Taste Tampa Bay

I started Taste Tampa Bay because I had kicked around the idea of starting a blog entirely for fun (a break from business) for ages. It was high time I got off my keister and made it happen and food is a topic I'm naturally passionate about (I'm not ashamed to admit I look forward to my next meal!). It's hard to grow up in New Orleans (well, actually Metairie, LA) and not love food and start to learn at an early age what's really good food and what's not.

I've lived in Central Florida since 1998 (I'm a UCF grad) and have lived in south Tampa since last summer. While I don't think Tampa Bay is a sleeping giant on the culinary scene and I'll always crave New Orleans cooking (fried shrimp poor boys top my list!), there are lots of good places to eat here – if you know where to look. And I'm not talking about the ultra expensive "break your wallet dining" establishments. Some of the best places to eat I've found in the area are moderately priced little local restaurants that concentrate on great food, not the décor (of course, there's exceptions, but you get the idea). Zagat material they’re probably not.

I enjoy reading restaurants reviews in the local papers and getting dining tips from friends and family as much as the next guy, but there's nothing like experiencing a place first hand. There's been countless times when I would have liked to have shared some quick off-the-cuff thoughts on a restaurant – sometimes high praise and other times a rant- and now with this blog I have a way to catalog and save my rants-and-raves- all in one place.

My hope is that I'll post to this blog a couple of times per week (time permitting) and only if I have something new and interesting food-related to talk about. I'm not going to post just to post and take up space. Comments and feedback are welcome and you can reach me directly at: tastetampabay@gmail.com. Keep in mind that I don't consider myself a foodie nor do I want to be a foodie. What does this mean? While I love food and you'll get my unbridled opinions on local dining joints, don't look for long-winded, pretentious reviews. Food snobs annoy me. And they wouldn't be caught dead in many of the places I love. So they can stay on their side of the schoolyard and I'll stay on mine. Fine by me.

Let the eating begin!