GaYbor in Tampa

My friends birthday was yesterday, so we all took her out to Ybor City to the Laughing Cat Italian restaurant, and yet again, a GREAT experience, make no mistake this has to be consistently one of the BEST Italian restaurants in Tampa. Afterwards looking for something to do on a Tuesday evening in Ybor City, we notice the place across the street is very busy, Streetcar Charlies. They were having "2 for 1" dinners this evening, and had live music in one part of the restaurant, the bar area was also very busy.
The GLBT community has done an amazing job bringing this West End part of Ybor City back to life. With over 8 specific GLBT establishments and a host of more in the area that are GLBT friendly, they have coined that area of Ybor City GaYbor. After Streetcar Charlies, we wondered over to Club 714 and then G. Bar which were both very busy and very entertaining. We received news that yet another entertainment venue will be opening shortly. It's almost becoming like areas similar to North Halstead in Chicago, or Chelsea and the Village in New York City(of course not on that scale).
On our way back to the car, parked in the street at a meter, I noticed the City Parking Enforcement about to write a ticket for an expired meter. As soon as he saw me we chatted for a bit, I told him I heard the mayor was getting rid of meters in Ybor, he told me that yes, the meters would be gone after April 12th in Ybor, and since we were just a few days away he would not give me ticket...what a nice human being. I wish him well, as he then told us that he will be out of a job after April 12th.

Ybor City Italian and Dessert!

I had some co-workers in town from Pennsylvania, they were very happy to be here for the whole week, even if the temps got to the 30's in the eve and hovered near 60 the past two days. I took them to Ybor City, they have heard so much about it, and we dined on Italian food - The Laughing Cat restaurant on the corner of 8th Avenue and 15th Street. By far one of the best Italian establishments in the Tampa area, everything is very fresh and tasty. Its a small NY style place, with about a dozen or so tables, and art from area artists is hung around the walls and changes each time I visit. Shamus provided us excellent service this evening, we dined on a Tortellini Special that included Filet of Beef and Shrimp in a light white wine/tomato sauce, the swordfish special, which looked like like half the fish, again with a light wine sauce with a hint of lemon, Shrimp Scampi with Angel Hair, very garlicky with the right amount of spices and a bountiful amount of Shrimp, and salads and Pasta Fagioli, loaded with beans and flavor. I visit this place many times a year, and have never once been disappointed with service, and food quality. One note, the dishes are HUGE!
We needed a walk after dinner, and thats another thing nice about Ybor, is it allows you to walk 7th Avenue and do some people watching or window browsing at the interesting and funky shops, cafe's and bars that line the street. It was early, about 730pm, but the clubs were just starting to open, live music was just starting to pour out of some of the establishments, and people were starting to converge on the Avenue.
We stopped by Tre Amici at The Bunker, excellent coffee/espresso shoppe with fresh made desserts. The was an acoustic guitar player providing some interesting alternative vibe to this very well kept and clean coffee house. Splitting a HUGE piece of Chocolate Chocolate Cake and some coffee's made for a perfect ending to the evening, and my co-workers last night in Tampa.

This weekend looks to be another busy one in town, the following are some of the bigger and busier in the area:
Bay Area Renaissance Festival
Gasparilla Festival of the Arts
Gasparilla International Film Festival
Florida Strawberry Festival
Safety Harbor Seafood Festival

Treasure Island beaches and an Ybor City weekend!

Friday I did what is now becoming a bit of a routine, but a good routine, seeing my friend Rob from the band Buffalo Strange play solo at The Hut on John's Pass, Madeira Beach. This time I ordered the Black n Blue burger, and the burger just seemed to be a bit tough. My friend Debi advised me last time that her burger was also a bit tough. The mellow tunes kept us happy, it was very warm, we haven't had the typical afternoon thunderstorms in about a week to cool things off during the day, but there were plenty of fans blowing in this LARGE tiki hut on the water. After taking Debi home, John and I wanted Ice Cream, and found the Dairy Inn, located on MLK Blvd(9th Street) near 11th Avenue in St. Pete. Kind of like Dairy Joy in South Tampa, a walk up window with soft serve ice cream cones and sundaes, with a few covered tables. There is a video game room in the back with a few 'old school' video games. Lisa and Brian gave us a shout to join them at their Beach Condo they had for the weekend on Treasure Island, so we ventured back out there. It was nice overlooking the WIDE white, sandy beaches of Treasure Island in the evening from the condo. For a late night snack, we venured out to Monster Slice Pizza on St. Pete Beach, for some very good, very thin and crispy pizza. They were loaded with toppings, and plenty of cheese.

Saturday, John and I ventured back to Treasure Island, and brought our bikes. We saw a bike/walking path behind the condo along the beach, and wanted to bike it today. To our surprise it only went about 6 blocks to the north of the condo, and about 10 blocks to the south. I would have thought it to be much longer, and span the entire Treasure Island beach behind all the hotels, motels and condo areas. What was nice was you can bike or walk to a few good places for a cool drink and maybe catch a band or guitarist(runs behind Bilmar Resort, Thunderbird Resort, and many mom and pop type motels as well as two Public Beach areas for Treasure Island with restrooms and snacks). For lunch by the pool at the condo, we headed to ABC liquor for refreshments and The Floridian for Cubans. I have heard about The Floridian(located on the causeway heading to Treasure Island), and how famous their Cuban Sandwiches are, and no doubt, some of the best. Piled high ham, roast pork, swiss cheese, mustard and pickle slices.
Saturday night, we cleaned up and headed to Ybor City for dinner. Italian was on my mind, and there is no better than The Laughing Cat on the corner of 8th Ave and 15th Street. The dark skies, and rain kept most of the crowds away this evening in Ybor, so we were able to be seated promptly. The menu is huge, as is the portions. It is best to split most of the items, they are that big. I had the Salmon with Mussels, very Large portion of Salmon, with about 8 HUGE mussles in their shell around the Salmon in a light tomato/garlic, white wine sauce. The others had Chicken Fettuccine with huge chucks of chicken, and Farfalle diMare, loaded with Seafood and Boe Tie pasta in a Vodka Sauce. Everything is FRESH, and can be made to order. For fun we then ventured out to the area of Ybor what is quickly becoming known 'gaYbor' district(bordered by 9th ave and 6th Ave and 12th street to 16th Street). Lounge 7-14, G. Bar, Flirt, MC Film Festival, and soon the new location of Wranglers are all in this area. I dont venture to these type places much, but Lounge 7-14 was actually very cool, we played darts, and there was some great rock and commercial tunes/videos playing. G.Bar was just opening when we went so there was no cover, and you can play pool there for free, so we did just that until the crowds started filling up(around 11:30). We then headed to Wranglers, only to find out they are closed until there new location opens up soon. A quick drink in Green Iguana, which used to be my favorite hang out in Ybor, was barely holding a crowd, and the people there this evening seemed a little sleazy(two very heavy set women, with barely any clothes on, pole dancing in front of the band and making out together). Its difficult to listen to a live band, when there is dance/hip-hop blaring from the room next door, they should place a thick curtain between the two rooms. We went back to Lounge 7-14, which had become filled, and very smokey(seems they need a filter to get rid of the smoke that quickly fills up this lounge when more than a few people are puffing on some smokes).
All in all, and nice weekend to get out to Tampa's beaches, and explore the Tampa's historic district.