We visited Martha’s Place at 5202 N. Nebraska Avenue on 28 June 2009. This is our second visit to Martha’s, the first being at least a year ago when Marek still needed a booster seat.

Walking into Martha’s is like walking into your own grandmother’s house. The setup, decoration, and even the dishes give a well-worn feeling of hand-me-downs and yard sales where everyone in the family has had a part in making a house a home. But if there was air conditioning, either it wasn’t working or they’d not kicked it on yet — it was hotter inside than it was out!

Marek was not his usual cheery self this morning. He had a hard day yesterday, with a long drive to his Cousin Simone’s birthday party in Gainesville. So he asked that we give a half-pancake boost to Martha’s just because he was a grouch.

We started out with some coffee. If you remember the television show Twin Peaks, you may recall that Agent Cooper had many memorable coffee experiences. One was all the various coffees he’d get at the diner and another was at Pete’s place. Let’s say that I found Martha’s coffee to be more like Pete’s than the diner’s. But you’ve got to give some credit for the Morris the Cat coffee cup dating to at least the 80s if not the 70s!

The most unique thing about Martha’s is that there’s catfish on the breakfast menu. You don’t see that every day! Well, unless you eat at Martha’s every day, I suppose, but Martha’s is the only place in town that I know of with this specialty!

We had breakfast. The bacon was very nice and very crispy, in the way that Steve from Yankeetown would probably like. The pancakes were very reasonable and I didn’t mind finishing mine and Mareks. We’re Pancake Professionals, perhaps the only such professionals working in the Tampa Bay Area today, so we’re duty-bound to report on bad food even when served by good people. The eggs were simply not what I expected out of scrambled eggs. A single bite and I was done.

Marek, being cranky from yesterday’s events, didn’t eat a thing. He just wanted to play cars and be left alone.

So I had my breakfast and Marek’s breakfast and some of Pete Martell’s coffee. And it was a nice time.

Marek paid the bill. Or tried to, while holding on to his cars. He was lacking focus in his task and had to be coached a bit this morning.

But he finally got the bill paid. A full breakfast and coffee for under six bucks!

Martha’s was hot inside, the eggs were not my favorite, and they served Pete Martell coffee, but the bacon and pancakes were good and the people were just plain friendly and welcoming. And while Marek didn’t get a pop, he did get a gumball from the nice lady so it was all good. We’re going to give a 2.5 pancake rating and plus it up to a 3 because Marek was in a bad mood and we’re not going to hold that against the super folks at Martha’s!