MyTampaLife » Breakfast

Restaurant Review: Mom’s Place

Denis Baldwin — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 16:36:58 +0000

Man, do I love breakfast diners! Mom’s Place (4816 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33614-6510, (813) 875-2670) is one of two breakfast diners sharing a parking lot on Dale Mabry, right next to Pop N Sons. This cash only establishment is always packed, meaning you’ll always have to wait for a seat. The service is fast and they have plenty of short order cooks and waitresses on hand, but the sheer popularity of this diner continually draws people in. I knew I had to find out why.

Kara and I went there for breakfast on a Saturday morning, one of their busiest times. Luckily, we were able to get right in. We literally found the last open table that had just been bussed and sat down. Despite the hustle and bustle of people talking and eating all around us, this place has the kind of atmosphere that causes you to just breathe slower, talk a little lower and enjoy the moment. Some might refer to this as “grandma’s syndrome”, as you feel like a lazy Sunday at your grandma’s house.

The waitress came quickly to get our drink order and bring menus. She was your typical mid 50s diner gal, the kind of woman who’s been doing this for so long that she could do it in her sleep. She was so graceful in her movement, pouring coffee here while taking notes there, asking questions she asks dozens of times every hour. It’s this kind of diner automation that’s amazing to watch, and she pulled it off so well.

Kara ordered the Ham Steak and I ordered the Greek Omelette. My Greek Omelette had my favorite (and often neglected) ingredient, gyro meat. In so many places, a Greek Omelette is only feta and vegetables in eggs. It’s pathetic at best. At Mom’s Place, they take Greek to the next level. Gyro, feta, Tzatziki sauce, tomatoes, onions, peppers and potatoes fill the three egg omelette. It’s a hearty breakfast and one I could barely finish. It was flavorful throughout and the side of home fries were exactly as I like them, golden brown on one side and cooked just well enough to be firm but done. This was about as close to a perfect breakfast as I’ve had.

Kara’s breakfast was about as big of a portion of ham as you could ask for, served with two eggs and hashborowns. The ham but they gave was a large steak, probably 1/2″ thick and it filled a whole plate. After she ate all that she could and I ate all that I could from it, there were still scraps left in the plate. There was easily 2 pounds of ham in this serving. Kara commented that the eggs were done well and the hashbrowns were good as well. We left so full that she and I both waddled to the car.

Mom’s Place lives up to it’s name, being the kind of food and atmosphere many of us remember from being a kid at our grandmother’s place, watching her slave over the stove to prepare food just as full of calories and cholesterol as they were full of love. While this food isn’t something I would want to eat every day, it’s something I make a ritual of every Sunday morning, be it at Mom’s or another diner serving similar odes to traditional country breakfast.

Restaurant Review: Pach’s Restaurant

Denis Baldwin — Thu, 25 Jun 2009 18:18:00 +0000

It’s a well regarded fact that Pach’s Restaurant (2909 W Bay To Bay Blvd, Tampa, FL 33629, (813) 831-7122) is one of the best places for breakfast in Tampa Bay. Like all little diners, the menu is filled with things we all remember eating as children and a few twists on old favorites, like breakfast skillets. The sitting room is relatively small and condensed together, packing as many patrons in as possible while still giving a little walkway to the staff to bus food out and dishes back in.

I was amazed by how incredibly busy it was. Granted, it was a Sunday morning. Further granted, there were people lined up out the door talking about how good the food is. That’s always a good sign.

Despite being busy, we were seated quickly and our drinks came out within 5 minutes. Our waitress, a high energy fast talking pro if I’ve ever seen one, knew exactly when to come by, what do ask and what to recommend. She streamlined the whole process, making recommendations that we agreed with. Kara ordered the Ham and Cheese Skillet with pancakes and I ordered the Steak and Bacon Special Omelette with Hollandaise sauce.

While waiting, I took note of the exceptional portion sizes in everything they brought out. It was most certainly enough to fill anyone, and I don’t see how anyone could finish some of these dishes. While most diners give you a good amount of food, Pach’s steps up the ante with platter size portions on just about everything they serve.

When my dish arrived, I could smell the Hollandaise sauce before it even came to the table. When they say smothered, they mean it. A thick coat of Hollandaise sauce covered the quiche-like egg mixture with bits of bacon and steak sticking out all around. I forked off a fluffy piece of the mixture, dabbed it in the sauce and took my first bite. It was magical, like a two-nacorn. I know it sounds silly to compare a meal to a two-horned unicorn, but it was that good. The steak and bacon were both done exactly right, being just greasy and salty enough to get your attention but not overwhelming the rest of the dish. The hollandaise sauce gave a semi sweet coat to the eggs and onions and drew the dish together. Every bite I took was savored. This may very well be the best breakfast that I’ve ever had.

Kara’s dish was just as amazing looking and the few bites I stole were exceptional. The egg they use on these skillets is fluffy and light and there’s lots of it. They probably use 3 or 4 eggs in one of these. The egg sits on a pile of large chunks of griddled ham and potatoes. Everything about it seemed fresh and light all while having the oily overtone that makes a breakfast like this taste so wonderful. Kara, who is usually a picky eater and never finishes anything, goggled this up quickly.

The only disappointment I had in my meal was the biscuit and gravy that came with it. The gravy was flavorful and thick, just how I like it. Infact, if I didn’t already have Hollandaise sauce, I would have poured the gravy on my dish and really gluttoned it up. But the gravy was the only winner in this dish. The biscuit was hard, flavorless, dry and, even with the gravy, couldn’t be made into anything resembling food. After two bites, I gave up on the biscuit all together.

Once Kara blew through her skillet, she ate some of the pancakes (which she said were really good) and then realized she was too full to go on. Here’s how she left the pancakes, one untouched and one half eaten.

As we got up to waddle out to the car, we paid at the register (less than $20! for both of us to get stuffed!). I looked back at the cook doing what he does best. In all this chaos with 100 people coming in and out of this place, the staff kept their cool right out in the open.

I was so impressed by Pach’s that I’m going to make a regular ordeal of it. They have a crabmeat, broccoli and Morney sauce omelette that is calling my name next Sunday.

Restaurant Review: The Brunchery

Denis Baldwin — Mon, 20 Apr 2009 19:15:00 +0000

On Saturday morning, I ended up going to The Brunchery (15706 Dale Mabry Hwy. N., Tampa, FL 33618, 813-964-8143) a breakfast and brunch country-store-like restaurant in a strip mall in North Tampa. The inside reminded me of a less-busy version of Crackerbarrel, complete with various old style cooking instruments, license plates and wooden furnishings lining the wall.

Thanks to a Restaurant.com Coupon for $10 off from a $15 purchase, I decided to try two completely different things and bring home anything extra.

From the breakfast side, I had the cream cheese and crab crepes with home fries and a blueberry muffin. The crepes weren’t bad, but they’re hardly be what I’d call exceptional. The filling was definitively overpowered with cream cheese with the crab as a filler. They were soft and hot, but I’m officially spoiled by L’Olivier when it comes to crepes and thus these don’t quite compare. The homefries were good, not salty or oily. The muffin was probably the best part, warm and rich with blueberries.

From the lunch side, I decided to try the Brunchery Special Sandwich, a pile of meat, cheese and tomatoes in a bun. The bun itself was a little dry, but the contents were good. This is what I’d consider a “classic deli sandwich”, completed with potato salad that was standard and a nice dill pickle. Nothing about this screamed amazing either, but it was a nice quick and easy lunch that was a real bargain with the coupon.

I ended up eating about half of each and taking the rest home, where Kara ate them. She agreed that the food was good for the price. The waitstaff at Brunchery is attentive and quick with refills. I gladly left her a 40% tip, as she did a great job for the price tag.

Restaurant Review: Mama’s Kitchen

Denis Baldwin — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:27:00 +0000

While on my way to the AirFest air show at Mac Dill Airport on Saturday, I decided to swing in for a hearty breakfast at Mama’s Kitchen (5524 S Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33611, (813) 831-6400). A busy little place about a mile outside of the base, Mama’s serves up breakfast, lunch and dinner favorites in a packed diner environment.

Even with the crowd, service was pretty quick. My root beer was out on the table within 5 minutes. My breakfast was out in less than 10. As I looked around, I noticed that all of the tables were served equally quick and everyone seemed to be happy with their meals.

Since I knew I was going to be at the Airfest and a number of other activities all through the day, I decided to load up on comfort food early on so I’d be full of energy throughout the day. The obvious choices for me included the corn beef hash and the Greek Omelette. I actually ended up ordering more than I needed, as all of the portions were larger than I expected.

The Greek omelette was above average. The things I look for in a Greek omelette include a large quantity of feta cheese, crisp vegetables and a well done and thick consistency to the omelette. This one was spot-on. If I had to wave a magic wand, I’d have added gyro meat, but I forgot to even ask for it. The omelette was extra large in every way, filling a large platter and thus my belly.

I was really expecting the corned beef hash in place of the hashbrowns with my omelette and thus was surprised when they brought out a heaping pile of hashbrowns that I couldn’t finish. They were just the way I like them too, crispy and brown on one side with a cooked through bottom that wasn’t oily or burned. They also salted it just enough to where I didn’t need to add any. A splash of hot sauce and ketchup made them near perfect. To round off the plate, the rye toast was adequate, if not a little dry.

The corned beef hash was the star of the show, even though I ordered it as a side dish. Based on mass alone, it was probably the same size as the omelette. The hash was meaty and had that great corned beef smell that you can only get from fried corn beef hash. It was aromatic and hit the spot. When I got up from the table, I felt 10 pounds heavier because of the all the starch and carbs, but I knew I was good for the day.

Even leaving and going directly into the hot sun for the next several hours, the breakfast kept me feeling full and happy. The next time I’m down near the base, I’ll have to pop in for lunch and see how consistently good it is.

Restaurant Review: Gold Ring Cafe

Denis Baldwin — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 14:14:00 +0000

As far as greasy spoon breakfast spots go, so many of them blur together. A good greasy spoon is measured by value, quick service and moderately tasty food, though I would never call anything they serve healthy or even nutritious.

One of my favorite local in-and-out breakfast spots is the Gold Ring Cafe (2510 N Tampa St, Tampa, FL 33602, (813) 224-0986). Sitting at the corner of North Tampa Street and Columbus, this little diner is best known for it’s catering (as seen by their website), but as a cheap sandwich shop and breakfast eatery, it hits the spot.

When it comes to value in breakfast, you can’t go wrong with the Regular Breakfast. Two eggs, any way you want them. I take them scrambled because it makes for easier consumption while trying to get started in my day. A big chunk of ham, easily a quarter inch thick, is more than enough. Compliment this with a couple of hash browns and toast, all for under four bucks. For the truly hungry, they have a Big Breakfast that clocks in at more than twice the food and still under seven bucks. If Value is what you want, you’d be hard pressed to find more value in food that is palatable.

My main complaint is that this place doesn’t take credit cards. Who doesn’t take credit cards these days? I assume that’s a lot of the reason they can keep the prices down, as there’s no overhead going into Visa’s pocket every time someone buys a cup of coffee or a couple dollar sandwich.

My only other complaint is that I’ve never dined in, as the place doesn’t come off as comfortable. Hard, cramps seats. Dark greasy spoon atmosphere. Not my idea of a good time, but their food is decent and the price is low so get it to go and enjoy.