I’m on vacation this week and we were heading to an 11:30am movie so decided to grab some brunch at Cracker Barrel.  I say brunch because Loren’s not much of a breakfast eater.  He got a chicken BLT and some soup, while I went for pancakes, eggs, and hashbrowns.

He said the sandwich was ok, not a lot of seasoning on it.  His soup went missing and he was half way finished with his meal before our waitress came back & we could tell her.

My over-easy eggs were perfect and they make a darn good pancake here, especially with the warmed up syrup.  I don’t know how anyone could get through a stack of pancakes with just one little bottle of their syrup though.  I barely manage it with two.   Total bill with a drink was $21.

Cracker Barrel
13833 West Hillsborough Avenue
Tampa, FL
813-855-4200

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

The last time we ate at Benedict’s in Dunedin was in 2010.  Where has the time gone?  Unfortunately, our experience today didn’t live up to what I remembered about the food here.

Loren got souvlaki and I went for some breakfast.

He said it was seasoned ok, but didn’t taste like it had been marinated and wasn’t very tender at all.  I ordered scrambled eggs with cheese, home fries, and pancakes.

It’s funny what you remember about a restaurant.  The last time we were here, I was so impressed with the way they made my eggs with cheese.  The eggs were cooked with the cheese, so they were ooey, gooey and yummy.  This time, not so much.  The cheese was sprinkled on top after the eggs were cooked, so the whole thing was just dry and rubbery.  The home fries were ok, but the pancakes were on the thin side, so not quite light and fluffy.   Total bill with a drink was $18.

Benedict’s Restaurant
2676 Bayshore Blvd
Dunedin, FL
727-736-1600

It’s funny what sticks with you about a restaurant.  The only thing I remembered about it was that they did a really great job

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Met my sister & niece in Orlando today & we ate breakfast at Keke’s Breakfast Cafe in Winter Park.  This place is always packed.  My sister ordered a Florida Belgium Waffle, which had strawberries, bananas and blueberries plus enough whipped cream to qualify it as a dessert.

She wolfed the entire thing down and was happy as could be about it.  My niece & I went the less sweet route.  She had a make your own veggie omelet and I went for a scrambler with spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and cheese.

It was all really good.  This has been our go-to place for breakfast when we meet up in Orlando.   Total bill was $35.

Keke’s Breakfast Cafe
345 West Fairbanks Ave
Winter Park, FL
407-629-1400

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

We were headed to the Fringe Festival in Orlando and stopped at Dixie Belles Cafe for breakfast.  It was a cute, clean little restaurant with friendly servers.  Loren got some scrambled eggs, bacon, ham steak & pancakes while I went for some over easy eggs, hashbrowns & a biscuit.

The ham actually came with my breakfast combo, but I didn’t think I really wanted any meat with my breakfast so I put it on Loren’s plate.  Then I tasted it and ended up eating half of it anyway.  The ham wasn’t overly salty or sweet, it was just tasty.  The pancakes were light & fluffy, so was the biscuit.  Eggs were cooked fine and the hashbrowns were crispy on the outside & soft in the middle.  Overall, just a pretty good and inexpensive breakfast.  Total bill was $14.50.

Dixie Belles Cafe
7125 S Orange Ave
Orlando, FL
(407) 812-7012

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

We were going to a movie this morning & decided to get breakfast beforehand, completely forgetting that it was Mother’s Day.  We went by three different restaurants with lines out the door before we finally got a table at Consciousness Blossoms.  They were pretty busy too, but at least we were able to get some breakfast and get to our movie on time.

Loren went for an omelette and pancakes & I got a breakfast croissant with home fries.

Fresh & tasty all around.  The eggs here are just so light & fluffy.  Loren enjoyed his veggie omelette and the pancakes had a nice texture and consistency as well.  They even came around and gave all the moms a sample of one of their smoothies and a chocolate covered cookie.  Total bill with some juice was $20.

Consciousness Blossoms
3390 Tampa Road
Palm Harbor, FL
727-789-1931

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Sometimes the simplest dishes can be the tastiest.  We went to Nana’s Restaurant in Tarpon Springs for brunch and Loren was just as happy as could be with his BLT sandwich and soup.

The sandwich just made him happy.  Crispy bacon, lightly toasted bread, mayo, crunchy lettuce and tomato.  So simple, yet so tasty.  Plus he really likes their black bean soup too.  I went for a Country Scramble.

This was one heavy dish.  Eggs, potatoes, cheese, sausage gravy, biscuit and it also came with bacon that I got on the side.  There was way too much of it for me to finish.  It was good, but one note texture-wise.  Total bill with a drink was $21.

Nana’s Restaurant
857 E Klosterman Rd
Tarpon Springs, FL
727-944-5788

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

We were headed to a matinee show at Ruth Eckerd Hall and figured we could get a quick to bite to eat at Athens Restaurant in Safety Harbor before the show.  Loren went for a Greek salad and I opted for breakfast.

He said his salad was ok (especially after adding my bacon) and I liked the French toast.  I asked for cheese in my eggs and would have liked for it to have been mixed in instead of just on top, but otherwise they were ok.  For $15, it was a quick, decent meal.

Athens Restaurant
226 Main St
Safety Harbor, FL
727-726-3471

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Met my sister in Winter Park today & we decided to go back to Keke’s for breakfast.  It was really busy.  We ended up waiting almost 30 minutes for a table for two.

She went for the raspberry stuffed French toast.

This is one sweet breakfast item and she was Mmm, Mmmm-ing the entire time.  I went a little more traditional with a combo of scrambled eggs, home fries, and French toast.

Mine was ok.  Nothing out of the ordinary.  The French toast could have used a little more flavor to it.  Maybe next time I’ll try it stuffed.  Total bill was $25 with two hot chocolates.

Keke’s Breakfast Cafe
345 West Fairbanks Ave
Winter Park, FL
407-629-1400

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Rodie’s Restaurant recently opened up on McMullen Booth, so we decided to give it a try.  Loren opted for lunch while I ordered for a breakfast skillet with pancakes.

The skillet I ordered had hashbrowns, ham, onions, mushrooms & cheese.  It was very bland and dry and the mushrooms were out of a can.  The pancakes were a bit on the heavy side.  They just weren’t light and fluffy, especially when you dug into the middle of them.

Loren got a chicken sandwich with chips.

He said it was ok, but not something he’d come back for.  There just wasn’t any down home goodness to the food, it was just extremely generic.  Our waitress was new as well and it showed.  One of those things that makes me twitch is after I’ve ordered something to have the waitress come back to the table to tell me what I ordered wasn’t included in the dish when it says so right on the menu.  Needless to say, the pancakes that came with my meal showed up a bit later than the rest.  Total bill was $17, but I’d probably hit up Cracker Barrel or Village Inn before we go back here again.

Rodie’s Restaurant
2471-7 N McMullen Booth
Clearwater, FL
727-647-5973

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Yes, I’m one of those geeks that had to go see the final Harry Potter movie on opening day.  Since we were going to the 1pm movie (and needed to be there an hour early), a late breakfast at Cracker Barrel seemed the way to go.

We both settled on pancakes, mine with scrambled eggs and hashbrown casserole and Loren got some bacon.

The pancakes were good.  We both ended up having to get more syrup though.  Loren really liked the bacon.  He said it was crispy and yummy.  The eggs were ok and the hashbrown casserole was pretty tasty.  With an OJ, the total bill was $20.

Cracker Barrel
13833 West Hillsborough Avenue
Tampa, FL
813-855-4200

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

We were driving up to Holiday this afternoon, so we stopped at the Americana 50′s Diner for lunch.  I always have high hopes when I walk into a diner that it’ll be like all the places Guy Fieri visits on Diner’s, Drive In’s and Dives.  Sadly, the food here didn’t live up to the expectations.

I went for breakfast and ordered the French Toast, two eggs over easy, and some homefries.

I really should have taken out my camera again because the French Toast was only toasted on one side.  It was weird.  It was like they flipped it over on the griddle and immediately put it on the plate.  Unfortunately, it also hadn’t been soaked very long in the egg custard as it was rather dry inside as well.  Once it was drenched in syrup, it was ok, but the overall execution of the dish should have been better. 

The eggs were cooked ok, but the home fries were too thinly cut, very dry and flavorless.  I guess when I envision home fries, I expect them to be mixed with onions at the very least and be at least salt & peppered. 

Loren went for a pastrami & corned beef club club with Manhattan clam chowder and fries.

The chowder was pretty good, but definitely needed salt.  He said the sandwich was very dry and also lacked flavor.  I think that’s the downside with some of these local diners; they try to create a menu that won’t offend any palette and end up serving very bland food.  If nothing else, at least the prices were reasonable.  Total bill with a drink was $17.

Americana 50′s Diner
1730 Us-19
Holiday, FL
(727) 942-7880

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

We ate lunch at the Chatterbox North Family Restaurant in Palm Harbor today.  They were pretty busy, but we got there right at the end of the lunch rush, so we didn’t have to wait long for a table.

Loren ordered a corned beef sandwich with a bowl of their vegetable soup.

The soup had some wonderful flavors.  It was the best part of the whole meal.  Loren said the corned beef wasn’t remarkable at all.  I ordered the country breakfast.

The problem was that I didn’t mean to order the country breakfast.  I totally managed to read the menu incorrectly because I wanted pancakes, eggs and homefries and got biscuits and gravy, homefries, eggs and sausage.  Our waitress was kind enough to fix my mistake and brought me out some pancakes.  The eggs and pancakes were good, the homefries, not so much.  They were a bit too crispy and lacked any seasoning whatsoever. 

I was craving fruit pie, but when the waitress mentioned Boston Cream Pie, I had to get that instead. 

It was ok, nothing special about it.  The whole meal cost us $17 with a drink.  The prices are definitely right here, but overall the food was pretty mediocre. 

Chatterbox North Family Restaurant
2710 Alt 19
Palm Harbor, FL
727-786-3736

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

After going to see “The Green Hornet” this morning at the movies, we went over to MecaFresh in Oldsmar for lunch.  It’s hard to beat the Restaurant.com coupons for a good value.  We must have just missed the lunch crowd because they weren’t very busy.

Loren ordered a combination of the ahi tuna salad and the “other soup”, Manhattan clam chowder.

The combos here are really a good deal, $8 for any combo of soup, salad or panini.  He had some beautiful pieces of ahi tuna on his salad.  He thought the chowder was watery and that there were too many potatoes in it, but I liked it.   Yes, believe it or not, I even went for the other soup today instead of the lobster bisque.

I like a lot of potatoes and veggies in my soup.  It didn’t have a lot of clam flavor and could have used a little more salt, but I still thought it was pretty tasty.   It had a deep herb flavor.  I also ordered one of their specials today, the broccoli, bacon and cheese fritatta.

The first couple of bites were good, but then I realized just how cold the rest of it was.  It was very disappointing.  The waitress took it back in the kitchen and warmed it up for me, but seriously, isn’t food temperature part of cooking 101?   Once it was warmed up, though, it did have a nice consistency, texture and flavor.  Lots of broccoli, a bit of herbs on top, and the bacon wasn’t overwhelming, but added a hint of smokiness.

After the $10 coupon and with a drink, the total bill was $13.

MecaFresh
3235 Tampa Road
Palm Harbor, FL
727-773-8839

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

The plan was to go to the Yummy Cafe on Drew Street, but when we drove by, it didn’t look open so we headed over to Lenny’s.  I thought maybe it wouldn’t be crowded at lunchtime, but I guess breakfast or lunch, it’s always mobbed in there.  Luckily, we only had to wait a few minutes for a table.

Surprisingly, though, once the large crowd at the table behind us left, it really wasn’t that noisy in there.  I started off with some hot chocolate since it was a little chilly in the restaurant and since I ordered breakfast, we also got the complimentary pastry basket.

The pastries are a mixed bag.  I had a raspberry cheese tart that was good, Loren had a piece of blueberry cake that was tasty, the others were just ok.  The danishes were a bit dry.

Loren got the turkey sandwich with a potato cake on the side.

The sandwich was huge!  They really pile on the meat.  The potato cake was pretty good too.  He ended up bringing half the sandwich home since it was so big.

I ordered the stuffed crab benedict with pancakes.

It sounded better than it was.  The crab cakes were small and the flavor did not mesh well with the eggs and hollandaise sauce.  They weren’t very crispy either, which would have definitely helped with the texture.  The poached eggs were cooked perfectly, but the english muffin needed to be toasted longer.  I didn’t like their hollandaise sauce either.  It had a tangy flavor to it, that just wasn’t quite right to my taste buds.  The pancakes were also a bit too dense.  They weren’t light and fluffy at all.  This is definitely a dish I won’t order again.

The service wasn’t great today either.  When I ordered my hot chocolate, I also asked for a glass of water that never came until I asked again.  After bringing out Loren’s sandwich, the waitress asked if he wanted some mayo, he said yes, and she never brought it.  Plus when she brought my plate, she tipped it and one of the eggs slid off the english muffin onto the plate.  Luckily, I didn’t end up wearing it.   Total bill was $22. 

Lenny’s Restaurant
21220 US Hwy 19 N
Clearwater, FL
727-799-0402

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Met my sister at Keke’s Breakfast Cafe in Winter Park today.  Since we live on opposite coasts of Florida, we usually meet in the middle to exchange gifts for the holidays. 

It was a very dreary, rainy day and when we saw hot chocolate on the menu, we had to have some.

Mmmm… that hit the spot.  Lots of whipped cream on top is always a good thing.  My sister ordered the blueberry stuffed french toast.

She said it was good, but definitely needed some syrup added.  I ordered a Scambler with tomatoes, spinach, and mushrooms.

It was pretty good.  The hashbrowns on the bottom were sliced red potatoes and it was covered in melted cheese.  Total bill was $25, which is a bit on the high side for breakfast.  This is definitely a popular place in Winter Park.  All of the staff was very friendly.

Keke’s Breakfast Cafe
345 West Fairbanks Ave
Winter Park, FL
407-629-1400

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

We usually only head to Village Inn when I’m craving French Silk Pie, but I had a hankerin’ for one of their skillet breakfasts today. 

I went for the California skillet which had eggs, potatoes, mushrooms, tomatoes, spinach, avacado, swiss cheese and hollandaise sauce.  It also came with bacon, but I left that off.  As if it wasn’t bad enough for me without it.  Ohyeah, and it came with pancakes too. 

It was ok, but kind of dry.  It probably could have used more hollandaise or even some cheese sauce.  Obviously, I wasn’t going for healthy this morning.  Their pancakes are always good though.

Loren got the Belgium waffle combo with scrambled eggs and bacon.

Crisp fresh waffle and big enough that he only ate half of it.  He was trying to be healthier than me this morning.  We got out of there for less than $20.  Not the best breakfast we’ve had, but we definitely weren’t hungry afterward.

Village Inn
2871 Gulf To Bay Blvd
Clearwater, FL
(727) 796-4988

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Loren and I headed over to Consciousness Blossoms in Palm Harbor for lunch today.  It’s a small vegetarian restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch, so we figured we’d try something healthy for a change. 

I ordered a scrambled egg croissant with mozzarella cheese and it also came with potatoes.

Both the croissant and the eggs were incredibly soft and fluffy.  These have to be some of the tastiest eggs I’ve had in a while.  The potatoes were lightly seasoned and also very good.

Loren ordered a half sandwich and soup combo.  He got the black bean soup and a grilled cheese.

The black bean soup had a wonderful flavor and was very fresh.  He would have preferred that both items came out at the same time though.  Gotta love dipping a grilled cheese into some warm soup.  He’s not a fan of cole slaw in general, but I thought it was good.  It had a very unique flavor to it. 

Total lunch was $15.  It’s a peaceful little restaurant with sayings from Indian philosopher Sri Chinmoy on the walls and on the tables.

Consciousness Blossoms
3390 Tampa Road
Palm Harbor, FL
727-789-1931

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Diner Sixty West opened up recently down on Gulf to Bay and for the month of October, they’re offering some half priced breakfasts, lunches, and dinners. 

Loren ordered the open face roast beef lunch that came with mashed potatoes and gravy.

He wasn’t too impressed with it.  He said the roast beef was lunchmeat more than a freshly cooked roast beef and the mashed potatoes tasted like instant or at least a mixture of instant potatoes and real potatoes.  The gravy also didn’t bring much flavor to the table.  But for under $4, it really was a lot of food.

I ordered the pancake platter which wasn’t part of the 1/2 price deals.

As far as breakfasts go, it was pretty good.  Both the pancakes and eggs were cooked well and the ham was tasty.  We also decided to try the strawberry shortcake.

We had some mixed feelings on this one.  It was definitely a made from scratch cake, but Loren said he thought it had an odd taste, which could have very well been buttermilk.  It wasn’t a very moist cake and could have definitely used something, either ice cream or the sweetened juice you get with frozen strawberries.  It was a big piece of cake and we ended up taking half of it home.

Total meal ran us $17. 

Diner Sixty West
2525 Gulf to Bay
Clearwater, FL
(727) 437-0255

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Since our breakfast outing last weekend didn’t quite satisfy, we headed over to Nicki’s Omelette & Grill on Hillsborough today.  There was quite the crowd in the restaurant, but it didn’t take long for them to clear a table and seat us. 

Loren’s not much of a breakfast person, so he ordered the California burger with fries.

Just take a look at the layers in that burger!  Burger, bacon, guacamole, sour cream, jack cheese, onions, lettuce, and tomato.  It was quite the yummy mouthful.  The fries were nice and crispy too. 

I wanted breakfast, but they didn’t really have a combo that had what I wanted, so I had to order everything separately.

Pancakes, hashbrowns, and scrambled eggs with cheese.  The pancakes were perfectly cooked and the hashbrowns were good.  When I order scrambled eggs with cheese, it’s rare that they come out the way I like.  I expect the cheese to be completely melted and gooey inside the eggs.  These were ok, but the cheese wasn’t cooked in quite enough.

Total meal cost us $17.  It was more than enough food for both of us.  The guy at the table next to us ordered the “Biscuit Debris”.  It looked like a heart attack waiting to happen. 

Nicki’s Omelette & Grill
6805 W Hillsborough Ave
Tampa, FL
(813) 888-9365

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Eggstyle Breakfast just opened up in Oldsmar in the space that used to be Winners and then Kuzina.  It looks like a good location for a breakfast place since there are several hotels right behind it.  Based on our experience today though, they may get the one time through crowd, but I know we won’t be repeat visitors.

The bar area when you first walk in has been turned into a juice bar and the interior has been repainted in bright colors.  The floor is no longer carpeted and I think that may have had a big influence on how loud it was in there today.  You could barely hear yourself think, and this was at breakfast. 

Loren ordered a western omelette which came with potatoes, toast, and cinnamon apples.

He said it was more like scrambled eggs with stuff in it than an omelette.  The cinnamon apples were really good though.   I ordered the two eggs and pancakes meal which also came with potatoes, toast, and cinnamon apples.

The cinnamon apples and the potatoes were the only things on the plate at the right temperature.  The eggs were lukewarm at best and I couldn’t even eat the pancakes because they were cold and spongy. 

Total breakfast was $18.  Most items on their menu seemed high priced for breakfast.  Service wasn’t very good either.  Our waitress never returned to our table to check on us until we were finished.  When she noticed my uneaten pancakes, she said “oh, it’s a lot of food” and I said, “no, the pancakes were cold”.  Then she just walked off and brought us our check.  This was also the first place I’ve seen the credit card machines brought to the table.  I get that it helps prevent people from stealing your credit card number, but I wasn’t too keen on her standing there waiting for us to put in the tip. 

So, if you’re looking for cinnamon apples, the ones here are pretty tasty, but if you want breakfast, I’d recommend heading down the street to Cracker Barrel.

Eggstyle Breakfast
3980 Tampa Road, #105
Oldsmar, FL
(813) 562-5278

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value