The last couple of new restaurants we visited were really good, but our luck ran out when we went to the Lombardi Cafe today.

The place was empty for Sunday lunch.  Just one other table with a bunch of annoying children.  It’s an Italian restaurant with pasta dishes, pizza and sandwiches, but it’s sort of set up like a sports bar with a bunch of TV’s all tuned to sports channels.   Plus there was a DJ set up in one corner & a disco ball on the ceiling, so I’m not totally sure what the overall vibe of the place is supposed to be.

But, on to the food.  We started off with some calamari.

It had a decent crunch, but was a bit chewy and definitely underseasoned.  The sauce was really thin and watery.  The flavor was ok, but it just dripped off the calamari.  Loren got an Italian sub with potato salad.

It was huge.  Definitely enough for two meals and he liked it.  I, on the otherhand, ordered a Philly cheesesteak and ended up sending it back.

I’m not sure how to describe what it was that I didn’t like about the sub.  The first thing I did was just pick a piece of meat off and tasted it and immediately didn’t like the flavor.   I don’t know if it was herbs blended with it or what, but it just didn’t taste right to me.  I tried a couple more bites, but just couldn’t get past the odd flavor.  Loren tried it and didn’t seem to think there was anything wrong with it, but it wasn’t something I was going to eat.  I also didn’t like how crusty the bread was.  The waiter saw I wasn’t eating it and offered to bring me something else, so I went for a simple ham & cheese.

It was ok, nothing to write home about, but at least it was edible.  I wasn’t a fan of the bread they used here.  It was just too thick and hard to eat.  I also didn’t like the potato salad.  It was too sweet and very generic.  Definitely not homemade.

I also got a dessert to go since I figured it wasn’t likely we’d be coming back to eat again.

Believe it or not, there’s a cannoli in there somewhere.  Talk about overdoing it.  I’m of the mind that you should be able to eat a cannoli with your hands.  There was so much extra filling, whipped cream & chocolate sauce ladled on top of it that you had to eat it with a fork.   The overall flavor was ok, but it was way too messy.  Total bill with a drink was $32.

Lombardi Cafe
34210 US 19
Palm Harbor, FL
727-330-7594

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

We spent a rainy Friday lunch hour at Rumba Island in Oldsmar.  Let’s face it, I come here for the corn muffins.

I just can’t stop eating these things.  I got to figure out how I can make some at home that taste this yummy.  We ordered off the lunch menu and Loren got the salmon croquette and I went for the coconut shrimp.

I had actually been eyeing the croquette on the menu, but it’s a darn good thing I didn’t order it.  Man, it was spicy.  Actually, I couldn’t tell if it was the croquette or the sauce on top, but I took one little bite and my mouth was on fire.  I don’t normally order coconut shrimp because I don’t like the texture of it and these were no different.  Loved the flavor, but the coconut just doesn’t fry well.  I also found the rice to be undercooked and the garlic mashed potatoes were a bit on the thick side today, like they’d been sitting around for a while.

Unfortunately, I’m beginning to think I like the idea of this place more than I actually like the food.  So far, none of the entrees have really wow’d me.  Total bill with a drink was $19.

Rumba Island Bar & Grill
3687 Tampa Road
Oldsmar, FL
(813) 475-5974

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

Ummm… yeah… we ordered too much sushi again at Mike’s sushi.

I admit, it’s my fault.  Loren says stop, we’ve got enough, and I always want to try one more thing.  I have to get a Mexican roll and it just wouldn’t be right to not get a Rainbow roll….  And, they let you make your own roll, so the official Cathy roll is tuna, salmon, cucumber and avocado…   And Loren likes to have a spicy roll and a couple of pieces of salmon… And, I couldn’t pass up the Blue Moon roll – blue crab, avocado & mayo fried crispy… and the special scallop roll is so tasty…

Add a salad and a drink and the total bill was $57.  It’d be one thing if we actually brought some home as leftovers, but we managed to eat the entire boat of sushi…. and it was soooo good.

Mike’s Sushi
33855 Us-19 N
Palm Harbor, FL
(727) 410-3234

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

We drove into Tarpon Springs tonight and ended up at Chloe’s Family Restaurant for dinner.  There were quite a few people in the restaurant and we quickly found out why… the food was really good.

I started off with a Greek salad which came with my entree.

It had a nice, tangy dressing on it.  Then they brought out fresh bread.

This just oozed awesomeness.  Fresh and hot out of the oven covered in a buttery garlic sauce.  It was so soft and delicious.  I’d go back just for the bread.  Loren got the Greek Keftedakia which came with a salad and fries.

The salad didn’t have any lettuce and when we asked about it, our waitress said it was called a village salad.  Who knew?  But, she was nice enough to bring out a side dish of lettuce for us non-Greeks.  The meatballs were flavorful and there was enough for leftovers.  I ordered the Greek combo plate since I like to try out lots of things when we go to a new restaurant.

It came with pastitsio, moussaka, gyro, chicken and spinach pie.  I really liked the pastitsio.  Normally, that’s what I would have ordered and I’d have been happy with a big ol’ plate of it.  It was moist with just the right Greek flavors.  The moussaka was also really flavorful & tasty.  The spinach pie was also pretty good.  Flaky with a nice filling.   I tried both the gyro & chicken and ended up taking most of it home for leftovers.   The gyro was good, but the chicken was dry.

And then as a nice surprise at the end of the meal, the waitress brought out complimentary bowls of ice cream.

A perfect finish to an awesome dinner.  Everything was fresh and homemade.  Service was really good and everyone was very friendly.  Definitely putting on our list to try again.  We’ve been having some really good luck with restaurants in Tarpon Springs lately.   Total bill with a drink was $32.

Chloe’s Family Restaurant
1722 S. Pinellas Ave
Tarpon Springs, FL
727-943-2999

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

We don’t eat fast food often, in fact, I think Five Guys is the only fast food burger joint we’ve been to in quite a while.  I’m intrigued with the efficiency they have in running this place.  As soon as people walk in the door, they’re counting them off and dropping more burgers on the grill & fries in the oil.  A large party came in right before us today, so our burgers took a little longer, but they were definitely fresh.

Loren went for a bacon burger all the way and I got a little cheeseburger with grilled onions & mushrooms and we shared an order of fries.

Actually, I think we only ate about half an order of fries because they dump what would normally be considered a regular order anywhere else in the bag on top of the actual order.  Everything was hot, fresh & juicy, just the way it should be.  Total bill with a drink was $16.

Five Guys Burgers & Fries
11622 Countryway Blvd
Tampa, FL
(813) 855-2244

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value

We met a friend for lunch at Molly Goodheads today.  Started out with the alligator tail appetizer, half fried & half blackened.

It didn’t do much for me.  Yeah, I thought it tasted like chicken and the pieces were really small and crunchy.  Loren said the blackend seasoning was pretty strong today.  He thinks the last time he ordered it, he must have asked for lightly blackened.  For lunch, he decided on gumbo.

Nice big bowl of tomatoey goodness.  Definitely a different take than what we get at the Cajun Cafe, but still pretty good.  Our friend got a crab cake sandwich & I got the crab cake plate with garlic mashed & cole slaw.

They had two different crab cake dishes on the menu, this one and a Maryland crab cake.  I hope the other one is better because this one wasn’t very good.  Mostly filler and cooked a bit too long.  The coating was too crispy.   Usually, I love the mashed potatoes here,  but today’s were a bit too thick & had way more garlic than I like.  Overall, not the best meal I’ve had here.  Total bill with 2 drinks was $35.

Molly Goodheads
400 Orange Street
Ozona, FL
727-786-6255

Food
Service
Atmosphere
Value