Ivo’s hauling Roary with him this morning. I actually brought Roary home for Marek three years ago, before you could find Roary on Sprout and you’d have to go all the way to jolly old England to find Roary.
Here’s the funniest part about it. The Roary show in the U.K. is in English, with U.K. accents, of course. Except for the American stock car race car, “Tin Top,” who has a voice like Elvis Presley. The U.S. version, they’ve dubbed all the voices into American accents … including completely changing the already-American Tin Top to a non-Elvis voice.
Marek’s playing his harmonica. I’m not smiling, I’m gritting my teeth.
My sister, Tia Cindy, got me this shirt. I’m always sort of freaked out by depictions of animals celebrating that they’re being eaten, like this pig saying “mmmm, bacon” on my shirt. I had at least three people today compliment my shirt.
This morning we’re visiting Eggstyle in Oldsmar, at 3980 Tampa Rd. They also have a flashy web site at http://www.eggstyle.com/. Note on the web site that the very first thing they say is “fast-growing,” and you’ll see on the cover of the menu a statement that “franchises are available.” The web site says there’s a location in Oldsmar, one in Sarasota, and one opening soon in St. Pete. So that’s a local chain and in-bounds for the Tampa Bay Breakfasts mission.
Except that our waiter told us that the restaurant was “a Canadian chain.”
I am confused, and a bit nonplussed by the franchisy thing.
Nice interior, but a bit over-polished. The whole experience reminds me of our visit to J. Christopher’s. More on that later.
Ivo sets out the tools. Preparation for battle. Which reminds me …
We’re actually here at the recommendation of TBB fan Greg. I met Greg in Iraq three years ago and he let me stay in his CHU and use his Kindle while I was waiting for air transport for several days. Of all the people in the world to whom I acknowledge a debt, Greg’s on the top ten for that small act of mercy.
(A CHU is a containerized housing unit, which is like Da Ritz compared to the eerily-empty 100-man tent I was originally in.)
The “eggz” thing in the menu is OK, but if you’re going to run that all the way down, call the place “Eggzstyle.” The menu is very robust, lots of ways to tamp down a hunger here. I was impressed that when we asked about how the pancakes were made, we were told we could have them our way, even though it wasn’t on the menu like that.
We had an odd hot chocolate experience. Hot water and a packet for us to stir up. First time for everything, including this.
The good stuff for The Ivo.
We actually call him “The Ivo” sometimes. Not like he’s some inanimate object, more like he’s one of a kind.
If you don’t count Ivo D.
If The Ivo were a race car, he’d be as cute as Roary. If Roary were a boy, he’d be as cute as Ivo.
Also note, Marek is next to me and not in as easy camera range, so … lots more pictures of second-son for this breakfast.
Caption contest! I vote for “Gimme your wallet or I’ll cut you.”
And about this moment, Ivo’s saying, “I’m gettin’ daddy!” Note the proper katana hand grip on this one.
Odd hot chocolate moment part deux. A nice girl who was not our waiter brought us two actual, normal hot chocolates with whipped cream and everything. This was actually preferred by The Marek.
And Ivo was delighted, because he usually doesn’t get hot chocolate. More stuff to hurl around and stress out daddy, yay!
Breakfast came on a forklift. Pancakes large enough to call donk.
Bacon, eggs, home fries. All in sufficient quantities for hungry boys.
Marek approved of the bacon. I did too, I even got a bite for once, which just goes to show that there’s adequate quantities delivered here. Usually it’s “bacono disappearo” with Marek.
Ivo, oddly enough, didn’t eat much. He was too full of juice and coffee and hot chocolate and who knows what else he’s gotten into. Probably had some tamales hidden in the car that he ate on the ride over.
Though he did take a big handful of eggs. Not a forkful, a handful. There were actual animal feeding sounds.
The sweet things 2 year olds do. Ivo pulled a piece of toast and fed it to Roary. “You eat too, Roary,” said Ivo.
Everyone join me: “awwwww….”
Then he started trying to put Tabasco in his juice.
For all this chow, the bill isn’t bad. Twenty two clams for so much we couldn’t finish it all.
“I pay the bill, dad! Me!”
OK, kid. Here ya go.
Then he shied up and wouldn’t go. But while we were sorting that out we did meet the hostess, not pictured here, who was from Czechoslovakia. The Slovak side. My few words of the language didn’t pass muster (I studied for trips I took on the Czech side, so I reckon my accent was funky).
After breakfast we took The Driftercoaster (Marek’s name for the FR-S) to the car doctor for shots and a checkup.
In the showroom where we were waiting, Ivo inspected this display FR-S. He’s pointing at the tailpipe and talking about this is what makes it go fast.
Without a doubt, these are the good old days.
Our overall experience at Eggstyle was pretty good. Some oddities, but the staff were generally friendly, helpful, and prompt. The food and ambiance were very much in the spirit of J. Christopher’s in Carollwood. An added polish that takes it a step past homey and towards that almost sterile feeling you get when you’re in store # 4,230 of a national chain. My own mom-n-pop predilection is turned off by the “franchises available” on the cover of the menu. The chow was good. Big pancakes with fresh blueberries, really nice bacon, good eggs and home fries. Coffee was the way I like it: black and refilled. Read the Urban Spoon reviews and you’ll see a lot of unhappy customers at Eggstyle. The most frequent complaint was poor service, but we can’t say we had anything but a positive experience; everyone we talked to was really nice and attentive. We’re happy to give Eggstyle a Tampa Bay Breakfasts four pancake rating.
