Thursday, June 16, 2011

Crabby Bill's - St.Petersburg, FL

5100 Gulf Boulevard 
St. Pete Beach, FL
Crabby Bills


Night 2 of SB2K11 found us at Crabby Bill's. I have heard from many past vacationers that Crabby Bill's was the place to go for seafood. JBH's family specifically recommended it, funny because she doesn't eat seafood. The restaurant is huge. The downstairs dining area is full of picnic tables. You may be eating with strangers, but that is the fun of SB. There was a wait before we got to eat dinner, so we made use of our time on the upstairs deck. They had a gorgeous view of the beach and the sunset, as you can see here. The one problem I did have was our waiter was kind of an idiot. I think he messed up everybody's checks. In a way that is our problem, seeing we had 9 people dining, so a little more room to mess up, but he was double charging cards, mixing up orders, etc. Other than that it was a pretty nice dining experience. 





I tend to stay away from the fried dishes, but for this meal I decided not to. From a taste standpoint, fried anything usually tastes the same, often masking the true flavor of a dish. We decided to order a couple appetizers for the table. I chose hush puppies and fried pickles. The hush puppies were served with a side of honey. I had never seen that before, it was a nice touch. The honey provided a good mix of sweet with the salty corn based hush puppies. I think I have mentioned before that sweet and salty is one of my favorite combinations, like Smash and Bang (semi NSFW).  The good thing about the appetizers was that there was plenty to share. I'll admit I am a sucker for fried pickles. Now I'm not on the same level as Snooki when it comes to an affinity for pickles, but I do enjoy a good pickle every now and then (that's what she said). I would rate Crabby Bill's pickles as average. They were not seasoned and alone tasted pretty bland. The dipping sauce you see was ranch dressing. My favorite fried pickle dipping sauce is the one you get at Scotty's Brewhouse because it is a horseradish sauce. Don't get me wrong, I love ranch as much as the next guy, but sometimes its better to step out of the ordinary My bigger issue with the pickles was that they were very thinly slicked. It was more breading than pickle. At least at Scotty's, you get a thicker cut of pickle. Now for my entree. I have a complex, where I tend to order meals based on what the restaurant is named. A coworker who once said, "Ever been to The Beef House? They have amazing rolls." Granted they do have amazing rolls, BUT its not called the Roll House. You don't go to St. Elmo's for their onion rings. So i went with the soft shell crab. I would have ordered the crab legs, but I was to tired to work for my meal. With soft shell blue crab, you just eat the whole thing. As you can see, I did order some veggies to attempt to off set my trip to the fryer. As long as you are not freaked out by sticking an entire crab shell in your mouth, it has the same flavor as a regular crab.  I will be honest, its not for everybody. There were times when I had no idea what part of the crab I was eating, and to some that is kind of scary. I wasn't mad at the decision I made, but next time around I will opt for another menu item. The girls ordered a steamed seafood combo platter that looked delicious. For the record, I am allergic to shellfish (only mussels and clams), but I can do shrimp, lobster, and crab. Overall I was satisfied with the meal, and I would go back. It was a fun restaurant that had something for everyone on the menu, minus PJB, who got a salad. 

"It's okay to EAt fish because they don't have any feelings." - Kurt Cobain

Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The Sloppy Pelican - St. Petersburg, FL

677 75th Ave
Saint Petersburg Beach FL, 33706

The Sloppy Pelican

Adult Spring Break: Where the beer flows like wine. Where beautiful women instinctively flock like the salmon of Capistrano. I'm talking about a little place called St. Petersburg. 


It has been a long time since Adult Spring Break, so I will do my best to recap the places we ate. Our first night there, we ate at the Sloppy Pelican.  It was a pretty busy night as they had all you can eat snow crab night, so we had to wait a bit for a free table. So to pass the time, we consumed a fair amount of $14 beer towers. Needless to say, we were feeling pretty good by the time we were seated to actually eat. Now there were about 12-14 of us dining, but my table consisting of KM, PJB, and KSLY, had the most fun. Probably because we were in our own little world and nobody was really paying attention to the hilarity that was going on:
ME: "KSLY, what are you having?"
KSLY: "Whatever you are having."
ME: "Fish tacos"
KSLY: "Gross."


PJB ordered probably the biggest plate of nachos I have seen in a while. I mean they could have been shared with the table. He was overjoyed in his choice. They had chili, cheese, onion, lettuce, tomato, jalepenos, and sour cream. I helped him eat them and they were delicious. Now at this point in our evening, anything would taste good, but I do remember everybody enjoying the meal. At one point during the meal, I looked over to see PJB just housing the nachos, and about every 5 minutes he would offer the table to try some. I love seafood, so with almost every meal during spring break I ordered some type treat from the ocean. This night I chose fish tacos, and I decided to go with the Mahi. They were amazing. They were served with cole slaw, just how I like it, rice and a crock of seasoned black beans. It was the perfect amount of food. The mahi was cooked perfectly, it has a nice char from the grill. They had a decent kick to them as well. All the dressings they had there are made in house. I had one of KM's wings (fried extra crispy, great call), and dipped it in their house ranch...delicious! 


The night died down, and the girls we were with went home to get a nice night of sleep before a long day of laying out. PJB, WJB, and I stayed out and had another beer tower or two. We ran into a group of girls who were also on SB from IUPUI. Here's the problem with them: A. They were super young and 2. They refused to drink beer. In my opinion, its kind of a turn off when you meet a girl that refuses to drink beer. Unless they have some allergy, at the end of the day, its just kind of lame. "Beer makes me fat." Oh and that frozen fruity calorie bomb you are consuming, will help you look like Kate Upton? Try again sweetheart. Bigger problem... dudes that refuse to drink beer. I had a roommate in college that hated it. Yeah we were drinking Keystone Light or Busch Light on the reg, so not the best brew around, but it did the trick on the cheap. Have yourself another Chocolate-tini DJBG.  Stay thirsty my friend. The problem we incurred at the end of the night, was we didn't know the name of the bar we were in. The Drunken Alligator? The Sassy Manatee? All we knew was that it was an adjective and an animal. Free Beach Rides really enjoyed the phone call they received when 3 dudes needed to be picked up at the Slutty Dolphin. It was a great night had by all to say the least. 


"Fishes live in the sea, as men do a-land; the great ones EAt up the little ones." William Shakespeare  

Thursday, June 9, 2011

Chow Down Midtown

http://www.chowdownmidtown.com/

Just a quick post to remind you that Chow Down Midtown started on Monday and runs through June 16 (so you have a week to get out there). Sorry for the delay again. This will be the LAST time I apologize for the last of writing. I never knew how much of an undertaking writing a blog can be. I will take someone to dinner if they can figure out a way to keep me focused on posting regularly. Honestly, I blame the weather, as I will not sit inside if it is nice out. Yeah, it has been unbearably hot recently, but still it beats the snow and ice we had to deal with 4 months ago.

As for Chow Down Midtown. It is similar to Devour Downtown in that restaurants in the Broad Ripple/Tarkington Area/SoBro neighborhoods are offering prixe fixe menus. There are some great deals out there, but I can't say I am as impressed with the offerings as I am when Devour rolls around. The restaurants that stick out the most to me are Recess, Mama Corolla's, and Illinois St. Food Emporium. I've always wanted to go to Recess, because I love Chef Hardesty's concept. "I will cook whatever I want, and you eat it. If you don't like my menu, tough cookies! I'm sure there is a McDonalds nearby to make you happy." I can only imagine that was the thought running through his head when he opened Recess. That concept seems to be paying off for him.  The menu changes frequently and I have heard nothing but good things about that restaurant. So why haven't I eaten there? Well I just haven't been able to justify spending $40-$60 on myself for dinner. With the Chow Down Midtown menu, it is only $30 for three courses there. A very good deal if you ask me. I like the Mama Corolla's menu and Illinois St. because they are 2 meals for $30. Many of the other bar/grills are offering 2 for $30, but the menus just do not blow me away. If any of you go to these restaurants, let me know where you went and the how your experience was.

"Sleep 'til you're hungry, EAt 'til you're sleepy."