I tried all these places on Friday during the day. First one right off. Then the beach. Then back for lunch. They are all in the "town" near the corner of Sams Ave and Canal St. Almost by the "ruins". I should mention that this is a great time to visit. No rain. Good temps.
Jason's Corner - They told me this place was a soda jerk (is that what they called it in the 50's?). It's been this place for twelve years. They serve all three meals. I was there for breakfast. I had a two egg plate with sausage and hash browns and toast for $7. It was well prepared. Perfect over easy eggs. Non oily hash browns. Dry (as requested) rye toast. Decent links. Service was fine. The place is nicer looking than the last breakfast place I tried. Big ceilings. Patio. Booths and tables. Period posters of California piers. It seats around seventy all together. It was popular, but, I didn't have to wait. The breakfast and lunch menu is what you'd expect. Good pricing. Almost everything a single digit expense. The dinner menu was surprising. They had some higher end stuff like filet mignon in the low twenties. They also had an ok wine menu that seemed to only be 2X retail and topped out at twenty a bottle. It's right on the corner. It was better than I expected. Good value. The also had a takeout window on Sams Ave.
The Local Pearl Oyster Shoppe - This is why I came back so quickly. I saw it last week and it intrigued me. I wasn't misled. This (and the next place) is as good or better than anything we have in the magic kingdom. It's small. Two tables outside. A six person counter. And a few tables inside. It's only open for lunch (11-3) on Friday and Saturday and a brunch on Sunday. Dinner the rest of the time (minus off days - if there are any). The place is mostly white tile. A big, weathered mirror behind the raw bar. Very authentic, clean and vibrant. Their oyster selection (mostly locale) was well sourced. I usually only get giddy over cold weather oysters, but, they made me reassess my beliefs. I tried 5 (I don't feel like listing them all) Florida grown and one Virginian. Their whole selection. All were fresh and beautiful and tasty. They have a three oyster minimum, but, they let me try one of all five (I doubled up the Iroc) . And at under two bucks a piece, it was a steal. The grand total was $12. I also tried their Ahi nachos to see if they skrimped on the tuna. Nope. Good quality. Fresh. Decent allotment. Also came with chips, a little guac and a mayo sauce that could benefit from a smaller nozzle on the dispensing bottle. That cost $9. They also sell (this is from the to do menu and it seems different from the menu I saw - maybe a lunch dinner thing): tater tots and caviar, anchovies, ceviche, cooked oysters, mussels, clams, lobster hush puppies, calamari, grits, ahi burger, po boy, fish tacos, lobster roll, linguini and clams and other things. Things like the calamari had a twist - Ritz cracker coating. Brunch had some cool things like shrimp and grits. They said they try and get whatever is in season. They also sell wine and beer. I think cocktails too. I believe they said the owner is the guy behind the old Spanish River whatever it was called. It was a renowned place, so, I'm not surprised this place is great. Open less than six months. Service was great. Especially the skilled shucker.
Prima Pizza Cucina - I didn't even see this place last week. It is on Sams Ave (side of Jason's). The owner said he was from South Florida and this was NY style pizza (parents home). I'm from NY and this is not NY pizza. It's way better. Artisan all the way. Thin. Huge. Small crust. No air bubbles. Unreal coverage. Great ingredients. Interesting combinations. Charred bottom. And it looked like they did all this in a regular pizza oven. No coal or wood fire. I had the large Bee Line for $19. It seemed a little pricey until I saw the coverage. Wall to wall soppressata and chiles. A neutral garlic tomato sauce. Decent cheese. Calabrian chiles. Hot honey. Basil. I did it mostly to try the honey. There were so many hot elements that I couldn't really pick out the hot honey on its own. It came off as sweet. And that was better (believe it or not) when the pizza was cold. Same with the soppressata. It was firmer when eaten cold. I had a few heated slices on Friday night and the rest (cold) on Saturday for dinner as Auburn dispatched Alabama (Goal Wide). Delish with a nice Malbec. And (wonder of wonders) it didn't clog up my bowels for a week. They have eighteen pie suggestions. A small (still big) Margherita costs $15. A $21 large white clam pie was the most expensive. You can create your own small pie for $10. They also sell be the slice until 3pm. Didn't get the cost. Calzone is $12. Stromboli is $15. Sausage roll is $14. They also do nine small plates (garlic knots to baked sausage rigatoni), six salads and six sandwiches (Italian beef to meatball parm). Thirteen was the ceiling on all of those. Single digits for some. A customer at the counter gave me a garlic knot. It was good too. The ladies to my right had the meatball app and an arugula and prosciutto pizza. Both looked great. A garden of arugula. The place looks cool. Monochrome. Kind of small and rectangular. Most seats are down the "hall" at the counter. Two tables up front. Two patio tables. Kitchen on other side of the counter. One waitress. One cook. Place seems small enough to be handled by them. I didn't wait long. A really pleasant surprise. Open for one year.
*There was a place down the street called something like Rickey's Canteen. It was a poke place. It closed. There is also a NSB Brewery on Canal and a Thai place that never seems to be open. On US 1 I passed a new taco and chicken place. Down Business 44 I spied another breakfast spot (Auntie something) and a Gator's. A surfy place I tried just across the drawbridge (towards the beach area) closed. A pizza place and bagel place opened on the main bridge road near that Garlic restaurant. Not sure if I'm heading back this way for a while. This update will have to sustain you.
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