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

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  

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." 

3 Sisters Cafe

6360 Guilford Ave
Indianapolis, IN 46220


So this is the last post before I start my Adult Spring break entries. PJB requested I start posting more often, so here goes. If you dont know, 3 Sisters is located right outside of the heart of

 Broad Ripple... 

Home of the Rockets. 

Stick up your hands and

Empty your pockets

My older brother was trying to get me to go to 3 Sisters for a while, he had been before, but the restaurant was getting some major pub after their feature on Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives (DDD). We went right before the church crowd hit on Sunday morning, so we were seated right away. Within 20 minutes, there was a wait out the door. Here is my quick take on DDD, I think Guy Fieri is kind of a d-bag. Okay, so he knows his food, I'll give him that. But his personality is a little too much for me. He is a decent chef, but a terrible host. I would watch Minute to Win It more frequently, but I just can't take his commentary. WJB did point out the fact that he stole my style in high school, where I flipped my sunglasses on the back of my head. Now, I know why I was made fun of for that... I do prefer him over Adam Richman (Man Vs Food). Now that guy is the epitome of a douche and I'm pretty sure his life expectancy is about 42. Keep up eating those 8 pound burritos bro! America can hear you getting fatter...

So let's talk food. I ordered the Thick Sliced Vanilla Cream French Toast. I haven't ordered French Toast in a while, so I went for it. I'd have to say I made a glorious choice. There were 5 hefty pieces of toast, enough for a grown man to get full. I don't know how they made the toast, but if I were to venture a guess, the toast was dipped in an egg and vanilla cream batter, then thrown on the griddle. They were savory and sweet and I always love the nice dusting of powdered sugar. My brother ordered the lemon blueberry corn cakes that were featured on DDD with blueberry compote.

The corn cakes were unlike anything I have ever eaten before. To me they tasted like something that you would eat on the prairie in the pioneer days. I think it is because I am under the impression that everyone back then ate some sort of corn meal based food. If you could imagine corn bread, with blueberries that is fried on a griddle. I'm not sure I would order them for myself, because I enjoyed the french toast so much, but I do recommend if you are in the market for something different and very filling. For dessert, we decided on the Blueberry Goat Cheese Pie, also featured on DDD. Blueberry Goat Cheese Pie you ask? Also unlike anything I have ever eaten before. If you ask anyone in my family, I love pie. Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday because of the pies. The crust on this pie was amazing. It was buttery and flaky and just worked well with filling. That is a breaking point for me, you have to have great crust. Graham cracker is a personal favorite. The filling was very creamy because of the goat cheese. The goat cheese was pretty mild in flavor and mixed well with the sweet and tart flavor of the blueberries. Overall it was not your typical dessert pie, it was more savory than sweet. The majority of the sweetness in the pie came from the whipped cream and caramel drizzle. I recommend this as well if you are feeling adventurous and if you have room after the generous entree.

Our service was wonderful. Our waitress was very friendly and knowledgeable about the menu. I highly recommend trying this place out. The quality of ingredients really stand out. Most of all, I love the atmosphere. It is unique in that it was an old house, transformed into a restaurant. It really feels like you are eating at home, minus all the strangers milling around. I take that back. At our house on the weekends, sometimes strangers ARE milling around in the morning. Holla!

"I have a great diet. You're allowed to EAt anything you want, but you must EAt it with naked fat people."

Squealers Barbeque

5515 W. 86th Street 
Indianapolis, Indiana
Squealers BBQ


EAting Indy is now tweeting live. Follow me @RealEAtingIndy! Since it takes me a while to keep this up to date, you can now see where I am eating live. I promise I will get better at this. I'm thinking when I get my iPad2, I will be updating more frequently. I promise, no more sandwich/burger places for a while. I have something new in the pipeline, and I still have not even gotten to Adult Spring Break yet. Right before I left for said Spring Break, I went to lunch at Squealer's. I had a craving for some BBQ, since I was somewhat disappointed with Dick's Bodacious BBQ. Also I mentioned the delicious fried biscuits and apple butter in my previous post, so I did not want to leave you hanging. Squealers has two locations, one on the Northwest Side and in Mooresville. I used to drive by the one in Mooresville on the way to Bloomington, and it always intrigued me. My dad had always heard good things about it, but for some reason we never went. I think it is because if we were stopping in Mooresville, it was going to be at Gray Brothers Cafeteria.  It wasn't until I started working back here in Indy, that I had the opportunity to eat at Squealers. 



Now I have only been here for lunch twice, but both times I have left full and satisfied. First lets start with the service. Our waiter was very friendly. He came quick with the drinks and offered his suggestions on what to order, even though we had all eaten there before. After my first dining experience, I knew to order the fried biscuits with apple butter. Delicious. They came out warm and there were enough for our table of four to enjoy. Now if you have never had a fried biscuit, it reminds me of an elephant ear at the state fair, but not as sweet. You get a nice crispy outside, but it is nice and fluffy on the inside. These just melt in your mouth. I read somewhere that fried biscuits and apple butter are a Southern Indiana specialty. Imagine that, something fried is an Indiana specialty, like fried butter or fried bacon at the Indiana State Fair.  For my entree, I got the Squealers Favorite which is pulled pork, with cole slaw with pickle, and onion on the side. You have the option of hot or sweet BBQ sauce, and I chose a mixture of both. I just love the combination of sweet and heat. There is enough sauce where it adds a lot of flavor to the sandwich, but it allows the smoky flavor of the pork to shine through. The pork itself is so tender, the way BBQ is supposed to be. If you can recall how I like my cole slaw, Squealers is spot on. It is creamy and adds a nice crunch to the sandwich. Since I got slaw on the sandwich, I went with BBQ beans. I think the best BBQ beans are from smoke house restaurants like Squealers because they always add bits of smoked meat in with the beans and their house BBQ sauce.


Overall, I will go back time and time again. Their food is very resonably priced, and the service has never been an issue. Last time I dined, our waiter gave us all an extra punch on the frequent diner card. Moreover, the food is delicious. I will go out on a limb and say this is my favorite place for BBQ in the City. But at the same time, it can't touch Smoque. I forgot to mention, last time I went to Smoque, The Ladies Man himself, Tim Meadows, was there. For the younger generation, Principal Duvall from Mean Girls. Shoutout to RFS, who loves Mean Girls...and none for Glen Coco. 


Edible, adj.:  Good to EAt, and wholesome to digest, as a worm to a toad, a toad to a snake, a snake to a pig, a pig to a man, and a man to a worm.  ~Ambrose Bierce 

Cheeseburger in Paradise

4670 Southport Crossings Drive
Indianapolis, IN 46237
Cheeseburger in Paradise

It was a cold and rainy day the weekend before I went on adult Spring Break. JBH and I headed down to the Edinburgh outlet mall so I could hopefully find a new swim suit and some deep V's to take with me to St. Pete. After about a couple hours of shopping, it was lunch time. The options were to go to the Max & Erma's in Edinburgh or I also suggested Cheeseburger in Paradise in Greenwood on the way back to Indy. We decided on Cheeseburger. Hindsight is 20/20 and we probably should have gone to Max & Erma's. I love that place, probably because it brings back memories of the one on Michigan Rd. with the sweet arcade. One of my fondest memories was when we went there after our Junior High musical and I'm pretty sure we may left without paying, but we were stupid 8th graders. And there were about 100 kids plus parents there, so I think someone must have footed the bill for us. *Kids, DON'T dine and dash, its pathetic. I will admit wholeheartedly that I am a Northsider through and through. No I'm not from the Golden Ghetto known as Carmel, but actually the Northside of Indy (I had to explain that on numerous occasions in college). My coworkers know I like to razz Carmel. Stemming from my days playing CYO sports, I have not liked the Southside at all. This dislike has grown throughout my life, especially this year going to Pacers games. At one point I tweeted during the Pacers-Heat game, "I want to thank all the Heat fans for making the trek up from South Beach, now please have a safe drive home to Greenwood." So yes, my Northside bias runs deep. Well I guess I view it more as Cubs vs White Sox hatred., we are both from the same city, but we just don't get along. Anyways, its time to review Cheeseburger in Paradise.

Once we were seated, I bet JBH $5 that nobody will help us for at least 15 minutes. I am proud to say I won that bet. No drink order, not even a server stopping by to say they will be with us in a second. No contact at all for over 15 minutes. To me, that is ridiculous. The restaurant wasn't even that busy. We had at least 4 different workers walk by, and not one person said anything. Should I have stopped one of them? Probably, but as I mentioned earlier, I do not like the Southside, so I am for any reason to grow my animosity towards them. When the waiter finally showed up, we ordered everything right away, as we had enough time to fumble through the menu. I did like how they had Fresca on the menu, so I ordered one. *I created a drink during Junior Spring Break of college called the EA Special. Gratuitous amounts of flavored Rum and Fresca. **Try it if you are over the age of 21. Drink responsibly! For food, I ordered the Beach Burger (Lettuce, Tomato, Red Onion, Dill Pickle, American Cheese) and JBH got the mini sliders. At one point, I thought the Beach Burger was actually called the Cheeseburger in Paradise, but I guess Mr. Buffet wasn't satisfied with his 4% royalty check for the naming of the restaurant, so they had to change the name (complete speculation). I substituted fries for Sweet Potato Chips. The food came out in a pretty decent time, which seemed only thing they did correctly. The patty is pretty thick and it is bigger than the bun, which is better than the alternative. I can't stand when I run out of patty and I am just left with bun. The sweet potato chips are a nice change of pace from fries. I think after 25 1/2 years, I am just bored with run of the mill fries. I just wasn't overly satisfied with my burger. I can name 10 different places in this city that have better burgers.  I think next time I go back, I will opt for the Mini Burgers. They remind me of White Castle, but with better quality meat. And am I in no way knocking White Castle. Someone once asked me, "If you could have one last meal, but you are drunk, what would it be?" Without thinking, I blurted out, "A crave case from White Castle. 15 burgers, 15 with cheese & onion petals." Please leave your answer to that question in the comments. I apologize for going off topic, but I thought I could make this blog more involved. Also, I got bored talking about an average meal from Greenwood.

Like Jay-Z, I'm on to the next one...

"Frogs have it easy, they can EAt what bugs them"

BBI Cafe & Sandwich Bar

4825 Oakbrook Dr. 

Indianapolis IN 46254

BBI Cafe

The Reuben sandwich as defined by the great source of information, Wikipedia, is “a hot sandwich of layered meat, sauerkraut, and Swiss cheese, with a dressing (Russian or 1000 Island), in between slices of grilled rye bread. In other words, one of the best sandwiches ever created. There are many stories as to where the sandwich first originated, but I will not bore you with those details. I mentioned in a previous post, one of my oldest and best friends, ABW.  One day we were talking and he mentioned how he bases how good a restaurant is on their Reuben sandwich. This had me thinking about how much I also love this sandwich and I decided to hop on board with ABW’s train of thought. Throughout this blog, I will go through a Top Ten of sorts on my favorite Reuben sandwiches and where they rank on the ever-evolving list. It’s amazing how many different variations of this sandwich there are.  All Reuben’s are compared to my personal favorite, the granddaddy of all Reuben’s, the Shapiro’s Reuben. More on that culinary masterpiece later. What I look for on a good Reuben is first and foremost, the quality of corned beef. This will make or break your sandwich, as this rule applies to all sandwiches. To a lesser degree, the bread is also a key to a good Reuben. I have had the rye sliced too thin or over toasted, which will also bring the sandwich down. My personal preference for is a New York style Reuben, with coleslaw instead of sauerkraut. Nothing against the traditional cabbage topping of the Reuben, I just prefer coleslaw. It is hard to go wrong with the other components, the Swiss cheese and Russian/Thousand Island Dressing.

 

Now you have heard the ins and outs of my thoughts on the Reuben, on to the review! The Reuben at BBI has the honor of being #7 on the Top Ten Reuben List. It has all the makings of a good Reuben, but not everyone can be the top dog. The corned beef is pretty good, it is sliced thin, and has a nice seasoning to it. The beef could be a little more tender and was a little on the dry side. The rye bread was a little soggy after it was toasted. I didn't see coleslaw on the menu, so I went with the default sauerkraut  option. There was a perfect amount of sauerkraut, as it added a nice crunch and tangy flavor to offset the sweetness of the 1000 island. The thing I look for when it comes to cheese on a sandwich is that it covers the whole sandwich, so there is cheese in every bite. BBI's Reuben nailed it with the cheese. After my below average sweet potato fries at Goose Island, I opted to try BBI's. I like how they were fresh cut, and they were perfectly seasoned. They had a sweet heat to them, spicy and sweet. The downside was they were a little soggy. AS got the Roast Beef Special: Roast beef, bacon,1000 Island dressing, Swiss & Colby cheeses grilled on sourdough.  He described it as, "Phenomenal". I might have to try it next time.   

As for the restaurant itself, it has a cozy feel. The staff there is very friendly. It is a family run restaurant, and you get that feeling there. Everything runs pretty smoothly and the food came out pretty quickly. I guess the downside is that BBI is only open for breakfast and lunch. I will definitely go back as the two times I have been there, I have left completely satisfied. 

“Part of the secret of success in life is to EAt what you like and let the food fight it out inside” -Mark Twain