Visiting the Brickhouse was basically an accident.  My coworker Mike had a doctor’s appointment in the area prior to lunch and happened to drive past this joint.  There were girls out front with signs stating that “We’re Open”, or something to that effect, and surprise surprise pretty girls caught his eye.  When the  matter of lunch was brought up he mentioned this place, and after a quick jaunt to Google we saw on their online menu that they had Chili Cheese Tater Tots. With thoughts of greasy, cheese-laden, potato bits dancing in our heads we loaded up the car and headed over to the Brickhouse.

We showed up not knowing what to expect.  From looking at their website, we thought that maybe they’d have an emphasis on scantily clad servers or broads in general (with a desert entitled “Double D Cupcakes”, and references to “Man Food”), but the website was fairly oblique. After walking in, our suspicions were confirmed.  The place looked like Tim Allen and Christian Audigier popped a couple boners and went around getting all “Home Improvement” meets “Ed Hardy”-style zealous on this place.  There is a large and very unnecessary fireplace, open air ceilings, gothic script announcing the restrooms, and lame “inspirational” phrases on the walls.  The only inspiration I derived from that was wanting to take a blow my nose on their decorations.

To our surpise (and chagrin) the Brickhouse had just opened up today (June 22nd).  All of the servers were new, and likewise their cooks were all brand new to the Brickhouse way of doing things. They weren’t doing their full menu when we showed up, but instead a pared down version of their menu.  Oh, did I mention that all of the food (and non alcholic beverages) are all FREE?  Oh, I didn’t?  Well they were, and are until Friday June 25th 2010.  As much as I don’t like the thought of TimAl-Stianidigier’s renob all up in my face, it’s hard to thumb my nose at free food.  We ordered the Buffalo Wings for our free appetizer.  I would’ve taken a picture but I forgot to due to being endlessly interrupted by a never ending stream of servers asking fairly inane questions.  I can appreciate pretty girls as much as the next guy, but when you keep hearing “What are you drinking?”, “Have you heard of Brickhouse before?”, “How is everything?”, again and again and again and again my eyes start to glaze over.   In writing it doesn’t sound nearly as annoying as it was in person.  We literally had a girl come up asking, “How is everything, how are you guys?” and literally as she was stepping away from our table another girl came and asked the exact same thing.  As I’m writing this, I feel like I sound like a complete asshole because I’m basically saying, “Oh man, it was so annoying how these girls were being very attentive and basically waiting on us hand and foot.”  The thing is, when I go to a restaurant I don’t want to feel pressured into talking, shooting the shit, or doing anything aside from ordering my food and eating said food.  As peculiar as it sounds, I think a good server is nearly prescient or just very observant.  They keep an eye on your drink getting low and then offer you a refill, or they see that you’re just sitting around picking-at/not-eating your food and offer to take your plate.  If someplace is very busy I of course scale back my expectations, but when the reverse happens it’s fairly startling and somewhat unsettling.

After all of my bitching we’re onto a highlight.  The food.  They served up very large portions, and the prices on the menu were very reasonable for what we received ($7-$10 for most entrees).  All 3 of my coworkers ordered the Prime Rib Sandwich.  As you can see it appeared to be topped with shoe-string onion fries/straws.  They were given a side of au jus sauce, and from some appreciative murmurs I gathered that the samiches were alright.  They do come with a horseradish sauce, so those with a tempermental palette may want to ask for the samich sans the horsey sauce.   I ordered the Chicken Parm samich, and it was huge.  The fork and knife were apparently crafted for Paul Bunyun so you can’t really appreciate the size of the samich I received.  Within the samich were 2 filets of fried chicken, and I was unable to finish the beast. The marinara on the samich was tasty, it had hints of oregano and other ‘Italian’ spices; the flavors were very balanced.  They also heaped an order of fries on the plate. While the food wasn’t breathtaking, I would certainly eat at the Brickhouse again.

We came on opening day on a whim, despite not knowing it was opening day. The servers applied a little too much pressure as most of us felt inundated with repeated pleasantries, but I suspect as the Brickhouse breaks into the full swing of normal operations the servers will calm down and the atmosphere will be more pleasant.

If you do want a free meal and to see what this joint is all about you might as well stop by before this Friday rolls around and cop a free meal (speaking of coppers, there were quite a few officers of the law coming around to gawk and grab a free bite, apparently those radio waves aren’t just used to communicate crimes).

Food: Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Service: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars (this would be a little higher without the over-attention)

Atmosphere: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars (I’m a hole-in-the-wall bar guy, so this kind of presentation is a bit over the top for me)

Overall: Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars (I think this has a chance to go up with a second visit when they’re under normal operation)

-Matt in Tampa

I’ve been coming to El Oasis for several years now and am just now getting to a review, what’s that about?  Anyways, I remember going to El Oasis for the first time…  My friend Jacob’s place was just up the street and a group of us were all hanging out around dinner time and he said “Hey man, we should go get some street burritos”.  Street Burritos? In my Lansing? That moniker stuck for quite a while.  This trip however was after a bout of unlucky fishing and spending $30 on cheap plastic and sharp metal.. (lures).  The Dunham‘s is just east of El Oasis so Jacob and I opted to go hit up some street burrito.

You can’t go wrong with street food.  I feel like a vendor who is selling out of a truck or a trailer, or whatever the venue might be, really needs to have stellar food.  There is no real scenery, or decor, or a vibe beyond the neighborhood that the vendor is at.  El Oasis is no exception.  Whatever you get will be excellent.  I love sandwiches so I lean towards the Torta , that said.. the tacos are excellent as well.  There are a variety of meats and you can’t go wrong with any of them… however I prefer to get things that I can’t get at other restaurants.  For instance, Barbacoa which is shredded beef cheek and slow cooked to a tender roast beef-like status.  The Carne asada is also ridiculously good.

The sandwich is a fairly simple affair.  Crusty bread with onions, shredded lettuce, fresh avocado slices.  They also have an assortment of hand crafted salsas, I like spicy so I go with the hot salsa.  Drizzle the salsa on and then dig into the mouthwatering sandwich.  My only beef with El Oasis is that there isn’t any type of seating.  So you’re going to have to eat on the car, or in the car.. or take it home.  A picnic table would be pretty righteous.  Another bonus is that they sell Jarritos and Mexican Coca Cola (with real cane sugar!).  Also this is the first time that I’ve gotten food from the big truck.  Normally there’s just the little cart when I drop by.

**EDIT** I have been informed by reliable sources that there are places to sit.  A couple of stools and a bar around back? Thanks Phil!

Rating: Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars .  Just shy of 5 stars.  The food is always excellent.

When Sia and I first moved to Clearwater we had a hell of a time finding a sushi restaurant.  From Sia’s tireless research using Google reviews she eventually found a couple acceptable places.  Tom Yum was one of those joints.  Our first experiences with Tom Yum were via take out.

The prices are average for a sushi place.  We both liked the ‘cute’ way they store their silverware/chopsticks in a rolled up napkin with custom embroidery. The restaurant had a number of  Buddhist accoutrements, and a very warm interior.  As you can see on their sign they have a fat cat waving at you, and to stick with that theme they did have a number of ‘golden paw waving cats’ that many eastern restaurants favor.  I’ve considered purchasing some of those cracked out golden cats for my apartment so that I can have frighteningly-large-eyed, ever-waving cats greet any visitors to my humble abode.  You’ve gotta make a good first impression, right? Really though, are these statuettes on LSD?

To start we ordered Tuna nachos. The concept was unique to me and the presentation was dead-on but the implementation was slightly off.  First, when eating nachos I’ve come to expect something hot or warm in temperature.  Due to the Tuna being uncooked the nachos were fairly cold, which is foreseeable.  Next, the sauce that the tuna was tossed in was almost cloyingly sweet. Again, this was slightly unexpected as I’ve grown accustomed to cumin and hot peppers getting involved with nachos.  The nachos were topped with a spicy mayo that had a kick and really pulled the dish back into the “nacho” realm.  In the end, the dish was very good but I felt that the term ‘nachos’ brought me to expect something different from what I received.  Despite all my nit-picking and bitching, I would order this dish again.

For our second course we ordered a spicy tuna roll, and a dragon roll.  From what I can recall, and I most certainly could be wrong about this, every sushi joint I’ve been to serves these same two rolls.  The spicy tuna roll is basically tuna, nori (seaweed wrap), and some hot mayo (and sometimes cucumber) and the dragon roll varies from restaurant to restaurant.  This particular variation included salmon, tuna, and white fish with an imitation crab center. Both rolls were crafted fairly well and both were delectable.  In retrospect, after describing the ‘dragon roll’, I think it may have actually been the Rainbow Roll.  I could be mistaken either way as it has been nearly 10 months since I ate at Tom Yum.

For round three I ordered “Mother In-law Beef ” which was described as ‘real Thai!’  The dish was essentially chopped beef stir fried with basil, green beens, and chilies.  Just as the menu forewarned, this dish was hot.  The chilies didn’t have a kick-you-in-the-teeth-wasabi effect, but rather a slow heat that gradually built up in your mouth and left you gasping for water.  The heat was great and I would gladly order this again if I was in the mood for something hot.

I would give Tom Yum a higher rating, but the service we received was terrible.  Twice, I had to remind the waitress to get my drink (after waiting 15 minutes when it became apparent that my drink was not coming), and not to be a dick but she bombed as a waitress.  Likewise, she took our drink order, never showed up with the drinks and after being reminded and showing up with the drinks disappeared for 20 minutes before taking our order.  I know people have off days, or perhaps are learning the ropes but it wasn’t busy in the restaurant, and the carry out orders didn’t seem to be coming in at an overwhelming volume. One of the other waitresses paid more mind to our dining experience by asking how we were doing or if we needed anything else when it became clear out waitress was a no-show.  By the good grace of previous experiences and the quality of the food Tom Yum isn’t pulling a one.

Overall: Rating: 2.5 out of 5 stars

-Matt in Clearwater

First, I’d like to thank Google Streetview’s camera-van for grabbing a great picture of the front of Tropical Smoothie Cafe.  When I went and grabbed a bite to eat there, I didn’t have any plan to review the place.  In fact I wasn’t even planning on eating there.  I wound up swinging over there to meet up with Chris Werner to show him my new bike, the Harley Davidson 2010 Iron 883.  As a great man about town, Chris comp’ed me a delicious meal on his tab as well as a smoothie while I was there.

Chris made me a Buffalo Chicken wrap, and while I’m certain it’s not the most healthy item on the menu, it was certainly delicious.  I’m sure you’re asking yourself right now, “Hey Matt, why the fuck are you talking about the healthiness of your meal?”  Well, good sir, I bring this up because Tropical Smoothie Cafe appears to pride itself upon ‘Eating Better’ and ‘Feeling Better’. While I didn’t necessary feel better about myself or my health after eating said wrap, I certainly enjoyed it.  What I did like was that the meal was served with a freshly cut orange which is a great substitute for french fries. I believe I also received a Caribbean Breeze smoothie and it basically tasted like mangos… but I’m not sure exactly what was in there. Either way it was sweet and cold on a sweltering day, just what the doctor ordered.  I don’t really know for sure what I had as I basically told Chris to “make me something good.”   As you can see above they have a somewhat goofy decor, going for an island theme which feels a little less contrived in Florida than it would feel in Michigan… nothing like snow on the ground in March to make you feel Caribbean.

Due to my circumstances of receiving a free meal, I’m going to give a jaded rating.  I would rate my experience as Rating: 4 out of 5 stars.

I may have to give this one a more impartial review, but I’m not itching to drive 35 minutes to have a smoothie and a wrap, so this will have to wait for some future date.

-Matt in Tampa

Mykonos is located in a tourist area of Tarpon Springs.  This particular spot is populated by Greek people, and the primary trade (other than trinkets and ‘Florida’-baubles) is sea sponges.  So despite it being fairly chilly for Florida in December, you could see tourists wandering around that evening in shorts and wearing no shirts (I happened to be wearing a hoodie). This particular section of Tarpon Springs has a particular flavor or character to itself that most of the Tampa area lacks.  I doubt I can accurately ascribe the character that belongs to the town, but there is a grit and a feeling of history for the place.  For those of you who haven’t visited Tampa, a large portion of the surrounding development is either new, and fairly unremarkable architecture.  Either that, or it’s filled with car dealerships, boat dealerships, and titty bars.  When driving Sia down to Tampa for the first time, I made the mistake of taking the “scenic” route and getting off of I-75 South and rerouting to US 19 somewhere around Odessa or New Port Richey.  So her first fill of the area was driving past an alternating strip of Walmarts, Car Dealerships, Boat Dealerships, assorted Fast Food joints, and a slew of greasy Strip Clubs.  In retrospect, that was a fair sampling of the Tampa area (admittedly there is more to Tampa than just that).  Enough of my diatribe on the ‘city planning’ of the greater Tampa Bay area and on to Mykonos.

When we first arrived to Mykonos, it was quite busy. The dining area appeared fairly small and very busy.  We had to wait for 10 or 15 minutes to get a table. While waiting to be seated I noticed that a number of the servers and cooks actually spoke Greek (as well as being staffed with folks from south of the Border as any great restaurant is).  The music coming out over the boombox was also Greek, and the head chef was Greek.  This all seemed indicative of having a fairly “authentic” and totally righteous meal.

Everyone showed up with a hearty appetite.  Before we ordered we were served freshly baked bread.  It was fairly standard ‘before the meal’-bread, but from what I understand Mykonos has it’s own in-house bakery. For an appetizer we ordered Saganaki (Opa!) which was salty, buttery and delicious. We also ordered Keftedes which is a pan-fried potato pastry.  The Keftedes were crispy on the outside yet very moist and creamy inside; they were very rich. The salads that came with virtually every meal were composed of very fresh vegetables and a chunk of feta.  The Chicken Lemon Soup had a very strong lemon flavor.  The chicken was shredded and was great.   Between the salad and the soup you could have stopped and had a nice meal from that alone.

To attempt to describe the meal that night would be to do it an injustice.  To put it simply, the food was like an exquisite Greek orgy of flavors in my mouth. As is typical with my family, we all shared what we ordered so I got to taste everything on the table.  I ordered the Mousaka, Dan got the Fila Dolmades (essentially Grape Leaves topped with an egg-lemon sauce), Sia ordered the Garides Mykonos which was a shrimp dish sautéed with fresh tomatoes, onions, herbs and feta cheese served on a bed of rice, my Mom ordered the Garides Ellinikes which is shrimp sautéed in garlic, oregano and Greek spices, and finally my Dad ordered the Lamp Chops which was served with another plate heaped with rice.  We were also given a plate of freshly sautéed pees (which were very good).  The portions were tremendous.

To top the evening off we ordered Baklava and Rice Pudding.  The Rice Pudding was fairly thick and the Baklava was Baklava.  We were also served a plate with a freshly cut apple topped with cinnamon which happened to trump the Baklava and Rice Pudding.

As you can see we had a considerable amount of leftovers to bring home (and later demolish).  We had an amazing evening at Mykonos and I would highly recommend it to anyone passing by Tarpon Springs.  Hell, it’s worth the effort to make the trip to Mykonos if you’re in the Tampa area.

Definitely a well deserved Rating: 5 out of 5 stars .

Belated in Tampa,
-Matt