New Smyrna Beach Eats

 

We took a 2-day trip last week to New Smyrna Beach on the east coast.  It was just over 2 hours from Tampa, so it was far enough away to feel like a vacation, but close enough that we didn’t waste our days off driving a long distance. 

We stayed at the Black Dolphin Inn, which I found on this list of top 10 bed & breakfasts in Florida.  I can’t recommend it enough – I just wish we could have stayed more than one night.  It’s right on the Indian River within walking distance to downtown New Smyrna and only a few minute drive to the beach. 

The building has a Spanish Mediterranean style, and the interior was surprisingly modern (I’m used to most B&Bs having outdated furnishings and floral wallpaper & bedding).  You can see a video with owner Brett Smith talking about the inn here. 

After checking in, we walked to Yellow Dog Eats Kitchen & Bar for lunch.  They’ve had a location for decades in Gotha, FL just west of Orlando, but the New Smyrna location only opened 6 months ago.  They specialize in BBQ, sandwiches, and salads.   

Large red marquee letters spell out the name of the restaurant and colorful art depicting different dogs decorate the walls.  We thought it was funny they had the same yellow china cabinet as we do at home!

I had their Baa Baa BLT – with smoked pancetta, tomatoes, field greens, watercress, pecan smoked bacon, goat cheese, and orange Cointreau mayo served on multi grain bread.  I absolutely loved this twist on the normal BLT – the watercress gave it a peppery flavor and the mix of ingredients was perfect. 

 

Lance had the Florida Cracker – with pulled pork, coleslaw, Gouda, pecan-smoked bacon, pickles, fried onions, and BBQ sauce on white bread.  Messy but delicious.  Both sandwiches came with kettle cooked chips, which we saved for later. 

 

We had hoped to go to New Smyrna Beach Brewing Company after lunch, but it turns out they’re closed on Tuesdays!  We wandered around downtown New Smyrna and visited Canaveral National Seashore. 

 

For dinner we heard good things about a restaurant called The Garlic.  It took us awhile to get hungry after our lunch at Yellow Dog.  I didn’t expect a wait on a Tuesday night, but it was actually really busy at The Garlic.  The restaurant is huge and decorated with cloves of garlic everywhere you look.  Some of the entrees are cooked in their wood fired oven that reaches 800°F+ temperatures. 

 

 

 

We ordered a bottle of Malbec and they brought us some of their famous garlic – a whole bulb slow-roasted, smashed with oil and balsamic, then served with crispy bread. 

For dinner I had the Surf & Turf – an 8 ounce sirloin with shrimp and garlic mashed potatoes.  Lance had the Seafood Cannelloni – scallops, shrimp, and mahi mahi blended with cheeses and wrapped in fresh pasta with Newberg sauce. 

I regret that I didn’t get one of the Il Forno dishes prepared in the wood-fired oven.  The shrimp and mashed potatoes were great, but my steak was actually very dry.  And Lance enjoyed his cannelloni, but I personally thought it was all sauce & cheese with very little seafood.  This place had such great reviews that I think my expectations were too high so I was a bit disappointed – maybe we just ordered the wrong dishes. 

 

The next morning we woke up early to see the sunrise from the dock at our B&B.  We had a nice relaxing morning enjoying broiled grapefruit and omelets for breakfast (mine was cream cheese with smoked salmon, Lance’s was cheddar & sausage).   

 

 

 

We spent another afternoon seeing the sites – we walked the beach at Smyrna Dunes, climbed to the top of the largest lighthouse in Florida (Ponce De Leon Inlet Lighthouse), and explored the Sugar Mill Ruins. 

 

 

 

 

We always like to find a nice ice cream shop to indulge when we’re on vacation.  We found the perfect one, Banana Split Republic, right off A1A next to a produce market.  Their ice cream was some of the best I’ve had – their chocolate chip cookie dough had globs as large as a whole cookie!  The birthday cake had real chunks of cake, and the lava – caramel ice cream with caramel & chocolate swirls, cashews, and almonds – was incredible.  

Afterwards we went to New Smyrna Brewing since it was actually open on Wednesday.  I liked their Inlet Amber best and Lance enjoyed the Shark Attack IPA (they also had guest taps from other Florida breweries). 

 

 

We had an early dinner – we researched other restaurants to try out, but Yellow Dog Eats was less than a block from the brewery and it was so great the day before, we wanted to enjoy more of their sandwiches before we headed home.  Seriously, if this place was in Tampa, I’d be there at least once a week. 

 

This time I had the Classic Yellow Dog Club (honey mesquite turkey with Gouda, pecan-smoked bacon, cucumber, lettuce, and orange Cointreau mayo on multigrain bread.  It was pretty similar to the Baa Baa BLT, but I liked having the cucumber for a bit more crunch. 

Lance had the Holy Crap sandwich, also with the mesquite turkey, but with avocado, bacon, goat cheese, red onion, and basil mayo.  As the art says on the wall, their sandwiches “make me so dog-gone happy”. 

It was the perfect way to end our trip.  Our trip went by far too quickly, but we enjoyed a lot of great food in our short 2 days there!

The Black Dolphin Inn is located at 916 S Riverside Dr, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168. 

Yellow Dog Eats Kitchen and Bar is located at 147 Canal St, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168 and is open 11am – 9pm every day. 

The Garlic is located at 556 E 3rd Ave, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32169 and is open 4pm – 10pm Sunday – Thursday and 4pm – 11pm Friday – Saturday. 

Banana Split Republic is located at 1042 N Dixie Fwy, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168 (their hours aren’t online…)

New Smyrna Beach Brewing Company is located at 112 Sams Ave, New Smyrna Beach, FL 32168 and is open 5pm – 10pm Wednesdays, 2pm – 10pm Thursdays – Fridays, 12pm – 10pm Saturday, and 12pm – 6:30pm Sunday (they are closed Monday – Tuesdays). 

Brewers' Tasting Room & 3 Daughters - St. Pete, FL

 

We bought a CL Deal for Brewers’ Tasting Room in St. Pete (it looks like it’s still available if you want $20 of food & drinks for only $10).  I didn’t know much about it before, but they offer a variety of beers from well-known craft breweries like Cigar City, Terrapin, and New Belgium, along with one-of-a-kind beers brewed on location by their community of brewers.   

 

It’s funny that a year or so ago when we starting making our rounds to all the local breweries, my flights always looked super light – the flight I got at Brewers’ Tasting Room was surprisingly all darker beers.  I guess I’m finally acquiring the taste for more than just fruity Belgian beer.  I liked the Laguintas Scare City Rye Cocoa and Breckenridge Vanilla Porter Nitro best. 

They only had 2 brewed on site that day – Bad Badger, a British Pale Ale, and Jonny Boy, a Scottish Light.  Lance liked the Bad Badger since it was extra bitter.  

 

We ordered some snacks while we were there – wings with spicy blue cheese and the Italian Flag Flatbread – with sundried tomato, basil, mozzarella, homemade pesto, olive oil & balsamic.  The sauce on the wings was very good – although it was a pretty small portion so we devoured them quickly.  It wasn’t a huge food menu, so it’s better to go there and snack then have dinner. 

They are actually having their 2 year anniversary party tonight (March 6^th, 2015) 5pm to midnight, so if you’re free, they’ll have live music and a new menu, along with commemorative pint glasses!   

While in St. Pete, we headed back to 3 Daughters since we felt like playing some games. We played ping-pong, foosball, and giant Jenga while enjoying their beers – unfortunately their putt-putt golf course is closed for renovations…hoping they fix it soon since that’s one of my favorite things to do there. 

 

 

 

Brewers’ Tasting Room is located at 11270 4th St N, St Petersburg, FL 33716.  They are open Tuesday – Thursday 3pm – 11pm, Friday – Saturday 11am – 12am, and Sunday 11am – 11pm (they are closed on Mondays). 

3 Daughters Brewing is located at 222 22nd St S, St Petersburg, FL 33712 and is open 2pm – 9pm Monday and Tuesday, 2pm – 10pm Wednesday and Thursday, 2pm – 12am Friday, 12pm – 12am Saturday, and 1pm – 9pm on Sunday.  

Miguel’s Mexican & Seafood Grill – Tampa, FL

 

Miguel’s has been in Tampa since I was a kid, but somehow I had never tried it out before.  It’s right on the corner of Kennedy Blvd & MacDill Ave, so I pass by it all the time.  So last week when we were craving Mexican, we headed there for dinner.

It was packed – so clearly everyone else knows how great their food is.  It was pretty chilly out, but we decided to sit outside so we didn’t have to wait 45 minutes for an inside table.  They have large heaters, so the cold weather wasn’t a problem.  I actually preferred the patio – it was pretty noisy inside, but outside, we sat under the sparkling string lights and had a more intimate dining atmosphere. 

They brought out complimentary chips & salsa.  They tasted fresh & crispy, and the salsa was just the right amount of spicy.  

We each ordered margaritas – they have dozens of premium tequilas you can upgrade to, but I personally thought their normal house margarita was great! 

I loved the beef quesadilla – which came with guacamole, sour cream, refried beans & rice.  The guac had big chunks of avocado and the beef was so tender that it tasted like steak.  The portion was enormous – I had enough for a whole meal the next day. 

Lance had the ground beef chimichanga topped with ranchera sauce, melted cheddar, and onions.  It was completely slathered in the cheese. 

I’m just disappointed I didn’t try out Miguel’s earlier.   

Miguel’s is located at 3035 W Kennedy Blvd, Tampa, FL 33609.  They are open Sunday – Thursday 11am – 10pm and Friday – Saturday 11am – 12am. 

Six Ten Brewing & Cigar City Brewpub – Tampa, FL

 

We planned to go to TopGolf on a double date with our friends Tony & Katie – but unfortunately there was an OVER THREE HOUR wait, so we had to change plans. 

Six Ten Brewing was having a 1 year anniversary party, so we headed there to check it out.  It’s just north of the airport on Benjamin Road – we’d never been there before, so we were excited to cross another brewery off our list!  They had 17 of their own beers available plus 6 guest taps. 

 

Katie and I decided we liked the Vanilla Porter best.  The Peanut Butter Porter actually didn’t have a lot of peanut taste, but you could definitely taste the vanilla flavor.  I also had a sample of the Schofferhofer Grapefruit Hefeweizen – which tasted more like juice than beer to me.  The boys enjoyed their IPAs. 

 

The flyer said they’d have food trucks, so we were expecting several, but there was actually only one truck there.  We decided instead for our dinner we’d head over to Cigar City Brewpub since we were already on the north side of Tampa.  One of my first blog posts was actually a double date with Tony & Katie at Cigar City! 

 

There was a bit of a wait, but it was a Saturday night, so that’s expected.  We had drinks at the bar while waiting for our table.  We were pretty hungry by the time we sat down, so we ordered some appetizers – the beer cheese pretzels and cheese board (lucky none of us are lactose intolerant – lots of cheese at our table…)  The brown ale cheese dip was great, but I’m still most impressed with Brew Hub’s beer cheese & pretzels.  The cheese board was fantastic though – nice variety of different types, along with pickles and berries. 

 

 

Somehow all four of us all decided we wanted burgers for our meals.  There are so many fantastic choices on the menu, but I’m glad I tried out their Grass Fed Burger – served with house-smoked bacon, sofrito, sweet plantains, pickles, and roasted garlic aioli on a brioche bun.  I upgraded to sweet potato fries (although the malanga chips they typically come with are also delicious). 

Whoever decided to put plantains on a burger was a genius.  I would definitely order it again. 

Six Ten Brewing is located at 7052 Benjamin Rd, Tampa, FL 33634 and is open 3pm – 9pm Wednesday – Thursday, 3pm – 11pm on Friday, 12pm – 11pm on Saturday, and 12pm – 7pm on Sunday (they are closed Monday – Tuesday). 

Cigar City Brewpub is located at 15491 N Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa, FL 33624.  They are open Sunday through Thursday 11am – 10pm and Friday & Saturday 11am – 11pm.