Fodder & Shine and Hidden Springs Ale Works – Seminole Heights

It’s been a busy couple of weeks!  I went to Boston to celebrate my friend Padma’s bachelorette weekend (more on Boston food coming up soon…) Then the following weekend we had two weddings and a Halloween party.  Now I’ve finally got some down time to catch up on all the October foods.

Lance and I took part in the Heights Vibes Bicycle Ride a few weeks back.  A group met at Fodder & Shine, then biked around Seminole and Tampa Heights visiting different murals and art installations.   At the start was a big mural on the side of Fodder & Shine depicting a quilt-like collage of some of the local Seminole Heights businesses.  They were in the process of finalizing the mural for a launch party the very next day.  Many of the logos looked familiar – including Ella’s, Rooster & the Till, Angry Chair Brewing, and The Independent Bar.     

The bike ride was sponsored by Velo Champ bike shop – and apparently they take similar rides about once a month (check out the calendar here).  We really enjoyed ourselves – I’d definitely recommend taking part in one of these rides!  The next one is November 29^th in Bradenton starting at Motorworks Brewing. 

We took a pit stop at Hidden Springs Ale Works – a new craft brewery that just opened about a month ago.  They let us all bring our bikes in and store them in the back while we cooled down with some beers.  Our bartender was really friendly and I enjoyed everything in my flight.  The décor was a little sparse, but they had literally just opened. 

The bike ride ended back at Fodder & Shine, and since we hadn’t dined there before, we decided to grab a bite before heading home.  It was opened about a year ago by Greg & Michelle Baker, who also run The Refinery.  The food is inspired by early cracker cuisine from early Florida natives. 

We enjoyed a wedge of the bacon-fat cornbread along with cornmeal fried chicken, collard greens, and PBR Mac & Cheese.  I cornbread was topped with butter and local honey – it was tasty, but a little drier than I prefer.  But the fried chicken was really fantastic.  Very crispy on the outside and juicy on the inside. 

It’s also a great spot to just grab a local beer and enjoy it on the patio with your 4-legged friend  – they have “Yappy Hour” every Sunday 1 – 5pm.  Tonight they actually hosted a pet costume party!

Fodder & Shine is located at 5910 N Florida Ave, Tampa, FL 33604 and is open 5pm – 12am Monday – Thursday, 3pm – 2am on Friday, 1pm – 2am Saturday, and 1pm – 12am on Sunday.     

Hidden Springs Ale Works is located at 1631 N Franklin St, Tampa, FL 33602 and is open 5pm – 10pm Thursdays, 3pm – 12am on Fridays, 12pm – 12am on Saturdays, and 12pm – 9pm on Sundays (they are closed Monday – Wednesdays).  

Reservations Gourmet-To-Go – Tampa, FL

 

I bought a Creative Loafing deal for Reservations Gourmet-To-Go a month or so ago because I’ve heard so many great things about this restaurant.  It is on Tasting Tampa’s Top Ten Restaurants in Seminole Heights and they only have positive reviews on Yelp, Urbanspoon, and Facebook. 

So I was sad to see my friend Raena’s post yesterday saying that Reservations was going to shut their doors at the end of the month.  Since Lance and I both had Tuesday off work, we decided to head to Seminole Heights and try them out for lunch.

 

With our CL deal, we had $30 to spend – and since the prices are all so reasonable, we got a LOT of food for that much. 

 

It was cold out yesterday – it got to the 30’s at night, which for a Floridian felt like Antarctica! So the first thing I ordered was a hot cup of tea.  Lance had a beer (they only had one to choose from – Uinta Brewing Company’s Baba Black Lager). 

 

For our meals, we each ordered sandwiches – I had the Meatball Parmesan and Lance had the Tampa Cheese Steak.  We got the large size, but we could have easily filled up on the small. 

OMG they were amazing.  The meatballs were handmade, topped with Bolognese sauce, parmesan, and mozzarella.  The Italian bread was perfectly crispy.  Lance’s sandwich was generously loaded with slices of grilled steak, sautéed onions and mushrooms, and topped with horseradish mayo dressing, blue cheese drizzle, and lettuce.  Since each large sandwich was already cut in 2, we swapped halves and got to try a bit of each. 

 

 

They were voted Best Carrot Cake by Creative Loafing Best of the Bay 2012, so we got a slice to go (we didn’t have any room after our huge lunches).  We enjoyed it later that evening and it did not disappoint.  It was moist and filled with plenty of carrot, raisin, and nut chunks.  The cream cheese frosting was so delicious that I could have eaten it alone with a spoon. 

 

 

It’s a real shame that I didn’t discover this place sooner.  Make sure to go try their incredible food while you still can! 

Reservations Gourmet-To-Go is located at 4703 N Nebraska Ave, Tampa, FL 33603.  Here’s their schedule for the remainder of the month:

November 20^th, 21^st, 25^th, 26^th, and 28^th for lunch 11:30am – 3pm
November 21^st & 22^nd - After Dark dining, 6pm – 10pm