Daily Eats – Tampa, FL

 

Saturday night I met up with my friend Maddie for dinner at Daily Eats.  Since she’s a teacher and I work on weekends, our schedules don’t really match up, so I barely ever get to see her anymore!

Daily Eats is one of many restaurants in the SoHo neighborhood owned by Ciccio Restaurant Group (including Green Lemon, The Lodge, Ciccio’s/Water, and Fresh Kitchen).  They’ve already expanded to open restaurants in St. Pete, Tampa Palms, and Brandon, and have plans to open another Daily Eats & Ciccio’s Cali near Sarasota’s new University Town Center mall. 

For over 50 years, Daily Eats’ spot on Howard was the home to The Old Meeting House, which closed at this location back in 2003.  I grew up just 3 blocks away – and before cell phones, it was about as far as our walkie-talkies would reach.  So when we were kids, my parents used to let my brother and I walk there to enjoy their diner-style food and homemade ice cream.  The Old Meeting House still supplies ice cream wholesale from a new spot on MacDill, but unfortunately they don’t have their own restaurant anymore. 

I was disappointed to see our beloved Old Meeting House close down, but overall I think they’ve done a great job modernizing it into Daily Eats.  It’s been almost 10 years since they opened now, and every time I drive by, they’re packed!  It’s a great place to head for a nice, casual meal. 

They serve burgers, fancy mac & cheeses, salads, and sandwiches, but I almost always end up ordering one of their “Shredder Bowls”.  They have various different bowls served over brown rice and lettuce.  For an upcharge, you can substitute for quinoa or spinach, and you can add all types of meats. 

This time Maddie and I started off by splitting their Tater Hater – tater tots topped with cheese, green onions, tomatoes, bacon, and jalapeños.

We each got a shredder bowl – she had the New York Bleu with shaved NY strip, sautéed mushrooms, red onions, bleu cheese crumbles, tomatoes, crumbled bacon, and Cajun horseradish dressing.  I had the Thai Peanut – with broccoli, carrots, green onions, crushed peanuts, and peanut sauce.  You have the options for two sizes – I got the larger so I could bring leftovers home (I threw the rest in an omelet the next day and it was great!) 

You really can’t go wrong – everything I’ve had there has been delicious.  And for those of you who feel like pancakes for dinner, you’re in luck!  They serve breakfast all day. 

Daily Eats is located at 901 S Howard Ave, Tampa, FL 33606 and is open 7:30am – 10pm Monday – Friday and 8am – 10pm on Saturday & Sunday.