Fray's Donuts - Northeast St Petersburg, FL

Having a hankering for donuts one rainy morning, I headed over to Fray's Donuts in Northeast St Petersburg. Fray's is an old fashioned sort of place with quaint stools at the counter. The donuts are what really drew my attention, though. Although there was a selection of muffins along with the donuts, I went with a traditional pick of donuts. I ordered a chocolate honey dipped, a sour cream donut, and my favorite, powdered sugar. All three tasted delicious, but my favorite was the powdered sugar. It had a great taste and powdered sugar was dropping everywhere, so it was messy, just how it should be. Along with the donuts, I had a plain old cup of joe with cream and it hit the spot just right. This is a great place to get a donut fix.

Fray's Donuts

5236 16th St North

St Petersburg, FL 33703

727-528-1410

Nordstrom Cafe Bistro - International Mall, Tampa

On a recent shopping expedition to International Mall in Tampa, my family and I needed a break from the shopping madness and decided to stop in for lunch at Nordstrom's Cafe Bistro. I didn't know whether or not to expect good things from a cafe inside a store, but I was more than pleasantly surprised at my experience. I was worried for a moment when we had to place our order at the cash register before being seated, but after that everything was perfect. After placing our order, we were seated by the hostess and then our server stopped by our table to look at our order receipt and to let us know he would be back with our drink orders. A short while later and he was back with a lovely chardonnay we had ordered.

So, we enjoyed our wine and while waiting for our food, we observed other food orders coming out and thought the fries looked really good and we wanted to order some, but I wasn't sure if we would need to go back to the register to order or if we could place an order at the table. When our server stopped by, he assured us that any further orders could be placed at our table. Soon, our food arrived. We had ordered the crab bisque, margarita pizza, and the yummy looking french fries. The crab bisque was amazing with the perfect spicy kick to it. The margarita pizza was delicious with a nice tender crust. Then there were the fries, which we were glad we ordered. They were wonderful and they had a lovely aioli that tasted like kalamata olives were one of the key ingredients. Finally, we ended our meal with the white chocolate bread pudding, which was pure decadence. The bread pudding was topped with shaved white chocolate and surrounded by a white chocolate sauce, raspberry coulis, and a generous dollop of whip cream. What a perfect way to end the meal. The service there was great and we didn't want for anything. This is a great little oasis to enjoy a great meal when you are ready to get away from all that hustle and bustle in the mall.

Nordstrom Cafe Bistro

2223 North West Shore Blvd #300

Tampa, FL 33607

813-875-4400

L'Eden Restaurant and Bar - downtown Tampa

My family and I popped into L'Eden one Saturday afternoon and had quite a lovely experience. The inside of the restaurant is quaint with its small tables by the large windows. This space itself is very small and has a european flavor. There is a small bar that had brioche and croissants on it, when we were there. We were seated at a lovely corner spot by the windows.

After a quick look at the menu, we were excited to see they offered sweet and savory crepes. We had one vegetable crepe, of which leeks was the lovely and dominant filling. We also ordered one croissant sandwich with melted brie. Both of these were served a generous serving of roasted potatoes and leafy greens. Both dishes were divine and went lovely with a glass of red wine. After that, we had to try some sweet crepes, so we ordered one filled with chocolate and one butter and sugar crepe. Both were so yummy and the crepes were thin and delicate, just like they should be. I can't wait until I have another lazy Saturday, so we can pay a visit there again.

L'Eden Restaurant and Bar

500 North Tampa Street

Tampa, FL 33602

813-221-4795

Samaria Cafe - Tampa, FL

Looking for breakfast on a beautiful Saturday morning, my family and I headed to downtown Tampa to try the breakfast at Samaria Cafe. We were greeted warmly upon entering the cafe and observed that was the rule for whoever walked in the door. The cafe has a lot of bright and open space and you can be seated at a booth or regular table. We asked for a table right in the center of things, so we could observe our surroundings.

After looking over the menu, we ordered a cheeseburger and fries, a mushroom omelette, and pancakes. After a reasonable period of time, our food arrived. All of the food was okay, but nothing really wowed me. I really wished we had enjoyed the food there more because the setting was a cozy breakfast spot and the service and attention offered to the customers by the owners and servers was excellent. However, I do notice that there are a lot of raves on the food by other urbanspoon users, so I would still say one should give it a try if they are in the area because you very well may have a different perspective on the food than we did.

Samaria Cafe

502 North Tampa St

Tampa, FL 33602

813-223-1674

Primos Restaurant and Lounge - Miami, FL

On a recent stay in downtown Miami, my family and I headed out to find someplace near our hotel where we could eat. Our hotel was surrounded by lots of other hotels, so we figured we would venture away from them to find something decent to eat. Making our way through different hotel lobbies to get out of the neighborhood, we passed Primos, which was located in the hotel lobby of Doubletree. I always have this thought that nothing good comes from eating at restaurants that are in hotels, so with that in mind, we passed it by. Well after walking around the area around the hotels for awhile, we found NOTHING. So, we decided to head back to Primos, because we were hopeful that being Italian food, it at least couldn't be that bad. I am so glad there wan't anything else nearby, or we would have missed a gem. Primos itself is a relaxing environment where you can grab a table or a seat at the bar, although we opted for a table.

First, we ordered some white and red wine from their wines by the glass selection. I have to say both wines were nice, which I can't say happens a lot when ordering by the glass. Our server told us about the specials of the day and then we looked over the menu. We opted to try pure comfort food, so we ordered a spaghetti bolgnaise, and a meaty lasagna and both came with a salad. Both dished were out of this world. If you are watching your waistline, these are probably not for you, but they were so delicious. That was a truly enjoyable experience!

Primos Restaurant and Lounge

(lobby of Doubletree Grand Hotel on Biscayne Bay)

1717 North Bayshore Drive

Miami, FL 33132

305-371-9055

Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor and Restaurant - Dania Beach, FL

I went to Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlor, and I have been dreaming about it ever since. My family and I recently met up there with a friend of ours and her family on her recommendation. This is a place our friend had been going to since a teenager, and she introduced it to us. This place has been around a lot longer than our friend, since 1956 it has been serving up ice cream and food. The outside of the restaurant looks like it belongs to a different era. Walking inside Jaxson's, there is a small candy store that sells candy like I remember from back in the day, when I was a young child.

We were all given a table, then we took a few minutes to look over the ice cream menu. My eyes about popped out of my head at the number of delicious choices. My family was going to order an individual ice cream for each person, but noticing that my friend was ordering an ice cream to share with her husband because she said the ice cream desserts are huge, I decided to order one to share. I chose the Towering Short Cakes, which is pound cake topped with vanilla ice cream, strawberries and whipped cream. Oh, my goodness, it was so delicious and words cannot describe how much I enjoyed it. I was so glad that we decided to share, because my husband and I could not finish that ice cream between the two of us. This was supposed to be an afternoon snack, but after that, we were pretty much done eating for the rest of the day. The only sad thing about this place is that it is four hours away from where we live. If you live in the area or are visiting the area, this is a must stop place for the taste and experience.

Jaxson's Ice Cream Parlour and Restaurant

128 South Federal Highway

Dania Beach, FL 33004

954-923-4445

Twisted Cork Grille - St Petersburg, FL

Craving a burger in a bad way, yet wanting to try something new, my search led me to the Twisted Cork Grille in St Petersburg. I had read a lot of reviews about the Twisted Cork Grille and their great burgers and food. The reviews also prepared me for the appearance of the restaurant, which is attached to a rather old motel. From the description of others, I got the idea that if I can get past the outside, everything changes for the better, once you walk in the door. Those descriptions were pretty much spot on. While the inside is not fancy, it is cozy and and I forgot all about the outside of the restaurant. We were told to grab a table wherever we liked, so we found a suitable spot. After we gave our drink order, we took a minute to look over the menu.

As I already knew I wanted a burger, it was a pretty easy decision for me. I ordered a Twisted Cork Burger with cheddar cheese, which is their basic burger. The burger comes with fries and a pickle. After a short wait, my burger was served. This was a yummy and juicy burger and satisfied my burger craving and I loved the ciabatta bread that it was served with instead of a regular bun. On their board, they offered blackberry cobbler served with ice cream as their dessert of the day, so I just had to try that. I love blackberries and cobbler, so that was a winning combination with vanilla ice cream melting over the warm cobbler. I left the Twisted Cork happy and very full.

Twisted Cork Grille

3405 34th Street North

St Petersburg, FL 33713

727-525-2675