Biking & Breweries - Dunedin, FL

 

We’ve been on a mission to try out every local brewery on the St. Pete/Clearwater Craft Beer Trail.    So far on that list, we had made it to 3 Daughters, Cycle, Green Bench, Sea Dog, and St. Pete Brewing.  We noticed that Dunedin Brewery and 7venth Sun were within a few blocks of each other, so on our day off yesterday, we headed to Dunedin. 

The Fred Marquis Pinellas Trail is a jogging/biking path that goes right through the middle of town – it spans 38.2 miles from St. Pete to Tarpon Springs.  We brought our bikes so we could get a bit of a workout before drinking beers. 

 

 

We started off at Hammock Park in Dunedin and biked north to Wall Springs Park in Palm Harbor.  We turned around to meet up with my brother David and his friend John.  From there, we headed to Dunedin Brewery, Florida’s oldest craft brewery. 

 

 

 

They had some year-round standard beers like the Red Ale, Pale Ale, and Brown Ale, but they also had several special options.  I tried the Apricot Wheat, Razzberry Wheat, Florida Common, and Jackie Bones.  The apricot and raspberry beers were almost too sweet – you could definitely taste the fruit.  I liked the Florida Common – with roasted pineapple and orange peel.  And the Jackie Bones is their pumpkin beer with cinnamon, nutmeg, and vanilla beans. 

 

The boys enjoyed the Biere de Café – made with chocolate and local coffee.  It was so tasty it could be a Starbucks drink.  They also liked The Moon Reflects on Hibiscus, which John accurately said was like drinking flowers. 

We were surprisingly impressed with their bar food.  We tried their Pretzel Bites, Wisconsin Fried Cheese Curds, and Dunedin Brewery Wings.  The pretzels were the perfect snack, served with Nitro Stout mustard.  The cheese curds were made with breaded white cheddar and served with a side of ranch – they tasted like mini mozzarella sticks. 

 

 

I would definitely order their wings again – they are marinated overnight then deep fried and served dry.  There was an option to have them tossed in sauce, but I loved the dry wings.  They were perfectly golden and crunchy – served with both bleu cheese sauce and a “kilt-lifter” spicy sauce (which really had a kick).  We ordered 10 but our basket actually came with 12. 

 

Afterwards we rode south on the trail a bit more to work off our food.  Lance and I had already biked 12+ miles at this point, so we couldn’t keep up with David & John.  We rode a few miles, and then turned back around towards 7venth Sun Brewery.  

 

It’s in a shopping plaza with a massage studio, salon, and jewelry shop.  The location didn’t seem like anything special, but before drinking more, we took a walk around the block.  We discovered that they are one street over from the waterfront at St. Joseph’s Sound with a beautiful view towards Caladesi Island. You can’t actually go on the waterfront since it is private property, but you can walk down Victoria Drive and enjoy the scenery from the quiet road.   

 

 

Back at 7venth Sun, we ordered several of their beers.  Instead of the typical flight, they offer 4 ounce pours for only $2 if you want to try a sampling.  I tried the Star Witness (a hoppy saison), Graffiti Orange Creamsicle Wheat, Purple Pistil (brewed with grapes and saffron honey brewed with Brett yeast) and the Dusty Farmgirl (a Brett Saison with Meyer lemon & clementine). 

 

I liked the Dusty Farmgirl and Star Witness best.  The Purple Pistil was too strong for me (11% alcohol!) and the grape and honey flavors were a bit overpowering.  The Graffiti orange was pretty sweet as well. 

David & John met us there and between the 4 of us, we probably sampled every beer on the board. 

Another mile or so bike ride and we were back to where we started.  We ended up riding 22.74 miles so my legs were pretty sore by the end.  I love the app Map My Ride because it keeps track of your distance, speed, and elevation.  The only problem is that it drains your phone battery – since our trip took a few hours, my phone was at less than 10% by the time we finished. 

 

2 more local breweries down!  (And many more to go…)

Dunedin Brewery is located at 937 Douglas Ave, Dunedin, FL 34698 and is open 11am – 11pm Sunday through Tuesday, 11am – 1am Wednesday & Thursday, and 11am – 2am Friday & Saturday. 

7venth Sun Brewery is located at 1012 Broadway, Dunedin, FL 34698 and is open 2pm – 12am Tuesday through Thursday, 12pm – 12am Friday & Saturday, 12pm – 10pm on Sunday, and closed Monday.  

Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe – Tampa, FL

 

We spent our day off at the Museum of Science and Industry – MOSI is offering free tickets in October to anyone with a YMCA membership!

 

Since we were already near Seminole Heights, we headed to Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe for dinner.  I tried to go a few years ago with my parents, but it was so crowded we couldn’t get a table!  And somehow I hadn’t made it there again until yesterday.  According to Tasting Tampa, it’s one of the top 10 best restaurants in Seminole Heights (it has good company on the list – including The Refinery and Rooster & the Till).

 

 

We got there just a few minutes before they opened at 5pm, so it was pretty quiet and there was plenty of parking.  But by 6pm, it was packed!  I’d recommend trying to get there early if you don’t want to wait. 

It makes sense to have “folk art” in the title – the entire places is covered in funky upcycled creations – much of the art being made from scrap metal.  The landscaping in front of the restaurant is lined with old bowling balls, and the booth we were seated at had a shrine to Elvis with all sorts of funky pieces of art featuring “the King”. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They have a great patio with outdoor booths, Adirondack chairs, and a big oak tree.  Had it been a couple degrees cooler, we would have dined out there. 

 

 

 

We were there during Happy Hour – Tuesdays through Fridays 5-7pm they have $3 draft beers and well drinks, $4 house wine, and $2 off their signature cocktails.  I tried The Revival – Sweet Tea with Wild Turkey American Honey Whiskey, muddled lemon, agave, and mint.  Sweet and refreshing.  If you’re a fan of Bloody Mary’s though, they make a pretty impressive one garnished with a rib!

 

We ordered a bunch of appetizers as our dinner – the Tuna Cracka’ Staka’, Rasta-Far-Fries, and Jerk Chicken Wings. 

 

They brought us bread while we waited – it was soft and warm with herb butter.  We got the fries and tuna together.  Wow the tuna was awesome!  It was served over crispy wonton chips with Asian slaw and topped with roe.  They tasted very fresh – I could have eaten a dozen. 

 

The fries were enormous!  They were cut in large wedges and topped with their house mustard, sea salt, cilantro, and Sriracha.  It was a bit more mustard than I would have liked, but the rest of the toppings were perfect – just the right amount of spiciness.

 

 

The wings were island spiced, hickory smoked, then flash fried and tossed in sweet & spicy jerk sauce.  They were some of the best wings I’ve tasted – and the lime cream sauce paired perfectly with the jerk seasoning.  We used the lime sauce to cool down the spicy fries as well. 

 

We ended with their chocolate covered bacon dessert – it won an award in last year’s Creative Loafing Best of the Bay.  It included 2 large strips of bacon dipped in dark chocolate and peanuts, along with 2 pieces of pancetta coated in white chocolate and almonds.  The pancetta was very good, but I especially loved how dark the chocolate was on bacon.  A perfect sweet and salty dessert!

 

If you haven’t been to Ella’s yet, I’d put it on your must-visit list.  We thoroughly enjoyed our meal.  They have live entertainment most evenings, and I hear that their Soul Food Sundays are incredible as well! 

 

Ella’s Americana Folk Art Cafe is located at 5119 N Nebraska Ave, Tampa, FL 33603 and is open 5pm – 11pm Tuesday through Thursday, 5pm – 12am Fridays and Saturdays, and 11am – 8pm on Sundays. 

Buffalo Wild Wings

We’ve been craving wings for awhile, so we spontaneously stopped at Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch yesterday.  I had never been to this restaurant until I started dating Lance – probably since I’m not a huge sports fanatic.  Their original location was in Ohio (where Lance is from), so I’m sure they were more prevalent when he was growing up.  

They are now in every state in the U.S., and even some abroad.  Tampa has one in Ybor City, plus there are locations nearby in Brandon, Pinellas Park, Clearwater, and New Port Richey.  The one we ate at yesterday was in Largo.

Their slogan “Wings. Beer. Sports.” explains the whole concept pretty accurately.  They have a wide variety of wing options – even outlining the spiciness level from “Smilin’” to “Sizzlin’” to “Screamin’”.  They have a nice beer selection, although they focus mostly on popular beers like Budweiser, Coors, Blue Moon, and Sam Adams...nothing that you couldn’t pick up at your typical grocery store.  There are flat screen TVs covering the walls with every sport you could possibly want to watch.  Lance said that in college it was the go-to place to watch Steelers games (since that’s his team). 

We ordered the medium sized wing basket with 3 varieties – Lemon Pepper, Parmesan Garlic, and Honey BBQ.  The lemon pepper was a dry rub seasoning, while the other two were slathered in sauce. 

My favorite was the Parmesan Garlic – as you can see in the photo below, it is completely coated in seasonings.  None of ours were spicy – we ordered all mild flavors.  If I were more daring I’d try the Thai Curry or Mango Habanero, but they’re both in the red-zone on the chart. 

It would be a great place to meet up with a group of friends to catch a big game.  The atmosphere is laid-back, and they really know how to make fantastic wings.  With the official football season starting today, I’m sure we’ll be back again soon… 

The location we visited yesterday was at 10500 Ulmerton Rd, Largo, FL 33771 and is open from 11am - 12am Sunday through Thursday and 11am - 2am on Friday and Saturday.