As many of you loyal Florida Blogger readers, I love to travel to Key West.  And I also love going to the Front Porch, a quaint microbrew bar in Key West.  However, the Front Porch to which I refer to in this post is located in the Seminole Heights area of Tampa.  I’ve been meaning to go for quite some time and since my folks wanted to come to Tampa….

The Front Porch is not your typical restuarant in building style.  It is located in an old two-story Victorian style house.  And it sits directly off of Florida Avenue.  Walking up to the restaurant, there was plenty of outdoor seating.  And had it been moderately warm, we might have sat outside.  But this Florida boy’s blood is thin and needs warmth.

The inside is quaint and small.  There is a bar area, a few bistro chairs, and some tables in the back.  I’m not sure if there is seating on the second story as I didn’t venture up there.

One of the reasons it took me so long to get to the Front Porch was because I never got rave reviews from my friends.  The reviews were more like, “The food is solid but nothing special.”  And that’s what we got.  The blackened tuna tacos were ok.  I didn’t really like the texture.  The flavor profiles were decent.  Now, I was almost full when I got there so my taste buds could’ve been a little shot.

The did have a decent beer selection.  However, the waitress wasn’t too clued in to what they had.  This is one of my pet peeves when it comes to bars that serve microbeers.  If you’re going to be so bold as to have something other than Bud Light on the menu please educate your servers.  Please.

The service was pretty bad.  It took a long time to get our drinks from the bar that was two steps from our table.  The appetizer we ordered never got there.  The server blamed it on the cook.  But take it from a former server, this is a server’s way of displacing the blame.  It was probably her fault.

Honestly, I probably wouldn’t go there again.  Not because it was bad, but because it was only mediocre.  There are too many good food establishments in Tampa to eat at mediocre places.

Have any of you eaten at the Front Porch?  Thoughts??

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Image courtesy of diveintampabay.com

Datz is the restaurant name and the title of this posting is their twitter handle.  And their twitter handle is how I found them.  Twitter continues to be a treasure trove of place and people that make my life better and more interesting.

Last weekend the wife and I were headed over to St. Pete Beach to stay at the Postcard  Inn.  And since Datz was along the way, kinda, we stopped in.  Datz is located in South Tampa and we don’t get down there much since we lay our heads in Apollo Beach.

Datz is really a deli.  But their menu doesn’t resemble a deli.  It acutally reminds you of the morning fish wrap as it comes in newspaper form.  I’ve never seen this from a restaurant.  Have you??  And their menu is F-U-L-L.  But since I’m a burger guy, I stuck with the girl that brought me, as a friend says.

The burger was great, although a little overdone.  The price was also a little high at $12, especially for lunch.  But it is in South Tampa, so I guess they can get these kind of prices.  The homemade chip that comes with the burger was delish.  They were drizzled with a sweet blue cheese dressing.  And their beer selection is brimming with microbrews!!  I got Tampa Bay Brewing Company’s black ipa.  Usually this beer is stellar, but the hop bite on was ferocious, which was not Datz’s fault, but rather a TBBCo concern.  It might have been a “green” beer.

If I were in the area, I would definitely go again, but I would split the meal with the wife.  Too much food for one person, especially when you throw in the chips.

Have you been there??  Thoughts??

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Entrance to famed Sapphire Room

The likes of Babe Ruth and Elvis Presley had walked through this palace back in the day and I was excited to walk in their footsteps.

And a few weeks ago I was able to finally get to eat at the Floridan Palace, specifically in the famed Sapphire Room.  I dressed in slacks and my best long-sleeved shirt as dress was business casual.  There was one person in shorts and a few gentlemen were wearing jeans, but for the most part the dress code was maintained.

We had a large party.  When I went to pull two tables together I was quickly ushered to the side by the staff who did it for me.  The drinks were drinks.  Nothing special but they didn’t skimp on alcohol, which is always a plus.  The food was stellar.  We had the Mediterranean plate, escargots, and octopus.  Having never eaten octopus, I was expecting fishy and chewy; but I got moist and juicy.  I would definitely order it again.  The only complaint was that the food took a while to get to our table.

The whole experience was fabulous.  From the blue lights to jazz I have no qualms about going back again.  And I would recommend you go to if you haven’t been.  Check out some of the pictures below that were taken that night.

If you’ve been to the Floridan Palace, what were your thoughts?  What was the highlight of your night?  Did you spend the night or just get dinner?

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Tocobaga is a damn good red ale.

I’m not for posting recipes but since this is simple and manly, I got you covered.  Pairing food and drink is as old as time.  Pairing the right drink with the right food is heavenly.  So, my wife and I paired Cigar City Tocobaga red ale and hot Italian sausage this past weekend.  We wanted to keep it local as much as possible, hence Tampa’s Cigar City Brewery. 

• First, cube or slice an onion and put it into your frying pan.  Secondly pour about half the 12oz bottle of Tocobaga into that pan. 
• Turn your fire on med (enough to get your ale boiling).  Let your liquid reduce a little.  This will allow the onions to soak up a the red ale more; and the ale will thicken too.
• Then put your hot Italian sausage into the pan.  Remember: The reason this pairing works is because spicy food pairs well with India Pale Ales (IPA).  Once the sausage casing turns white, pull it out of the pan and place it on a grill for a 2-4 minutes.

 (Keep your fire going on the ale and onion mixture even after you pull the sausages out.  This will continue to get the mixture to thicken and sweeter.)

You’re on your own after this.  I’m not going to presume how to tell a dude how to dress his hotdog bun.  But definitely put the sausage and onions on it. 

Let us know at The Florida Blogger how this turns out.  Also if you have any other Florida spirits and food pairings send that along as well.

Blogging is a love of mine.  I don’t get paid.  But there are times when great companies like Volusia Van and Storage approach me wanting to be a sponsor on The Florida Blogger.  It is times like these that I really like blogging, because their sponsorship allows me to do more in Florida.  So enjoy this post written by Volusia Van and Storage.  And give them some link love. (This was a paid for marketing post to keep TFB running strong. If you would like to promote your business or yourself on TFB, drop me a line and we’ll talk.)

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Please take a moment to visit our website to find out how we stand out among the many moving companies in Florida. Floridamoving.com

(This was a paid for marketing post to keep TFB running strong. If you would like to promote your business or yourself on TFB, drop me a line and we’ll talk.)

Last years yak scalloping trip.

Last year around July when the bay scalloping season opened in Florida, my wife and I took our yaks up to Steinhatchee to find those suckers.  We knew where to go because of a tip from PaddlingFan, who lives in Miami.  So, we went out there, found them, and saw that scalloping was actually able to be done in a yak.

What is scalloping??  Its basically Easter hunting for adults.  These shelled creatures lie on the bottom, amidst the seagrass, playing hide and seek.  Sounds fun, huh??

So, this year, we did it again minus the yaks.  (I’m getting old.)  And this year PaddlingFan and her husband were able to spend a few days with us on the Suwannee River, to boot.  We took our jon boat and PaddlingFan’s motor–long story–out of Steinhatchee.

We spent a good little while out there looking for these suckers.  They’re weren’t as plentiful as last year, but they were there.  We only came up with one gallon.  We heard from other scallopers that they weren’t that plentiful, so we didn’t feel too bad.  A tropical storm did blow through a few day prior to our arrival, so maybe we can blame the rain.  Who knows.

But here are some pics from our trip all of which were taken by PaddlingFan.  (Make sure you check out her awesome website.)

The Guts of It All. @PaddlingFan

Score!!!!! @PaddlingFan

Told you we didn’t catch much. @PaddlingFan

Can you see the blue eyes?? @PaddlingFan

Have any of you been scalloping this year?  Did you catch any?  Are you willing to share where you went?  Do share with TFB readers!!

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This past weekend some friends and I went out biking around downtown Tampa in what we like to call a Wobbly Wheeler (basically drinking a riding bicycles).  We went to the Hub, Sea Dog Cantina, Sail Pavilion, Hattricks, and finally ending up at The Fly Bar.

The Wobbly Wheeler Crew. Caddyshack Style

When our route stopped at Sea Dog Cantina, which is located near Channelside, right next to one of my favorite watering holes, the Pourhouse, it made my third time coming to this Mexican restaurant.  Every time I have come the food has been fabulous from the fish tacos to the burritos.  I have no complaints about the food at all!

However, without fail, every time I have eaten at Sea Dog the service has been shitty at best.  We always have to wait 10-15 min just to get someone to come to our table.  And then its a crap shoot if they ever come back.

This past weekend was no different.  About 10 of us walked in and found a table.  Not a server to be seen.  Some of us walked up to the bar.  Guess what.  No barkeep to be found.  Then we all sat down at our table and finally a server came to get our drink order.  Again we waited.  Nothing.  So finally we got up and walked out.  Funny  thing was that there was another big party standing at the door.  When they saw us walk out without even getting our drinks, they walked out to.  Bad service spreads quickly.

I’m not one to blog bully a restaurant into doing what’s right, but when nothing else works, this is my final recourse.  So, if someone from Sea Dog reads this and wants to correct what’s been done, I’m more than open to that.  And I will post the correction.  If not, well, this blog will stand as a caution light against people going there and expecting good service.

Have any of ya’ll been there?  Thoughts?  How was your service?

This past Thursday marked the kickoff (yes, that’s a pun because Ryan Nece, former player for the Buccos was in attendance) of Dine Tampa Bay’s Restaurant week.  I’ve been to events like this one only on a much larger scale (see Taste of the Nation.)  This restaurant event was held at A La Carte Pavilion on Rocky Point.  In addition to Ryan Nece being in attendance there were other Tampa personalities like Jeff Houck, Jack Harris, and John Thomas.

Dine Tampa Bay’s Restaurant week will be held from August 3-17 at oodles of restaurants scattered around Tampa.

Many of those restaurants were represented at this event Thursday.  Restaurants such as Roy’s, Terra Sur, Seasons 52, Charthouse, and Flemings all got in the action.  All of the food was good but some food out above the rest.  Here’s some of the pics that I got from Thursday:

The best food of the night was some ceviche from Terra Sur Cafe.  It was hands down delish!!  And it was gone so fast I didn’t even have time to take a picture.  Make sure you hit them up some time in Carrolwood.

Well, there you have it guys.  Did any of you attend this local event?  Thoughts?  What was your favorite restaurant?

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I’m beached for the summer

Up until a few months ago, I was on the water in my yak just about every other weekend.  I’d get up at my regular time, say about 7am, load the yak up, and hit the water about 8am.  That was when the night temperatures were low; and the fish would put on a regular bite until noon.

That was then.

Now, if I’m going to fish, I need to get up at 5am and hit the water by 6am, if I’m going to have any chance of catching any snook, trout, or reds.  You see the summer night temps here in Florida are about 75-80 degrees, which means the water temps are going to mimic them.  I remember the end of last summer the water temps were in the 90s around Pine Island.

I’ve always been a bigger fan of sunsets then sunrises, so, its tough getting me out of bed that early, especially since I have to rise early for work.  A boy does need at least one day to catch some zzzzzzzs.

There is fishing still to be had in Florida, just not much from a yak.  Hell, down in the Keys right now, they’re tearing up the dolphin.  Except, they are a few miles out on the reefs.  That’s not going to happen in a yak.  Sorry.

But I’m open to suggestions from all you yak fisherman and women.  What kind of yak fishing are ya’ll doing this summer in Florida while the sun is baking you??

A few months ago when my wife was involved in a car accident, she was med evacuated to Tampa General Hospital on Davis Island.  Davis Island was one of the first islands populated around Tampa.  There are two main islands in the Tampa area: Davis and Harbour Island.  I’ve talked with many Tampa natives who say that Davis island is old money, while Harbour Island is new money.

Digressing…While my wife was waiting for one of her many surgeries, me and my buddy walked from TGH to downtown Davis Island.  The word “downtown” might be a little grandiose, but there is a cluster of shops and restaurants.  When we spanned the lot of restaurants,and the one that stuck out was a British pub, Yeoman’s Road Pub.

You know its going to be a good place when right outside the front door is a classic English red phone booth.  When you walk into Yeomans, it is a little dark and dank like most classic pubs. (I’ve walked into some British/Irish pubs that look like Irish themed college dorm rooms.)  There are Guiness and Harp mirrors adorning the walls.  And I was pleasantly surprised to see a very nice beer selection on tap and in the bottle.  (Did I mention that I like good beer and don’t want to be relegated to Bud and Bud Light.)

My buddy is a sucker for fish and chips, while I like a good corned beef reuben.  So that’s what we got.  Both meals were solid.  Not fantastic.  I’ve had better of both.  And french fries weren’t included in the price of the sammich, which was a little disappointing.  The service was fantastic, even though they seemed a little short staffed.  And the prices were reasonable.

All in all, I would most definitely return.  Have any of you been there?  Thoughts?  Do share with with other The Florida Blogger readers.  So, if you’re looking for an island British pub experience head on over to Yeomans