Famous Dave's

Last Night we went to Famous Dave's barbeque on Cleveland Ave in South Ft. Myers. I was surprised to see that there was a line and we had to wait about 30 minutes or so for a table. We really did not mind the wait at all since we were having a good time listening to the music on the sound system, (Blues, which I adore) and people watching. I was happy to see the economy start to turn around and things start to get back to normal for this time of year in our area. Once we were seated our drink orders were taken right away. As busy as they were with several large groups of diners I was truly impressed with our service. Our server was Amanda, a cute and bubbly server who helped to make our experience a pleasure.

 There were many extended families and large groups enjoying the fare at Famous Dave's last night which was nice to see. The service was great. While we were waiting for our table the hostess kept us informed and apologised for the wait. Never once did we feel like we were forgotten or that we were just a number waiting to be seated.

Now to get down to business so to speak. Famous Dave's has a new menu right now that I think is fantastic. It is perfect for those of us who are watching our calories and portion sizes. It's called "pigalisious". The menu includes appetizers, entries, and deserts. I actually ordered two of the appetizers because I could not make up my mind which one I wanted to try. Of course I could not eat both of them, but I did get to try each one. As you can see from the pictures I was so excited that I forgot to take the pictures until after I had eaten.

The first one was 6 barbeque wings with celery sticks, carrot sticks and a side of ranch dressing. I had it with the sweet and sassy sauce, and the flavor was really good. I think next time I will order them with out the sauce since they were so moist and that would give me more control over my calories. I ate 3 of the wings and savored each and every bite. The flavor was just that good.
The other appetizer I ordered was the Barbeque shrimp. I got 5 large shrimp with spicy breading and the sweet and sassy sauce. Again I think next time I will have them bring it to me with out the sauce and apply it myself at the table. The flavor was to die for, and the shrimp was prepared perfectly. The spicy breading was a little to spicy for me,but my date thought that it was perfectly seasoned. Both appetizers were just $4.00 each, which is a price that just can not be beat (and why I felt that I could order both instead of having to choose between the two). I ended up eating 3 of the chicken wings and 2 of the shrimp and was more then satisfied with out becoming to full. Because it was basically all protein I was satisfied the rest of the night.

Per normal for us we lingered over our meal and ended up being there til closing. Never once did we feel rushed and even though we had finished eating our meal our server Amanda kept my dates iced tea flowing.
We had a very pleasant evening and truly enjoyed our meals. From the music playing on the sound system, to the people watching, ( several cute little ones) to the great service, to the flavorful food perfectly prepared, to the good conversation and great company, it was a perfect meal indeed. I fully encourage anyone who has had bariatric surgery, ( and no longer on liquids or soft foods) to give Famous Dave's "pigalisious" menu a try; I firmly believe you will enjoy both the food and the price.
You can check them out on line at http://www.famousdaves.com/

The Best & Worst Food Trends of 2010

The Best & Worst Food Trends of 2010 I will be watching more carefully when I go out to eat and try to get the calorie information to go with the meals that I post about...

The Truth About Your Weight Gain

The Truth About Your Weight Gain

very interesting artical... give you "food" for thought...( and its calorie free)

Hungry Girl Hangs Out With The Laughing Cow | The Laughing Cow

Hungry Girl Hangs Out With The Laughing Cow The Laughing Cow
I know that this is called Dining Out Bariatric Style, but I had to post this... I love Laughing Cow cheese... my absolute favorite is Tomato and Basil flavored Wheat thins, spead with Laughing cow Cheese and then add either a piece of chicken or ham or pepporoni, some kind of meat... OMG that is really good...

Perkins Family Restruants

Finding somewhere to eat on Christmas morning is not all that easy. We finally ended up at Perkins Family Restaurant on Homestead in Lehigh Acres, FL. I have to say the place was doing a brisk business this morning, in other words, the place was packed with people and families who had the same idea that we had. After getting to bed so late last night, I did not feel like cooking this morning. We have done our family Christmas on Christmas Eve ever since my children were very young and they still love the tradition. A house full of kids of all ages... everyone had a really good time, and it was great being with most of my children and all of my grandchildren.

So we find ourselves at Perkins for breakfast. In spite of how busy they were, we were seated rather quickly. The service was OK.. not great, not terrible. Our food came in a timely fashion, and was OK. There really is not a lot you can do to mess up eggs over easy, sausage links, breakfast fries and a biscuit with sausage gravy. Otherwise known as the "Country Biscuit and Eggs". Now this is Dining Out Bariatric Style, so you know there is no way I could possibly eat all that food. I did have one of the eggs, one of the sausage links, a couple of the potatoes bites and a bite of the biscuit and gravy. Making sure I ate the good stuff first, and bringing home the rest.

Eating at Perkins is kind of what you expect it to be. A good place to get decent food, at a decent price. with decent service. Nothing really stellar, but nothing horrible either... it is what it is and for today, Christmas Morning, the cooks and the servers and the managers and all who showed up to serve people like me who had no desire to cook but wanted a good meal... I am grateful and wish them all a very merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.

For the Perkins Menu you can go to http://www.perkinsrestaurants.com/menu

Boat House Bar and Grill, Ft Myers

 Boathouse Bar and Grill

This I have to admit was not my first visit to Boathouse Bar and Grill on Daniels Parkway, next to I-75 in Ft, Myers. The first time was right before I had surgery and I had the clam chowder that was excellent. We really enjoyed our visit there, had great food, great service at a great price and that is why we chose to return tonight.
I wish we hadn't as this is going to be my first blog on a restaurant that is not really a positive one.
In spite of the place was almost empty,two other tables with guests and about 6 others at the bar, the service was very slow. We were told to sit anywhere, and our drinks were ordered in a timely fashion, and our orders were taken as well... then we waited... and waited... and waited.

Then our meal came... I had ordered the clam chowder because of my memory for the time we were here before... and it was not the same soup. The one before was wonderful with an awesome clam taste. It was more brothy, not thick at all, with what seemed like fresh clams strips. Tonight I could have gotten better clam chowder at home out of a can. At least it would not have been over loaded with bacon...I had a couple of spoonfuls and that was it. It was overly salty ( probably from the bacon) and did not seem to have any clams in it at all, and basically it just tasted like scalded soup with to much bacon.

For my meal I ordered the Crab Cake Margarita

2 cakes pan fried jumbo lump crab meat served with a tequila lime aiolo. My question is where was the "jumbo lump crab meat"? The one crab cake that I did eat did not have any lump crab meat in it...My first blog was on the crab cakes at Carrabba's where you could actually see the crab meat.. instead of asking "Where's the beef?" I was left asking "Where's the Crab?".

To say that I am disappointed is an understatement. The service was lacking completely and the meal was just not all that great. I don't think that I will be going back there in the near future. Which is really disappointing since our first visit was a really good one.

Rib City N. Ft Myers, FL

Tonight we when to Rib City in N.Ft.Myers for dinner. I have to admit that I am enjoying going out to eat more. Its not just about the food anymore, but about the experience. I am finding that service is really really good lately.

Our server was Angel, and she was an angel. She was helpful while being unobtrusive. Tonight my date and I both had the Wednesday special St. Louis Ribs with Beef /Chicken/Pork, garlic bread and 2 sides for 13.99
As you can see that is way more food then I can eat, but I have at least two more meals from it so I think I did very well indeed.
Rib City has 3 different barbecue sauces, Sweet, A vinegar base and a Carolina Mustard based. I did not add any sauce to my meat, finding it perfect just as it was. It was a "wet" barbecue (meaning that it is cooked with sauce rather then a dry rub). The ribs were very tender and tasty. I was able to eat 2 ribs, a bite of Cole slaw and a bite of baked beans before I was to full to eat anything else. To check out the menu for what they have to offer you can go to http://www.ribcity.com/menu.html

For Breakfast tomorrow I will heat some of the Sliced beef and egg, lunch I will probably eat a couple more ribs and share the rest with my daughter and son-in-law.

This really is way to much food for a bariatric patient, but I really wanted the ribs tonight...I would not usually order this much food, but they did not have a senior menu to order from and did not offer ribs on the children's menu. It does state on the menu that the children's menu is for children who are 4 and younger, and I did not think to ask if they make exceptions to that rule under certain situations. Next time I will, though with the service we got tonight I can't help but think that they would do their best to accommodate special request.

Even though it was closing time when we finished eating, they did not rush us out. We sat there talking for some time after we finished our meal. At some point we looked around and realised that we were the last diners there. The food was wonderful. The service could not be better, the price was right especially for the amount of food we were given... I am looking forward to returning in the future.