Dome Grill Inc

Disclaimer: the review of Dome Grill Inc was carried out under conditions of great duress. It was Sunday morning at about 3pm, and St. EATersburg had not yet had breakfast. Wild eyed and frantic, we stormed down Central Avenue in search of anyplace still serving eggs. Objectivity notwithstanding, Dome really hit the spot. After placing our order at the counter, we sat outside on the patio to wait for our food and gnaw on sugar packets ($0).

Jessie, in her Vision Quest to eat every breakfast sandwich known to man, ordered eggs, turkey and American cheese on a plain bagel with home fries ($6). The sandwich was just what you'd expect: the bagel was soft and and buttery, if a bit on the small side, topped with soft scrambled eggs and gooey cheese. It was a fairly average breakfast sandwich, but nothin' wrong with that. The potatoes were nice and crispy. Although they tasted a bit like day-old frying oil, this was nothing some ketchup couldn't mask.















Jonathan, on his own personal journey, ordered the bacon cheeseburger.

Counter girl: Hi, sir, what can I get for you today?
Jonathan: BACON CHEESEBURGER
Counter girl: Please stop yelling, sir.
Jonathan: CHEEBURGERCHEEBURGER NOW
Counter girl: You really are sweating profusely.

The burger was pretty awesome, if a bit pricey for a diner ($10). Overly big, juicy and piled high with tons of melted cheddar and perfectly crisp bacon. The fries were great: nicely browned and well-salted.















The grease congealed in our stomachs and made us happily sleepy. Now that we'd had breakfast, we were ready for bed. Dome Grill is a very solid greasy spoon, and as the only diner we've ever seen with al fresco seating, we give it a thumbs up.

Dome Grill Inc
561 Central Ave
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
(727) 823-5090

Red Mesa Cantina

Red Mesa Cantina was St. EATersburg's sophomore effort in downtown St. Pete. One of us had enjoyed the restaurant previously for a very pleasant business lunch. As we were soon to find out, one doesn't go to RMC on a Saturday night for the food, one goes for the bachelorette parties.

Before we even met our server, we saw two gaggles of gurlz in matching prom dresses, one lucky lady sporting a crown and the other a rather vulgar necklace. We promptly ordered this















to calm our nerves. Weak and a bit cloying after your 4th glass, but a great deal at $24.

We started off with the Totopos ($8), tortilla chips with three dips: "Christy's spicy chili cheese dip," black bean chorizo and guac. We're not sure who Christy is, but she sure likes Cheese Whiz. Don't get us wrong, it was yummy, but you could get the same stuff at a skating rink for your 11th birthday. The black bean chorizo was the best of the three, with a nice smoky depth of flavor. The guac was absolutely tasteless. Oh yeah, the tortillas were okay.
















We spied the 8th bachelorette party of the evening just as our Bombas ($7) arrived. These were fried potato balls filled with shrimp, chihuahua cheese and Mexican chorizo. The crispy pork bits inside were juicy, but the Bombas were quite sweet with no acidic or spicy counterbalance, so pretty soon they just tasted like meat candy.















Last came the tacos, a study in contrasts. The duck ($4) was clearly the worst thing we'd eaten all evening, while the shrimp ($3.75) was far and away the best. According to the menu, the duck comes with pineapple, goat cheese and red chile jelly, which tasted identical to Smuckers' trademark Seedless Red Raspberry flavor. Gross. The shrimp, on the other hand, was delightful. Several big, juicy shrimp were piled on fresh cabbage slaw and topped with habanero aioli and pico de gallo. Yum. We wish we had just ordered a half dozen of these.
















While this wasn't the best meal we've had in St. Pete, or even in the past 24 hours, we'll surely be back, as there are definitely some winners on the menu. And it's three blocks from our apartment. Congrats to St. Pete's newlyweds!

Red Mesa Cantina
128 3rd St S
St Petersburg, FL 33701
(727) 896-6372

Acropolis Greek Taverna

For St. EATersburg's first review, we decided to check out the brand new Acropolis Greek Taverna on Central Ave. We figured, they're new to town, we're new to town: a perfect fit. Our gracious host, a 50-something Greek man smoking hookah on the patio, informed us that at the Taverna's opening the previous night, "There were 4,000 people lined up around the block." 4,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong...and they weren't.

First course was free bread and feta cheese dip. This was simple but killer. Bread was warm and seasoned with herbs, crispy on the outside, soft and pillowy on the inside. The dip was so good that we asked for a re-up before our wine even arrived. Definitely an upgrade from stale baguettes and ice cold butter pats.















Next up was Taramosalata ($5): a salted and cured roe spread, served with pita. This was very fishy in a good way, rich, salty and delicious. The pita that came with it was warm and olive oil-soft. The portion was quite generous. It would easily have been enough for 4 or 5 people, more than enough for 2, and certainly a great deal for 5 bucks.















Next our friendly waitress brought us the Athenian Fish Sandwich ($8) and our side salad ($2). At first glance, we were a little disappointed with the fish to bread ratio. However, after slathering the roll with perhaps a bit too much garlic dill aoili, and properly shmooshing the sandwich down, we got a nice mouthful of perfectly cooked fish in every bite. It also came with a bit of pesto on top, but it really took a backseat to the other flavors.
















Post-shmooshing:















The side salad that came with the sandwich was perhaps the low point of the meal. The lettuce looked a bit wan, the tomato chunks were unmanageably large, and there was a dearth of other veggies. It came with a nice chunk of feta, but was a touch dry. The dressing was a also a little sweet. Overall, it felt like kind of an afterthought. However, for $2, there were no hard feelings.
















The service and execution is often sketchy for restaurants in their first few weeks of business, but Acropolis was really on point here. The service was friendly and attentive, and the food was very tasty. Add to that late hours, affordable booze, great prices and outdoor A/C (wtf??), and we're sure to be regulars.

Acropolis Greek Taverna
515 Central Ave.
St. Petersburg, FL 33701
727.823.1010