Candid Florida

At the table at Ted's Luncheonette

For pancakes and just-perfect eggs, Ted’s Luncheonette has become a favorite along Alt US 19 south of Clearwater. Given the name, I’m sure it’s busy at lunchtime, but I’ve stopped here several times over the years because I love a good hearty breakfast, and that’s what they do. Inexpensive, too, and with that Greek flair you come to expect when traveling in Pinellas County.  A great hometown diner that shouldn’t be missed.

Intriguing Greek pastas at Hellas

One of the toughest things about going to Tarpon Springs is deciding where to eat. Unfortunately (when in proximity to Greek cuisine), during my second day at the area, my business meeting came complete with a lunch. So I had no excuse to choose between calamari at Santorini, or pastistio at Mykonos … instead, I could dive straight into dessert. I walked it off first, of course, in the near-100-degree heat, so it was a relief to step into the chilled room at Hellas and order up a pasta: make mine layers of chocolate and vanilla custard with a touch of mousse. On my visits to Greece, the only place I saw such elaborate baking was in Rhodes, and sure enough, Rhodes has its own Tarpon Springs Blvd – it’s near Halki, where many of the original sponge divers are from. When in Tarpon Springs, always save room for dessert!

Hellas
85 Dodecanese Blvd, Tarpon Springs
(727) 943-2400

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Bread & Butter Deli, since 1974

Pressed for time, I needed a quick lunch in Tarpon Springs that wouldn’t just be a run through a Taco Bell or Wendy’s, and I found it, serendipitously, by taking a few wrong turns near Innisbrook and finding Bread & Butter, a Middle Eastern (but mostly Greek) deli along Alt US 19, not far south of  the golf course. You walk in, you pick out what you want from the deli cases – dolmades or pastitio? Hummus or Baba Ghanoush? – and the server brings it to your table. They have a nice selection of Greek pastries, too.

Bread & Butter Gourmet Deli
1880 Alt US 19 S, Tarpon Springs
(727) 934-9003

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Now Lake Butler is truly a Florida backroads town, huddled along the shores of a beautiful cypress-lined lake that they keep all to themselves. It’s another railroad town dating back a century and more, and quiet as the day is long. I know of it mainly since the Florida Trail cuts right through the middle of town, and hikers are encouraged to ask for permission to camp in the city park along the lake. I’ve stopped here before and dined at the Butler Seafood House to my satisfaction before, but this visit had a challenge attached – we were warned the food wasn’t as good as the last visit. And I learned my lesson. Don’t order beef in a seafood restaurant! The burgers, sadly, were uninspired. But the country buffet sure looked good. If it weren’t for all the eager teachers swarming across it, we might have ordered it. I’m not giving up on them yet, especially since the cashier was nice enough to give us a discount for waiting so long for the clouds of young teachers to clear the room. I’d suggest, however, sticking with country favorites and fried seafood.

Butler Seafood House & Grille
315 N Lake Ave, Lake Butler
(386)-496-3700
www.butlerseafoodhouse.com

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For fresh, local wild-caught crab, Peace River Seafood, a funky little shack along US 17 north of Punta Gorda will have you wishing you could eat here every evening. It’s an unpretentious place, an old Cracker house with a talkative parrot on the porch, dollar bills stapled on the walls, and a nautical theme like you’d expect in a seafood house.

But this is no ordinary seafood house. The menu comes direct from the local catch, and the owner himself is a crabber. That means fresh stone crabs in season, blue crab, jumbo shrimp — all of the bounty of the nearby Gulf of Mexico, with a little ‘gator thrown in for good measure, and a fresh fish market to stock your cooler for the drive home. Every evening there’s a different seafood soup or stew, and entrees range from $10-35. If you don’t like seafood, go somewhere else and save the space for us! Open Tue-Sat, closes 8 PM.

Peace River Seafood
5337 Duncan Road (US 17 north), Punta Gorda
(941) 505-8440

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