Casual dining along 30a?

[Smiling JOe]

I saw some earlier comments on Yianni's Seafood Grille...anyone else care to comment. I know we plan on cooking in some nights but would be open to trying something different than what I had down there on spring break. Also, if we were planning an adult dinner out and had to choose between Cafe Tango and Borago what are the recommendations?

Yianni's is often overlooked, but they have good prices and pretty good food, including pizzas and burgers. The atmosphere is far from "beachy" but it is fairly casual (not swimsuit casual).

I recommend dining at both Borago and Cafe Tango. They are both excellent. Food and service are top notch at both. If you go to Borago, ask if you can be served by Joy, Em, or Matt, my favorite three in the dining room. If you go to Cafe Tango, ask to sit in Rob and Darcy's section. They are awesome, too. If you go to Borago, be sure to try the Sea Scallop and Roasted Tomatoes over Polenta and at Cafe Tango, one of you has to get the Pisatachio encrusted Grouper.

Borago can be a bit loud, but still very nice, while Cafe Tango is much more quaint and quiet. Both are very enjoyable and you will need reservations.

 

[SGB]

We also like both Cafe Tango and Borago, but Cafe Tango edges out Borago for us. We like to go to Borago with a larger group, and Cafe Tango if it's just 2-4 of us. As SJ said, get the pecan encrusted grouper if you go to Cafe Tango. Oh, and don't forget the chocolate dessert thing!

 

[Beach Runner]

We really, really like Borago, but I don't consider spending over $100 for dinner for two a "casual dining" experience. However, the food and service are excellent there. Veal meatballs, arugula salad, Caesar salad, angel hair with shrimp, shrimp and scallops with eggplant risotto - yum - I'm in food heaven.

We've recently had a great casual dining experience at Shades on the Loop. The grouper in the grouper sandwiches is back to its old self (large and juicy), and I've gotten used to not having control of the salad dressing.

 

[kimbug]

We really, really like Borago, but I don't consider spending over $100 for dinner for two a "casual dining" experience. However, the food and service are excellent there. Veal meatballs, arugula salad, Caesar salad, angel hair with shrimp, shrimp and scallops with eggplant risotto - yum - I'm in food heaven.

We've recently had a great casual dining experience at Shades on the Loop. The grouper in the grouper sandwiches is back to its old self (large and juicy), and I've gotten used to not having control of the salad dressing.

I know neither of the 2 places I asked about are casual. I just kinda threw the question out there when asking about Yianni's. I should've posted TANGENT ALERT first. But thanks for the advice. My brother-in-law and his longtime girl just got engaged and we're going to take them out to celebrate while we're down there.

 

[Kurt]

Snapperheads, of course......................

I did mention you and I meant to get bu there this Am to shoot some photos but i can't seem to get out of the studio before 11 AM for some reason. :scratch:

 

[30A Skunkape]

I saw some earlier comments on Yianni's Seafood Grille...anyone else care to comment. I know we plan on cooking in some nights but would be open to trying something different than what I had down there on spring break. Also, if we were planning an adult dinner out and had to choose between Cafe Tango and Borago what are the recommendations?

Yianni's gets little mention in my opinion because it is not 'sleek and sexy' like some of the other eateries on 30A. We went once and the food was fantastic, but it has about as much atmosphere as a Shoney's on Italian Buffet night, but hey, food is more important than atmosphere anytime.

 

[Rita]

My husband and I were just at our house near Seacrest for the week. I highly recommend the Fonville Press at ALYS Beach. It look snooty but everyone is sooo nice and friendly. The food and service for breakfast or lunch is excellent. Prices are reasonable for the area. Nice outdoor seating area with a fountain. Sweet story about John Fonville--he was our neighbor in Old Seagrove. He has moved to South FL.
The Wild Olive at Rosemary was reasonable and delicious too. Best grouper sandwich on 30A has got to be the Smiling Fish cafe at Gulf Place. The Publix at Carillon is not nearly as wild and busy as the Watercolor one. Have a great trip.

We had lunch at Wild Olives and everything was excellent. Tried the Grilled Yellowfin Tuna w/ginger mustard glaze and Wasabi mayo -mmmmm and Grilled Chicken breast marinated in Asian sauce w/bacon, Swiss and honey mustard.

The girls had yummy pizza (they got cheese :roll:, but there were some great choices on the menu.)

I loved the cranberry scones. And there was a wall full of wines!

They even offered our dog water. (Mostly outdoor seating.)


.

 

[goin' coastal]

You are making me hungry!!

 

[Mango]

We also like both Cafe Tango and Borago, but Cafe Tango edges out Borago for us. We like to go to Borago with a larger group, and Cafe Tango if it's just 2-4 of us. As SJ said, get the pecan encrusted grouper if you go to Cafe Tango. Oh, and don't forget the chocolate dessert thing!

or the Pecan Pie (it has coconut in it- never saw it done that way) Best pie I ever had in my life!

 

[Paula]

One way to feed a lot of people without cooking and without spending a lot of money is to get take-out. You can get take-out meals at Publix (including sandwiches and sushi, they'll steam shrimp for you I think, and you can get ready cooked chicken. Add a vegetable, potato salad and a watermelon and you've got dinner). We also get take-out from Angelinas -- we order from the cottage then go pick it up. The meals are large so two adults usually can split one -- we split the linguini and seafood very easily and often have left-overs too. They also have take out pizza. I haven't tried Cowgirl Kitchen or Cocoons take-out, but I think they make family size meals. We've also bought shrimp in sauce at the seafood markets and just put it on top of pasta.

Especially for lunch, we have pate, cheese, olives, fruit, dips, good bread, watermelon. Publix has an amazing red pepper hummus dip that we bought 3 times and had it with little pita breads! We can just put the stuff out on the table or counter and people make their own plates. Add ice tea or a smoothie and it's a great lunch. You can get good muffins as well and have them for breakfast. We also buy brownie mix and the kids make the brownies.

I agree that Shades at the Loop, Seacrest Cafe (very spacious and can eat outside and watch the fountain -- probably the best set-up for lots of people eating together), Wild Olive, and Fonville Press are worth the trip. But, you can assume that just about anywhere it would be about $10/person for a sandwich and drink. I heard that you can get inexpensive hot dogs at Grayton Corners in one of the shops there. Speaking of hot dogs, we like to fry onions in butter very slowly and put them on hot dogs with good mustard. Add a watermelon and marshmallows over the grill and that's all you need for a good meal.

I'm now drooling with all this talk of food...