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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

We re-visited Three Coins at 7410 N Nebraska Ave on 13 March 2011. We last visited Three Coins in July 2010, and before that we visited Three Coins in May 2009. It’s not a very long ride from Tampa Bay Breakfasts Central HQ, but we still have to choose our driving music carefully.

Today’s a real treat, because Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom joined us! She sure is pretty!

While unstrapping the Breakfast Platoon, I noticed this sign. We’re just in the Three Coins parking lot in the northern end of Central Tampa. The Hillsborough River is at least a mile away from us, and Tampa Bay a considerable distance. So why have a sign that says you can’t park your “vessel” here? I wonder what Lee’s Towing would do if someone just dropped a 22-foot Bayliner off the back of a trailer onto the parking lot. It must have happened or they wouldn’t have spent the money on the extra letters for the signs.

If you’re reading this from the Frozen North, I promise I’ll stop rubbing in these nice days we’re having in Florida. These skies, they’re the color of Ivo’s eyeballs. We haven’t had snow in days!

There’s a very wholesome-looking retail establishment across the street. Two things come to mind: Even a run-down liquor store looks good on a bright Sunday morning, and I seem to have a knack for finding breakfasts in areas where I get the chance to take pictures of run-down liquor stores.

These giant coins on the front of the building are really neat. Though I personally wouldn’t leave any money laying out in plain view of that liquor store.

Marek hit the coffee as soon as we found a seat. Boy needs his java in the morning to get moving. I assume all kids drink coffee in the morning.

Marek’s always liked the coffee here, as you can see from almost two years ago. You almost can’t tell if that’s Marek or Ivo, can you? I know I can’t, which is why I have taken to just calling both of them “Bubba.”

The menu is comprehensive. If they had blueberry pancakes I’d be happier, but I went ahead and tried the banana pancakes. Marek, as you can see here, is choosing pancakes and bacon.

Marek does all kinds of big-boy stuff with his old man, but what you don’t see in our weekly breakfast nearly enough is just how much of a momma’s boy he really is.

Which pretty much means that Ivo’s stuck with me this morning. Coffee, Bubba?

Marek took this picture. He actually took about 15 pictures of me making funny faces. He’s like a breakfast paparazzo.

I took this picture, not Marek. You could cut glass with this kid’s eyes.

So we’re sitting here goofin’ and jokin’ and finally, Marek gets hungry and starts crawling all over Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom. That look on her face is “Patient Mom.” She really didn’t want anyone crawling all over her. Come on, Bubba, get down from up there. (See how good that “Bubba” thing works? It’s an all-occasion solution.)

Just in time! Here’s breakfast. Check out how The Hand of Ivo manages to grab a palmfull of my pancake before the plate’s even level on the table.

Now that’s a pancake! We got extra bacon for Marek, which, of course, meant he wasn’t interested in bacon today.

Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom had the French Toast. She said it was the best in a long time. Which just goes to show you that she doesn’t come with us to breakfast enough!

Last week we famously forgot the Ivo Kit. This week we brought it, but forgot the bib. You can’t really see it here, but Ivo’s got a handy napkin tucked into his collar. He looked a little bit like breakfast clergy. And I think he missed the challenge, just a little bit, of not having his stuff.

We had a lot of breakfast. $19 clams isn’t bad at all for three whole meals.

Marek did not pay the bill. He was too busy demolishing that pancake.

You can see here what Ivo did pretty much the whole time, when he wasn’t eating. Flirting with anyone who would give him the time.

Ivo looks like Alfred Hitchcock. Or Man-Man.

Got to give some love to the men’s room sign. They could have stopped at stick-dude slipping on mystery puddle/object, but they also added an anatomically correct sink. Look at the detail on the plumbing underneath. And the facial expression, that’s obviously Munch-inspired.

Great chow this morning. Perfect greasy spoon, mom-n-pop diner. Marek was happy and he got a lollipop at the end. Ivo was happy and flirted with everyone in his line of sight. Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom thought the chow was delectable. And, of course, I’m always happy, just sometimes more than others. Three Coins is one of the best classic diner breakfasts you’ll find in Hillsborough County.

In 2009 we gave Three Coins a 4.5 rating. In 2010 we gave them a 4.5 rating. Let’s just say that the ONLY reason we never gave Three Coins a five-pancake rating was because they didn’t have blueberry pancakes. In hindsight, I think we were just being stingy, so let’s roll out the stars for this one. We’re pleased to upgrade Three Coins to a Tampa Bay Breakfasts Five Pancake rating.

After breakfast, we went to the Seminole Heights Sunday Market at Hillsborough High School. http://seminoleheightsmarket.info/Home.htm

Where Marek played all morning in the “Fit Kids” play area.

And Ivo ate grass and dirt. (But don’t tell his mom, she’ll clobber me!)

While Marek and mom were off playing, Ivo and his old man got to just sit in the sun.

Not a bad way to spend a Sunday.

It’s Local Music Day at Tampa Bay Breakfasts. This morning we’re spinning Rebekah Pulley and the Reluctant Prophets. We saw Rebekah play in Lowry Park a few years back and have been fans ever since.

To get to South Tampa, we had to drive by the University of Tampa. Now how cool would it be to be a student there? I’d say, pretty cool indeed!

We visited the Chavez House at 1350 South Howard Avenue on 5 March 2011. We found out about Chavez the way we usually find out about things, by getting lost in Tampa and seeing a sign that says “Breakfast!”

Marek found us a table. OK, I’m not going to lie, this is not his first choice. He wanted to sit inside for some reason and I kicked his little hiney outside where it was a lovely pre-Spring morning.

On the menu you’ll find Egg Crawfish Benedict. That’s a first in all of our Breakfast Travels! We just had pancakes, natch, but still, that’s unique!

We’ve already seen Marek, but not with his sunglasses! And also, in this shot you can read the plate on the front of that Lincoln. “The Great Gaspy.” Yep, that’s what it says.

Coffee’s better when you slurp it from the table.

Me and Ivo, in happier times. Before we discovered The Big Problem.

Here’s Ivo’s foot. I bet you’re wondering, “Where’s breakfast?!” Ivo’s wondering that, too.

Do you think this is a cool picture? It’s the umbrella over our heads. That’s pretty nifty! Oh. You’re wondering, where’s breakfast? So is Ivo.

That’s because … I FORGOT IVO’S BAG! So, here we are. At breakfast. No diapers. No wipes. No baby food. No bottles. No bibs. No baby spoons. We gots nuthin.

A lesser man would turn tail and run. But not Marek and me. We’re Tampa Bay Breakfast Strong! (That’s like “Army Strong” but with breakfast.) So we gave Ivo some orange juice with a pipette straw. My own father showed me how pipettes work, back when I was around Marek’s age. And here we are, that skill paying off!

You just snorted and said, “that’ll never work! You’re a bad father!”

But what you don’t know is, I’m “Tactical Dad.” I can change a juicy diaper standing up. I can fix boo-boos with a wave of my hand. And I can feed a baby without any remotely appropriate tools. And I can take a picture while I’m doing it. Try getting Macho Man Randy Savage to try that!

Here comes some real breakfast for Marek. Bacon? Check. Pancakes? Check. Yoink? Check. By this time, the guy driving The Great Gaspy car had come out, looked at us, and drove off shaking his head and chuckling, like he just saw a giant rooster playing croquet.

When you’ve got a hungry baby and no food and you’re at a nice breakfast place like Chavez House, take my advice and distract your baby with toast. He won’t actually eat it, but he’ll THINK he’s eating, and that, my friends, is sometimes all you need.

In case you have trouble interpreting baby faces, this one could be translated as “Dad, seriously, what the funnyface am I supposed to do with THIS?”

I wasn’t sure about this syrup. Even now, a couple days later, I’m still not sure. On the one hand, it’s very thick. On the other hand, it’s kinda creepy thick. Even the Pink Flamingo’s custom maple syrup isn’t like this.

I tried giving Ivo some oatmeal. For our TBB fans living in Cambridgeshire, this is “porridge.” In either language, Ivo would say it’s “yuck!” Note how he’s starting to become rather filthy and gooey in his dress and personal appearance? That’s the editorial commentary on the oatmeal.

Syrup: Cool to pour, creepy to eat.

More practice interpreting baby faces. This one is, “hey long chops, let’s lose this toast and give me those pancakes.”

So me and Ivo, we’re minding our own business trying to figure out if he’s going to start pooping and crying and win me another “Dad of the Year” award. We look up to see Marek going Xena on his pancakes, complete with Kung Fu noises.

I’d like to explain this to you, dear TBB reader. I really would.

This picture is so totally staged. If it were real, I could easily take this from Ivo. I outweigh him by like a million pounds.

While Ivo and I are wrestling over toast, Marek said, “hey old man, make with some cash. I’ve got a bike thing to get to.”

The bill wasn’t bad. For all that it was just 11 clams. For the location on South Howard I expected it to be higher.

Marek’s new thing. “Look at my big belly!” He’s doing this to traffic driving by.

Breakfast was quite nice. The syrup was weird. The location is great, and sitting outside was lovely. The price was right and the people were pretty friendly. This is a very nice breakfast stop in South Tampa. We’re happy to give Chavez House a Tampa Bay Breakfasts Four Pancake Rating.

After breakfast, we continued the no-baby-bag crap-shoot that is a morning with dad, and we went to Bayshore to ride bikes. This was our first time on Bayshore on foot. Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom walked this road during the Susan Kommen 3-Day a few years back, but Andy, Marek, and Ivo, we’ve only driven by.

The view is lovely, isn’t it? Oh, and also the water and the skyline, not just the view of my kids.

Marek and I spent a considerable amount of time pointing out all the sharks and how they were playing football. Ivo spent the same amount of time gnawing through that big old piece of Cuban toast.

Just a normal day. Hey Marek and Ivo of the future, when it’s 20 years from now and you’re reading this, your old man says hi!

Bottom line up front: Five pancakes. Datz. Five. Pancake. Rating.

OK, now that that’s over, let’s see how it is we got to that conclusion. Think of this as an art-house movie where the plot unwinds in reverse. Only now it’s going to go forward from the start, just with the ending at the beginning. Oh, for cryin’ out loud, I have no idea. Here’s how the morning started, with Marek looking pretty much like I expect Axel Rose looks in the mornings.

Breakfast? Let’s GO!

We’re driving down the road and it’s bitter cold, for Florida, anyway, which means 40s. Check out this great classic Bug. It’s not only a convertible, it’s a convertible that’s completely missing its top. This poor guy was chattering so loud we could hear him.

Who needs to pay to see the Monster Truck Jam when you live in Central Florida and Monster Trucks are just, well, here.

We stopped to look at old firetrucks. What kind of day can you have if it starts with firetrucks? That’s right, a good day.

Tight looking Toyota. But not for $12k. Not for a ’95. Unless it’s got something SERIOUS under that hood. Like the engine from a nuclear sub or sumthin.

It’s a lovely day in Central Florida. Sky as blue as Ivo’s eyes. Air as cold as a summer day in Canada. Palm trees. Sunshine. Bayshore Boulevard.

Marek and Andy, we’re ready. Ready for some PANCAKES. As if you didn’t know that already. This is an art-house scene. We’re just trying to keep you interested, lest you, our dear reader, may get bored reading about kids eating pancakes every weekend for two years.

We’re at Datz Deli at 2616 South MacDill Avenue Tampa. It’s 12 February 2011. We’re hungry. Datz has a nice web site at http://www.datzdeli.com/. there’s a whole lotta buzz in town about Datz and how great it all is, so we’re here to check it out.

Marek’s ready. Those bulges are cars in his pockets. But you knew that already because you’ve already figured out that Marek’s always got cars in his pockets.

Inside Datz is not what you’d think from the outside. It’s vast inside, multiple levels, walls of wine, mix of restaurant and deli and bar. Bricks. Exposed pipes. Chain link. Its a trendy setting.

We sat by the bar. There’s kids involved, or I’d sit AT the bar. With two kids, sitting at the bar is always on my mind.

Everywhere we turn, there’s a special and custom touch. The menu is a custom Datz newspaper.

Coffee comes quickly, in extra-large cups that are custom Datz. Attention to all sorts of detail here.

Me and Ivo, we’re on the scene. The breakfast scene! With a smiling firetruck!

This is a special Tampa Bay Breakfast, because we have our long-time Tampa Bay Breakfasts fan Brianna with us. We’ve been trying to get her to breakfast for over a year.

Datz is actually a recommendation from Brianna. Ivo is a recommendation from me.

Brianna brought presents! That’s a great Guest Reviewer … Thank you, Brianna!

So Marek and Brianna, they’re playing cars. Back and forth, back and forth, and then Marek’s Junior Dragster goes right over the edge and down into the deli area.

We never did get that car back. That’s OK. It’ll be a fond memory for Datz of when Tampa Bay Breakfasts came for pancakes!

Back to the menu. Ivo helps. The menu has his favorite thing on it: Food.

They chose this ginormous mocha coffee bowl.

Time for Ivo to get ready for breakfast. Chicks do, indeed, dig him. What girl doesn’t love a guy in a bib?

And here comes pancakes! Ivo practically sprung a hamstring trying to get at the bacon. Just like his big brother.

Marek had pancakes, bacon, eggs, and also helped himself to whatever Brianna had. The bacon was like a slab straight from the pig. Which is actually pretty gruesome to talk about when you’re eating it.

Let’s have another look at those pancakes. They don’t do blueberry pancakes. Unless you ask, and then they do. That really impressed me.

Watch out. You’re halfway through your pancakes and suddenly you find a tiny hand on your plate. Be careful, you might lose some pancakes. Or accidentally eat a baby hand.

Even after Ivo grabbed my pancakes and I ate his hand, we were able to stay friends.

Really cute friends.

The bill came. This is not a cheap breakfast. But the class act that is Datz, the great food, and the wonderful service, that all adds up to me saying it’s a fair price.

After breakfast, Marek and Brianna played a new game, “sunglasses.”

Incredible food. Wonderful, detail-oriented atmosphere. Great people. Really a fine Tampa Bay Breakfast. We’re pleased to rate Datz with five pancakes.

What’s in your pockets? Here’s what mine look like. This can mean only one thing: Must be time for breakfast!

It’s a lovely winter morning in Central Florida.

Morning like this, makes you want to go for a nice, slow, leisurely drive, and maybe find some pancakes.

We’re taking it smooth on the spindle this morning.

Even when you’re driving slowly, wearing sunglasses and groovin’ at a bluesy pace, sometimes, my Main Man Marek, you need to stop for fuel. For your belly. And for your vehicle.

Don’t you love a speedo that says 160? I am NOT going to tell you how far to the right I’ve had that needle. My mom reads these blogs, you know. Let’s just say that things get reallllly interesting when that tach needle hits 7.

Lucky for us, we ran out of car-gas and belly-gas just as we’re coming up to the Flying J. Look at all those TRUCKS!

Some of our dedicated readers are going to cry foul on this one. It’s a chain. That’s against our policy. But look, man, it’s hard to deny the draw of pancakes and 50 big rigs right there. Plus, it’s not like we have investors and a board of directors to answer to, so I’ll ask you, dear reader, to allow us this Peterbuilt detour into a chain breakfast, just this once!

We visited The Country Market at the Flying J truck stop at 11555 East Sligh Ave. They have a web site here. The Flying J was actually recommended by Tampa Bay Breakfasts fan Loren, because he knew Marek’d like the trucks. And Loren didn’t know it, but I liked the CB radios! I’m actually a long-time truck stop fan, from back before I got hitched to Marek’s mom, when every two weeks I’d drive all night from Biloxi to Ocala just to see her. The Flying J outside Mobile was a regular coffee stop for me, and I always had a CB in the car back then. I was sexxxy like that. (That’s like regular sexy, but with three Xs to jazz it up. That’s the way the kiddies are spelling it these days.) My autobiography is titled, “Love and CB Radios.”

How do you know you’re in a truck stop in Florida? This is how you know.

Inside the Country Market was pretty empty, just a few truckers at the counter. Marek went off in search of the perfect seat for us. It’s just Marek and Andy today. Ivo stayed home to help Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom with her baby-goo-goo practice.

First thing that happens is a kids’ menu and crayons. That’s always a nice touch. We, as you might have surmised after all these breakfasts, like kid-friendly. The rest of the menu was pretty standard, and did include my personal favorite, blueberry pancakes.

Remember what was in my pocket when we started? They all came out.

We counted several times. Yes, indeed, there are THREE Lightning McQueens here. And also, what to you think Wingo is looking at? Shifty character, that Wingo.

So you, dear reader, are saying to yourself, how do I get to be a Tampa Bay Breakfasts Guest Reviewer? After all, this is one of the most rare and coveted honors in the entire vast field of Breakfast Braggadocio.

Well, it’s simple. You make a good suggestion for a breakfast in our territory (Hillsborough, Pinellas, and the Levy/Citrus/Marion tri-county area), and you let it slip that you have an above-average, nearing-pathological fixation on breakfast. I’m talking about being “this close” to having to see a therapist about your pancake problem. Basically, you’re just like me and Marek. Which is how we came to know our new Tampa Bay Breakfasts Guest Reviewer, Loren.

Don’t let his smile and friendliness fool you, he’s Serious About Breakfast, just like us. And he knows how to play cars. That’s a valuable skill on our team, as you might imagine.

While Loren and I were playing cars, Marek was busy with the morning coffee. I found the coffee to be truck-stop-standard (which is a compliment, by the way), but I also noticed that the bottom of the cup showed up a few times. That’s not the best thing that can happen to a cup of coffee, in my opinion.

Does this look like fun or what?

Breakfast came just in time to prevent an outbreak of rioting. Marek had pancakes and bacon. I had blueberry pancakes and bacon (that Marek ate). Loren had eggs and hash. We all had coffee. We all had it all, and that’s no lie.

TBB Fan, top-rated Tampa food blogger, The Restaurants at My End of the Universe, and fellow Dunnellon High School graduate Cat pointed out to me that 2010’s bacon heists were her favorite part of Tampa Bay Breakfasts. Cathy, this heist is for you. YOINK!

So The Country Market at the Flying J truck stop. Nation-wide chain, but not really on the same chain-y-ness as, say, Dennys or IHOP. Like many people, when I see the “IHOP” sign it always makes me think “Amenhotep.” Still, nation-wide chain. We have to keep that in mind as we assess the goodness of breakfast here. These are some really good blueberry pancakes. Not the best I ever had in the history of pancakes, but still, really good. Worth a visit if you need gas already.

Loren said the hash and eggs were pretty reasonable. I’m going to tell you, take his word for it. This guy has a Personal Hashbrown Vendetta. He understands just how serious breakfast is. Marek asked him what time it was. Loren replied, “time for breakfast, little fella.”

After breakfast Marek played “cars and jelly,” a new game he made up. I took this picture.

Marek asked me for the camera. He took this picture.

He actually took 24 pictures just like this, but I’m only showing you one. If I used every picture he took, I’d need to buy everyone new computers so they could see it all.

The bill came. $23 for three breakfasts isn’t too shabby.

Marek paid the bill. And apparently went around handing out our cards. He took some and left and came back without them, so who knows?

Loren was suitably impressed with Marek’s ability to wander around aimlessly waving a twenty and a fin until someone took it from him. I assume he actually paid the bill as he brought back change, but it’s not like I really know what kind of deals he’s doing over there.

Before we wrap this up, let’s look at the gator heads in the shop one more time.

So we had three breakfasts for $23, which is pretty good. We saw gator heads and rivers of Big Rigs. The pancakes were really good. The bacon was worthy of Marek eating his and mine. The hash and eggs met with approval. And we had Loren, who started out a perfect stranger with a predilection for breakfast and ended the morning as a new friend. We’re going to deduct a half a pancake for this being a chain and for the coffee spigot moving slow a few times, but we can’t resist giving this Flying J experience a Tampa Bay Breakfasts four-pancake rating. Thanks, Loren, for joining us!

After breakfast, Marek and I went to TBB Fan (and another Dunnellon High School graduate) Jeff’s house, where Marek beat Sarah at tetherball. Oooh, is she going to be mad when she hears I said that.

And after Marek went to bed, I went to Sacred Sounds at Sacred Grounds to watch Aleshea Harris perform. As you may recall from last year, Aleshea is The Tampa Bay Breakfasts Official Poet of Breakfast. If you do one thing in 2011, make it finding an Aleshea performance.

Breakfast. Tetherball. Poetry. Just a normal day.

Happy Veterans Day and thank you to all our service members. This morning we’re bridging the old and the new in Tampa. It’s nice to be home from our recent exotic breakfast.

We visited the Loading Dock at 100 Madison Street on 11 November 2010. They have a nice web site at http://myloadingdock.com/. They’re only open Monday through Friday so it’s taken a long time for us to get here. Our usual breakfasts tend to be on the weekends, which is a clear case of work getting in the way of the important things, like pancakes.

Also, we have to tell you up front, they didn’t have pancakes.

We have plenty of nice things to say about the Loading Dock, but none as jaw-dropping as this door. No kidding, the door is at least 12 feet tall!

Did I mention that there’s no pancakes? Now, it’s not really the Loading Dock’s fault. This is clearly a grab-n-go breakfast for downtown Tampa’s business set, and grab-n-go pancakes are just, well, lousy. But all three of my morning breakfast partners had a “what, no pancakes?” reaction. Shown here: Ivo, simply distraught that he’s not going to get a bottle of high-fructose corn syrup this morning.

Can you spot the three beautiful elements in this photograph? Look at that massive brick work. Look at those heavy timbers up top. Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom surely is beautiful!

As we’ve already hinted, the menu is very grab-n-go oriented. Wraps, sandwiches, and the like. Nothing wrong with that so long as you’ve not got your heart set on pancakes, which both Heather and Marek did. One thing I can say is that the midday menu looks really robust; I bet this is a really wonderful place for lunch or an after-work beer-and-a-snack. If only I worked across the street, I’d be able to tell you more on that.

Here’s something we look for: Mom-n-pop-ness in a restaurant. Mom is obviously Karen and pop is obviously Sean, right on the menu. Now seriously, we don’t really want to be having breakfast in someone’s living room with dogs and cats and dirty laundry and toys and I’ll-vacuum-next-week, but we do really want to feel like we’re in a place that matters to someone. When the proprietors put their names, emails, and phone numbers on the menu, it tells us right out that this is a labor of love and they actually care about how we feel: That’s what defines the “mom-n-pop” concept. This little corner of the menu is worth a half-a-point bonus on the final rating.

Marek was minding his own beeswax and along came some hairy old freaky guy who mugged him with kisses. Shown here: Marek trying to stop giggling long enough to get away.

Breakfast was delivered in accordance with (in military jargon, that’s just “IAW”) the sandwich shop mentality. Baskets, to-go cups. Plastic ware. Marek had the hashbrowns, which he refused to try because he’s sometimes like that (| sed -e ‘s/sometimes/always/’) (That last one is a special joke that only the nerdliest 1% of our readers will get, but they’ll get it 99%’s worth).

Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom had an egg sandwich.

I had a spicy breakfast wrap. I’m not here to brag or anything, but I taught this wrap a lesson. It was delicious!

This nice lady came by and scooped up Ivo. She had a case of “baby-itis.”

The “scooping up” turned into “abducting and putting him to work in the kitchen.” Hey, that’s how Marek got started. This was Ivo’s first official breakfast abduction.

Marek had juice today instead of his usual coffee. Look at those timbers in the ceiling! The Loading Dock was, actually, the loading dock for the department store that was in this building in 1907. The 100-year-old features are everywhere in this space, but most notably in the ceiling. The care to preserve these historical aspects really make this a fascinating space.

13 clams for three breakfasts. That’s not bad at all.

Marek paid the bill. He doesn’t have his own credit cards yet, and I didn’t have 13 dollars to give him, and he didn’t have his own cash either. I had to take this picture twice as the first time would have broadcast my credit card number across the Internet in a blaze of stupid. Marek pointed this out to me.

This was pretty hilarious. Marek knew she was up there but she didn’t know he was down there. It’s not every day that a 3-year-old sidles up to the bar to pay the bill ’round here. Our main man Marek got the job done, as usual.

And then he came back with this enormous cookie. Really, it’s like a snack for a whole family (which, honestly, is exactly what happened to it!).

This photograph has absolutely no breakfast-related value at all. Unless you think that Ivo’s so cute you could eat him up. But if you think that and you also think “breakfast” then you’re really sort of thinking about actually consuming him in a dietary sense, which is very perverse. I’m going to assume when you think “eat him up” that you’re thinking in metaphor, as I am.

After breakfast we took full advantage of today’s holiday status. As an authentic veteran, I did what every veteran really wants to do on Veterans’ Day: I took my three year old to Dinosaur World.

Where he and his mother were promptly eaten. Easy come, easy go, I guess.

The Loading Dock was a very unique, interesting, and friendly place. I don’t think we can say that breakfast is really its core competency, at least not breakfast in the traditional sense. The price was right, the chow we had was delicious, but it’s really the friendly folks, the heartfelt sense one gets from the menu and web page, and the 100-year-old building that tip this breakfast over the edge from a 3 or 3.5 to a 4. We’re pleased to give The Loading Dock a Tampa Bay Breakfasts four pancake rating.