Eating Like a Local

Hi.  My name is Sylvia and I am an Eater.  If you are a member of Eaters Anonymous like I am then, welcome!!  My eating is not necessarily a PROBLEM (OK, I MAY be in some denial here) but I have to admit to being passionate about my food; how else can I expect to get help for my affliction?!  I really love really good food that, hopefully, someone else has already vetted.  I love to try new spots on a whim, sure, but if I get a great recommendation from someone I trust then, all the better.  And so it was the other day that my honey and I got to eat some really great food on the rec of total strangers from a place we couldn't have imagined in a part of Tampa I had never been to.  THIS is what I love about being a tourist in your own town.  You can hang an odd left and fall smack into a gem of a spot that isn't even on the radar of Yelp.  Our intention was to eat at a Haitian restaurant recommended by our masseur Kendall.  We checked the hours of operation  on Yelp and it said, "open at 11am". (We didn't know this wasn't a mandate but merely a suggestion 😞)  We dutifully arrive around 1130 only to find a nice hand scrawled note on the door which read, "open at noon today".  Normally, I might have gotten back in the car and waited since I did have my mouth tuned up for Creole cuisine  But today was NOT that normal 'be patient Sylvia the Eater' day.  We had a couple of other somewheres to be and I was not in the mood for being hangry.  Besides, as I truly took a good look around the neighborhood, I discovered that I was in international food alley.  Across the street were mediterranean, Caribbean, and a Chinese-Latin restaurant (yep, you read that right)  that I would have happily substituted for the Creole mash-up I  was previously so looking forward to.  And then, right as we were contemplating our next move,  out the corner of our eye we spied a couple of healthy looking brothers sitting down to a boxed takeout meal right outside of a mercado.  "What cha'll eatin?"  I called out wistfully.  "Food from inside the grocery store", one replied.  "They got hot food and its real good.  And not expensive either".  Those brothers had me at hello!  A quick "whaaaat" look between Raymond and I and we knew we had to check this place out.  At first glance, it seemed to be your typical densely stocked Spanish store with items I wouldn't even begin to know how to cook.  But whoa buddy!  At the BACK of the store was a veritable smorgasbord of rich pipping hot food that made your mouth water immediately.  We looked like fat kids in a candy store, eyes scanning the items, quickly calculating costs in calories and coins.  I have almost no inhibitions when it comes to eating.  If it even REMOTELY looks good I will at least try a taste.  The lovely lady behind the counter must have sensed my glee as she happily offered me a sample of some tripe soup. Oh my word!!  I was in instant eater love!  Who hides the best looking latin food I've ever laid eyes on in the BACK of a grocery store?  Very smart store owners is my new answer.  More people were buying prepared food than were shopping for uncooked groceries.  Who would even BOTHER to cook if they had  this feast at their disposal?!  I'm pretty certain I wouldn't!!  There had to be 20 separate dishes if there was one!!!!  (Am I overusing exclamation marks? I almost cannot help myself!!)  You could eat a different meal everyday for at LEAST 2 weeks and be ready to circle back with no problem.  We were pretty giddy as we ordered food to go--For me, the oxtails, rice and plaintains and he, the bacalao with rice and plaintains.  A cup of tripe soup and a cup of chicken noodle soup for Dad rounded out our order.  Every bite was sooooo good!  We laughed about our 'good misfortune'  which is one way to look at being disappointed by one thing while being blessed by another.  Dear reader, the best recs may not come from an App but from the lived experience.  Lah dah dee and bon appetit!

The Haitian restaurants we still haven't tried. LOL