City Dog Cantina in Tampa, FL

Had dinner at a restaurant in Tampa called City Dog Cantina. They seemed to be mostly bar, but they had a decent menu including all day breakfast. I ordered the French toast.

This meal came with two thick slices of French toast, topped with powdered sugar. Two slices of bacon were served on the side. Everything on the plate was as expected. Nothing was exceptional or creative, but it was a good serving of French toast for dinner.

Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa, FL

A few months ago I was asked by a group of people visiting Florida where they can eat alligator ribs. I didn't have an answer for them. All I ever see on menus is gator tail, but no other part of the alligator. They said they saw alligator ribs on a food show, and some Googling brought me to this clip from Man Vs Food visiting Skipper's Smokehouse in Tampa:



A few months later, I found myself in Tampa a few miles away from Skipper's Smokehouse at lunchtime. The restaurant looks very haphazard from the outside, with all sorts of random buildings all put together to make up a compound that includes the restaurant, bar, and concert venue.

I already knew what I was ordering. The alligator ribs came with two sides (I had beans & rice and steamed vegetables) and hush puppies. The ribs had a tasty barbecue sauce on them. In terms of consistency and taste, I'm not sure if I would have known they were alligator on a blind taste test. With the sauce and smoked meat flavor, they tasted like pork ribs to me. The consistency was a little tougher, almost like pork ribs that weren't smoked for long enough. The bones in the ribs gave away that I was eating a different animal, appearing much skinnier than a typical rib.

I can now cross reptile ribs off of my food list. These alligator ribs are probably the closest I've tried to a Florida style BBQ, because you can't get much more Florida than alligator. They were good, but if I returned to Skipper's Smokehouse, I think I'd try some smoked fish next time. I'm a big fan of smoked fish and their smoked mullet was calling out to me as I was reading the menu!

Just Smokin' BBQ Food Truck in Tampa, FL

I was over in Downtown Tampa for an event a few weeks ago and found some food trucks parked outside. I decided to have lunch from a truck called Just Smokin' BBQ. Looks like they specialize in Memphis style barbeque.

I had the BBQ Nachos. This was pulled pork with nacho cheese, BBQ sauce, and jalapenos served over tortilla chips. They normally do sweet barbecue sauce on the nachos. I saw they had mustard based sauce which I like better, so I had them switch it out. The nachos were pretty tasty overall. They weren't the most creative version of nachos I've ever had, but they did the trick. I'd probably have this again.

Busch Gardens Food & Wine Festival

I ventured out to Busch Gardens to check out their Food & Wine Festival. This was my first time going to the park during this event, so I really didn't know what to expect. They had 26 booths set up in the back section of the park, mostly under the ruins of Gwazi. You could have bought everything individually, but I went with the package where you got a punch card to try multiple food options.

The first thing I tried was the Venison Chili from the booth called Southern Station. The Food & Wine booklet described this as Venison Chili featuring roasted corn, black beans, and lime sour cream. Pretty tasty, although it was hard to taste the ground venison once in chili form.

Up next was the Potato and Goat Cheese Tart from the Light Fare Canteen booth. This one sounded good, but the goat cheese flavor wasn't prevalent enough.

Duck Tacos came from the Chef's Plantation booth. I think this might have been my favorites of the food I tried. The shredded duck was nice and tender, served in tortillas with cabbage and duck sauce.

I tried the Smoked Beef Brisket from the Gourmet Lodge Booth. It was served with Potatoes Au Gratin. The brisket seemed to be the same meat that is served elsewhere in the park at Zambia Smokehouse. I'm a fan of the brisket at Busch Gardens, so that's a good thing. Potatoes au gratin were disappointing though. Very bland tasting.

Lamb Chop topped with Tzatziki served with tabouleh came from the Field House Eatery Booth. Two pieces of on-bone lamb were placed over the tabouleh. The lamb was a little chewy, but had nice flavor.

Finally, I ended with the Pan-Seared Creole Shrimp with white corn artisan grits from the Artisan Eats booth. The two large shrimp were topped with some sort of salsa and greens. Can't go wrong with shrimp and grits.

Overall, I had fun at the Food & Wine Festival. They did more for the event than I expected with lots of new topiaries and extra entertainment. More importantly, they did a good job with most of the food. If only they would bring more of this food into the park's restaurants for the rest of the year, many of which could use some work...

Zambia Smokehouse at Busch Gardens

We're going to talk theme park food today. I ate lunch at Zambia Smokehouse during a recent visit to Busch Gardens. This restaurant is located under the Sheikra roller coaster, which could be a good or bad thing whether or not you enjoy the roar of a coaster train every minute or so. Historically, I've thought the Sea World owned parks have had the weakest food of the three big theme park companies in Central Florida, but that seems to be changing with some of more recent food experiences with their parks (some, not all). Because of this, I was a little worried if Zambia Smokehouse would live up to Busch Gardens' reputation of nasty food, or if it would be passable...

I ordered the Brisket Platter. This came with three large slices of brisket, French fries, and a roll. In terms of the sides, the fries were what was expected and the roll was disappointing. It was flavorless mushy white bread and left me with no desire to finish the thing. The brisket was actually very tasty. It was nice and lean, unlike some brisket I've had with turns out to be half fat. It had a nice smokey taste and was coated with a rub which provided an extra burst of flavor around the edges of the meat.

While the sides at Zambia Smokehouse could have used some work, the brisket here was good. For a theme park where I've had horrible meals in the past, me liking the brisket was a win for Busch Gardens. Comparing that to the past few quick service meals I've had at Magic Kingdom which have ranged from bad to inedible, I think it's time for Disney to step up their food game again when I'm liking Busch Gardens' food better...

Urban Cantina Mexican Restaurant in Tampa, FL

On a recent rainy evening, I stopped for dinner in Downtown Tampa at a Mexican restaurant called Urban Cantina. My initial destination was going to be a nearby Taco Bus location to give them a second try. After walking by and seeing that restaurant deserted with all the employees outside smoking, we decided to give Urban Cantina a try instead.

Chips and salsa was served first. The chips were interesting. They were probably double the thickness of a typical tortilla chip. They reminded me more of a pita chip than a tortilla chip.

I had their Three Taco Combo. I tried the Carne Asada taco, the Tinga taco, and the Al Pastor taco. The carne asada was filled with steak, onions, cilantro, queso fresco and avocado. The tinga was served on a hard taco shell, filled with chipotle marinated chicken, onions, lettuce, pico, and queso. This was my least favorite of the three tacos. The chicken lacked flavor and toppings combined with the hard shell reminded me of something Taco Bell would serve. My personal favorite of the three tacos was the Al Pastor. This soft tortilla was filled with marinated pork, pineapple, cilantro, onions, and cheese. The sweet pineapple provided a nice balance between the savory pork and the salty cheese. Refried beans and rice were served alongside the tacos.

Overall, I liked my tacos. The food was good. My one complaint about Urban Cantina is the TV placement in the restaurant. They had televisions placed around the dining room, like many restaurants do (although I'm not a big fan of this). The problem in this restaurant was that the TV that I was facing behind our table was so low that it was very hard to ignore. Seeing silent images of some sort of crime scene reconstruction show slightly above eye level for my entire meal was really distracting.

Crown Colony House at Busch Gardens Tampa

I was at Busch Gardens Tampa and ate lunch at a restaurant called Crown Colony House. This restaurant is located in the Egypt section of the park and overlooks the animals in the Edge of Africa section. The Crown Colony House is a cafeteria style fast food restaurant.

I noticed this sign while waiting in line for food. I found this a bit amusing. Busch Gardens is really trying their best to make deep fried food sound healthy. With ZERO grams of trans fat, low saturated fat, Omega 3 fatty acids, and a good source of monounsaturated fat, how could deep fried food be bad for you? Let's eat it every day!

Since the oil used in deep frying has all of those pros with apparently no cons, why not indulge? I had their combo with came with deep fried chicken tenders, deep fried french fries, and a slice of pepperoni pizza (not deep fried but not good for you regardless).

This was typical theme park food. The pizza was mass produced. The chicken was mediocre, as were the fries. At least I was getting lots of my Omega 3 fatty acids though! I always heard fish was a good source of Omega 3s. Why bother when you can get the same stuff from deep fried foods? Thanks for the education Busch Gardens!

Temple Terrace Pizza in Temple Terrace, FL

I was driving home from Tampa and decided it was time for dinner. We got off an exit and ended up driving way too far off I-4 before we found restaurants. Once we found a Winn-Dixie shopping center, it was decided that dinner would be had at Temple Terrace Pizza.

A large Hawaiian pizza was ordered. I never know what to expect from Hawaiian pizzas. Sometimes I like them, while sometimes the pineapple makes the entire pizza soggy which makes me not a fan. Temple Terrace Pizza made their Hawaiian properly. There wasn't pineapple juice all over the pizza. The ham was cooked until it was slightly crispy. The cheese/sauce/topping/crust ratio worked on this pie. Temple Terrace is too far from home for me to return to, but I'd go here again if it was closer...

Stefano Greek-Italian Restaurant in Temple Terrace, FL

After a long day of looking at animals and riding roller coasters at Busch Gardens, I stopped for dinner nearby at a place called Stefano Greek-Italian Restaurant in Temple Terrace. The menu seemed to be mostly Greek with only a small section of Italian foods.

My meal began with a salad and some pita bread. The salad consisted of iceberg lettuce, cucumber, tomato, onion, olives, and feta cheese. It was quite large for a side salad that accompanied my meal.

I had the Gyro Plate as my main course. This was an open face gyro sandwich served over a bed of yellow rice. There was lots of thinly sliced gyro meat on a pita, topped with tomato slices, onions, and some of the best tzatziki I can remember having in a long time. The gyro meat itself wasn't as flavorful as what I've had at other Greek restaurants, but the tzatziki made up for the difference. It was yogurt, cucumber, and lots and lots of big pieces of garlic. I probably stunk for the next two days from all the garlic, but I didn't care and finished every drop of the sauce because this tzatziki was delicious.

Like the salad, the portion size on the gyro plate was large. It was the first meal I've had in a while where I immediately knew there would be no possible way that I'd finish what was served when the food was brought to the table. I liked the food at Stefano. Prices were reasonable, portions were large, and the food was tasty. I'd go back.

Taco Bus in Tampa, FL

I've read a bit about the Taco Bus in Tampa. It's number four on Urbanspoon's list of Tampa's Best restaurants and I've heard people talk about going to visit the Taco Bus whenever in Tampa. From what I can gather, the Taco Bus started as a food truck and has grown into several permanent restaurants and trucks all around the Tampa area. Hearing so much about this Mexican food truck, I figured it was about time I give Taco Bus a try. I think I visited the original permanent Taco Bus location on Hillsborough Avenue in Tampa. It looked like they bought up several old buildings including what appeared to once be a restaurant as well as a motel. Not sure what they actually do with an old motel, but at the center of the complex was the Taco Bus itself. The white bus doesn't look like it's going anywhere any time soon, but still serves as the kitchen for the restaurant. 

I ordered tacos filled with something new to me. I chose cochinita pibil as my filling, which was described on the menu as shredded pork marinated in achiote and bitter orange, then wrapped in banana leaves and slow roasted in a smoker (based on a 5,000 year old Mayan recipe!). I went with their combination which came with the tacos, rice, and refried beans. The tacos were interesting. They came on corn tortillas with tomatoes, onions, cilantro, and lime topping the meat. I wasn't really sure what to expect with the pork, especially since I wasn't even entirely sure what achiote was when ordering (hurray for Wikipedia). Unfortunately, the pork wasn't as flavorful as I was hoping for and was actually sort of bland tasting. It was still nice and tender and the tacos got their flavor from everything else in them.

The food at Taco Bus was alright for what it was. I was expecting a bit more from the cochinita pibil, but in the end it tasted like pretty plain pork. That aside, the tacos were still pretty tasty. What was not alright about Taco Bus was the smell. When we walked up to the bus to order, the air was clear. Once we went to sit down on the outdoor patio though, we got a whiff of a nasty bathroom smell. We figured it must be something outside, so we tried the indoor seating area (closer to the bathrooms) and the smell was unbearable. Once returning outside, we sat as far away from the source of the stench as possible, but it was still there. We debated eating in the car, but settled on dealing with the smell and staying where we were. While there was nothing wrong with the food, I don't think I'd return to this Taco Bus because of the smell. It wasn't exactly an environment that was conducive to eating. The thing is, I have seen no other complaints about the smell written anywhere, whether it be food blogs or review sites. I really do hope I happened to unfortunately arrive at Taco Bus on a day with some bad air...

Spaghetti Warehouse in Ybor City, FL

While spending a recent afternoon in Ybor City, I had dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse. The huge restaurant was located in an old cigar rolling factory, but sadly we were one of the few occupied tables in the place.

The meal started out with a few loaves of bread.

A side salad with oil & vinegar came next.

I had the Seafood Mediterraneo for my main course. This consisted of spaghetti topped with shrimp and clams in a spicy cream sauce. The spaghetti tasted good but wasn't quite what I was expecting. I pictured clams still in their shells and larger shrimp when I read the menu description. Instead, the clams were more part of the sauce and the shrimp were so tiny that I had to hunt around in order to find one.

My dining companions shared the Ultimate Italian Feast for Two. This huge plate had a massive amount of food on it, including spaghetti, Italian sausage, meatballs, chicken parmesan, ravioli, lasagna, and garlic bread. It was too much for two people to finish, so I got to sample the leftovers. The sausage was very plain tasting, the ravioli was average, and the lasagna was pretty tasty.

The majority of the food at the Spaghetti Warehouse was good, although nothing stood out as being exceptional. It all seemed to be basic Italian food that wouldn't scare anyone. Just about any other Italian restaurant would be able to make similar meals that are just as good as well. The food at Spaghetti Warehouse easily fits in with the other Italian chains, namely Olive Garden and Buca de Beppo...

Romano's Macaroni Grill

I was in the Tampa area and ate at the Romano's Macaroni Grill in Carrollwood, FL. Although there were some other menu items that were tempting me, it seems I always end up getting the Chef's Trio on my visits to Macaroni Grill. I started with a Caesar Salad.

For the main dish, I choose something called Pasta Milano. The dish consisted of bowtie pasta, chicken, sun dried tomatos, and a garlic cream sauce. I had the restaurant leave out the mushrooms that normally come with the pasta. I liked the Pasta Milano. It definitely could have used another vegetable (spinach?), but otherwise I enjoyed it.

For the dessert, I had Lemon Passion cake. I really like those huge mint leaves that Macaroni Grill tops their dessert with...