It’s a gosh-darned beautiful fall day in Florida. We’re going to celebrate these clear blue skies with … Breakfast! (For our fans in England, Canada, Europe, and the Northern United States, yes, we ARE rubbing it in! (For our fans in Tampa who think I’m making it up, we really DO have fans in England, Canada, Europe, and up north!))

We visited Daily Eats at 901 S Howard Ave on 27 November 2009. Daily Eats has a website at http://www.dailyeatstampa.com/. This was our first successful visit to Daily Eats; we tried to come hear earlier in the year but we were there before they opened. Marek is sleeping later these days so we get a chance to try new places that open after 0800.

Already we like this joint. The name “Daily Eats” is so basic, common-man, fundamental, people-oriented. It’s a simple diner inside, with a great lunch counter. Marek wants to sit here, but he couldn’t really reach yet. Next year, little buddy!

The menu is pretty extensive, though I didn’t see the word “bacon” anywhere (our chipper waitress assured me we could get bacon if we wanted it). The very first thing I DID see is “blueberry pancakes!”

The second thing I see is booze for breakfast. We noticed a table of girls and mimosas as we walked in, which set the scene for good times this fine Florida morning. Marek wanted the Bloody Mary, but he had to settle for his juice box. Bummer.

Daily Eats is in the middle of the SOHO district of Tampa. There’s a lot of stylish, fancy folk in this part of town. Marek says, hey big-daddy, I’m a movie star. All the ladies love me. Talk to my agent. Dad.

We had coffee. This was good swill. And when we left, we got a complimentary to-go cup of black beauty. We love coffee.

While we waited for pancakes, we got into a discussion about Marek’s current favorite topic, dinosaurs. He really liked talking about dinosaurs and gave big kisses. I said “Triceratops.” Marek said “Soarasaurus.” I pointed out that there was no such thing and he must have made that up. He called me a non-paleontology-knowing dumb-dumb. I told him to look it up. He pulled a knife and stabbed me in the head. Just an average day.

Thankfully, breakfast arrived before there was any sort of significant bloodletting. Look at this bodacious haul. Those pancakes must weigh a pound each.

The eggs were perfect, exactly as I like them. The potatoes that came with the pancakes were quite yummy. The pancakes were good but really heavy. Neither Marek nor I were able to finish ours. I won’t disparage these pancakes, but I do personally prefer a lighter blueberry pancake experience.

Marek liked the pancakes. But he liked them better with pepper. What? Don’t look at ME, I’m not putting pepper on MY pancakes. Ick.

When we were done, Marek paid the bill. He likes earning his keep.

He found his way and even made friends. I was too far away to hear, but it looks to me like he’s getting this girl’s phone number. “Hey baby, I may be two years old and live with my parents, but I’ve got my own breakfast money and I can count to ten in Spanish.” Probably makes him a pretty viable dating candidate compared to a 35 year old who lives with his parents and doesn’t have his own breakfast money.

We went outside and played in traffic. Got to work off those heavy pancakes!

We had a very nice time at Daily Eats. Folks were friendly. The chow was good. The price was nice (eleven bones for a meal the two of us couldn’t finish). And most importantly, we had fun. Well fun and a knife fight, but who’s keeping score? We’re pleased to give Daily Eats a Tampa Bay Breakfast rating of four pancakes.