So... Tampa, FL

[chronovore]

I'm on vaykay. What's good to eat here in Tampa, FL?

Most of my life I've been on the west coast, so I don't even know what the chains are. Which ones are must-hit, and which are must-avoid?

I've checked to see if there are any In-N-Out Burgers here; there are not. :-( What's the local equivalent INCREDOBURGER?

Also pardon my ignorance of my own country, but if this is technically "the south" (I saw 6 varieties of grits at the supermarket last night!), am I going to find any decent Cajun food?

[Stoney Mason]

Tampa is the South although you have a lot of old people from up North who live down here now. It's not as "South" as Georgia or Alabama which hits Deliverance levels but it is recognizably the South.

Let me try to think of food. It's mostly the same shit though you find everywhere else.

[Stoney Mason]

Checkers is a burger joint that isn't everywhere. Some people really like it. I'm mixed on it.
Chick-Fila is awesome fast food. Especially their Chicken Sandwiches. 
Pollo Tropical is pretty good for fast food.
Buffalo Wings of all kinds are pretty popular in this town. http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/132520 Stay away from places like Hooters and generally you can get decent to good ones.
Mel's Hot Dogs is just a hotdog joint but its one of the most popular in town. Right near Busch Gardens.
There is Five Guys Burgers and Fries. I ate there once but it's been awhile. I seem to remember it being decent to good. http://www.fiveguys.com/



You mentioned Cajun food and I'm not a big cajun food guy so I'm probably not the best person to ask (actually my brother might be but he's busy at work) but I've heard Bahama Breeze is decent for a chain restaurant. There are probably better local places but I don't know of them.  http://www.bahamabreeze.com/
Columbia Café is a good little restaurant. Has latin food. http://www.columbiarestaurant.com/cafe.asp  http://www.columbiarestaurant.com/pdfs/Cafe_Menu_feb_09.pdf
Similarly you should try a Cuban Sandwich if you haven't already. Sort of a tampa thing although it exists in other places of course. Good place is Pipos http://www.pipos.com/
Shells Seafood Restaurant is a decent to good seafood place that isn't crazy expensive.
When it comes to ribs I like Kojak's House of Ribs
Bern's Steakhouse is a legit nice steakhouse if you are looking for something a bit more pricey.
Ruth's Chris Steak House is similar and is also similarly expensive.


I'll add some more to this post as they spring to mind.

[chronovore]

This is epically useful. Thanks!

[Stoney Mason]

This is epically useful. Thanks!

There are also sources like this.

http://www.urbanspoon.com/c/30/Tampa-Bay-restaurants.html

[Howard Alan Treesong]

or Yelp, of course:

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=&find_loc=Tampa%2C+FL#cflt=restaurants

[Bloodwake]

I have to disagree, Hooters originated in the Tampa Bay area, it may be worth a shot trying some wings there. When I was in Tampa last I enjoyed eating at the Hooters.

[Stoney Mason]

Bahama Breeze is owned by the same people who own Red Lobster and Olive Garden.  smh

Never tried it. Only heard about it from other people.


As far as Hooters Wings, I think they suck but a lot of people do seem to like them.

[Mupepe]

their wings aren't very good, but their buffalo chicken sandwich ain't half bad.

[Akala]

There are creole restaurants in a lot more places since katrina.

http://www.yelp.com/search?find_desc=&find_loc=Tampa%2C+FL#cflt=cajun

[lennedsay]

Are there Zaxby's in Tampa? I know they're in other parts of Florida, and from what I remember, it's a Chick-fil-A type place which means

[Stoney Mason]

Are there Zaxby's in Tampa? I know they're in other parts of Florida, and from what I remember, it's a Chick-fil-A type place which means

There are like 2 in Tampa. And yes Zaxby's is pretty darn good for a fast food chain. I forgot about them.

[lennedsay]

Fuck St. Louis, we're moving to Florida.

[Bloodwake]

You learn to appreciate Hooters a lot more when you live in a town where the only places you can buy buffalo wings are shitty local restaurants and Pizza Hut.

God, London needs a B-dubs.

[Stoney Mason]

You learn to appreciate Hooters a lot more when you live in a town where the only places you can buy buffalo wings are shitty local restaurants and Pizza Hut.

God, London needs a B-dubs.

I lived in California for a good number of years and I couldn't find any good wings to save my life. Certain foods are only best in certain regions.

[Bloodwake]

I love buffalo wings too One of my favorite foods.

[lennedsay]

Uhhh make your own? We make our own sauce and everything.

[Brehvolution]

Hot sauce and butter. That's all they use in Buffalo.

[Bloodwake]

Uhhh make your own? We make our own sauce and everything.

I suck a dick at cooking. However, maybe I should learn.

[Brehvolution]

A "Fry Daddy" and some vegetable oil is a wise investment.

[lennedsay]

Yes. I was going to post a pic of a fry daddy and the three ingredients for wings. So easy. And so

[chronovore]

So far I've hit Checkers and Columbia Cafe.

Checkers burgers were a notch above Carl's Jr. but not that stunning compared to In-N-Out; I guess I join Stoney in the "mixed" review club. It was painfully slow, and by odd coincidence there were some characters in chino shorts, knee-high white socks and oversized white tees hanging out. They claimed to be from South Central LA on a road trip, so I mentioned that I'm from Gardena. Their details matched what I know, so I guess we both knew where the other was coming from. They were polite after that, but they were seriously having a hard time with the humidity.

Lunch at Columbia was a really nice surprise. I don't know if there is more than one, but we went to the St. Armand's Circle location. It looked like it was going to cost an arm and a leg, but the prices were actually more reasonable than most other locations on the circle. I had a combo of various meats, but the rice and beans were really what sold me. Really hearty and tasty.

I'll see how many others I can get to during the week. And will try to get more wings. In the meantime, if someone wants to post a good wings recipe, maybe I'll try making them when I get back to Japan...?

[Stoney Mason]

My brother has a place he goes to to get wings that I've always liked. I'll try to remember to ask him the name tomorrow.

[chronovore]

I'm soured on Yelp; the people using it are all too busy tripping over themselves to be clever. Or maybe I'm projecting. I'll scope it and Urbanspoon's kid-friendly listings though. Thanks, guyz!

My brother has a place he goes to to get wings that I've always liked. I'll try to remember to ask him the name tomorrow.

Fanks!

For anyone interested, here is my game-shopping esperiencia en EL TAMPA so far:

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After 30+ hours of travel from Osaka, we get within 10 miles of our final destination, and we decide to hit the SUPER WALMART for vittles for breakfast. Super Walmarts are apparently open 24 hours, which automatically makes them more convenient than 99.9% of the rest of Tampa's outlying suburbs, which roll up the sidewalks at sunset.

It's 01:00, so when I hit the Entertainment section, no-one is working. There is an old-model 360, fully RRoD'd on the show floor. Classy! They have the new form factor 250GB in a locked case. I'm ambivalent about dropping 300 bucks before I even put my bags away, so I hold off.

A fellow Borito PM'd me some game shopping advice, so I decide to hit up Play-N-Trade. There was one in Sarasota and one in Bradenton, so I plugged in the Sarasota one after Columbia Restaurant and visiting the Mote Aquarium. It turns out to be in the middle of NOWHERE. And they don't have the new model. They're sold out. "We've got the Splinter Cell Conviction bundle..." Hey, cool. If I'd asked for the older model with less than half the storage and no built-in /n wifi, you'd have solved a problem, buddy.

We go home and, determined not to make the same mistake again, I call the Bradenton shop. Three times. No one picks up. OK, I'm not going there. Ever.

My wife and I decide to head out for the dinner groceries and the nearest Gamestop. It's a lot further out than it looked on google maps. Still, they've got a poster of the new 360 and it has a sticker that says "IN STOCK NOW"... but when I ask for a new 360, greasy-emo-haircut-shithead-with-a-lisp says, "Oh, yeah -- Which one do you want? We've got two kinds. We've got the Arcade and the Elite."

Me: WTF. No, I want the new one. Like I said, the new one.

"Oh, we might be sold out of that."

Me: You have a big poster on your front door. It has a sticker that says "IN STOCK NOW."

"Oh, um, we might have just sold out of that."

Me, psychically: NO YOU FUCKTARD LISPY SHITHEAD, YOU ARE TRYING TO SELL ME YOUR OLD INVENTORY BECAUSE YOU THINK YOU ARE SMARTER THAN I AM. READY FOR THE NEWSFLASH, CLARK KENT? YOU ARE AS DUMB AS A BAG OF FUCKING PAINT.

"Yeah, we definitely just sold out of those. Sorry."

We drove back to Walmart, same place as Day Zero of this trip. 250GB model, purchased trouble-free from a polite guy who thanked me for giving him my business.

Play-N-Trade
GameStop
Walmart
Super Walmart
Superior Walmart inventory logistics developed by Braniac 5 to rule the future of Earth
 

[close]

[Stoney Mason]

I asked my brother and he said it was Gator's Dockside. http://www.gatorsdockside.com/

My brother brought over some grilled hot garlic wings from there a few times and I thought they were pretty tasty. Never actually been there myself though.

[bork]

Forget Checkers; Krystal has better (and smaller, like White Castle) burgers.  Steak And Shake too.  There's also Sonic Drive-In which to my knowledge is pretty much just like Checkers.  The most famous fast-food joint here in Georgia is The Varsity, but I don't think they have any restaurants outside the state.

[chronovore]

I've never even had white castle, so that doesn't really make a connection for me. I'll try them if I can find them though.

Update on crappy game shopping experiences: I decided to try out the other Play N Trade in Bradenton, maybe give them some shit about not picking up their phone yesterday. We drove out to the spot, and the shop was shuttered. Nothing on he shelves. Some other local guy rolled up outside about the same time as I did. He was as surprised as I was, so I'm guessing it was a recent thing. Which makes it all the more confusing why they had no forwarding mssg on their phone line.

At this point, I understand why everyone loves Walmart.

[Stoney Mason]

Forget Checkers; Krystal has better (and smaller, like White Castle) burgers.  Steak And Shake too.  There's also Sonic Drive-In which to my knowledge is pretty much just like Checkers.  The most famous fast-food joint here in Georgia is The Varsity, but I don't think they have any restaurants outside the state.

Not a fan of crystal. Went there one time and the burgers were ancient. Went to sonic one time. Thought it was average. Steak and Shake is pretty good and I would recommend them though.

Village Inn is the local version of Denny's and their food is mostly average although better than Denny's but their pies are pretty good. 

[bachikarn]

Gators Dockside wings are indeed very good. They have an all you can eat wing night on Mondays (at least the one in Gainesville did).

[chronovore]

 :'( :'( :'(

My one Monday in FL will be at Disneyworld. Then again, I don't need to consider the toilet damage incurred by all you can eat atomic wings.

[Stoney Mason]

I went to disney for the first time in years a few months ago. It was kind of more boring than I remember. I mean its great for kids but otherwise I think I prefer the other parks. Even Busch Gardens honestly. God damn it was hot the day we went.

[chronovore]

I went to disney for the first time in years a few months ago. It was kind of more boring than I remember. I mean its great for kids but otherwise I think I prefer the other parks. Even Busch Gardens honestly. God damn it was hot the day we went.

We're only going for the entertainment of the five kids we've brought on this trip.
(Note: not all children mentioned in this thread are mine.)

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(...as far as I know.)

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[chronovore]

Back from Walt Disney World. Holy crap, the place is huge. It dwarfs Anaheim Disneyland by an order of magnitude. No joke. There are freeways running through it. I had no idea.

Going to try for Tampa today, get some wings at Gators Dockside, and try to find a real game retailer instead of the busted-ass joke of a Gamestop at DeSoto Mall.

[Stoney Mason]

Back from Walt Disney World. Holy crap, the place is huge. It dwarfs Anaheim Disneyland by an order of magnitude. No joke. There are freeways running through it. I had no idea.

Going to try for Tampa today, get some wings at Gators Dockside, and try to find a real game retailer instead of the busted-ass joke of a Gamestop at DeSoto Mall.

Yeah I heard the one Cali can fit in the parking lot of the florida one although I'm not sure if that is just an urban myth.

[chronovore]

If you put all the parking lots together for WDW, you could put Disneyland in the middle and still have the world's largest moat. I was freaking out a little, that much space devoted to a freakin' theme park. Theme PARKS, but still. Two water-themed parks. Like one waterslide park isn't enough?

[lennedsay]

They used to have a third water park but I never hear them talk about it anymore. The water parks are huge. It's not like they skimped and had to make more.

Did you go to any of the resorts? They're all huge too! "Oh you're in building 13 past the 5th pool." And they have well over a dozen resorts!

Isn't WDW property 40 sq miles? That's the size of some counties. I've been there 5 times and still can't wrap my brain around that.

[Cormacaroni]

If you put all the parking lots together for WDW, you could put Disneyland in the middle and still have the world's largest moat. I was freaking out a little, that much space devoted to a freakin' theme park. Theme PARKS, but still. Two water-themed parks. Like one waterslide park isn't enough?

Come to Tokyo next time, homes. We will treat you right. We're going to TDL next month I think, probably staying overnight. Let's all go so the Dads can slack off with beers and xbox while your kids take care of mine.

[ferrarimanf355]

There's a girl I used to know in high school that's living in the Tampa area. I wish I could talk to her again.

[demi]

Woo her with Bejeweled 2.

[ferrarimanf355]

You have Hanna Montana: The Movie on your gamercard with all the achievements unlocked.

[demi]

la carreta~

[Cormacaroni]

There's a girl I used to know in high school that's living in the Tampa area. I wish I could talk to her again.

[Stoney Mason]

Haha I missed this thread.

I used to live in Orlando but I recently moved to the Tampa Bay area. Stoney do you live in Tampa? You're know the place well!

Also I'm ashamed on behalf of Stoney for not mentioning Five Guys or Square One Burgers. Those two are the unquestionable kings of Tampa burgers.

I mentioned 5 guys in that one biggish post. Never had Square one burgers.

[Stoney Mason]

Los Cocos
Versailles
La Carretta (original location)

Outside of Cuba it's IMPOSSIBLE to get better Cuban food than those places.

I mentioned 5 guys in that one biggish post. Never had Square one burgers.

Ah damn, I missed that. Sorry dude!

I'll have to try the Cuban places. Sounds good. I grew up in Tampa. Lived in Calif for a number of years. And then moved back to Tampa a few years ago.

[demi]

You chose poorly. Get out while you can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Stoney Mason]

You chose poorly. Get out while you can!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Florida sucks. Tampa sucks (culturally). But then I think most states suck. I love Cali. I often think of moving back I loved it so much. But as I get older I appreciate having family near. Kind of wussy but that's the way I am.

[demi]

It's shaped like a penis!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[ferrarimanf355]

There's a girl I used to know in high school that's living in the Tampa area. I wish I could talk to her again.

(Image removed from quote.)
(Image removed from quote.)

I would if I knew her phone number. 

[Stoney Mason]

Oddly enough I've only been to Miami like once or twice in my life and that was when I was younger. I really should visit there in the future. I don't know that part of the state at all. I know the northern part of FLA and I don't like it. The closer you get to the panhandle or Georgia, the more it feels like Alabama or Georgia which is a negative for me.

[demi]

there's a reason for that...

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[demi]

Stony are you in Tampa area? When I visit I will meet up an tickle your butthole.

[Stoney Mason]

Fitting since Tampa is the anus of Florida!

kidding. Tampa is alright. It's just boring and full of old people.

[chronovore]

Lennedsay, yeah, I can imagine that. It is huge. Apparently when Walt started buying property he had to do it in secret because with that much land he could do "whatever he wanted" and it made the government  nervous.

Slime, no insult intended, but I'm currently inclined to agree with the current wisdom of "Tampa sucks." The shopping, driving, storms, and wasp population have been crazy. On the other hand, the skies have been some of the most beautiful that I have ever seen.

Five Guys has cropped up, but not the other one. Johnny Rockets  is out here too, I see. Haven't even seen a Square One yet.

Any recommended dishes at the Ana Maria Oyster Bar?

[Cormacaroni]

Try the oysters.

[chronovore]

Try the oysters.

[chronovore]

Thanks. I agree that Tokyo sucks, but I'm especially happy that you had fun while you were out in my neck of the woods. Er, bamboo. Er... dirty buildings and tasty restaurants.

We all visited downtown Tampa yesterday. Holy shit, was that some rain we got or what? It has been insane. That was some of the worst rain I've been in while driving.

The wife and I wanted to take our kids to one of those arcades which awards redeemable tickets. I looked online and found a place called Tilt which had those tickets. We drove over an hour through storming rain to get to it. If Tilt had been the only attraction it would have been EPIC FAIL. It turned out to be a total hole. Most of the cabinets were 10 years old, and about 1/3 of them were powered off, another 1/3 had some serious defect in the monitors -- all red, all green, flashing or dark. I was really happy that the mall turned out to be nice, because Tilt was the reason I chose the location.

Thankfully craphole arcade was in the Westfield Mall on Citrus City something-something, and we were able to get our shop on. The Gamestop there was actually pretty great. There was a good natured woman running the store, training up a new guy. They knew what they had in stock, and everything was actually organized. Come to think of it, that beats half the California GS shops I've been to. However they didn't have as much stuff overall.

[chronovore]

Gotta say that it has been a mess of fun dealing with you guys while in something closer to the same time zone.

We are packing and getting ready for a last evening out with my host's neighbors: retired couples who know how to drink! Then we come home and finish packing up our hoard of goods and prezzies for the relatives who couldn't make it out with us.

After tomorrow morning, it'll be back to afternoons of very few EB updates. And work.