{"id":5183,"date":"2013-09-29T09:24:41","date_gmt":"2013-09-29T13:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/?p=5183"},"modified":"2013-09-29T09:24:41","modified_gmt":"2013-09-29T13:24:41","slug":"west-tampa-sandwich-shop-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/?p=5183","title":{"rendered":"West Tampa Sandwich Shop"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s a lovely Tampa Bay Breakfasts morning. Ivo is completely enthused, and is NOT crying, “I don’t wannnna go dadddeeee.” Not at all.<\/p>\n

(The year is 2030. Obamacare has finally been defeated by President Jayden Smith<\/a>. Marek’s robot therapist, Eliza<\/a>, asks him to talk about his childhood traumas. Ivo waves his hand to pull up the Ancient History Archive Hologram Display to show him this picture. “Dad was a big meanie.”)<\/p>\n

\"west00\"<\/p>\n

We’ve arrived at our destination. We’re exiting the FR-S Family Car like a bunch of circus clowns crawling out of a Volkswagen Beetle. <\/p>\n

\"west01\"<\/p>\n

Also joining us this morning is Tampa Bay Breakfasts Guest Reviewer and USF sophomore Montenique. We know Montenique because 20 years ago I took a photograph of an abandoned grave marker in a field being cleared for construction, and through the power of the Internet was recently able to track that deceased fellow’s family, resulting in finding his second wife’s great-great granddaughter. I know, you think I’m making it up.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"west02\"<\/p>\n

We’re re-visiting West Tampa Sandwich Shop at 3904 N Armenia Ave<\/a>, one of our long-time favorites. We haven’t been here for too long. Last official visit was in 2009.<\/a><\/p>\n

\"west03\"<\/p>\n

We chose a spot in the corner. Not because it’s the most interesting, but because it allows for containment of ICBMs. That’s “In-public Children going Ballistic, Man.”<\/p>\n

\"west04\"<\/p>\n

Our nice waitress brought us only two menus. She probably didn’t realize that boys need their own menus. How else will they know what to order? (Marek presented his own order and she looked at me in pleasant surprise.)<\/p>\n

\"west05\"<\/p>\n

Not a hugely varied breakfast offering here. I got an add-on of the honey toast, and oh mamma was that delish.<\/p>\n

\"west06\"<\/p>\n

Check out my wickedly cool Tessier-Ashpool shirt. Not the most obvious meme out there, which is why it’s so awesome.<\/p>\n

\"west07\"<\/p>\n

We did a seating shuffle since we first got here. No one knows why. I think Montenique took refuge in the corner … it’s a defensive position against the boy-onslaught. <\/p>\n

\"west08\"<\/p>\n

The morning’s adorable shot. We’re such a sweet father plus son. There’s nothing like having to hold him in my lap so he doesn’t flip the table over, to create a loving photograph.<\/p>\n

\"west09\"<\/p>\n

Marek checking out the pictures on the walls. I told him to go look for the picture of President Obama (who actually had lunch here<\/a>).<\/p>\n

\"west10\"<\/p>\n

Some regular toast and some honey toast. Andy says go for the honey toast. The boys had never had it, so they wouldn’t try it. I know, that makes sense, right?<\/p>\n

\"west11\"<\/p>\n

Montenique knows how kids work. In order to be left alone for thirty seconds, she sacrificed her phone. On which Ivo promptly made a mess.<\/p>\n

\"west12\"<\/p>\n

Here’s what the insides and the crowd looks like this morning. Always busy, this shop.<\/p>\n

\"west13\"<\/p>\n

Discussing IOS 7 merits. College kids and first graders. Amazing what they have in common!<\/p>\n

\"west14\"<\/p>\n

Here comes pancakes! Ivo had that knife already in his pocket. I think he brought it with him.<\/p>\n

\"west15\"<\/p>\n

Scrambled eggs and bacon for Marek.<\/p>\n

\"west16\"<\/p>\n

The everything omelet for me. And Montenique had some pancakes and eggs, too.<\/p>\n

\"west17\"<\/p>\n

Ivo commenced to cutting through things.<\/p>\n

\"west18\"<\/p>\n

Ivo: Let me help you with that.<\/p>\n

Montenique: That’s my phone!<\/p>\n

\"west19\"<\/p>\n

Ivo, quoting Shakespeare to his breakfast. <\/p>\n

\"west20\"<\/p>\n

Marek shoveling it in.<\/p>\n

\"west21\"<\/p>\n

I’m father of the year for taking this picture rather than stopping him from eating pancakes with a knife. <\/p>\n

\"west22\"<\/p>\n

Time to pay the bill. We didn’t actually have the check, so I sent the boys off with $30 and a wave goodbye.<\/p>\n

\"west23\"<\/p>\n

They’re over there somewhere. I know because I can’t see them, but I hear the ladies laughing. <\/p>\n

\"west24\"<\/p>\n

On the way out the door, Marek stopped in the middle of the street to do The Breakfast Booty Dance.<\/p>\n

\"west25\"<\/p>\n

On our way home we stopped at the playground, where I took about 10,000 pictures to get this one cool action shot.<\/p>\n

\"west26\"<\/p>\n

West Tampa Sandwich Shop is classic Tampa. Food is great. Full of locals and regulars. A sense that the very walls are made of family and friends. Price is low and quality is high. Plus, President Obama likes it, too. Me ‘n’ the boys ‘n’ Montenique, we’re all Obama supporters, so that counts for an extra half a point to upgrade our last review from 4.5 to a Tampa Bay Breakfasts five pancake award.<\/p>\n

\"one-pancake\"\"one-pancake1\"\"one-pancake2\"\"one-pancake3\"\"one-pancake3\"<\/p>\n

\"West<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It’s a lovely Tampa Bay Breakfasts morning. Ivo is completely enthused, and is NOT crying, “I don’t wannnna go dadddeeee.” Not at all. (The year is 2030. Obamacare has finally been defeated by President Jayden Smith. Marek’s robot therapist, Eliza, asks him to talk about his childhood traumas. Ivo waves his hand to pull up […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-breakfasts"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p30Aox-1lB","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4147,"url":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/?p=4147","url_meta":{"origin":5183,"position":0},"title":"Mamas Family Kitchen","date":"November 4, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It's a beautiful day in Tampa, Florida. A great day for a bike ride. Ivo's on his Kazam bike. This used to be Marek's Kazam bike, and is the reason why he's such a biking ace today. Of course, you can't ride a Kazam all the way to breakfast, so\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "American"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/11\/mamas-31.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":5420,"url":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/?p=5420","url_meta":{"origin":5183,"position":1},"title":"2013 Breakfasts in Review","date":"December 21, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"We're in our fifth year of pancakes in the Tampa Bay Area. We could have never imagined letting mom sleep late on the weekends would lead to this. It's been a good year for breakfast. This year we've done 26 reviews, 18 of which were first-time visits. Of the 26,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Administrative"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2840,"url":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/?p=2840","url_meta":{"origin":5183,"position":2},"title":"Peppermint Patties","date":"April 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"People ask me all the time, where did we get the idea for Tampa Bay Breakfasts? It all started when Marek was a baby. I'd wake up early. He'd wake up soon after. And then Favorite Guest Reviewer Mom would get woken up when she'd really rather sleep all morning.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "American"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/04\/patt-ivo.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":3552,"url":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/?p=3552","url_meta":{"origin":5183,"position":3},"title":"2011 Breakfast of the Year","date":"December 28, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Marek, Ivo, and I are pleased to announce the 2011 Tampa Bay Breakfast of the Year. This is a prestigious, highly-competitive, no one ever notices, we should probably tell the restauranteurs about it, exciting award. Recipients of the Tampa Bay Breakfast of the Year go on to be exactly as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Administrative"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5157,"url":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/?p=5157","url_meta":{"origin":5183,"position":4},"title":"Kevin’s Kitchen","date":"September 22, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Here at Tampa Bay Breakfasts, we're just upside-down over all the great breakfasts in Tampa Bay! (Alternate quote, \"we're falling for breakfasts in Tampa Bay\") We parked across the street from the original Hooters. Window-shopping for mom for her birthday. Assault rifle or Civil War artifact or Hooters calendar? How\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "American"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/09\/k14.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2163,"url":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/?p=2163","url_meta":{"origin":5183,"position":5},"title":"Just For You","date":"November 12, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Marek was unable to join me for breakfast this weekend, for reasons that are related to Kung Fu Tacos. We're going to do a breakfast with Ivo and some friends anyway, because we know our Tampa Bay Breakfasts readers demand no less than perfection. Did I mention Kung Fu Tacos?\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "American"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/11\/j-just-bill.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5183"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5183\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5214,"href":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5183\/revisions\/5214"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.tampabaybreakfasts.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}