Category Archives: American

Darrell and Sharon’s Park Street Diner

We visited Darrell and Sharon’s Park Street Diner at 4131 Park Street North in St. Pete on 7 January 2012. This was our fist visit to Darrell and Sharon’s and our first breakfast of the new year.

I bet you’re wondering how we get started for a Tampa Bay Breakfast. The very first thing we do is pack the Pancake Celica like it’s a clown car in a Shriner’s parade.

It’s a gloomy day in Tampa Bay. For our shivering friends north of the 45th parallel, this is what the Dead-o-Winter looks like for us. We’re wearing jackets. Not to rub it in or anything.

Folks who don’t live around here have to pay good money at a zoo to see a white ibis. We just wait until they show up in our front yards.

Today we’re way on the other side of the bay visiting Darrell and Sharon’s Park Street Diner and along the way we found our old friend Aleshea, Poet of Breakfast, in town for a quick visit.

Marek brought every character from Cars. Aleshea was so impressed she pulled out her camera.

Yes, that’s Dyneco Lightning, The King, Normal Lightning, Some Unnamed Car from the big race, and Doc Hudson.

By this time, thank goodness, we had coffee for me, tea for Aleshea, and hot chocolate for Marek. The folks working at Darrell and Sharon’s were really nice and offered us high chairs and booster seats. We politely declined: Marek’s big enough and Ivo’s got to learn some time.

Darrell and Sharon’s is small and cozy inside.

I just take these pictures with my mobile phone. Nothing fancy. Sometimes they turn out good. Sometimes they don’t. Sometimes a mistake is worth sharing. Like this one of Aleshea’s hand morphing into an enormous claw. In case you’re wondering, that didn’t actually happen. But cool picture.

Us coffee and tea drinkers all had a good “cheers” and a lovely start to a great morning. Breakfast is always better with friends.

The menu has some classics. We love places that serve “Artery Cloggers” and “Eggs Bubba-Dict.” That’s a sign of character, fun, and good cooking, in our opinion.

Here’s little Ivo with a coffee creamer. He managed to gnaw right through it.

Just like he did back in May 2011 when we last had breakfast with Aleshea.

This is a posed shot. I asked Aleshea to re-do for the camera. Because she thought this was honey and poured into her tea, and then says, “I wonder if that’s actually syrup.” Aleshea: Poet, singer, playwright, actress, teacher … and now, goofball.

Breakfast came like a freight train. This is Marek, arguing with me about how he doesn’t want those potatoes on his plate. His cred is shot, though, because he’s wearing his shirt backwards. What can I say, on dad-mornings he gets to dress himself completely unsupervised.

Some nice blueberry pancakes here. Powdered sugar is a nice touch.

No problem at all working the shovel over here. Marek approves of the eggs.

We actually did let Ivo have more than just creamers. He also ate his way through several pats of butter before I caught him doing it. Then he moved on to my pancakes.

Man-sized boy right there. He doesn’t even know he’s small.

Marek’s all done with his eggs and bacon and he is NOT touching those potatoes, so now, apparently, he’s just sitting here telling jokes and then laughing at them. He’s four, so the jokes are pretty much, “look! It’s a blueberry daddy! Hahahahhahahahahahahahaaa!”

Gratuitous cute shot with little actual breakfast merit.

The check weighed in at around $22 for the four of us. Not bad for a morning’s breakfast.

Will Ivo pay the bill? He’s interested.

But Marek’s ready.

And off we go to perform the transaction. So far, he hasn’t figured out to add a Marek Tax to this part. I figure by the end of the year he’ll be doing that.

While we were there the place filled up. Marek’s an old pro and can always find the register. Not shown here is Ivo, who is wandering table to table, asking, “am I cute?”

After breakfast we sat and chatted for a while. Here’s Aleshea talking about can you believe I put this ketchup in my tea thinking it was honey?

Heading out. Marek dragging his bag of cars. Notice his awesome fireman boots! Also, we’re overdue for the shout out to Aleshea’s play being run at freeFall Theater this year. Check out http://freefalltheatre.com/show_pages/riptied.html and see why we’re such big fans of Aleshea!

On the way home we stopped at the park. We actually went to the playground, though it would be interesting to just take pictures at park signs and never get to go in and play.

Another great breakfast day in Florida. Thanks, Aleshea, for joining us! Good chow, friendly people, lots of locals getting “the usual.” Clearly a good, local, mom-n-pop place, just like we like ’em. We’re pleased to give Darrell and Sharon’s Park Street Diner a Tampa Bay Breakfasts Four Pancake Rating.

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The Pink Flamingo

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This might be our last breakfast of 2011. We’re cruising with Marek…

And also Ivo. I’m always impressed that everyone fits in my little car.

It’s a dreary day here in Tampa. The sky is heavy. The air is cold. And we’re hungry for breakfast. Heading to Davis Island this morning to meet our old friend Loren and to re-visit The Pink Flamingo.

The Pink Flamingo is at 304 E Davis Blvd on Davis Island. We last visited in May 2010 and before that in June 2009. We’ve always enjoyed the food, kitschy/funky decor, and the fact that we can bring the family hound-dog and sit outside when the weather’s fine.

We met our TBB friend Loren this morning. If you run into Loren around town, you can say, hey man, aren’t you one of those Tampa Bay Breakfasts celebrity guests?

Loren brought finger-birds. It’s not what it sounds like. Fun finger puppets! Also notice that I’m wearing my only Christmas shirt. It’s an amazing bit of trivia being reported by People Magazine that I also wore this same shirt back in 2009 when we visited the Grecian Island, also on Davis Island.

Marek’s new thing is hot chocolate. Ivo’s new thing is trying to get his fingers in Marek’s hot chocolate. Check out Marek’s defensive maneuver. That appears to be a Jiu Jitsu wrist lock.

Can you guess what Marek’s saying here?

That’s right, he’s saying, “Hey Loren, zip that car back over to me!” I’m betting that there aren’t a lot of pictures on the Internet of Loren playing Hot Wheels cars. Once again, Tampa Bay Breakfasts has the scoop on the Bay Area social scene.

Breakfast arrived just in time, before the little cars started really flying and we got tossed out of the place. Bacon and eggs for Marek, pancakes for me and Ivo.

This is Loren and breakfast. If he looks all serious-like, it’s because he’s saying something about how breakfast is the most important meal of the day, Tampa Bay is the best region in Florida, and so clearly Tampa Bay Breakfasts is the most important and best web site in the world that focuses on breakfast in the Tampa Bay area.

While I’m listening politely, Sneaky Ivo slithers right in to gouge my pancakes. This kid is like a Breakfast Ninja.

And then, while I’m protecting my breakfast, Marek shows up on Loren’s side. This is nuts! I can’t keep up!

When the bill came it wasn’t bad news. For three whole breakfasts it ran a bit over $20. That’s well within the TBB budget!

Marek and Ivo paid the bill together. This is sort of a first, at least in that they both did it willingly as a team.

This scene caused the whole dining room to stop and collectively go, “awwwwwwww.” Big brother with money in one hand, little brother in tow in the other hand. It could also be that he started out with two little brothers and just completed sale of the one and on his way to sell the other, but everyone just assumed they were paying the bill together.

Which is, of course, exactly what they did. (Notice the lady giving me a good eyeballing, to make sure I’m actually paying attention to the boys.)

Here’s the winning point on the Flamingo. They appear to have pulled a booth out and made a kids’ play area. Bunch-o-toys back there and room for a handful of kids. Still the deafening sound of raucous joy, but surely was nice to let the boys just chill out there instead of turning our table upsidedown.

And then they bring me the toys that they want to take home with them. Thanks, kids! We’ll never be welcomed back.

The boys and Loren all seemed to have a swell time. Good breakfast, good coffee that never ran dry, great company, and a play area. What’s not to love?

We’re pleased to revalidate the Pink Flamingo as a four and a half pancake Tampa Bay Breakfast.

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After breakfast, we went to the Ybor Saturday Market. Where Marek promptly got into a gun fight with the Creative Loafing girl.

Marek, despite being out-gunned and 1/3 as tall, ended up with the upper-hand. Don’t mess with Marek.

Then we went shopping at the Oceanic Market. The kids could each pick out one thing for lunch. Ivo went with the radishes.

Marek chose a durian. You know you wish you were at OUR house for lunch, don’t you?

Just a normal Andy, Marek, and Ivo day.

The Golden Bear

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We visited The Golden Bear at 12540 Starkey Rd in Largo on 13 November 2011. They have a nice web site at http://www.goldenbearrestaurantlargo.com/. TBB Fan Melanie recommended this one to us over a year ago. It took us that long to get here.

In the same complex there’s a Krav Maga school. When you see the words Krav Maga, do you also think about The Simpsons? Also in Italian.

The menu is full of Bear cuteness.

Marek, my budding photographer buddy, took this shot. Me and Ivo, we’re quite a pair.

Here’s a really high point for the Golden Bear. I noticed this fork was less-than-clean. I didn’t get a chance to say anything about it. While I was goofing with the boys our excellent waitress noticed it and swapped it out without anyone noticing. Really nicely done.

The coffee at the Golden Bear is just right.

I like to live on the edge with Ivo. No high chair. No booster seat. Just him, me, and lots of goofing.

Marek had the breakfast of choice for 2011, the bacon and scrambled eggs.

It took a promise of a thousand dollars and a pony, but Marek gave Ivo a piece of bacon.

These are some nice, tall pancakes. See that little chunk missing out of the middle one. That’s Ivo taking a tax off the top before the plate even hit the table.

We split up a pancake with Marek.

And split it up with Ivo.

We sat right under this bear mural. The whole place is about bears.

Everyone ate their fill. This was a good breakfast all around.

The bill wasn’t bad. Added up to around 14 clams.

Marek paid the bill. Ivo’s not on board with this yet, but we’ll train him up.

Look at all the bears. Like I said, the Golden Bear is all about bears.

Marek got a lollipop for his trouble.

On the way out we stopped to pose by this bear. It’s all bears here.

This was a really fine experience. Great food, great service. Eccentric bears everywhere. Krav Maga for a neighbor. This is a fine breakfast. We’re pleased to award the Golden Bear a Tampa Bay Breakfasts four and a half pancake rating.

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The St. Pete Diner

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We’re spinning Mudcrutch this fine Fall morning.

Pink taxi in Tampa. Take THAT, Dayton, Ohio!

Marek is set up in back and looks like a teenager, almost. It’s frightening.

We visited The St. Pete Diner at 1101 34th street N in St. Pete on 6 November 2011. TBB Fan Mike R in Vermont told us about the St. Pete Diner and the great times he had here years ago. Thanks, Mike!

It’s just me and Marek. We’re sitting at the counter.

The Diner has been here for years and years, and you can tell. I mean that in the good way.

Everything a growing boy needs, right here on one page. Of course, we don’t bother with “children’s breakfasts” anymore.

Me ‘n’ Marek, we’re like peas and carrots. Now, anyway. In about 12 years he’ll have all the answers and I’ll be yesterday’s news. I’ll also be pretty old and may have lost some of my street cred by then.

Pretty good coffee here at the Diner. Just like you’d expect, hot and black, and it kept on coming.

We brought a book today. Florida’s Fabulous Spiders. One of our favorites for bedtime reading. Seriously, would I spin a tale on something like that?

Every man has a “trick” he can do. Some can pull a quarter out of your ear. My grandfather could put his hands together so it looked like his thumb could slide off. Me? I can do this.

Here’s breakfast at the counter. This was so much fun. Marek enjoyed it, I enjoyed it, the ladies behind the counter enjoyed it. Those are some whopper pancakes.

Really, these pancakes were delish. Apparently they don’t always have blueberries but they did today! Note the Boston Red Sox 350Z car in the background. That car belongs to Uncle Jim, but Marek is allowed to play with it.

This is what it looks like when world-class Breakfast Pros are at work. Bacon. Eggs. Pancakes. Coffee. It’s a tough job, but we can handle it.

Do those little cherub thingies look like they’re structural supports of some kind? If so, I’m not entirely comfortable.

This nice lady came by to play cars. We enjoyed her company.

The damages at the end, under twelve bucks for two full breakfasts. That’s pretty good. Plus, we felt well taken-care-of.

Out on the tarmac, there’s a line of Mustangs. Coincidence?

And then this car in the parking lot with the t-rex hanging out the back.

This was a great breakfast. We had good chow in a locals diner for a fair price, and the coffee never went dry. That’s a good way to start the day. We’re pleased to present The St. Pete Diner with a four and a half pancake rating.

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Breakfast for Supper

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It’s suppertime. Mom’s not home tonight. I ask Marek, what do you want for supper? And so …

We had breakfast for supper at home on 26 October 2011.

Can you guess? That’s right, bacon and scrambled eggs.

So here we are having supper, Marek with his bacon and eggs.

Ivo with his bacon and eggs and raw toast.

And me with my bacon and eggs and toast. Is this a crazy supper or what? Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom won’t even know what she missed!

Marek thought this was a great breakfast-for-supper.

Ivo, on the other hand, made some editorial comments about my cooking.

Ninja Eggs! Hiyah!

For the record, Ivo did this all by himself. Like any good Breakfast Journalist, I just recorded and reported the facts.

Eggs 1, Ivo 0. But who’s keeping score?

Faithful family hound, guarding the floor against ninja eggs and other wayward edibles and potential-edibles. Now you’re wondering how Ivo’s shoe got off, aren’t you?

Clean plates all around. Dare I say … “compliments to the chef!” I had the Island of Sodor plate. Creepy place, that Sodor.

The value of this picture is largely because in 10 years I’ll be able to say, “look, Marek, when you were FOUR you could clear the table. Why can’t you do it when you’re fourteen?”

Of course, we won’t give this breakfast a real rating. We just did it because we’d missed so many breakfasts in the last couple months that we wanted to do a fun one. (Though everyone knows that dad’s crazy supper cooking is always a five-pancake-rating barrel of laughs, and usually involves the beer you may have noticed on the very first picture from this review.)

Ric’s Kountry Kitchen

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I visited Ric’s in Manama on 3 October. I visited Ric’s in Doha a few years back, too. Ric has a nice web page, with a few broken links, here: http://www.ricskountrykitchen.com/

Ric’s is just a cricket field away from the Grand Mosque. Points for location.

Nice entrance. Very rustic.

The menu has the whole story on how Ric’s got started. Oddly enough, this story is not on the web page. And sadly enough, my phone camera was shaky when I took the picture.

A respectable breakfast offering here. With blueberry pancakes!

Makes me wish that I had room for pie.

After The Dome’s Emir-grade coffee yesterday, Ric’s coffee is sort of, well, lusterless. But it comes with refills, the way a good American diner should handle coffee, so we’ll call it even.

International Mississippi syrup ingredients. I’m not entirely comforted by this label.

There’s a big Kountry theme in Ric’s Kountry Kitchen. Including this portrait of John Wayne.

And these chaps.

Inside is faux rustic and very cowboy. Just what you need when you’ve had your fill of sand and camels and need to get back to the familiar. If your familiar is Out West. Or a movie set.

Mary Ann Rowell painted these walls in 2002. Google offers no insight on Ms. Rowell.

Here’s me. No Marek. No Ivo. This is no fun at all without them.

Blueberry Pancakes! That’ll take the edge off of any problem. It’s not just that the pancakes have blueberries in them, but they’re actually blue, too. I’m going to decide to like it that way.

It’s hard to tell if these pancakes are better than The Dome’s pancakes, but they’re certainly good, and different.

I’m sitting by the window. There’s a little courtyard. In the courtyard is a bunny.

Seriously. Look at the picture.

Let’s hope breakfast fits on a fiver, ’cause that’s all I’ve got!

It’s interesting that you flip the bill and it’s in English. Unlike the U.S. dollar these days, where when you flip the bill it has negative numbers and the sound of bankers laughing at you.

Walking out the door, you see this nice and friendly sign. With ridiculous graffiti. “See you later nerd.” Seriously? That’s the best you could come up with?

I left just in time to catch a cricket match! The guy in black in the dead-center of the group is in mid-bowl of the ball. Given my non-professional phone camera, I’m sort of impressed that I caught him in the act.

I love cricket. It’s as boring and nonsensical as American baseball, but only more so because it’s foreign. I watched cricket on BBC Asia for almost a year in the BMC days (that’s before married and children) and finally figured out the rules. And promptly forgot them when I got home and got married. Love’s like that.

This was a good breakfast. Cricket. The Grand Mosque. Blue pancakes with blueberries. A bunny. Lonely, though. Next breakfast will be with Marek and Ivo. That’s not Ric’s fault, though. Given the location, you’ve got to give Ric’s a lot of credit for making a real expat oasis. I’m pleased to give Ric’s Kountry Kitchen a Tampa Bay Breakfasts four pancake rating.

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Datz Deli

Showtown

Safety Harbor Grill

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It’s 0800 on 3 July. We’re on Breakfast Patrol. Marek’s got our flank.

Ivo brought his appetite.

Marek took this picture. The focus is the fault of the phone camera, but the composition isn’t bad. He’s capturing the palm trees and the blue skies conjure up carefree good times, while the underexposed seat backs of the car imply the constrained world view of a child. The moon roof and car theme convey motion, transition, while the trees and sky feel like an unchanging endless summer. He’s a real artiste, this boy.

I’m just the wheel-man. I turned right, then left, and ended up downtown Safety Harbor. We’ve been here for three other breakfasts, and today will round out the last breakfast we know of in the town.

Here we are at the Safety Harbor Grill at 970 Main Street in, you guessed it, Safety Harbor. They have a web page at safetyharborgrill-bar.com.

Marek found us a cozy spot outside and got set up. He’s all about the knife these days. Should I be worried?

Turns out there’s actually another menu. When we took this picture we thought this was it. But they have all sorts of breakfast stuff on the other menu. But look at the advertisements on this place mat. Pain, dentistry, insurance, gout, kidney pain, plumbing. If you add them all up, it’s a little freaky. Did you notice the car changed between these two pictures?

“Hmmmmmm. I think I might have bacon and eggs today.”

“Hmmmmmm. I think I might eat my brother’s bacon and eggs, and then my father’s pancakes.”

That’s what YOU think, kid! Eat baby goop! Ha-HA!

Did that look so delicious that you wanted to try it? Maybe with some lovely black coffee, poured hot and fresh? Me too.

Our very nice waitress tallied our order and suggested we just do “the special” with added blueberries. An extra plate was free. So we did that. And here’s what it looks like.

I swear, there was a deadly silence. Tick, went the clock on the wall.

Tick.

Marek stared at Ivo.

Tick.

Ivo stared at Marek.

Tick.

And my breakfast got caught in the crossfire.

We settled this just the way they do at breakfast at the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. Seriously, they all divide up their breakfasts this way.

No, I did not allow Ivo to pick up that syrup bottle and glug it like formula. Though he was saddened that he couldn’t.

If you, my fellow fathers, were ever wondering how to win “Father of the Year,” here’s how. Try to take a bite of your own breakfast, which takes 0.034 seconds. In half that time, your less than one year old will stand up in his high chair and try to get the syrup bottle. Pop quiz! Do you:

A. Hand him the syrup in the hope that he sits down quietly
B. Hand him the syrup because he’ll just overpower you for it if you don’t
C. Hand him the syrup because that’s what you have in his regular bottle anyway
D. Get the attention of the lady at the next table over and tell her to control her kid

The bill was around ten bucks for all that. Let’s talk about “all that” for a moment.

The eggs were just right, as if somehow you could tell that the chickens were … happy. I can’t comment on the bacon as it immediately took a ride on the alimentary express, next stop: Marek. The pancakes were top-notch, really fine work. As good as Kissin’ Cuzzins, and just a shade, an 8th of a notch below Skyway Jack’s. The price was right where it needed to be. The coffee was as good as I like. And several of the waitresses had significant tattoo coverage, which is a bonus point to an inky guy like me. This was a good breakfast.

Marek was satisfied enough to pay the bill.

And, because he’s four and not fourteen, he brought back change!

Remember our last breakfast, with the jelly and Marek licking the jelly off the toast? Well, we had to take this jelly home with us. “Just in case, dad.”

The Safety Harbor Grill was simply a great experience. The people were friendly. The chow was great. The price was just right. No animals or children were injured. It’s surely worth a trip across the bay (unless you live in Safety Harbor, then you can just walk or pedal there, I assume).

We’re pleased to give the Safety Harbor Grill a Tampa Bay Breakfasts four and a half pancake rating.

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If you were driving by the Causeway beach and saw this wicked bike and car duo, you’d stop, too, wouldn’t you?

So we stopped at the little beach on the east side of the causeway. This is a dad-style “let’s go to the beach, we don’t need any bathing suits” beach day. Just get your tiny hiney out there, boy!

Marek went to check out the water (which is, for the fretful reader, about ankle-deep for a good 30 meters out. No danger of sharks.) Me and Ivo, we hung back, cool in the shade. Because dad didn’t bring any baby sunblock, natch.

This gaggle of girls were burying this boy in the sand. I don’t think he realized his sand-body had enormous bosoms and an obviously pregnant belly.

We ended up following Marek down to the water. These are Marek’s footprints. I’m still a new enough parent to get all wistful about silly things like this.