They are serious about breakfast: About six months after Andy Seely and his wife Heather had their first son, Marek, Seely started taking the baby out to breakfast on Sundays, allowing his wife to sleep in. “I went to Mama’s Family Kitchen and ordered toast and coffee,” says Andy. “I tried to take pictures and he puked.” The pictures evolved into a blog, and a few years later Tampa Bay Breakfasts (tampabaybreakfasts.com) was born. “Since then,” he says, “we’ve achieved pseudo C-list fame.”
Boys are hungry for: “Buckets of bacon!” exclaims big bro Marek, now 6. Andy orders coffee (not for the kids, they get hot chocolate), blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs and hash browns.
When the food arrives: “All boys stand down,” says Andy. It’s a common catchphrase used to wrangle the wild boys (though they’re really quite good). Andy portions out food and eventually gets to his own blueberry pancake short stack.
Making a memory: Getting Marek and Ivo out of bed and ready for breakfast has become quite a feat. “Getting them out of bed is getting harder and harder,” says Andy. “But I know that even if they don’t remember being here when they are older, they will remember being told about it.” And that’s reason enough for the busy father and MacDill defense contractor to hustle the troops in the morning.
Why they love Skyway Jack’s: “It’s the best place ever for breakfast,” says Andy. “Consistently good food, fair prices, and character in buckets.”
Skyway Jack’s, 2795 34th St. S, St. Petersburg, 727-867-1907. Read Andy’s blog at tampabaybreakfasts.com.
This article appears in Jun 13-19, 2013.