The State of Food Writing in Tampa
May 13th, 2007
Since the last time I posted to this site, the world of food writing in Tampa has changed quite a bit. Yes, It’s been a while since you’ve heard from me, but I’m hoping you can cut me some slack. Brian Reis is still banging out solid restaurant reviews week after week for Creative Loafing. The Tampa Tribune still has a pretty weak and unknown food critic (I generally don’t waste my time reading them), but the biggest news is the retirement of Chris Sherman, the longtime restaurant critic and food writer for the St. Pete Times. It seems all of the dining out, eating and drinking got the best of him and he decided to step down into other writing roles that didn’t require him to eat as much. It’s probably the best for him, but with his retirement I’m afraid we may have lost the foundation for food writing in Tampa.
For several weeks, the St. Pete Times had several guest writers take turns writing restaurant reviews before they finally chose Laura Reiley, a local writer and author of Florida Travel books. I’ve only read a couple of her columns, so the jury is still out on her expertise in the food world. That being said, I realized that we’re in trouble after reading her glowing review of two brand new chain restaurants making their debuts in Tampa. Yea, you read me right, chain restaurants as a review in the paper. Is she kidding?
I can understand a review of a higher class chain restaurant, like Ruth’s Chris or Roy’s, but the fact that she chose to write a column so early in her tenure about two mediocre, mid priced chains is alarming. I’m not really sure where we are headed, but I don’t like the looks of it. Another noteworthy retirement is that of Matt Ragas, a New Orleans native who’d been writing the food reviews for Sticks of Fire, a popular Tampa blog. When I first moved here and was featured in the New York Times, Tommy at Sticks of Fire did a neat little article about me that created quite a buzz. Unfortunately Matt will be moving out of the area in a couple weeks and guess who has stepped in to write a weekly food column? Yes, it’s me. Check out the site often and keep an eye out for some exciting talk about food in the Tampa Bay area. Just in case you miss a post, I’ll re-post everything here as an archive of my food writing. See you soon!
May 14th, 2007 at 12:44 am
I’d somehow missed those reviews. Who in their right minds (or even their wrong minds) wants “shellacked” ribs that are falling off the bones?
Apparently this reviewer is taking the approach that the newest chain dumbed-down nursing-home glop is the pinnacle of fine dining. I expect far better of the Times.
May 14th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Kevin, Thought the same thing after I saw she reviewed Pollo Tropical and BJ’s. We actually went to BJ’s a few weekends ago to check it out. To avoid the long wait (this may be the biggest thing to ever hit Pinellas Park!
) we sat in the open seating, bar area. Our server was terrible, which I realize partly tainted my view of the place. The nachos we ordered as an appetizer were just bad. On the plus side, the deep dish pizza we ordered was good and I guess that’s what BJ’s is known for. Beer also couldn’t complain about, but we have no plans to go back especially given the hooplah to be seated etc. Reminded me in some ways of a Cheesecake Factory type set up. Maybe things will improve the longer they are open, maybe.
As for Pollo Tropical, I didn’t even think she was describing a fast food place ha. Have been to several over the years when I lived in/visited Orlando and they are universally not well run (think Mickey D’s without a visible manager). Maybe the Pinellas Park one is a shining example of everything right and they’ve fixed this issue. Food isn’t bad, the best thing for a fast food joint would be their salsa/sauce bar, but the last time we went to one in Orlando the thing was disheveled and sauces needed to be refilled etc. We also waited forever for mediocre food. Pollo Tropical PR has gotta be loving the Times though
September 19th, 2007 at 7:09 am
What’s up Uptown?
Been a long time since our Webtender days. Glad to see you’ve made a nice home for yourself in Tampa. I’ve tried to pick up where you left off and have started writing in NOLA. Little bit o’ food, little bit o’ tourism, etc etc. Let me know what you think.
http://attheparade.blogspot.com/2007/09/branding-of-city.html
Give me a call if you ever make it back this way.
Scott