Lucky Dill in St. Petersburg, FL

I was in St. Pete a few weeks ago and was looking to find breakfast somewhere downtown. We were told by a police officer that the only place in the area that would be open on a Sunday morning serving some sort of breakfast was a Starbucks. That was a disappointing answer, but food is food, so we started walking in the direction of the Starbucks. On the very next block, we came across a restaurant that was very much open for breakfast called the Lucky Dill. Most likely a much better choice than Starbucks...

Lucky Dill was a NY Style deli during the day, serving typical deli-type foods like huge pastrami sandwiches. The breakfast menu included several different breakfast meals as well as omelets and sandwiches. I had a meal called the Manhattan Morning. This included two scrambled eggs, whole wheat toast, grits, and bacon for just under $5. The breakfast was simple yet good, and definitely much better than one of those pre-packaged breakfast wraps that are served at Starbucks!

 

Downtown Pizza/Off the Traxx in Melbourne, FL

Downtown Pizza is a restaurant in the historic section of Downtown Melbourne. This tiny shop doesn't exactly have an inside and pizza is ordered from a window on the street. The weird thing is, nobody knows what I'm talking about if I mention Downtown Pizza. Regardless of the signage outside and having their own storefront, people seem to refer to this place as Off the Traxx, which is the connected bar located next door. Perhaps if I went to Off the Traxx for drinks before pizza I'd be referring to this place this way too, but why do that when I'm coming for some really good pizza by the slice?

The slices from Downtown Pizza are good sized with a really thin, crispy crust. The sauce and cheese always seem to have a good ratio, and are overall cooked to perfection on my visits.

The white pizza is also really good, with no sauce and big pools of ricotta cheese.

This continues my trend of finding exceptional pizza in Melbourne. Still haven't figured out why this area of Florida seems to have a disproportionate amount of good, NY style pizzas as opposed to Orlando where pizza seems to be disappointing more often than not. Old Skool Pizza and now Downtown Pizza. I wonder what good pizza will be discussed on this blog next?

Brooklyn Boys Pizzeria in Boca Raton, FL

I went searching for a late night dinner upon arriving in Boca Raton on a recent evening. My initial idea of getting take-out Turkish food didn't go over well with the picky eater that I was bringing food back for, so Turkish food suddenly turned into pizza. I found myself at a restaurant called Brooklyn Boys Pizzeria and picked up a few slices to bring back. I love how most South Florida pizzerias serve good NY style pizza by the slice. It seems like just about every pizzeria you go into down there always has slices ready to go, and the slices always seem to have a really good turnover too.

Brooklyn Boys served some good pizza. Nice thin crust, good amount of cheese and sauce, and very tasty. The crust could have been a little crispier, but otherwise I have no complaints!

Athens N.Y. Style Diner in Mount Dora, FL

I always enjoy my visits to the Greek Diners up in New York and New Jersey. They seem to be a mostly regional thing and rarely are seen elsewhere. While the quality varies greatly from diner to diner, I seem to always end up at a Greek diner at least once whenever I'm up north.

While in Mount Dora one afternoon, I decided to try Athens N.Y. Style Diner to see how they compare to the Greek diners that I've eaten at actually located in New York.

Athens is located in a strip mall. No classic diner building here. The interior of Athens seemed very dated...

A basket of rolls was brought out first. They were okay, but where was the challah and assorted crackers that you get in Greek diners in New York? And how about the appetizer plate of celery, carrots, and radishes that you get from New York Greek diners at dinner time?

I ordered a Chicken Souvlaki Pita. Rather than getting the normal side of fries, I substituted a side Greek Salad. It consisted of lettuce, onions, cucumber, olives, and feta cheese.

My pita soon followed the salad. It was filled with chicken, lettuce, onions, and tzatziki. While there was nothing exactly wrong with the pita, it all tasted very bland. Even with the tzatziki drenching the interior of the pita, there really wasn't much of any flavor that stood out. Athens needs to put more seasoning on their chicken or maybe add more spice to the tzatziki...

I've had some pretty tasteless souvlaki pitas in true NY Greek diners, so maybe it was authentic. Overall, Athens NY Style Diner had pretty average food. Nothing worth going out of my way to return to...