Category Archives: American

Datz Deli

We’ve got a visitor this weekend. An old Air Force buddy, Jason. The boys hate him and don’t want anything to do with him, as you can see here.

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Even after we all got dressed, they still refuse to even acknowledge his presence.

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Because we’re all guys, we had to talk cars. Jason hadn’t seen the Breakfassst FR-S before, so we popped the hood and made vrooming noises. Check out Marek’s Formula Racing jacket. I found that in an Abu Dhabi market a few years back, and he’s finally grown into it.

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Ivo says, “because RACECAR!”

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I says, “because RACECAR!”

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This morning we’re visiting Datz Deli, one of the best restaurants in Tampa. Marek actually rode on Jason’s shoulders the whole way here, which was uncomfortable in the car. Datz is at 2616 South MacDill Avenue. We’ve been here a bunch of times, and it always delivers.

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There’s a line. That’s OK, we have a reservation, thanks to AM 820 Food Talk co-host and Datz owner Suzanne. This must be how real celebrities feel. We’re just faux-celebs. Pancakes don’t usually make the red carpet.

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We’re up on top, with a great view.

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The Datz menu is always new, printed on custom newspapers. Pirate pancakes … a Tampa Special!

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Me and Ivo, goofin’ at Datz.

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We’re going with the love potion pink pancakes.

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Jason’s liking the “You Had Me at Nutella.”

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We had to keep a close eye on Ivo. He might want to “share” some toys with the people below us. Marek did that a couple years ago and we had to go retrieve cars from downstairs. One is still down there somewhere.

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We warmed up and took off our jackets. Ivo’s sporting his Stuttgart shirt, a present from our German friends. Though I wonder, why does it say “Germany Stuttgart” and not “Stuttgart Germany?”

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Jason taught the boys a new game, “muppet.”

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Check out how cool is Datz, they even have coffee in kid-sizes.

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We’re sitting by the bar. Mimosas were flowing here at Datz. Not for us, though. We have to concentrate. We’re on duty. Though I’m curious … never had a mimosa before.

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Again, no one likes Jason. He’s so lonely.

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We had a visit from a member of the Datz management team, General Manager Erica. Thanks for the attention … we loved it

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Checking out the Datz mobile app.

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A bit of a mishap. Hot chocolate spill caused by unbridled enthusiasm.

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A great restaurant has to deal with complexity. There clearly was an emergency response protocol for “Hot chocolate spill on the upper deck.” It probably has a code, like “DR075-Alpha” if the rapid response is any indication.

By the way, we are not going to talk about Lauren’s tattoos.

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The lighting in Datz is such that all the food appears with angelic halos.

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Nutella decadence for Jason, corned beef hash for Andy. Yes, that’s a pair of binoculars on the table. We ARE on the upper deck, after all.

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Pink pancakes for Ivo.

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This is chow worthy of taking a picture for the folks back home.

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Marek’s also got the pink pancakes, but we all know he’s just here for the bacon.

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Jason is momming it up for Ivo.

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And as a result, Ivo is able to shovel it in. He’s not actually making Cookie Monster sounds here, but he ought.

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I asked our cheerful waitress for more coffee, and she pointed out that we already had a hot carafe on the table. That’s a nice touch, Datz!

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Me and Marek traded plates, and he finished my home fries (a.k.a. “square french fries,” thanks to Jason!) and I finished his pancakes.

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Insert “gobble chomp” sounds here.

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We wrapped up with little mimosas. These are a new signature drink from Datz, and the first time I’ve ever had a mimosa. I can see where that could be a dangerous habit on Sunday mornings.

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We had a visit from our old friend Tina. We know her from Rick’s on the River and from previous visits to Datz.

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A Breakfast Lineup in the parking lot on a sunny Sunday morning.

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In the overflow parking lot, a Jeep with mascara.

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We stopped at another Tampa favorite of ours on the way home, Rollin’ Oats.

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Where we showed Jason how we do it with the little carts. Marek hasn’t left Jason’s shoulders in 36 hours. I don’t even want to know how he’s been going to the bathroom.

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Don’t be fooled by this Tampa Bay Breakfasts rating. Datz is no diner. It’s a high-end, foodie-friendly restaurant that takes risks in the kitchen and gets it right in the dining room. What Datz has more than any other breakfast in the Bay Area is attention to detail. They care about the food, how the food looks, how you feel, and the space around you.

Go to Datz. Take a bunch of money. Don’t be in a hurry. Try something adventurous. Love it.

We’re pleased to return to Datz with another Tampa Bay Breakfasts five pancake rating.

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Datz Tampa on Urbanspoon

Country Pumpkin Cafe

Marek’s heading out for Breakfast. We tend to capitalize the “B” in Breakfast around here.

Note that he has:

  1. A jacket, because mom told him to.
  2. His favorite fireman boots, which are two sizes too small, but “it’s OK dad, really.”
  3. His t-ball baseball pants, with a big rip in the nethers that I didn’t discover until later in the morning.

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Here in Tampa it’s a lovely, lovely morning. February, so it’s cold. In the 50s, maybe. On the left is a place I sometimes buy daddy-beverages in quantities of six, and on the right is where Ivo got his first real haircut. In the distance is the city skyline. Just our neighborhood.

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This morning we visited the Country Pumpkin Cafe at 2620 E Hillsborough Ave in Tampa. Marek appears to be prying himself out of the car. It’s a family car, and I’ll stand by that statement until a medical professional advises me that the car is stunting my children’s growth.

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Says I to Marek, let’s take a picture together and pretend that we are normal and sane and like each other and all that. He concurred in a most dutiful fashion.

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And then we got newspapers. Because 1. they’re free and 2. There might be coupons for mom.

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I’m teaching Marek to read the paper over breakfast, old-style. He’ll look back fondly on these moments and think, wow, dad was a real dinosaur in 2013, with his newspapers made out of paper and all that.

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The Country Pumpkin has an interesting menu. You can get stuff you expect, and stuff you don’t so much expect.

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What you may not expect is a “breakfast burger.” Now I can tell you, we’ve been doing this Breakfast Thing for a while. And we’ve never encountered a “breakfast burger” before. Worthy of note.

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Hot chocolate for Marek. We had a serious discussion about the relative merits of marshmallows in hot chocolate afterwards. Also note the nice display of coffee creamers. Like a little blossom of creamers. I decided early on, 25 years ago, that I would drink coffee black so that I’d always like what I had and not be too worried about things like “we’re out of creamer.”

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Enormous cutlery on the wall, in case an enormous person walks in and orders the whole thing.

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“Ma’am, I’ll take a breakfast over here, please.”

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And politeness works. Bacon first, as is Marek’s method for approaching bacon and eggs. Afterwards he said, “good bacon.” I didn’t get any. Somehow, the Scarfing of the Marek (much like “the running of the bulls”) prevented me from sampling.

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Here are pancakes that made me stop and ponder. Consider. Mutter, “whoah, interesting.”

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Not huge, but moderately sized. My hands aren’t exceptionally large, but those fingers can type about a million words a minute. Stand back.

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It’s the cook-in banana appearance that has me. This is so neat-looking, and tasty too. I really liked these pancakes.

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Five year old with a knife. What? His mom’s not here. So the boy can have a knife.

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Syrup on eggs. What, you think I’M going to stop him? We already established that boy has a knife.

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More newspaper reading. Something about a “Monster Truck Jam” in Tampa tonight. We discussed the cultural, literary, and metaphysical aspects of a “Monster Truck Jam.”

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Around ten clams for a robust breakfast. Note our new business cards for 2013. This is our third set of business cards since we started. That’s kind of weird.

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Marek paid the bill. After all, who else would? Ivo? Not here. Didn’t want to come. Pajamas and time with mom, that’s all Ivo wanted this morning.

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Note the clean and somewhat spartan interior. And sparse of customers, though it did start filling in as we were leaving. I wasn’t a fan of the televisions, which seemed a bit loud and distracting in the empty dining room.

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On our way home, we went by the stadium. Sure enough, there’s Grave Digger, the “most feared monster truck on earth.”

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The Country Pumpkin Cafe was a fine experience. The chow was good, especially the banana pancakes. The price was reasonable. The service was good, and even a little sassy. We like sassy. At the end of the morning, we can say that the Country Pumpkin is worth a visit. We’re happy to give “The Pumpkin” a Tampa Bay Breakfast four pancake rating.

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Country Pumpkin Cafe on Urbanspoon

Nick’s Family Restaurant

Today is Martin Luther King Day. Ivo has been talking about “Arthur Luther King” for days, with Marek being a good older brother and correcting him that it’s “Martha Luther King.” My kids are debating American civil rights issues at 2yo and 5yo, so I’m going to take the win and not fret the details.

I’ve been out of town for a few days. I’m still a relatively new father, so things like this are just now starting to happen. I love it.

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But I was out of town long enough to allow a little surface rust on the disk rotors for the FR-S. That’s sad, but easily remedied with a little hotrodding.

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Lovely day today, but a little bit overcast. Nothing like the weather up north. But more about that later.

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This morning we visited Nick’s Family Restaurant. They have a web site at http://www.nicksfamilyrestaurant.net/, but it looks like they started it up and never finished it. The “About Us” link is especially funny; I had to read to the end to figure out that it’s boilerplate, and there is no “Anytown.” Nick’s is at 5701 Central Ave. in St. Pete, not too far from the excellent Freefall Theatre Company.

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It’s me and the boys. They’re dressed rather snazzily, as if dad went on some sort of business trip and all they got was lousy t-shirts.

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We also have our Favorite Guest Reviewer, Mom!

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Marek says, dad, can I have a puppy? I says, got any kisses for me? So here we go, looks like a puppy is in the future.

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Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom says, hey, I never get any good pictures of me and the boys. So here you go, Mom, a great picture of you and your boys. Happy Birthday Baby. (It’s not actually her birthday)

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Here’s Nick’s breakfast menu. I have to point out that the “omelette of the day” today is “ham and cheese.” Which does not make me think that there’s a daily committee meeting to decide what will draw in the adventurous breakfast crowd.

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Marek had the hot chocolate, as is the tradition with him these days.

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This shot has no real breakfast insight, it’s just a cute snap of Marek and me. It’s nice to be away from home, because it makes otherwise ornery kids happy to be around me.

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Same for this shot, not really breakfasty, just cute. While we’re waiting, I took note of a few things about Nick’s. It’s 0900 on Monday morning. It’s not crowded, but they did start to get some business while we were there. Yet it was deafeningly quiet, like a memorial service or a museum. Everyone was whispering. Except us, of course. And also, there was an odd, subtle scent to the room. Not so much bad-food as like musty-old-house.

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Coffee for everyone, cheers! Or … skol!

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Here’s a souvenir I brought home for the boys. Hogskolen i Oslo is the college in Oslo where I’m doing a little teaching.

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Marek had to teach me how to use it.

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And then he got creative.

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Grocery store syrup. We’ve had worse grocery store brands in restaurants, I reckon.

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And here’s breakfast. French toast, eggs, grits for Mom. Pancakes for Ivo.

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Ivo makes an immediate strike. He’s like a cobra for pancakes.

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Marek jumps on Mom’s bacon. And then pauses for a moment and considers the poetry of the moment. Then he began quoting Wordsworth.

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Marek’s own bacon and eggs came, and then he had his own bacon and Mom’s too. That’s a lot of bacon for one little boy. But then again, boy can eat some bacon, can’t he?

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I had the corned beef omelet, which was a little out of band for me. Home fries, which were pretty bland.

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Mom enjoyed the grits. The boys weren’t interested.

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Marek demonstrated that he can handle a knife. That’s an important skill when you’re growing up Florida.

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Here’s Ivo’s patented Breakfast Karate Strike. Say “Hayyyyah!”

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When breakfast was sacrificed on the pyre of our appetites, the boys paid the bill. $23 for three full breakfasts, one of which split up with the boys, obviously.

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We got change, and that was nice. Not the cheapest ever, but we did get a lot of food.

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We left a few bucks and a Norwegian Krone as a tip.

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On our way out we stopped to wash up. The sink really tells the story of how we felt about Nick’s. As if it started out strong, but then they never really put much effort into keeping it up.

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This door on the way to the restrooms is more of the same. Removing the exit sign was more effort than taping up the second sign.

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At the end of the morning, Nick’s food was OK. The bacon was nicely done, the pancakes were good. The coffee ran really dry for quite a while. The price was average. The dining room had a slight but odd odor which, combined with things like the sink and exit sign make me think that no real effort has been put into upkeep for a long time. But the thing that did me in was that we were the only friendly people in the room. We’ll give Nick’s Family Restaurant a Tampa Bay Breakfasts Two and a Half Pancake rating.

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Nick's Family on Urbanspoon

Nick’s is in the same neighborhood as this enormous wig market. I’m not surprised that there’s a market for wigs, just at the size of the store.

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After breakfast we took the boys to the Dali Museum for the first time. Marek’s been with his cousins Simone and Sandor, but this is our first time since they moved to the new location.

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We might have to put the Dali on the Breakfast schedule this year.

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After Ivo almost got us kicked out of the museum, we went outside to sit on the bench and think about what we’ve done.

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For lunch, Marek had an Angry Birds drink. It didn’t taste like it looked.

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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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Front Porch Restaurant & Pie on Urbanspoon

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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Trip's Diner on Urbanspoon

Mamas Family Kitchen

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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Mamas Kitchen III on Urbanspoon

Nicko’s

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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Nicko's Fine Foods on Urbanspoon

The Hangar

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 Hangar Restaurant & Flight Lounge on Urbanspoon

The Frog Pond

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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Frog Pond on Urbanspoon

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

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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Daily Eats on Urbanspoon