One recent weekend, I woke up, put on my lime muumuu decorated with little strawberries, and went outside to putter around in my nonexistent garden – a couple of potted cacti. The weather was absolutely sublime: sunny and breezy, with just a hint of Florida sparkle in it. The sparkle is hard to define – it isn't orange juice, or the smell of Cuban sandwiches, or even the feel of warm Gulf water. The sparkle is just that little something that causes us to make excuses to sit outdoors and soak up the sunshine, sighing to ourselves, "Ahhhhhh. This is Florida." It's a reason to put up with all the old folk, traffic jams and the other growing pains of Tampa Bay.
I was in search of the sparkle the other day when I stumbled across Bongo's – a generic snack shack on St. Pete Beach, tucked away behind a hotel (5800 Gulf Rd., St. Petersburg, 727-867-3993). The construction was old-school: a wooden bar, perched on stilts, with some crappy plastic chairs on the cement ground floor. Go upstairs to place your order: it's a typical bar, with a typical bar menu of grouper sandwiches, burgers and the like. Nothing fancy – the clam chowder comes from SYSCO. But ask them to bring your food to you outside … this is the secret.
Because Bongo's isn't very established yet, or maybe because it's not that great, you're likely to get the whole empty deck on the beach to yourself, perfect for sipping on a Corona with lime and munching on Bongo's special shrimp. The shrimp weren't all that special: just three skewers of four peeled and de-veined critters, doused in a combination of Italian dressing and blackened seasoning. But the sunset combined with the shrimp – watching the sky go red and pink and streaking with pastel purple, licking the excess salty sauce from my fingers, washing it all down with a much-needed swig of Mexican beer – was spectacular.
For a secluded outdoor lunch, I dig El Puerto (1623 E. 5th Ave., Tampa, 813-248-511), which recently received four planets from our reviewer. Open a while, closed a while, and now open again, El Puerto has four little tables outdoors at which you can chow down on some delicious Argentinean-fusion fare, in between the dining room, and the separate kitchen. It's not fancy – you can see into the kitchen, where the cook is shaking his stuff as he fries up chicken. But kicking it outside the orange buildings is a pleasure: there's a small fountain, a wooden lattice overhead, and potted plants shading the view of Centro Ybor. And while the food isn't fast, it's certainly tasty. A co-worker received a large plate of ropa vieja, saturated in yummy grease and topped with sautéed diced onion and red peppers. After some ordering confusion, I received a short rib and sausage plate. The short rib was fatty, and chewy in the wrong way. But the sausage: oh Lord, the sausage. With crisp outer skin, and a flavor reminiscent of Polish sausages (caraway seeds, methinks), the sausage was an absolute delight.
But the best place to eat outdoors – at least for a taco-craving chica like me – is El Taconazo (913 E. Hillsborough Ave., Tampa, 813-232-5889). The buzz on this place is huge – it's the taco bus on Hillsborough and Nebraska you've been hearing about. Yes, the bus has been converted to a kitchen, and you'll place your orders with a gal in a do-rag who leans out from what would have been a window.
From the outside, it does not look like much: a nondescript white building, next to a bus, with a big sign declaring "tacos burritos ceviche" in hand-painted letters. But in between the white building and the kitchen-bus is a special little hideaway: four brightly painted tables under a makeshift roof of white and green metal planks, decorated by flags that flap gently in lovely-smelling breezes.
And the tacos are unbelievably good. On my first visit, I tried four kinds: the barbacoa, the pork, a regular carne, and a gringo chopped-chicken. Traditionally, barbacoa is the meat from a cow's head – or cheek – slow-cooked. I don't know how El Taconazo makes it – frankly, I don't want to know. I just want to eat it: two little corn tortillas cupping the sweet and tangy meat – absolutely delicious.
The cost is only $4.25 for two of these babies, along with a healthy heaping of rice and beans. Rice is as you'd expect: moist, orange, Spanish, and dotted with carrot bits and shrunken peas. But the refried beans are sublime, topped with generic, out-of-the-green-can Parmesan cheese. Let the beans sit long enough, and the cheese (surprisingly) melts. While you eat your taco, let the meat-grease drip onto both side dishes: the flavor combination is amazing.
Mix this delectable little meal – my favorite so far in town – with the seductive Spanish rhythms pumping from the bus and the cool Florida breezes that somehow make even Hillsborough Avenue into an amazing place to be; and somehow, you're defining that Florida sparkle.
Get outside and eat something – this weather won't last long.
Tell me about your favorite places to eat outside. food@weeklyplanet.com.
This article appears in Jan 19-25, 2005.