Category Archives: American

The Dome Grill

Have you seen our Tampa Bay Breakfast Map? It’s really heavy on Hillsborough County. We didn’t give Pinellas County nearly enough pancake love in 2009. Marek says, hey freezer geezer, let’s pull one of these breakfast recommendations out of the bucket and head across the bridge. I fired up the Breakfast Mobile whilst Marek sat in the Navigator seat and directed.

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We landed at The Dome Grill at 561 Central Ave in St. Pete. This was our first visit to The Dome.

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The Dome was recommended by our friend Aleshea. If you hear one voice rising above the cacophony of the Tampa Bay area, it’s probably Aleshea. She doesn’t know it yet, but she is The Official Poet of Tampa Bay Breakfasts. She’s our current favorite driving-to-breakfast music. She’s all that, AND she can repair the suspension on a military-grade Humvee.

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The inside of The Dome is quite nice. It’s a place where you order and pay at the counter, then they call your number for you to come collect your pancakes. There was a locals vibe, and everyone we met was friendly as family.

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There’s what looks like a kickin’ little take-away bakery here. There’s baklava there … do you think The Dome is actually a Greek place? Do historians know for sure that Plato, Socrates, Aristotle did NOT have blueberry pancakes for breakfast every day? Epicurus would have, fo sho, yo, if here weren’t so pent up.

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Here’s the centerpiece, though. This is pure artwork. An object of reverence, aptly placed on an altar in the center of the room. I saw this and knew I was in the hands of coffee passion. Oh, the deliciousness that it contained.

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This coffee ought to come with a disclaimer — it’s so good you might forget where you parked. Look at that perfect color. In RGB terms, that is #000000.

Check out our Official Poet playing trucks by herself back there. Sure, one might assume that Marek’s across the table from her, but that would be an assumption, now wouldn’t it?

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OK, I’m just kidding. Marek really is there playing cars. Which is a nice segue into introducing Bryan, a fine musician, a photographer of exceptional talent, and Aleshea’s main squeeze!

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Enough with the chit-chat, long chops! Get to the breakfast! (Marek typed that.)

We all had some really fine chow this morning! Bryan and Aleshea come here often, but they tried new things today in the spirit of being Guest Reviewers.

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Marek couldn’t keep to his own and jumped into mine. He helped me out by making sure there were enough finger-holes in my pancakes. Whudda guy.

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The eggs were great, the bacon was fine, though not Steve-Standard, but the pancakes were simply awesome. These were really, really good pancakes. I’d say second only to Skyway Jacks for the bay area. Throw in some blueberries and we might have a little competition on our hands here.

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Really good pancakes. I went to check on the menu and it’s true, they serve breakfast all day. All day breakfast is one of those marvels of the world, like plumbing or calculus, where you might not come across it every day but when you do you think, now here’s something worthy of note.

Marek washed it all down with juice. He had to build up his strength …

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… for playing more cars! Cars!

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When we were done, we dropped a stack of Tampa Bay Breakfasts business cards with the rest of the fliers. We’re spreadin’ the good word about breakfasts throughout the Tampa Bay Area (and the Levy-Citrus-Marion Tri-County Area, too, of course). There’s no pancake we will leave unflipped in our quest to visit every mom-n-pop breakfast shop there is.

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Man, we like breakfast. No, we are not nutcases. Well, maybe Marek a little bit, but I’m perfectly sane.

So what about The Dome Grill? This Dome is to breakfast what Brunelleschi’s Dome is to free-standing stone domes in the Northern Italian Renaissance. It’s rock-solid and it sets a standard for others to follow. It’s different in that it’s not in Florence and was not built using the cantilever method. All four of us for about 24 clams. Great chow. Neat location. This is a fine Tampa Bay Breakfast. We’re pleased to give The Dome four and a half pancakes.

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Aleshea says that we also need to try that place across the street …

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The Brunchery

Gobbler’s Eatery

2 Replies

It’s New Year’s Eve! Marek’s visiting his grandparents in Inglis for the weekend, so we’re taking a road trip for breakfast this morning. Marek packed provisions, like a good little boyscout.

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We got stopped by a train on our way out of Tampa. Check out this cherry Mustang in front of us! That’s one sweet ride! Of course, me, Marek, and the pancake-mobile could take him in the quarter-mile, but let’s keep it friendly, folks. We’re just going for breakfast.

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Marek got to choose the music for the ride. As you can see here, he was greatly torn between the latest Marylin Manson and the local musician collection “Amasura,” put out by the Withlacoochee Area Residents. He ended up choosing acoustic songs about the river. He said, but dad, we’re going to the Nature Coast. We’ve gotta set the right mood!

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We crossed the Withlacoochee and rolled into Inglis right at 0900. That’s the famished hour for Pancake Professionals like us!

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We visited Gobbler’s Eatery at 14 Highway 19 North on 31 December 2009. This was, obviously, our last breakfast of the year. Gobbler’s has a web site at http://www.gobblerseatery.com/. We’ve been to Gobbler’s a bunch of times. If you count when this restaurant was first opened as the Riverland Cafe back twenty-some years ago, I’ve been there probably 50 times in all my natural born life.

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“Camouflage” is a primary color, just like red, green, and blue. These doors hit the TBB checkbox for unique feature! And yes, the latrines are detached. Makes you think twice about having to “go” if it’s raining out!

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Inside you’ll find a very warm and homey place. Comfortable in every sense. Almost by definition it’s full of regulars; Inglis isn’t very big and, frankly, there’s not much to draw folks in from out of town. Just like at Hickory Island, we were a little disappointed that we didn’t know more people, but we did know some. When we left we already knew more.

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This was a special breakfast for us. Not only is it our last breakfast of the year, but we had a celebrity guest! All year long, folks have been asking me, “who is Steve?” Steve’s a fellow in Yankeetown we’ve known for years. He’s one of those rare individuals who understands just how Important a Breakfast can be. It’s about gosh-darned time we have him as a guest reviewer.

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After such a long ride in the car, Marek was, I’ll admit, a little cooped-up feeling. While we waited for breakfast, all he wanted to do was play.

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And play.

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And then breakfast came. That’s Steve’s son James with us also. James is the bartender at VFW post 8698, where I used to be a member until we moved to Tampa and I joined post 424. If you go to the VFW and see James, tell him you know him from Tampa Bay Breakfasts — and make sure to give him a big tip!

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When the pancakes landed, Mighty Marek was there with the speed of toast popping! This picture doesn’t lie; he actually made a little sonic boom, he moved so fast!

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When was the last time you took a group picture with Your breakfast? If you haven’t lately, you should make a point of it.

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Marek wasted no time putting the hurt on these quality pancakes.

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He puts pepper on pancakes. I figure, hey, you’re a grown man, Marek. You can make your own decisions. Whacko.

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This is a pretty good spread for the price. We even got a biscuit, in case our friend Doug Dame of Biscuit Fame is reading. And while not pictured here, the coffee was dark like the unchanged oil of an old mudding truck, bitter like battery acid. In other words, just the way we like it.

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When we were done, Marek paid the bill.

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And can you believe it? There’s a box of toys back there! Marek got a little airplane to take home! Now THAT’s a nice touch.

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Marek always gets the girls. Heck, he can recite the sensual poetry of Pablo Neruda AND he can bench press 250 pounds. He’s a dream!

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When it was all done, all we could say was, this was a fine way to wrap up a year of Pancake Pondering. We’ve had breakfasts all over the Tampa Bay area, in Hernando, Citrus, and Levy counties, and even in Germany. We’ve had some good ones and some bad ones. And this was a good one. Price for four was around 25 clams. Breakfast was large and good. Coffee bottomless. Unique place full of locals. And it’s in my hometown. Thanks, Steve and James for being part of our last 2009 breakfast!

We’re pleased to give Gobbler’s Eatery a Tampa Bay Breakfast rating of four and a half pancakes. Have a great new year!

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Now that the official part is done, when we left Gobblers we went to The End of the Road to play for a little while. A true Pancake Professional knows when to eat and he knows when to play!

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Revisit to J. Christopher’s

Mamma Sally’s in Crystal River

2 Replies

We visited Mama Sally’s restaurant at 1960 U.S. 19 in Crystal River on 19 December 2009. This was our first visit to Mama Sally’s. For our new readers, Tampa Bay Breakfasts will occasionally travel to the Levy-Citrus-Marion tri-county area for breakfast because there’s grandparents up there!

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Before we got into Mama Sally’s for pancakes, we had a bit of a run-in with a little monkey. Marek and The Roadside Wonder had a private conversation. It seemed to be along the lines of, please don’t eat my dad, O great primate! Or maybe they traded recipes for banana bread. Whatever it was, it went on, with Marek nodding his head a lot.

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The Great Ape took Marek as his own, and Marek decided maybe having a Gorilla as a dad, or a mom for all we know, wouldn’t be that bad. They made plans to live in the jungle and eat chicken nuggets and fries, the way all monkeys do.

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Then we practiced making monkey sounds. And faces. We saw Jane Goodall at a seminar one time a few years back. She didn’t do any of this.

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That was a harrowing experience. We worked up an APPETITE! Let’s get inside Mama Sally’s. Which is just next door to what is now known as The Enormous Gorilla of Crystal River.

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Right away we started having a good time. This car got a lot of miles on the odo this morning!

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This was a special treat breakfast! Grandma joined us as a guest reviewer! We love having breakfast with Grandma!

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We had coffee, too. This is the best part about Mama Sally’s — your cup never goes empty! For those of us with CCD, this is important! (Chronic Coffee Deficiency)

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We had breakfast. Some pretty good blueberry pancakes, bacon, and very buttery eggs. Marek had a pancake that he didn’t eat because he was too busy trying to play.

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Our esteemed Guest Reviewer had the omelet and pronounced it to be good.

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When we were done, Marek said he would pay the bill. Then he took the money and just put it back on the table. Really, he just wanted to play with Grandma and didn’t want to do much else!

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When we were done, Marek showed Grandma the way to the parking lot. He’s such a little Boy Scout. Of course, she wasn’t ready and didn’t want to go to the parking lot, but he made sure to help her get there.

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The bill for three was just under a Jackson. The chow was good, though I felt the pancakes were a bit small for the price. Grandma was there, which was Good. Marek didn’t eat a thing, which was Not Good. The people were very friendly and the coffee was the right shade of obsidian. Locals filled the place, and people seemed to know each other’s names. I felt that the chow was a 3 or 3.5 and the overall non-chow experience was a 4. If I’d ever made a quarter-pancake picture for the ratings, we’d probably call it 3.75. But it’s Christmas and everyone was so nice, so let’s call it 4.

We’re pleased to give Mama Sally’s a Tampa Bay Breakfast rating of four pancakes.

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Enormous Gorilla says, “Andy and Marek are groovy monkeys! Especially Marek!”

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Daily Eats

1 Reply

It’s a gosh-darned beautiful fall day in Florida. We’re going to celebrate these clear blue skies with … Breakfast! (For our fans in England, Canada, Europe, and the Northern United States, yes, we ARE rubbing it in! (For our fans in Tampa who think I’m making it up, we really DO have fans in England, Canada, Europe, and up north!))

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We visited Daily Eats at 901 S Howard Ave on 27 November 2009. Daily Eats has a website at http://www.dailyeatstampa.com/. This was our first successful visit to Daily Eats; we tried to come hear earlier in the year but we were there before they opened. Marek is sleeping later these days so we get a chance to try new places that open after 0800.

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Already we like this joint. The name “Daily Eats” is so basic, common-man, fundamental, people-oriented. It’s a simple diner inside, with a great lunch counter. Marek wants to sit here, but he couldn’t really reach yet. Next year, little buddy!

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The menu is pretty extensive, though I didn’t see the word “bacon” anywhere (our chipper waitress assured me we could get bacon if we wanted it). The very first thing I DID see is “blueberry pancakes!”

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The second thing I see is booze for breakfast. We noticed a table of girls and mimosas as we walked in, which set the scene for good times this fine Florida morning. Marek wanted the Bloody Mary, but he had to settle for his juice box. Bummer.

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Daily Eats is in the middle of the SOHO district of Tampa. There’s a lot of stylish, fancy folk in this part of town. Marek says, hey big-daddy, I’m a movie star. All the ladies love me. Talk to my agent. Dad.

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We had coffee. This was good swill. And when we left, we got a complimentary to-go cup of black beauty. We love coffee.

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While we waited for pancakes, we got into a discussion about Marek’s current favorite topic, dinosaurs. He really liked talking about dinosaurs and gave big kisses. I said “Triceratops.” Marek said “Soarasaurus.” I pointed out that there was no such thing and he must have made that up. He called me a non-paleontology-knowing dumb-dumb. I told him to look it up. He pulled a knife and stabbed me in the head. Just an average day.

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Thankfully, breakfast arrived before there was any sort of significant bloodletting. Look at this bodacious haul. Those pancakes must weigh a pound each.

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The eggs were perfect, exactly as I like them. The potatoes that came with the pancakes were quite yummy. The pancakes were good but really heavy. Neither Marek nor I were able to finish ours. I won’t disparage these pancakes, but I do personally prefer a lighter blueberry pancake experience.

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Marek liked the pancakes. But he liked them better with pepper. What? Don’t look at ME, I’m not putting pepper on MY pancakes. Ick.

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When we were done, Marek paid the bill. He likes earning his keep.

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He found his way and even made friends. I was too far away to hear, but it looks to me like he’s getting this girl’s phone number. “Hey baby, I may be two years old and live with my parents, but I’ve got my own breakfast money and I can count to ten in Spanish.” Probably makes him a pretty viable dating candidate compared to a 35 year old who lives with his parents and doesn’t have his own breakfast money.

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We went outside and played in traffic. Got to work off those heavy pancakes!

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We had a very nice time at Daily Eats. Folks were friendly. The chow was good. The price was nice (eleven bones for a meal the two of us couldn’t finish). And most importantly, we had fun. Well fun and a knife fight, but who’s keeping score? We’re pleased to give Daily Eats a Tampa Bay Breakfast rating of four pancakes.

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Hickory Island Restaurant

5 Replies

We’re going on a road trip. We need maps.

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And provisions. And more provisions. Holy Moly, dad, are we STILL driving?

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We’re taking Tampa Bay Breakfast on the road. To the country.

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Loyal readers, especially the TBB addicts like fan DeniseK, may recall that our official territory is made up of Hillsborough and Pinellas counties AND the Levy-Citrus-Marion tri-county area, which is essentially Inglis, Crystal River, and Dunnellon. Today we went to Inglis. We visited the Hickory Island Restaurant at
48 Highway 19 South. Note the number of pickup trucks involved.

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Obviously, after the snacks and the maps and the crying (first me, then Marek, then together, and finally only him) and the hour and a half in the car Marek and I arrived at the Hickory Island in time for breakfast. As usual, there’s more to the story. And this, gentle reader, is where it gets personal. Nearly confessional. Gather round. Do as a nice older lady suggested to me later that day, and slip whiskey in your lemonade. We’re talking about Inglis. The word “city” in the name is a bit of an exaggeration.

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People know about Marek. And by now, people know about pancakes or they just aren’t paying attention. But what folks don’t know is that Marek’s honest-to-God middle name is “Inglis.” I heard you just ask which came first, Inglis the town or Inglis the boy? The town. And yes, he’s named after the town. And yes, he has my explicit permission in 14 years to swipe a town limits sign if the town hall won’t provide him with one. Inglis, much like Nikos diner in Tampa, has an Elvis Thing going on. We have an interesting relationship with Satan. We have a nuclear power plant, and we might have two nuclear power plants. We have around 1200 folks and one stop light and lots of pickup trucks and more churches than bars yet plenty of both and we’re proud of America and wish we had more jobs and we can’t all get along any better’n folks in Yankeetown but at least we have more stop lights. This is my hometown. We came for breakfast.

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The Hickory Island used to be The Port Inglis and used to be my all-time favorite breakfast. This was years ago, in the epoch known scientifically as “BM” (before Marek). The Port Inglis had some great old tables made of wood and resin and filled with nautical stuff. The kind of table you’d find from the 70s at a fleamarket and say, wow, I’m buying that just to let people come to my house and say, hey Andy, where’d you get THAT? And the PI used to have a nice gal named April. April would ask what I wanted and I’d tell her “coffee, and lots of it.” April would always bring me two cups of coffee at the same time and tell me I wanted a lot so here you go. Both the tables and April are gone (in the “not in this restaurant anymore” sense, hopefully not in the deceased sense!).

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So this is sort of a challenging breakfast, because this location holds a 55 gallon drum of memories for me, but it’s got new owners and has been completely renovated (I noticed that the toilets were the recipient of a much-needed upgrade, from 1930s fixtures and decor to 1970s fixtures and decor. That’s progress. What?). First thing we noticed were friendly folks welcoming us. Second thing we noticed was the nice menu, preserving that bit of Old Florida ways. Third thing we noticed was that we didn’t know or recognize a soul. That’s to be expected when you move away, but it still surprises me. Used to be I knew every face in town.

We sat at a nice booth by the window.

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All the tables have big sheets of paper on them, like going to the doctor where there’s the paper covering the examining table. Our nice hostess brought a basket of crayons, and thank you sister, we got to work. Looks like Marek is practicing Hangul.

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This was one talented kid.

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I kept egging him on. (We had time on our hands. The menu warned us that chow was rolled fresh, so don’t be in a hurry. They weren’t lying!)

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And then … out came breakfast. Looks like Marek was writing out some classical Sijo poetry while we were waiting.

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Marek wasted no time. He hookup up his four wheel drive appetite and hauled this pancake out into the woods of his belly.

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This was a pretty good breakfast. I like the eggs done a little better. The bacon was sweet, which I’m not super-fond of personally. And it was non-Steve-standard. The pancakes were, as forewarned, quite large. And very good. And the coffee was exactly what you’d expect out of a southern fried breakfast joint like Hickory Island. Battery-acid Black Beverage, Boys!

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When we were done with coloring and playing and eating and eating, Marek paid the bill.

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He played to the crowd, doing a little hide-and-seek around the corners, making all the customers chuckle. Of course, none of them knew Who He Was yet!

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He found the register and payed the bill, and even returned the change!

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Then we had a nice conversation with some “new locals.” We talked about politics in Yankeetown and how Marek is known to some in these parts as “Baby Inglis.” Then he took me by the hand and hauled me and the spiders out of there!

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We had to meet Mom to go to the Yankeetown Seafood Festival, an annual pilgrimage for us. We got in Mom’s car and rolled out to the fest. I think you, my belov’d reader, will join me in the feeling that the below picture may not be improved by any caption or comment.

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We had a great visit in Inglis and Yankeetown. We saw grandparents and family. We went to the fest. We had pancakes and coffee. Marek got some exposure to his namesake hometown. And it was good. Hickory Island is a fine example of a down-home breakfast. Y’all go getcha some, and tell ’em Baby Inglis and his old man Andy sent ya. Except for Steve. If you go, bring your own bacon.

We’re pleased to give The Hickory Island Restaurant a Tampa Bay Breakfast four pancake rating.

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Skyway Jacks

2 Replies

Last night my favorite Guest Reviewer and mother of my child says to me in a sweet voice, Andy, I don’t think you truly love me. I reply, of course, that I truly do. She then drives her point home with all the subtly of a ball peen hammer: If you truly loved me, you’d have invited me to guest review at a five-pancake breakfast by now. Marek piped up and said, yeah, batter-brain, show us what you know!

So I pulled out all the stops. I took them to Skyway Jacks.

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Skyway Jacks is at 2600 34th St S in St. Pete. We’ve been to Skyway Jacks a bunch of times, but this is our first official Tampa Bay Breakfast Visit. And just to prove how serious this is, there’s an enormous chicken waiting outside the door.

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I’ve seen a lot of things, been to a lot of places, and Lordy-be, we’ve eaten a lot of breakfast in our day. But I still don’t know what to make of this.

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Skyway Jacks is one of the oldest, strangest, coolest, bestest places for breakfast I ever did know. It’s full of locals of all sorts, it’s always busy, and there’s a simply bizarre collection of pigs everywhere. And a great lunch counter. Keep eating pancakes, Marek, so you can grown tall enough!

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Our faithful readers may recall, we judge a place based on some serious factors. Food and price, obviously, but we really appreciate the wacko factor on the menu. And Skyway Jacks has it. This is the only place in town with brains on the menu.

We knew what we came for, so we let mom, err, the Guest Reviewer, take pictures while we goofed off. Marek says, old man, all you ever do is eat pancakes and vote for Democrats. I replied, true, but I also give kisses to Marek!

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Breakfast came. I’m not going to lie to you, our loyal TBB fans. We were actually given a choice today between getting a look at a Grand Unified Theory that combines relativistic and quantum observations and getting Skyway Jacks pancakes. There was no hesitation. Also, I’ve got to brag about my killer Rocking with Hawking shirt.

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Marek dug right in like he hadn’t seen a pancake in years. Also note the sign behind him. “No hot pants or bathing suits allowed in dining room. Please remove them before entering.” I’ve got nothing to add.

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Our guest reviewer hit the French toast with an elbow-drop worthy of Macho Man Randy Savage.

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The coffee, you ask? It was delightful. Black like the motor oil of that old VW bus out front. Bitter like being a loyal Bolts fan in the years since 2004. Bottomless like the dress code at a nudist camp. In other words, perfect diner coffee.

Oh yeah.

This is good breakfast.

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You don’t see these much any more. Kind of cool to see one still in operation. Marek wanted to pick up some Pall Malls but I didn’t have any quarters.

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Then the check came. Let’s talk about the bill for a moment. Guest Reviewer Mom got french toast and orange juice. She’s so polite and conservative that way. Marek had a pancake. I had coffee, blueberry pancakes, and bacon. That’s three real meals. 17 bones. That’s it.

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Marek says, ease back, Gandalf, I’ve got this one covered.

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And he’s off through the dining room. I believe I saw him pull some moves that would make this year’s Bucs defense scared.

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He came back with change. AND he came back with a POP. Just when you thought it was too good to talk about, it gets even better.

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Watch out for this lady.

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When we were done with breakfast, we hauled our pancake-laden selves down to Fort Desoto and had “long walks on the beach.” That’s what you do when you’re in love, at least according to the personal ads. And we’re in love. With Skyway Jacks.

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There’s few things in the world that you can really love without question. Your parents. The Declaration of Independence. A Tampa Bay sports team having a winning season …

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… And This Breakfast. Price: superbly affordable. Mom-n-pop-ness: Top-notch and full of locals. Unique factor: Craziest, oddest, neatest breakfast we know. Chow: The Best gosh-darned Blueberry Pancakes I ever paid for (my own mother doesn’t charge me, so it’s not a fair comparison!).

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We’ve given a few 5-pancake ratings this year. Farmer John’s is in Pasco County and so is really outside of Tampa Bay proper. Marek’s Grandma’s breakfast is top-rated but it’s not open to the general public. The breakfast for Tampa’s homeless is rated more for philanthropy than for the fact that it’s a breakfast you can just go get. But Skyway Jacks. THIS is our favorite in-territory, publicly accessible, Tampa Bay Breakfast.

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We are teary-eyed as we open the envelope and announce that Skyway Jacks has been awarded an honor we just made up while writing this for “Breakfast of the Year 2009” from Tampa Bay Breakfasts.

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Oh, and five pancakes too. Go get you some. Tell ’em Marek and Andy sent ya!

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I gotta take a nap now.

The Garden Grill

Farmer John’s

2 Replies

Today we’re going way out of our territory to have breakfast with an old friend. Going to Brooksville is quite a journey from Tampa! We brought a book for the ride.

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And we packed provisions.

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And brother let me tell you, the trip was worth it. We visited Farmer John’s in Brooksville on 3 October 2009. We have never been to Farmer John’s, nor anyplace in Hernando County ever, for breakfast. Farmer John’s is a “Key West Cafe”, complete with the bright colors and Jimmy Buffet soundtrack. Some folks might find this to be sort of “touristy” or kitschy, but I love it. And this place is in Brooksville, for cryin’ out loud. In Miami it would be a tourist trap, but in Brooksville it’s novel and fun.

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While we were on a road trip to raise awareness of breakfasts in central Florida, Mom was up early to support the Race for the Cure in St. Pete (notice our cool “I’m a Breast Man” t-shirts! They work on so many levels.). Mom, you kick butt!

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This was a special Tampa Bay Breakfast as we were joined by our old friend Dave. Dave lives in Brooksville and had recommended Farmer John’s to us several times since the start of Tampa Bay Breakfasts. Today we finally took him up on it.

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Let’s start with a serious discussion about coffee. This coffee was serious. End of discussion. Gosh-darn it to heck, Beaver, we could have drank a 55 gallon drum of this brew. And it kept coming. We never saw the bottom of that cup (and obviously, Marek was helping me drink it).

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We discovered that Dave has the razor-sharp reflexes of a Tampa Bay Lightning goalie. Well, a Lightning goalie from 2004, anyway. Marek kept winging this little dump truck at Dave, but that puck never hit the net. Based on the last few games we’ve been to, I’m thinking the Bolts could really use Dave’s skills. Oren and Len, hook us up with an official Lightning breakfast and we’ll introduce you.

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Then there was breakfast. And this breakfast came down from on high. You can only say “wow” and “holy moley” and “mmmmm, mouf full, cann falk now” so much. But before I get too far down that road, we’ll check in with Dave, our official TBB Guest Reviewer. Dave comes here all the time, so he already knew he’d be happy.

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The menu has fresh rainbow trout with eggs, potatoes, and pancakes as a whopper of a breakfast special. Our kind waitress strongly suggested I get this, and pretty much called me a pansy for not trying it. But I stuck to my guns, because on the other side of the menu I saw something very important … blueberry pancakes. While I don’t have any particular prejudice against fish for breakfast, given the chance for a phat stack of blueberry cakes I don’t even have to say which way I’m going to roll. Blueberry pancakes all the way. Oh, and scrambled eggs and bacon.

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Marek wants to tell Steve from Yankeetown that he thinks the bacon could be considered Steve-Standard for crisp.

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After all this breakfast, it just needs another dose of the JP-4. (I have a confession to make at this point. While Marek was distracted drinking his coffee, I ate that whole pancake of his on his plate. Serves him right for taking his eyes off the prize!)

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All through breakfast I was mulling on the final score. Four? Four and a half? Let’s reconsider the things we look at when we give a rating. Quality, uniqueness, friendliness, overall good feeling, price. I’m thinking top marks on everything except maybe price and definitely distance. And then Dave snapped up the check and, in blatant violation of Tampa Bay Breakfast policy, says he’s paying. Let’s just say this pushed our rating right over the top (hey, it’s a subjective rating system, and Dave’s not going to buy breakfast for everyone, so this counts for a lot to us!). Marek asked Dave if he could take the check up to the counter.

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Dave was happy for the help!

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Marek caught our waitress with her hands full. They sorted it out, but for a moment there we were all pretty sure that those pancakes and trout were going to go a-flying to the island sounds of Mr. Buffet. The bill got paid and the change was returned safely.

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When we were all done we thanked Dave for the great recommendation and for picking up the tab. Marek saw how full I was from such a big breakfast, so he offered to drive while I took a little nap. Now that’s a good son I have. Thoughtful. Considerate. Likes listening to AC/DC when we ride.

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So here we are. The end of a Tampa Bay Breakfast. Doing the tally in the car (Marek’s driving while I write this. We run a wicked little Celica GTS with the 6-speed transmission. He’s spinning Back In Black and hitting the high points at about 125mph as we dodge the tractors on U.S. 41.) We just had blueberry pancakes that were on point with the Gold Standard (should I say, the “blue standard?”) blueberry pancakes of Skyway Jacks in St. Pete. We had Steve-Standard bacon. The menu had something very unique with the fish, like Martha’s in central Tampa. The decor was as fun and unique as what you see at the Pink Flamingo on Davis Island. The people were as friendly as can be and the crowd was full of regulars (Dave was known by name) like at Niko’s or Mamas’. That’s a 4.5 rating, easy. Spending the hour with Dave, and him picking up the tab didn’t hurt, pushes us over the line. We’re very stingy with awarding the 5-pancake rating, but I think we’re going to have to roll it out for this exceptional breakfast experience.

We’re pleased to give this Tampa Bay Breakfast a five pancake rating.

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