful potatoes, interesting coffee. The people were friendly. There’s certainly no shortage of a sense that you’re in a new experience, breakfast-wise. The price is the real knock. Me and Ivo together weigh about 200 pounds. With breakfast costing about $20, that’s about $1 per 10 pounds of person. Bet you never heard of measuring value by THAT metric, have you? I’m uncertain about the Sri Chinmoy tie-in. Googling him returns some interesting results. But as far as a breakfast experience, we’re pleased to give Consciousness Blossoms a Tampa Bay Breakfasts our and a half pancake rating.