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Weekly Food Review by Nanette Wiser, The Inquisitive Tongue
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If you’re my cardiologist, don’t read this. I love bar food and no one does it better than Babalu Restaurant & Bar, once a drive up food stand (1946), then a pool hall in the seventies and always a mecca for down home good eats. In addition to serving breakfast, lunch and dinner, six draft beers, import bottles and lots of likker make this dive a local favorite.
I can’t forgive the sterile, diner-like décor update since I was a fan of the dark, scarred wooden booths and bar, and red-necked denizens chowing down on plates of fried shrimp, honey barbecue chicken fingers and crisp, jumbo onion rings. Plus the healthy Atkins menu makes me feel guilty when I order the chili cheese nachos, applewood bacon and cheddar cheese hotdogs or Big Guy Alpine Burger (sautéed mushrooms, melted provolone).
But how can you pass up the best burgers (black Angus sirloin) and jumbo wings in town, especially at that price (50 wings for $25.95) mild, hot, garlic, teriyaki, Cajun or honey BBQ? Owner Chip, you are forgiven, maybe sainted for your chunky blue cheese burger, blackened redfish sandwich, shaved ribeye Philly cheesesteak and fried oyster po-boy.
Simply put, I could eat here everyday and never get bored. In addition to a full liquor bar and cheap prices, chicken sandwiches can be ordered grilled, fried, blackened, buffaloed, barbequed and that doesn’t even include the chicken Babalu breast grilled and topped with sliced ham and melted Swiss cheese. Or try the St. Petersburger, piled high with perfectly grilled mushrooms and onions with melted cheddar and a rounded dollop of sour cream–surprisingly complementary. The tomato rose was a pretty, unexpected touch.
All dinners include two sides (there's a ton to choose from!) Heaping helpings of meatloaf, liver-n-onions, tender smoked ribs, ribeye steak and chopped sirloin with sautéed onions, mushrooms and gravy tame even the finicky eater, turning my beastly Henny into a cooing dove (the beer helps too).
Seafood entrees are just as tantalizing, especially the shrimp and crab leg combo, jumbo clam strings, beer battered haddock and the golden brown butterflied fried shrimp dinner. Ankle biters get their own menu, happily nibbling mac-n-cheese, cheeseburgers and chicken fingers along with their Shirley Temples.
Nanette Wiser is a freelance writer and executive editor of The Inquisitive Tongue.
She reports on dining, travel and entertainment. Originally a syndicated writer and San Diego-based reporter and web producer, her articles have appeared in more than 500 papers and magazines, including AOL, Food.com, TBT, United Hemispheres, San Diego Magazine, California Magazine, San Francisco Examiner, San Diego Union Tribune, New York Post and more. Follow her blog, here.
Become a member of iLovetheBurg Downtown St. Pete on Facebook here.
Babalu Restaurant & Bar, 9246 4th St. North; 727-576-7414
Nanette Wiser is a freelance writer and executive editor of The Inquisitive Tongue. She reports on dining, travel and entertainment. Originally a syndicated writer and San Diego-based reporter and web producer, her articles have appeared in more than 500 papers and magazines, including AOL, Food.com, TBT, United Hemispheres, San Diego Magazine, California Magazine, San Francisco Examiner, San Diego Union Tribune, New York Post and more. Follow her blog, here.
Become a member of iLovetheBurg Downtown St. Pete on Facebook here.
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