We visited the Ranch House Restaurant at 7706 W Hillsborough Ave on 16 May 2009. There’s another Ranch House on Gandy, but it doesn’t appear to be the same place. The one on Gandy is a Greek sort of place, while this Ranch House has a definite Hispanic flair. The people were quite friendly and the prices were very reasonable.

We had breakfast. But even better, we had our first Tampa Bay Breakfast Guest, my old friend Pete from Seminole. Thanks for joining us, Pete!

The breakfast was fine. Pete enjoyed the waffle with blueberries. I felt the eggs could have been cooked a little longer. The coffee was perfect, just the way I like it: Hot, Black, Bitter, Diner, Many-Times-Re-Filled. Marek got the chocolate chip pancake … and didn’t care for it at all! He ended up eating all of my pancakes. They must have been good, but I wouldn’t be able to tell you.

There’s nothing particularly unique about the Ranch House. It’s a fine place in a strip mall with reasonable food and nice folks. The customers seemed to be mostly snow birds, retirees, and folks from up nawth. The menu did have a special page, with meals named after folks in the family. We’re suckers for this kind of thing.

Marek paid the bill.

He paid, got the change, and brought it back. The returning of the change will doubtless stop when he’s a teenager.

And we learned just how much a two year old can remember. He then went back to the counter and just stared at the nice lady. Turns out … he was waiting for his “pop” like he seems to get at most breakfasts. She didn’t have any pops to offer, but he did get a mint. It was pretty funny when he finally tasted it.

This is a good place with nice folks, reasonable prices, and a solid breakfast. Marek does not recommend the chocolate chip pancakes at all, nor does he favor the mints.

We give this Tampa Bay Breakfast a rating of three pancakes.