Marek struck the executive pose in the Pancake Limousine this morning. Casually, he orders, “get me something unique, driver. I want to be entertained this morning.” He’s been very stressed, what with all the pressures of being a top-rated food critic and breakfast blog media mogul. “Yes, sir!” I replied.
So I took him to Yanny’s at 1258 S Highland Ave in Clearwater on 19 June 2010. This was our first visit to Yanny’s, and it was a recommendation from TBB Fan Jeff over a year ago. What can I say, we’ve got a busy pancake schedule!
I came prepared. Dressed for success, as you might notice.
There’s reserved parking, which is a nice touch.
Marek and I talked about how this is our 64th published breakfast. Now 64 is a largeish number when you’re talking breakfasts. Marek also pointed out that 2*1=2*2=4*2=8*2=16*2=32*2=64, so the 64th breakfast is also our 2 to the 6th power breakfast, our 111111th breakfast in binary. But if you don’t count the breakfast in Doha (Marek didn’t go to that one because we couldn’t get his passport back from the embassy in time), and if you don’t count 7 re-visits, and if you don’t count the non-commercial visits (grandma’s house and the Lions Club), then really we’ve only visited 110101. Still impressive, but not the binary home run that Marek was hoping for.
Today is Juneteenth. Tomorrow is Father’s Day. We’re celebrating both with our favorite guest reviewer, Mom.
And we were joined by veteran guest reviewers, Jeff and Frankie. That’s right, we’ve got a full sack of crazy this morning.
We all got right down to business with coffee. This was good stuff. The well ran a little dry from time to time as they got busy, but the coffee was just the way we like it. Black and bitter. Check out Marek’s awesome shirt, “S is for Spider.” Now that’s wicked-cool. If only those came in adult sizes.
Favorite guest reviewer Mom had a hot chocolate. She said it was delicious. I’m sure it was even sweeter because she touched it.
Mom is, as you may have noticed from my repeated mentioning of the fact, rather pregnant. She got a nice chance to practice being a family of four. I took this picture of Mom, Marek, Jeff, and Frankie together as a family. And then I ran for Mexico.
The menu has a set of rules on the back. They threatened us with #3.
So finally, after all this, we got a chance to put in an order for some pancakes. Excuse me, ma’am. How thick are your pancakes? They’re that thick? (Seriously, that’s what we were talking about here.)
Breakfast came. And so did chaos. Like a reading of Howl in one deep breath, so came enormous cake-like pancakes, bacon, ham, french toast, eggs, grits, and heck, I don’t know, stuff for other people too. So much so fast that I didn’t even get pictures of everything. But Steve, I’m here to tell you, this bacon was Steve Standard. Marek jumped right on it.
Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom (FGRM) had the most unique french toast we’ve ever seen. She said it was “delish.”
And Frankie, little Frankie, he had grits. Like a good Southron boy.
Marek is into putting on his own syrup. Check out Frankie and the pancake heist in progress. That’s a taste of your own medicine, bubba!
The bill came. Twennysix bucks for three grown ups and two kids for chow we had so much of we couldn’t finish. That’s not a bad deal. Plus, we were a little bit of a tidiness disaster, so it really felt like a value.
Marek paid the bill, as he does from time to time when he’s not feeling ornery.
Ever notice how Marek just makes himself at home in kitchens across the Bay Area? If I did that, I’d get arrested. That’s the kind of charisma this kid has. Charm.
Unique take on pancakes, including the blueberry pancakes. I’m not entirely sure I loved them, but I surely liked them. Steve-standard bacon. Great coffee. Nice folks. Nifty and quirky attitude to the place. And the price was just right. We’re pleased to give Yanny’s French Toast King a Tampa Bay Breakfast four and a half pancake rating.
When we were done with breakfast, we went to Sam’s Books at the Oldsmar Fleamarket.
As you can see here, Marek was trying to impress the little girl with his Jackson Five moves. You can see the same move at time 1:08 here. (I’m at time 3:00)
Hi picked out his books and paid the bill. Off we went, home for a nap! That’s a nice morning!
Next visit to Yanny’s try their homemade yogurt. It is made from raw milk and is the best you have ever had. We get it with honey, almonds and bananas. You will not be disappointed.
Enjoyed reading several of your reviews. I guess the addition to the family is here now. Hope all are well. Thanks for your and Marek’s hard work!!!
ANdy, thanks for your great review…we concur! My wife and I visit Yannys regullarly and always enjoy the menu items! My personal favortie is Yanny’s Decadent French Toast. Is is in our humble opinions the best around. We are so happy they expanded to have more than the original 8 tables. This is a MUST EAT place in Tampa Bay for sure for “Breakfast Aficionados” indeed! Our fav! -PJ & Corinne